by Mike Love
First published 2016
Mike Love started as a sheet metal apprentice in California before becoming the lead singer and primary lyricist for The Beach Boys. Over five decades, he performed in more than 5,600 concerts across 26 countries as the band rose from local surf rockers to international superstars. Love co-wrote eleven of the twelve original Beach Boys songs that reached the top 10, including "Good Vibrations," "California Girls," "Surfin' USA," and "Kokomo." He worked closely with his gifted cousin Brian Wilson in a creative partnership that defined American pop music. Love witnessed the band's overnight success and enduring popularity, but also watched his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson struggle with personal demons and self-destruction. His journey took him from death threats by Charles Manson's followers to spiritual awakening with the Maharishi. Love remained the one constant member through every phase of the band's history, providing stability as The Beach Boys became a lens for America's changing culture over fifty years.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, american, autobiography, biography-memoir, music, 21st-century, musicians
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, personal-journey
Setting: California
Period: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s
436 pages · Hardcover · Blue Rider Press