Departed
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2020 3:08:33 GMT -5
I’ve come across a couple of references to the boys in books lately and thought I’d share them here. These are not books about the band like Mikie’s amazing bibliography in the other thread, but chance references or cameo appearances. (If this thread should go someplace else like general discussion please do move it.)
Both are in books by Eve Babitz, whom I can highly recommend as an entertaining Los Angeles anecdotalist in general.
“Santa Monica, California: MacGillivray-Freeman Films premiered their final surfing film, Five Summer Stories, March 24 on a Friday night at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to a sold-out capacity-3000 house. The film-makers themselves, Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman, were there to run the projectors [...] The sound, mostly music, was provided by The Beach Boys and a band called Honk, among other sources.
[...Eve talks to the film maker MacGillivray:]
“Did The Beach Boys just give you the music?”
“Yes, Brian Wilson wanted to write the theme song too, but we ran into a time thing so we had to let it go. We could never afford to pay them for the music they did.””
(From Eve’s Hollywood by Eve Babitz)
“New York art people quickly observed that everyone seemed to be obsessed with perfection in LA. The frames had to be perfect—the backs of frames, even. “The Finish Fetish” it was called. Like The Beach Boys of that same mode when all the harmony fell out of the sky in seamless clouds. Rock and roll in LA tries even now NOT to be so gorgeous, to be raunchy and soulful, but it won’t work.”
(From Eve Babitz, Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and LA)
Now that I’ve written them out as excerpts I’ve realised that most of the pleasure of these references came from the context—it was fun to read something in which The Beach Boys are part of the wider landscape and feeling of Southern California.
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Post by AGD on Mar 5, 2020 5:37:23 GMT -5
In his early books and short stories, Stephen King often made reference to the band, notably "Beach Planet".
And of course, there's "Glimpses"...
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Post by Al S on Mar 7, 2020 1:57:00 GMT -5
In his early books and short stories, Stephen King often made reference to the band, notably "Beach Planet". And of course, there's "Glimpses"... For those who haven't read Glimpses, last time I checked the author's sub-website, it was available as a free pdf download - www.fictionliberationfront.net/ ! |
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Post by gerry on Jul 22, 2022 9:33:19 GMT -5
I used to have a copy of the Wilson Project, lost it. I found a copy on Amazon for $70 , seems like a lot, is it worth it, any other place to find one? I'm obviously confused.
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Post by Al S on Jul 23, 2022 20:57:05 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Aug 2, 2022 4:59:52 GMT -5
Then there's this, translated by jk from the Dutch version of part 6 of Min camp (My Struggle) by the Norwegian author Karl Knausgård:
We drove through a tunnel and all of a sudden a fjord lay beneath us, wide and blue, with farmhouses here and there along one shore and along the other a steep treeless mountain slope, bluish in the hazy sunlight. ... And Vanja's voice from the back seat. [Vanja is the author's elder daughter, then five or six years old.]
"When are we there, daddy?"
"It's not much further. Chin up."
"But it's so boring, daddy!"
"Look at that! A waterfall on the other side!"
"I can see it."
"Shall I put some music on?"
"Yes."
So I put on Dennis Wilson, which is what Vanja calls car music every time I play it at home. In the mirror I saw her leaning back, looking blankly out of the window.
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Post by jk on Oct 17, 2022 10:01:04 GMT -5
After the Reno show Dennis gave Dick and me a ride back to the motel in his rental car. As Dick and I started to climb out, Dennis said, "Dee Dee, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Dick gave me a strange glance and left for his room. I settled back into the plush upholstery and pulled the car door shut on the passenger side.
"We don't get paid for several more days," Dennis said. "Can you wait until then?" I nodded. I really didn't know how many chips Dennis had [borrowed from me at the blackjack table] or what their value was.
Dennis smiled at me, a sweet grin. "You know, I used to go to Pandora's Box when I was in high school. I saw you and Dick play there several times."
I looked at him in the semi-darkness. Dennis appeared wiry, tough. He somehow looked older than his brothers.
"I was always attracted to you," he continued. I drew a quick breath. Where did this suddenly come from?
"I've had a vasectomy, so I can't have any children." He smiled at me with an impish grin. "I can't get anyone pregnant. I just thought you might like to know that."
I didn't know what to say. I thought of Dennis as a kid. He was certainly several years younger than I was.
Just then Dick pounded on the side of the car window [with a message from my then-partner]. Slightly embarrassed, I climbed out of the car and gave Dennis a glance and smile.
"Thanks for sharing your medical condition," I smiled. "It does sound unique."
(From Dee Dee Phelps, Vinyl Highway: Singing as "Dick & Dee Dee", pp. 278-279)
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Post by jk on Oct 27, 2022 6:33:20 GMT -5
"All through 1964 and 1965, Doc [Pomus] spent most of his days in bed. He talked on the phone for hours with Paul Case, discussing demos and the latest sessions. When he left his room now, it was most often in a wheelchair [pushed by his young friend Scott Fagan]. ... Fagan and Doc listened to records for hours, old blues and R&B sides as well as recent ones, like the Beach Boys' joyous cover of 'Hushabye' [which Doc wrote with Mort Shuman] and the glorious booming records Phil Spector was making with the Crystals and the Ronettes."
(From Alex Halberstadt, Lonely Avenue: The Unlikely Life & Times of Doc Pomus, Da Capo Press: 2007/2008, pp. 155-156)
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