You Started It!

[bwboy]

Has anyone else read the new book You Started It- Rock ‘N Roll’s Most Notorious and Bitter Feuds by Ken McNab? There’s a chapter on Fleetwood Mac that gives a surprisingly balanced look at their group dynamics and dysfunctions, particularly at the Musicare event. There are also chapters on the Kinks, McCartney and Lennon, Oasis, the Police, the Supremes, the Eagles, Guns N Roses, and many others.

The chapter on The Beach Boys was especially interesting to me. What in the world did Christine ever see in Dennis Wilson?!? Providing his brother with drugs, horribly addicted himself, and dying at 39 homeless and bankrupt. I remember an interview where Christine spoke about her last divorce and how bad the relationship was- I think it’s better to be alone than to be with someone who’s miserable, and hopefully she felt that way, too.

Curious if anyone else has read this book and what your thoughts are.

[Wdm6789]

I have not read that book. Is there any noteworthy information you feel like sharing here? Please share.

I’ve seen in interviews with Christine when she has talked about her relationship with Dennis Wilson, she said he was really handsome and he was a bad boy. Handsome bad boys can be hard to resist. She has also mentioned that they were drinking a lot and doing a lot of cocaine, but Dennis had gotten out of control and Christine could not even keep up with him. There was also a documentary about Dennis and they talked about his relationship with Christine and they said Christine had easy access to all the cocaine Dennis could ever want so he latched on to her. I’ve also read that all of Christine’s Tusk and Mirage songs are about Dennis Wilson.

[HomerMcvie]

And had a $50,000 garden put in for her, AND THEN SENT HER THE BILL!

What a loser. Some people are just terrified of being alone, and would rather be in a bad relationship than be alone.

[Macfan4life]

I still love Billy's story of how the Zoo was thrown off the Beach Boys tour because of drunken antics. Good grief! Really sad and pathetic when you think about it.
I love the story in Mick's book in the 1970s the Rolling Stones would check into hotel rooms as Fleetwood Mac and then trash the hotel room. Their management many times would get the bill for damage thinking it was really Fleetwood Mac.

[Macfan4life]

I have not read that book. Is there any noteworthy information you feel like sharing here? Please share.

I’ve seen in interviews with Christine when she has talked about her relationship with Dennis Wilson, she said he was really handsome and he was a bad boy. Handsome bad boys can be hard to resist. She has also mentioned that they were drinking a lot and doing a lot of cocaine, but Dennis had gotten out of control and Christine could not even keep up with him. There was also a documentary about Dennis and they talked about his relationship with Christine and they said Christine had easy access to all the cocaine Dennis could ever want so he latched on to her. I’ve also read that all of Christine’s Tusk and Mirage songs are about Dennis Wilson.
Tusk and beyond. Only Over You and Ask Anybody were about Dennis and I think I heard Hold Me was inspired by him too.
Dennis was a nut and a danger to society who was once roommates with Charles Manson

[FuzzyPlum]

I can recommend ‘Son of a Beach Boy’ by Scott Wilson- Dennis’ adopted son. It’s a really interesting read and features a significant amount about Christine. Christine was apparently good to Scott long after Dennis died.
Dennis was wild, but everyone was drawn to him. It sounds like he was a really lovely guy when sober…but a complete idiot when he was out of it.
Anyway….an interesting book.

[Macfan4life]

I can recommend ‘Son of a Beach Boy’ by Scott Wilson- Dennis’ adopted son. It’s a really interesting read and features a significant amount about Christine. Christine was apparently good to Scott long after Dennis died.
Dennis was wild, but everyone was drawn to him. It sounds like he was a really lovely guy when sober…but a complete idiot when he was out of it.
Anyway….an interesting book.
Thanks for sharing that. Chris had such a big, warm heart.

[SteveMacD]

Christine was apparently good to Scott long after Dennis died.

I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Christine.

[HomerMcvie]

Thanks for sharing that. Chris had such a big, warm heart.

She was too smart to put up with his loser sh*t. He must've been good in the sack.

