James B. Murphy (3) (1956–)

Judging the thickness of this book (over 400 pages) versus the time span covered (2 years) gives you an idea of the level of detail gone into. That’s a little more than half a page a day. I can’t imagine trying to write an interesting half page about the last week of my own life. For the academic or the die-hard fan a book like this is a fantastic thing: an almost excruciatingly detailed coverage of your subject of interest. For the casual reader or fan, it may be a bit much at times, but that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be read cover to cover, and there is enough interesting material here to make it well worth perusing.… (meer)

I received this book from the Early Reviewers program and it was a bit intimidating. I learned a lot about the Beach Boys and the formation of the group. I also learned a lot about the advent of Rock and Roll and a lot about the recording business in the early Sixties.
Mr. Murphy seems to know a lot and have an extensive collection of Beach Boys memorabilia many of which are photographed in the book.
This book is almost too much information, it kind of bogs down with details and is a little confusing with all the different recordings and versions of the same songs. It got to be hard to follow in places and seemed repetitive in others.
I would recommend it for the die-hard fan or a historian looking for information, but for the casual fan it is a bit too much. Although it did make me want to go back and listen to music that I hadn't listened to since I was a teen myself.… (meer)

This is a wonderful tome for the dyed-in-the-Pendleton-wool Beach Boys fan. James B. Murphy combined his love for the Boys with true scholarship in documenting every twist and turn of the first two years of the group's formation. That the book weighs in at 422 pages of meticulously footnoted text shows the detail the author has adopted. Personal histories of not just group members but their parents and associates are here. Every personal appearance, studio recording, contract and record is precisely described using a vast array of sources. Collectors will appreciate the descriptions of label variations and memorabilia associated with the group.

Becoming the Beach Boys doesn't read like a novel, and it isn't supposed to. Recounting events fifty years in the past, there are often alternative reminiscences from the participants, sometimes self-serving, sometimes simply forgetfulness. Murphy did a good job of using quotes from the participants to state their case, steering away from taking sides.

This is as good an example as I have seen of applying scholarship to a modern musical group, without having biases show and without gushing.… (meer)