Smile

<p><em>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.</em>&nbsp;<strong>&mdash;Paul McCartney</strong></p><p><strong>The story of the Brian Wilson's legendary&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;album from Beach Boys authority David Leaf. The story of&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;is a story without precedent, appropriate for music that was and remains groundbreaking.</strong></p><p>This is the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>, including the details of the original&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;recording sessions and their increasingly legendary status as well as the final release of the album, the accompanying concerts and film, and its afterlife.</p><p>With over two dozen new interviews as well as generous excerpts from his extended 2004 interviews with Brian Wilson and&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;collaborator Van Dyke Parks, the book tells the story of&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;by those who were there in 1966 and from the participants in its 2004 resurrection, including all the members of Brian Wilson&rsquo;s band. It also features fan memories of what it was like to see Brian Wilson Presents&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;and what it meant to them.</p><p>With a foreword by Melinda Wilson and an anthology of essays from&nbsp;<em>SMiLE</em>&nbsp;historians, devotees, and music professors, this book promises to be the definitive word on the subject.</p><p>&ldquo;If I had to select one living genius of popular music, I would choose Brian Wilson.&rdquo;&nbsp;<strong><em>&mdash;George Martin</em></strong></p><p>He's a modern-day Stravinsky, the way he constructs his music.&nbsp;<strong><em>&mdash;Questlove</em></strong></p><p>I don't think there is anyone his equal in pop music.&nbsp;<strong><em>&mdash;Linda Ronstadt</em></strong></p><p>[T]he only real pop genius in the world...&nbsp;<em><strong>&mdash;Sir Elton John</strong></em></p>