|
Earcandy, June 2004:
THIS WHOLE WORD is a godsend to vinyl record collectors
that specialize in the Beach Boys. Truly a monumental
task - this book documents all of the Beach Boys 45
rpm's and EP's from all over the world (hence the
clever title and wordplay on the Beach Boys song "This
Whole World"). Listed alphabetically by country,
the full-color photo of every release is shown, along
with estimated value. If there was not a picture sleeve
issued for a single, the label is shown instead (including
label variations). Also, obscurities, solo and Beach
Boys-related 45's are shown. This lavish book also
has introduction text for each country, explaining
the release policy of each country in regards to the
Beach Boys. While the book is originally printed in
Germany and has German text, it also has English translations.
Although I'm not a 45 collector, it is fascinating
to see the various picture sleeve art (truly a lost
art form with the advent of the compact disc) and
how it changes from country to country. Some countries
even used the same picture on up to six different
releases! Remember those old "Album Cover Album"
books, which displayed various album covers in an
"art" context? Well, THIS WHOLD WORLD does
the same for the picture sleeve cover art of the Beach
Boys' 45s.
So, crank up your favorite Beach Boys' album (or CD's
for you youngsters) and visit your very own Beach
Boys art museum in the luxury of your own home.
Wolfgang Doebeling, German Rolling Stone, July
2004 (4 stars out of 5)
THIS WHOLE WORLD by Manfred Schmidt and Christian
Haschke is the"Complete Beach Boys Single &
EP Cover Collection", like the subtitle doesn´t
understate. On 300 colored pages sleeves from any
country were showed - classic, obscure, profane and
quaint, ultimate cool and horrible in bad style. Fans,
who have joy at aesthetic 7inch-artefacts, will cheer.
Collectors, who get indicated to big vacancies and
extrapolate the showed current value will come into
brood. Just wouldn´t the haptic moment be so
mighty. As i-Pod philistine life is much cheaper and
comfortable.
Billy Hinsche
I think this is a fantastic concept for a Beach Boys-related
book! The vivid photos and graphics are colorful,
often unique, and capture some of the magic of that
carefree era. Clearly, the research has been thorough
in the compilation of these wonderful picture sleeves.
This book will make a wonderful addition to anyone's
library.
Beach Boys.com (4 1/2 stars out of five)
A truly beautiful book of full color pictures of
every known Beach Boys single and EP cover from all
over the world, This Whole World is both fun for casual
fans' perusal, and invaluable for hard-core collectors
who are eager to see what is still needed for their
own collections. Published in Germany, the book's
text is bi-ligual, but easy to navigate, with the
covers listed in order by country, covering all major
marketplaces, from Argentina to Yugoslavia, and each
chapter has a written introduction which prefaces
the different approach that each country took to "sell"
the Beach Boys. Some countries produced unique and
beautiful covers, such as Italy and France, while
others printed full lyrics on each release (Japan.)
Besides the singles and EP's, the book provides full-color
reproductions of all the different labels which the
Beach Boys were featured on in each country, chronologically
mapping out the changes in styles through the years.
The notations for each cover include with label is
matched with the cover, the price range buyers can
expect to pay due to rarity, the catalog number of
each release, and various notes for interesting or
unusual covers. Also included are solo releases for
the Beach Boys, including releases by The Honeys,
American Spring, Celebration, Wilson Philips, and
more. A couple of nits, however: there are several
typos throughout, due to either translation errors,
or poor editing, as well as chart information for
only the U.S., England, and Germany - it would have
been nice to have chart information for each country
- but those are very minor qualms. This book is a
godsend, a true labor of love - and it's worth seeking
out for all Beach Boys fans.
Echoes-Online.de
Such an illustrated book is foremost for collectors
interesting. The pragmatic component is, that you
can check your own collection with the shown price
range (as in my case mostly disillusion took place).
But "This Whole World" is also an effectiv
chronic about the history of the Beach Boys: Clearer
than ever you will see, that their way was always
paved with their image problem. It´s like a
thread from the mid sixties to the late seventies,
as the band resigned and in the early nineties in
last consequence made common cause with "Baywatch".
Till then you will see plenty of beautiful, aslope,
quaint, fancy and awkward cover, fondly compiled with
some rare pictures, that will surprise sometimes even
owners of the out of stock books by John Tobler and
Ken Barnes. Highly recommended.
Oldie Markt (Nr. 6/2004)
Yet, "THIS WHOLE WORLD" is a book that
every fan of the Californian has to call his own.
It´s easy to explain because the title of this
book is no overstatement, just a realistic description
of the contents.
Here you have the singles labels and picture cover
which were released from Argentina to Venezuela. Remarkable
is the excellent print quality of the pictures which
are not only pin sharp and in sufficient largeness
so that you can see little details but also alsolutely
accurate in reprint of the colours.
The price is not too high, for a book like that it´s
by all means cheap.
GoodTimes (Nr. 3/2004)
This book considers the interests of many people:
Collectors, Secondhand-bargainer and music lovers
"only" have now a brilliant reference book
in remarkable printing quality.
At the beginning of each country you get a short but
good introduction in english and german, then you
will see the different labels and afterwards the picture
cover (even sometimes the backcover if they have a
special impact).
Kingsley Abbott , Record Collector 8/2004
This new book arranges the covers by country, and
we quickly see how countries like Italy, Japan and
Holland were more inventive while Spain and England
stayed closer to the company design line. While the
book doesn't reveal much that is graphically radical,
it's obviously fascinating for hardcore Beach Boys
fans, and still attractive to the casual fan as it
includes many attractive examples of a still-undervalued
art form. Enjoy!
Medium Books (book of the month)
Monumental book with every (!) worldwide published
Beach Boys singles and EPs ...
Amazon.de
Great book, not only for fans.
This book is long overdue. It contains every single
and ep cover worldwide that has ever been released.
And that in color! Also you get the equivalent label
and even sometimes the back cover. The quality is
brilliant. On nearly 300 pages the pictures are in
printed in 2,2 x 2,2 inch (5,5 x 5,5 cm). You also
get many infos to the singles. The price is absolutely
justified for this hardcover book.
Even for other bands a book like that hasn´t
been published yet. I can only highley recommend it.
What do YOU have to say about the book? Please
email us and we will publish it here !
|
