SMiLE: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Brian Wilson

"Brian Wilson. SMILE: Excellent! The man is my hero. I love him. I weep when I hear his band, I hear him sing. I love him." —Paul McCartney

The story of the Brian Wilson's legendary SMiLE album from Beach Boys authority David Leaf. The story of SMiLE is a story without precedent, appropriate for music that was and remains groundbreaking.

This is the first book to tell the full story of Brian Wilson and SMiLE, including the details of the original SMiLE recording sessions and their increasingly legendary status as well as the final release of the album, the accompanying concerts and film, and its afterlife.

With over two dozen new interviews as well as generous excerpts from his extended 2004 interviews with Brian Wilson and SMiLE collaborator Van Dyke Parks, the book tells the story of SMiLE by those who were there in 1966 and from the participants in its 2004 resurrection, including all the members of Brian Wilson’s band. It also features fan memories of what it was like to see Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE and what it meant to them.

With a foreword by Melinda Wilson and an anthology of essays from SMiLE historians, devotees, and music professors, this book promises to be the definitive word on the subject.

“If I had to select one living genius of popular music, I would choose Brian Wilson.” —George Martin

"He's a modern-day Stravinsky, the way he constructs his music." —Questlove

"I don't think there is anyone his equal in pop music." —Linda Ronstadt

"The only real pop genius in the world..." —Elton John

David Leaf is an award-winning writer, director and producer. He published the seminal The Beach Boys and the California Myth in 1978, which was recently published in an updated edition entitled God Only Knows. Whilst writing this classic biography, David Leaf developed a friendship with Brian Wilson which remains strong to this day.

His feature credits include the Venice Film festival favorite The U.S. vs. John Lennon, the Grammy-nominated Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of SMiLE, The Night James Brown Saved Boston, and Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is ‘Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)

David also wrote the Bee Gees’ authorized autobiography. 

Leaf is also a professor at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music in Los Angeles, where, since 2010, he has been teaching courses in rock documentary, songwriting and the Beatles.

Melinda Wilson, wife of Brian Wilson.