GOOD VIBRATIONS

Mike Love tells the story of his legendary, chaotic, and ultimately triumphant five-decade tenure as the front man of The Beach Boys, the most popular American band in history—timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of "Good Vibrations".

As a founding member of the Beach Boys, Mike Love has spent an extraordinary 55 years, and counting, as the group’s lead singer and one of its principal lyricists.

The Beach Boys themselves, from their California roots to their international fame, are a unique American story—of overnight success in an era of temptation; of musical genius and reckless self-destruction; of age-defying longevity; and of spirituality, betrayal, and forgiveness—and Love is the only band member to be part of it each and every step.

His story has never been told, of how a sheet-metal apprentice became the quintessential front man for America's most successful rock band, singing in more than 5,600 concerts in 25 countries. Love describes the stories behind his lyrics for pop classics such as "Good Vibrations," "California Girls," "Surfin' USA," and "Kokomo," while providing vivid portraits of the turbulent lives of his three brilliant cousins, Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. His unique partnership with Brian led to eleven of the twelve original Beach Boy songs that were top-10 hits. The band's unprecedented durability also provides a glimpse into America's changing cultural mores over the past half century, while Love himself has experienced both the diabolical and the divine -- from Charles Manson's "family" threatening his life to the Maharishi instilling it with peace.

A husband, a father, and an avid environmentalist, Love has written a book that is as rich and layered as the Beach Boy harmonies themselves.

This is the first and only genuine Beach Boys memoir: Brian Wilson published a book in 1991, but he later conceded that much of the information was false. That book is now out of print. They have probably been well over 50 unauthorized books about the group, but Love is the only member to step forward with a true, personal memoir.

James S. Hirsch, a former reporter for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, is the author of Cheating Destiny, the bestseller Hurricane: The Miracle Journey of Rubin Carter, Riot and Remembrance: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy, and Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam. He is also a principal of Close Concerns, a consultancy and publishing company that specializes in diabetes. He lives in the Boston area with his wife, Sheryl, and their children, Amanda and Garrett.