[jbrownsjr]

I can recommend ‘Son of a Beach Boy’ by Scott Wilson- Dennis’ adopted son. It’s a really interesting read and features a significant amount about Christine. Christine was apparently good to Scott long after Dennis died.
Dennis was wild, but everyone was drawn to him. It sounds like he was a really lovely guy when sober…but a complete idiot when he was out of it.
Anyway….an interesting book.

Thanks for the share. I'll check this out.

[Macfan4life]

She was too smart to put up with his loser sh*t. He must've been good in the sack.
He's a devil and an angel
The combination drives me wild....drives me wild
He's a saint and he's a sinner

I'm out of my mind
and its only over you

[Penguin Emeritus]

The chapter on The Beach Boys was especially interesting to me. What in the world did Christine ever see in Dennis Wilson?!? Providing his brother with drugs, horribly addicted himself, and dying at 39 homeless and bankrupt. I remember an interview where Christine spoke about her last divorce and how bad the relationship was- I think it’s better to be alone than to be with someone who’s miserable, and hopefully she felt that way, too.

Curious if anyone else has read this book and what your thoughts are.

curious if you happen to have the interview where she discussed her divorce from eddy...? IMO she never seemed to want to really get into all that, and even said that to a few interviewers. in the BBC documentary their problems/split were not touched on at all, except for one quick mention by her brother..'there were growing tensions with ed' ...whereas they sort of went a lot more into the splits with john and dennis. i know things did not end well with ed and i think she wanted to just put it all behind her.

but yes, sometimes i think people put up with a lot because they don't want to be alone, it's tough to feel loneliness, whether you're rich or poor..

--Lis

[bwboy]

I have not read that book. Is there any noteworthy information you feel like sharing here? Please share.

I’ve seen in interviews with Christine when she has talked about her relationship with Dennis Wilson, she said he was really handsome and he was a bad boy. Handsome bad boys can be hard to resist. She has also mentioned that they were drinking a lot and doing a lot of cocaine, but Dennis had gotten out of control and Christine could not even keep up with him. There was also a documentary about Dennis and they talked about his relationship with Christine and they said Christine had easy access to all the cocaine Dennis could ever want so he latched on to her. I’ve also read that all of Christine’s Tusk and Mirage songs are about Dennis Wilson.

I read the book and then gifted it to someone lol! So I can’t go back to reference it. I would say it’s worth buying, though.

There were interesting tidbits about FM but nothing truly noteworthy. The author did seem surprised that Lindsey was surprised he was fired from the band- his POV it was obvious from the Musicares event that tensions were at a peak with the one-two punch of Lindsey being angry about Rhiannon being used to introduce them and then the smirking during Stevie’s speech. I would have liked to have learned more about the Christine/Bob Welch fight- just goes to show that everyone has their not so nice side, and I mean everyone.

That’s interesting about most of Christine’s songs being about Dennis Wilson during that era. Dennis was a beautiful man when he was young, but he looked like he was 55 when he was 30!

The chapters on The Beach Boys, the Eagles, the Supremes, and Simon and Garfunkel were the best, for me. Especially the Supremes. Diana Ross is quite an entertainer but not so nice a lady (at least back when she was in the Supremes).

[bwboy]

curious if you happen to have the interview where she discussed her divorce from eddy...? IMO she never seemed to want to really get into all that, and even said that to a few interviewers. in the BBC documentary their problems/split were not touched on at all, except for one quick mention by her brother..'there were growing tensions with ed' ...whereas they sort of went a lot more into the splits with john and dennis. i know things did not end well with ed and i think she wanted to just put it all behind her.

but yes, sometimes i think people put up with a lot because they don't want to be alone, it's tough to feel loneliness, whether you're rich or poor..

--Lis

I’ve wondered about her relationship with Eddy as well. Christine was so quiet about and during that time, very little is known about him or their relationship. I do recall reading an interview where she was asked about how so many of her songs were co-writes with Eddy, and she hinted very strongly that he may have been listed as co-writer, but only because they were married. If that’s true, I guess that would fit her seeming pattern of being taken advantage of by men.

[cbBen]

He's a devil and an angel
The combination drives me wild....drives me wild
He's a saint and he's a sinner

I'm out of my mind
and its only over you

I wonder whether Lindsey approached her about having changed person and whether he accordingly suggested she change the lyric either to "only over him" or to "you're a saint and you're a sinner."