Catch a Wave
The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson
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Narrated by:
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Bronson Pinchot
About this listen
Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, along with Mike Love and Al Jardine - better known as the Beach Boys, rocketed out of a working-class Los Angeles suburb in the early '60s, and their sun-and-surf sound captured the imagination of kids across the world. In a few short years, they rode the wave all the way to the top, standing with the Beatles as one of the world's biggest bands. Despite their utopian visions, infectious hooks, and stunning harmonies, the Beach Boys were beset by drug abuse, jealousy, and terrifying mental illness. In Catch a Wave, Peter Ames Carlin pulls back the curtain on Brian Wilson, one of popular music's most revered luminaries, as well as its biggest mystery. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and never-before-heard studio recordings, Carlin follows the Beach Boys from their earliest days through Brian's deepening emotional problems to his triumphant reemergence with the release of Smile, the legendarily unreleased album he had originally shelved.
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In 1992, Victor Bockris' celebrated biography was the first to recognize Richards' pivotal role in the legend of the Rolling Stones. Now that book on rock's most incredible survivor has been expanded. Here are the true facts behind Richards' battles with his demons: the women, the drugs and the love-hate relationship with Jagger. His struggle with heroin and his status as the rock star most likely to die in the 1970s. His scarcely believable rebirth as a family man in the 1980s. Illuminated with revealing quotes and thoughtful insights into the man behind the band that goes on forever.
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doesn't comapre to LIFE
- By A. Garofalo on 02-20-14
By: Victor Bockris
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My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire
- By: Maurice White, Herb Powell
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The late Grammy-winning founder of the legendary pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco group tells his story and charts the rise of his legendary band in this sincere memoir that captures the heart and soul of an artist whose groundbreaking sound continues to influence music today. With a foreword by David Foster.
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Maurice--Earth, Wind and Fire
- By Linda Ealey on 02-28-17
By: Maurice White, and others
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Kicking and Dreaming
- A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll
- By: Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson
- Narrated by: Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Two sisters. Two voices. One Heart.
The mystery of "Magic Man." The wicked riff of "Barracuda." The sadness and beauty of "Alone." The raw energy of "Crazy On You." These songs, and so many more, are part of the fabric of American music. Heart, fronted by Ann and Nancy Wilson, has given fans everywhere classic, raw, and pure badass rock and roll for more than three decades. As the only sisters in rock who write their own music and play their own instruments, Ann and Nancy have always stood apart - certainly from their male counterparts but also from their female peers.
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Good Behind-The-Scenes Look At "Heart"
- By Kathy on 11-13-12
By: Ann Wilson, and others
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Born to Run
- By: Bruce Springsteen
- Narrated by: Bruce Springsteen
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl's halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That's how this extraordinary autobiography began. Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to this audio the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs.
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Me Springsteen's book moved me beyond words...
- By Ellen O'Brien on 12-12-16
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Torment Saint
- The Life of Elliott Smith
- By: William Todd Schultz
- Narrated by: Travis Young
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Elliott Smith was one of the most gifted songwriters of the 90s, adored by fans for his subtly melancholic words and melodies. The sadness had its sources in life. There was trauma from an early age, years of drug abuse, and a chronic sense of disconnection that sometimes seemed self-engineered. Smith died violently in LA in 2003, under what some believe to be questionable circumstances, of stab wounds to the chest. By this time fame had found him, and record-buyers who shared the listening experience felt he spoke directly to them from beyond: astute, damaged, lovelorn, fighting, until he could fight no more.
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Almost interesting, often overwrought, poorly read
- By PerpetualGeorge on 01-27-14
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Walk This Way
- Run-DMC, Aerosmith, and the Song That Changed American Music Forever
- By: Geoff Edgers
- Narrated by: Geoff Edgers
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Washington Post staff writer Geoff Edgers takes a deep dive into the story behind "Walk This Way", Aerosmith and Run-DMC's legendary, groundbreaking mashup that forever changed music.
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A MUST LISTEN/READ
- By Aron Teo Lee on 05-17-19
By: Geoff Edgers
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Traveling Music
- The Soundtrack to My Life and Times
- By: Neil Peart
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The music of Frank Sinatra, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and many other artists provides the score to the reflections of a musician on the road in this memoir of Neil Peart's travels from Los Angeles to Big Bend National Park. The emotional associations and stories behind each album Peart plays guide his recollections of his childhood on Lake Ontario, the first bands that he performed with, and his travels with the band Rush. The evocative and resonant writing vividly captures the meanderings of a musical mind.
