Smile
While not a book, Brian Wilson's Smile (2004) is a masterwork in creativity and dedication. Originally started in 1965 as the Beach Boys' answer to the Beatles Rubber Soul, the "pocket symphony" would end up taking over 30 years to complete (one hit from it was released in the 1960s: Good Vibrations). Wilson set out to make one of the greatest pop records of all time, and though it nearly killed him, he succeeded. Smile is a hallmark of magnificent creative work set within constraints that actually set Wilson free. Grab this CD for the pure creative inspiration of it.
From British music Magazine NME: "Comparing 'Smile' to pop music is like comparing the poster paint daubings of an infant to the vast canvasses of Velasquez. 'Smile' stands up with any of the great music of the 20th century. In its interweaved and repeated melodic strands it exhoes Prokofiev's 'Kije Suite'. In its appropriation of American folk it stands up with the work of Gershwin and Copeland. In its sheer contemplative beauty it rubs shoulders with Miles Davis' 'Kind Of Blue'. "
05.04.2010.
