''Inside the Music of Brian Wilson'' (subtitled ''The Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius'') is a 2007 book that analyzes the music of
Brian Wilson of
the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
, authored by American musicologist Philip Lambert. It is the first book dedicated primarily to Wilson's music, rather than his personal life.
Background
Philip Lambert (1960–2022) was a professor of music at the
CUNY Graduate Center
The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the ...
in New York.
He was initially known for specializing in the music of composer
Charles Ives, and authored a book on the subject, ''The Music of Charles Ives'' (1997).
After the mid-2000s, he specialized in popular music and musical theatre. His textbooks ''Basic Post-Tonal Theory'' (2018) and ''Analysis and Principles of Music'' (2017) are also widely used.
Reception
In his review for ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'', Adam Bunch rued that the book has limited appeal to casual fans of the Beach Boys, as it requires the reader to have a rudimentary understanding of
music theory.
Quentin Rowan of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' concurred, "Lambert himself is a professor of music theory, and at times, although enlightening, his prose borders on being for music scholars alone."
''
London Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' reviewer Jesse Jarnow declared, "Lambert’s work is extraordinary for what it is, examining the young songwriter piece by piece as Wilson teases out his own voice. It’s not exactly poetry, but it is of extraordinary value." Academic Robert Iannapollo referred to it as the finest book ever written about the Beach Boys.
References
Further reading
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External links
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Inside the Music of Brian Wilsonat
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
The passing of Philip Lambert
{{The Beach Boys
American biographies
Biographies about musicians
Books about the Beach Boys
2007 non-fiction books
Brian Wilson