“There are dozens of Beach Boys!” Jack Reiley (Beach Boys manager 1970 to 1973) said: “The Beatles were focussed, strategic, professionally and well-led during the years of their mounting ascendency. During that period, the Beach Boys were divided, unprofessional and horrendously led… There was no career direction to speak of and chaos reigned.” Transcendental meditation, Charles Manson, heroic drug abuse, tragic deaths, the piano in the sandpit, a chapter which asks the question, “Why do people hate Mike Love? Let me count the ways…”, and arguably the worst album sleeve of any major release, but at the same time, peerless vocal harmonies and, in his glory years, a pop writer … Continue reading →