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If your a music lover you'll dig this one
- By Jason Lessenger on 09-12-15
By: Neil Peart
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High Voltage
- The Life of Angus Young – AC/DC's Last Man Standing
- By: Jeff Apter
- Narrated by: John Derum
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The first biography to focus exclusively on Angus Young - from his remarkable rise from working-class Glasgow and Sydney to the biggest stages in the world. Angus Young, the cofounder and the last remaining original member of AC/DC, has for more than 40 years been the face, the sound and sometimes the exposed backside of the trailblazing rock band.
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Excellent book
- By Anonymous User on 09-21-18
By: Jeff Apter
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King of the Blues
- The Rise and Reign of B.B. King
- By: Daniel De Visé
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Riley “Blues Boy” King (1925-2015) was born into deep poverty in Jim Crow Mississippi. Wrenched away from his sharecropper father, B.B. lost his mother at age 10, leaving him more or less alone. Music became his emancipation from exhausting toil in the fields. Inspired by a local minister’s guitar and by the records of Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker and encouraged by his cousin, the established blues man Bukka White, B.B. taught his guitar to sing in the unique solo style that, along with his relentless work ethic and humanity, became his trademark.
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Excellent
- By Sonny Garcia on 01-02-24
By: Daniel De Visé
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For the most part, this is what I was hoping for
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What listeners say about Catch a Wave
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- tru britty
- 09-08-15
Book made me Smile
Checked out this book after seeing the excellent biopic with John Cusack as Brian Wilson.
Though both cover the same story, the book is more understated and less about Wilson's second marriage.
What you do get is more on the domineering Wilson father, who propelled his sons to success while also crippling them emotionally. Thankfully, the book is not all about tragic young men.
It encompasses the surf music phenomenon and the group's ascendency to something more. Much more. Pet Sounds, "Good Vibrations", and Smile get a lot of ink.
You could make the case that the Beach Boys post-1960s were less contentious than the Beatles, but only by a hair.
The other Boys are coveted but this is a Brian book, and so good news for those who want to know about this incredible songwriter and his groundbreaking sonic creations.
Bronson Pinchot is always an excellent narrator. If I see his name, I know I am getting a good read.
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- B
- 09-07-15
Little soft on Brian
The book was well written and I enjoyed the book. I got the impression that the author held back on criticizing Brian especially his relationships with his wife and kids. Because he was a genius and had a crazy father, all the peace and love was a free pass for all the bad stuff he did. I can relate to his song "I was not made for these days" all the Beach Boys were so screwed up and I cannot relate to them. Being a nobody has its benefits.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Miacara
- 02-13-20
complex story
Narrator mispronounced a few words and names...jarring errors. like Peter Cetera name. but interesting story
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- G.
- 02-23-16
Great story, annoying performance
Worth it because it's Brian Wilson, but the narrator got just about every name in the book wrong & Had the emotion of a rock
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amy Zhan
- 05-06-16
Stellar
One of the best rock bio's I've read! Excellent reading. It's truly worth 2 listens.
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- M. Graham
- 05-06-15
Another Good Rock Story Stalled by Prissy Narrator
Would you try another book from Peter Ames Carlin and/or Bronson Pinchot?
Not one read by Pinchot.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Bronson Pinchot?
The actor who narrated Tune In (biography of the Beatles). I don't care if he's British and Wilson isn't: so far, American guys are turning out to be terrible narrators (slow, precious, and almost always inappropriate for the subject matter).
Could you see Catch a Wave being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
I
Any additional comments?
Would somebody please find narrators for music biographies who can move the stories along?
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2 people found this helpful
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- James D. Hill
- 03-31-16
Awesome Book
This is a awesome story of Brian and the Beach Boys, there was some much info that I never had heard before.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Adam Sullivan
- 04-04-16
For Intense Brian Wilson Fans
I loved this. It's a difficult story told well. Melancholy, terrifying, and wonderful. Kind of like BW's music. Kudos to the author, the narrator, the Beach Boys, and most of all Brian Wilson.
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- Howard Owens
- 04-11-21
A must for Beach Boys fans
I read several reviews before listening to this criticizing the author for going into so much depth about the creation of The Beach Boys songs.
But that is EXACTLY what real music fans want.
So those negative review with their misplaced criticism encouraged me to down load this. If anything, this book could have used more of that detail.
This is a great, balanced, honest assessment of a Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. It’s well performed, as well. Recommended.
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- David Souza
- 01-16-21
Beach Boys: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
I didn’t really appreciate the Beach Boys, till in 1997 when I heard Pet Sounds at a friends house. She was so enamored with it; and knew the whole story behind it. So I became at first curious, then later on; after reading a book about the BB, a little intrigued.
After I listened to Pet Sounds with head phones, I became a Brian Wilson fan.
This book covers alot of familiar territory. But I still enjoyed how Leaf dug into some new back stories, and filled in a few gaps. Too many Mike Love grievances though. And that Leaf didn't get too far into Dennis' sad decline. A good book for someone new to Brian Wilson.
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