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"Brian Wilson. SMiLE: Excellent! The man is my hero. I love him. I weep when I hear his band, I hear him sing. I love him." —Paul McCartney
This is the story of the Brian Wilson's legendary SMiLE album from Beach Boys authority David Leaf. The story of SMiLE is a story without precedent, appropriate for music that was and remains groundbreaking.
This is the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and SMiLE, including the details of the original SMiLE recording sessions and their increasingly legendary status as well as the final release of the album, the accompanying concerts and film, and its afterlife.
With over two dozen new interviews as well as generous excerpts from his extended 2004 interviews with Brian Wilson and SMiLE collaborator Van Dyke Parks, the book tells the story of SMiLE by those who were there in 1966 and from the participants in its 2004 resurrection, including all the members of Brian Wilson’s band. It also features fan memories of what it was like to see Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE and what it meant to them.
With a foreword by Melinda Wilson and an anthology of essays from SMiLE historians, devotees, and music professors, this book promises to be the definitive word on the subject.
“If I had to select one living genius of popular music, I would choose Brian Wilson.” —George Martin
"He's a modern-day Stravinsky, the way he constructs his music." —Questlove
"I don't think there is anyone his equal in pop music." —Linda Ronstadt
"The only real pop genius in the world..." —Sir Elton John
“As the leader of The Beach Boys, he composed the songs, made the arrangements, performed along with all his mates in the band and produced the sounds in the studio. His genius seemingly encompassed everything.” —Sir George Martin
SMiLE, in its most evolved form, would not have been an album reality were it not for the pivotal gifts of impresario David Leaf to ignite the multi-media campaign. It took diplomacy, tireless vision, and the ability to bring others together in reframing my constitution-with the success of sincerity and conviction. Hat’s off David." —Van Dyke Parks
“A trenchant look at the history and resurrection of the Brian Wilson's SMiLE project is informed by [Leaf's] deep connection to the man and his material. A whopping good read, keenly researched.” —Probyn Gregoy, The Brian Wilson Band
“With all of our horses and all of our friends, we vowed to put SMiLE back together again. But how did we do it? Read this book and find out.” —Darian Sahanaja, The Brian Wilson Band
“This book answers all the questions you ever had about SMiLE and answers questions you didn’t even know to ask." —Nelson Bragg, The Brian Wilson Band
“[E]xceptionally insightful…[J]oyous and celebratory…[A] rare pleasure to read a rock and roll history book that actually makes you feel happy. It's also a sincere love letter to Brian Wilson. No rock star is more deserving of one.” —Psychobabble
“What makes his new book such a welcome addition to his books and scholarship of Wilson and, ultimately, of the Beach Boys, is that this book is an oral history…The book is like a this-is-your-life, no-holds-barred epic tale of not only Wilson, but of the Beach Boys, as well as of the ups and downs of pop music stardom and falling and being resurrected…This may be Leaf’s best book yet and more of these oral histories on pop and rock music would be welcome.” — Something Else Reviews
A Holiday Guide for the Rock & Roll Literate “Leaf provides a comprehensive overview of the album’s initial demise and an essential deep dive of the process that brought a bunch of unknown musicians and a master songwriter together to complete the circle that brought to life this mythical work.” — Profonde Musique
“It’s refreshing to find a book that digs deeper into the story of the album’s resurrection. It’s a tale of an artistic triumph we never thought we’d get to hear.” — Shelf Life
“This shambolic-symphonic oral history tells the story of Brian Wilson's SMiLE, music's great lost album until its 2004 release.” — Shelf Awareness
“A thorough chronicle of one of pop music’s most legendary albums.” — Booklist
“Leaf’s Smile: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson peers at the artist from all angles...the passion is infectious to read, as is the research.” — Culture Sonar
"One read through isn’t enough. I’ll need to revisit this book like I’ve returned to Van Dyke Parks’ SMiLE lyrics. Leaf’s book satisfies my hunger to know more." — Endless Summer Quarterly
“Both generous in fact and spirit, leaving almost no detail undressed or laurel unawarded.” — Mojo
“David Leaf has no shortage of material for SMiLE…it captures the awe and affection that Wilson inspires.” — Uncut
“Film director Leaf (God Only Knows) follows up his 2004 documentary, Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of SMiLE, with an equally adulatory oral history of how the rocker shepherded “the most famous unreleased album in rock history” from its 1967 inception to its release 37 years later.” — Publishers Weekly
"The book is, in every conceivable way, the last word on a subject as complex as it is fascinating." — Just Backdated