Smile: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Brian Wilson

by David Leaf

For almost 40 years, from its genesis in 1967 to its eventual live unveiling at London's Royal Festival Hall in 2004, the album SMiLE has been written into music mythology. The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Brian Wilson documents the history of the album, drawing on interviews with collaborator Van Dyke Parks, Brian's band (especially Darian Sahanaja), close friends, family, and many others who were part of its story.

In this audiobook Beach Boys aficionado David Leaf, presents the seminal account of the real story behind SMiLE and, in an audiobook exclusive, reflects on Brian Wilson's life and genius in the aftermath of his passing.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2025

Reviews

[Michael Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devastated by the news of Brian Wilson's passing. A genius. A tortured soul. More than just the surf and the beach. Rest in Peace.

The Longest Wave
3.5 rounded up to 4

One of the most anticipated albums ever undertaken was “Smile,” started in 1966 by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. The world waited breathlessly for the follow-up to their extraordinary “Pet Sounds” and “Good Vibrations.” The original sessions collapsed, however, under the weight of high-expectations, drugs, and a lack of support for Brian from both the record label and the rest of the band– particularly Mike Love. The project was shelved… for decades.

Snippets of the Smile sessions would leak out onto various Beach Boys albums over the years, but friends shied away from bringing up the subject. During his “Pet Sounds” tour, musicians relayed: “We weren’t allowed to say the words “Cabin Essence” or “Heroes and Villains” or “Surf’s Up” ... Brian would say, “That reminds me of a bad time. I don’t want to think about it… No, we’re never going to do those songs. Bad vibes.” Finally, unbelievably, in 2004, Brian was convinced to finish what he started. “Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE” was performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London, thirty-seven years after “Smile” was begun.

I have been a lifelong Brian Wilson fan, and I was initially captivated by the book. Details of the legendary Smile sessions are fascinating. Later on, author David Leaf tells of the efforts to convince Brian he could conquer his demons and resurrect the project. These passages and the depictions of the performance itself were riveting. Here I paused reading and watched a very emotionally moving performance of the show on YouTube. At this point the book was gearing up to a five-star review.

The concert was met with almost unanimous praise. Paul McCartney, in particular, was very enthusiastic in his support and compliments. To this day, many music journals consider "SMiLE" one of the greatest and most significant concert events of all time.

And what do you think of SMiLE?

This book is told as an oral history and David Leaf’s goal was to allow everyone to voice their love for the piece. And he does. Everyone. The book gushes on and on from here without restraint. I believe Brian Wilson is a genius… and that is repeated dozens of times. The book did not need this excessive padding.

If you are a diehard Beach Boy fan you will want to get this. David Leaf is perhaps the most respected writer of all things Beach Boy. You will enjoy the first three-quarters of the book. You can skim through the final section; chances are you may already be quoted in it.

I want to thank the priceless YouTube channels “Giggens,” “Beach Boys Basement,” and “Vinyl Monday” for their author interviews alerting me to this book. Endless thanks to the Wilson brothers, as well.

Thank you to Omnibus Press and Edelweiss Plus for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #OmnibusPress #PacificOceanBlue #FeelFlows

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but because it's written by Leaf it tends to be quite self-congratulatory. The author constantly patting himself on his own back gets tiresome. Also, the story of the court case that Mike Love brought against the 2004 album is part of the album's history, good or bad, but Leaf brushes over it, admitting that he only wants to tell a positive tale. This means that the book ends up being eternal sunshine, and subsequently quite repetitive and one-sided. And I say that as a Brian fan who has no huge interest in Mike Love. I just wanted to read a balanced story.

[Alfie Firmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful must read for any fellow Brian Wilson acolytes, a moving oral history of one of my favourite albums of all time SMiLE!

[Joseph Kinsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a disappointment, as it essentially reads like book-length liner notes. I also didn't realize it's basically an oral history, with many of the quotations coming from older interviews (conducted by the author for his "Beautiful Dreamer" documentary). The book becomes very repetitive once it gets to the 2004 concerts that premiered SMiLE, and I think the author could have been more selective with the quotations included.

The collection of short essays at the end of the book helps somewhat to balance the book (in terms of writing quality and voices included), but there's very little objectivity from any of the participants. SMiLE is a great album, but I'm not sure comparisons with classical music composition make a lot of sense. You get the impression that David Leaf may be a little too close to his subject to write any kind of well-rounded portrait of Brian Wilson and the efforts to complete SMiLE.

[GurkanGurkansson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ville höra mer från Melinda och Marilyn. Också mer om arbetet med skivan från 66-67.

[Karsan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish I could give this 3.5.

Parts of this book hits harder now that Brian’s passed but I want to say that the first half of this book is very strong. I’ve seen David Leaf’s Beautiful Dreamer documentary and have known about the myth of Smile for quite some time and I learned and enjoyed a lot of the information in this book.

The second half gets a little scattered. There’s one chapter that’s just 10 pages from random concert goers reacting to the first time Smile was played live. This didn’t need to be there. Maybe 5 quotes at most because the average Beach Boys fan is not going to read this book. The people reading this book know that Smile delivered on all fronts, we don’t need 10 PAGES of other people telling us what we already know. If this wasn’t enough, there’s ANOTHER chapter that’s 5 pages of Americans reacting to seeing Smile live WE GET IT!! We know it’s good. We bought the book!

At first I wasn’t a fan of the book ending with other people’s essays about Brian or Smile, but then I actually read them and they were a nice addition and some even moving.

All in all, this is a good read for those who know about Smile but really want to know almost everything that there is to know about it. If you want something more broad that covers the genius of Brian Wilson, read “I am Brian Wilson” by him and Ben Greenman.

Rest in peace to the greatest American musical artist, Brian Douglas Wilson. Your music will live on forever.

[Edvard Gaukstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smerter meg å gi så lav score på en bok som handler om et album jeg elsker så høyt, men den er altså alt for lang og repetetiv. En del interessante historier her, og fint laget og presentert. Men kunne vært mye kortere…

[Doug Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you know the Smile story at all, the book is overlong and repetitive. There just isn’t 300+ pages worth of “new” to mine..

You’re better off watching Leaf’s wonderful documentary “Beautiful Dreamer” or the September ‘04 Burbank pro recording of “Smile”.

[Andrew Date]

While not as tiresome as his God Only Knows, David Leaf’s shortcomings as a writer really plague this book and stop it from being the definitive piece on SMiLE it should be. There are many valuable interviews and moments that feel like a perfect oral-history expansion on Leaf’s great SMiLE documentary. The 1967 section in particular has some fantastic insight into the album’s inception and the several reasons for its destruction. Every quote from Brian or Van Dyke Parks is meaningful and is Leaf using his position to tell the album’s story to best of his ability.

The problem is that you have to shift through many unnecessary and repetitive congratulatory musings on Brian Wilson’s work that read as insecure. I doubt anyone picking up this book needs to constantly have SMiLE’s value validated. I think being there in 2004 makes Leaf is too attached to the work. There is a moment where Leaf skips over a lawsuit between Mike Love and Brian over SMiLE because he doesn’t want to “waste space” on negativity in his book. Critics of Brian’s concert are called “naysayers”. The other Beach Boys are barely present; probably because Leaf isn’t best friends with them. He glosses over the creation of the 2011 SMiLE Sessions Boxset because he admittedly finds the 2004 album more gratifying; probably because he was there. These are all pieces of SMiLE history, it shouldn’t matter how interesting or worthy David Leaf personally finds. No matter how many voices he includes, this is David Leaf Presents SMiLE.

[Andrew McClarnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully happy book, giving the full, wide screen story of the Two SMiLEs, the 1966 first forays, and their 2004 fulfilment. I managed to see the second night at the Royal Festival Hall, and will always remember the ovation that followed, on and on. This is a summation of many first hand experiences, so the narrative circles again and again, but this crow certainly uncovers the cornfield. Wonderful.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much as I love Brian and how obsessed I have been with SMiLE, this book is a touch repetitive, and the plaudits grate after a while. Loved the shows, the LP, the box set, and even Leaf's excellent Beautiful Dreamer documentary, but in the great history of Brian and SMiLE, this is just a minor footnote. For me, both of Dominic Priore's SMiLE books are preferable.

[Ward Whipple · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Leaf has written many wonderful pieces about the Beach Boys, from album liner notes to books. This pales in comparison. As an oral history it's tedious, and as an infomercial for the documentary he made on the subject 20 years ago, it's more self-serving than Mike Love. (He also conveniently left out the rape conviction of one of the key musicians.) Don't waste your time or money.

[Court · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just watch the “Beautiful Dreamer” doc instead