Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy

by Jon Stebbins

The staggering tale of the freewheeling brother who fired Brian Wilson's imagination and influenced the Beach Boys' sound, style, and attitude. He was the embodiment of the sun-drenched California dream, a sandy-haired sex symbol that sparked a cultural tidal wave. Surfer, lover, drummer, Beach Boy. His life was a short, brilliant, intoxicating ride that inevitably curled into a torturous spiral of addiction and despair. Profoundly gifted but destructively...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550224042
• ISBN13: 9781550224047
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: ECW Press
• Length: 243 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Get this book back in print!!!

This is an important book for the rock music scene as it highlights the life of Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Not only does the book do a stunning job laying out the life and times of Dennis Wilson but it dives head first into the world of 60's and 70's rock and determines his role in these crazy years for the music scene.This book does what many rock books fail to do which is to tell an honest to God story saying both the good and the bad but putting it all out on the table so that the tale is properly told.For example, this book examines Dennis Wilson's role within the Beach Boy hierarchy and finds that he was treated poorly by people like Mike Love who didn't have half his talent. The author mourns the loss to the world of music that Love and others in the Beach Boys caused by constantly thwarting Dennis as he tried to get his music out in the public.The book also honestly finds that Dennis was his own worst enemy by using drugs and booze which effectively short circuited his talent causing yet another loss for music lovers as we never got to hear the complete catalogue of his real creativity.Finally, the book looks at what Dennis Wilson did do musicially and finds it amazing. His epic 70's solo LP "Pacific Ocean Blue" will rank as one of the real rock gems as time goes on. The author reviews this LP and tells how incredible it was and how it continues to grow in popularity with rock fans as the years move on.This book is out of print which is sad as there are precious few publications like it. Buy it used and read one of the best rock tales ever but more importantly read it to learn just how profound Dennis Wilson was in his talent and his times.Get this book back in print!

Warts-and-all tale of the Beach Boys' "fossil fuel"

Having just read this book for, what, the third time, I was struck by the author's effort to portray every aspect of the Beach Boys' only genuine surfer. Dennis Wilson lived large, and was rarely accorded the respect he deserved as his musical gifts as a solo artist emerged and matured. I did not find a copy of his 1977 album "Pacific Ocean Blue," or the posthumous release of "Bamboo" until after reading Stebbins' book. These albums should be re-released so that they may reach a wider audience of Dennis' fans, old and new. The tragedy of Dennis Wilson's death at thirty-nine was not unexpected, given his long and tortuous history of substance abuse. However, Stebbins neither over- or underdramatizes Denny's demons, including his passing friendship with the Charles Manson family (who systematically drained Wilson of more than $100,000).Had Wilson lived longer, who knows what artistic heights he might have scaled? However, we should be grateful that he blazed across the American music scene like a comet, and that its glow is still with us. Stebbins deserves a lot of credit for assembling such vivid interviews with those close to Dennis, most of which were not drawn from other Beach Boys biographies/hagiographies.

Loved Every Minute of This Book!

I was only a casual fan of the Beach Boys...more of a Beatle, Byrd, CSN, Eagles-type musically, but as of late have become very appreciative of the middle era of the Beach Boys. I picked up this book because I like the "Real Beach Boy" title and because a friend of mine had meet Dennis one year while skiing up in Utah and said what a nice guy he was. Of all the Beach Boys, Dennis was the most colorful and the one who would make for the most interesting story. The author did a fabulous job making this such an enjoyable and well-researched read. I wish there was a way to hear some of the music that Dennis recorded, but I don't think they are on CD. Anyways, if you are a fan of surfing, music, or the California sound, then this is a book worth reading. The Beatle and the Stones got so much more adultation, when here underneath our noses in Southern California was a band (especially creatively) that was a near equal.

The Real Beach Boy

Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy is an honest view of a man who, for most of his life, was unappreciated and extremely underrated both in his personal and professional lives. It is not just a chronology of his life or a list of his exploits. Other books and magazines did that years ago. This book is an insight into the man himself and the music within him. Jon Stebbins's style of writing drew me into the story, sent me back to my youth and reminded me why Dennis Wilson and his music meant so much to me. Dennis has been gone for over 16 years. It's about time everyone knew who he really was. Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy has the blessings of those who knew Denny best and loved him most, his friends, his family and his fans. It is a "must read" if you think you knew the Beach Boys. Especially if you think Dennis was just the drummer.

Endless Summer Quarterly Review (excerpt)

John Stebbins has captured the essence of both Dennis Wilson the musician and Dennis the human being in Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy. Stebbins relied on his personal interviews with Dennis, as well as the first-hand accounts of friends (such as Ed Roach, Fred Vail, and Stephen Kalinich), lovers (including Barbara Wilson and Karen Lamm), and other acquaintances to craft this biography. The author achieves the delicate balance of portraying Dennis honestly - warts and all - without resorting to tabloid style oversensationalization. There's something for every Beach Boys fan in this book. For the younger fans - the ones who may have come to know the band long after Dennis passed away - the book is educational, and serves to remind us just who was the real "Beach Boy" of the group. However, there are enough new revelations and interesting trivia to maintain the attention of even the most hard-core of fans. The book also contains a fine assortment of previously unpublished black and white and color photos - many courtesy of Dennis' close friend Ed Roach. The Real Beach Boy is advertised as a Dennis Wilson biography, but it really tells a broader story about America's band. There are at least two sides to every story, and Stebbins' book tells yet another fascinating side of the Beach Boys' multi-faceted saga.Lee Dempsey, Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine