A Fool’s Journey: To the Beach Boys and Beyond

Pianist Muñoz’s garrulous debut memoir recounts his voyage from music-loving teen to key collaborator of acts including the Beach Boys, Wilson Pickett, and Rickie Lee Jones. As a child in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Muñoz received a piano as a gift from his father, and he went on to play the instrument in the island’s jazz clubs throughout the 1960s. From there, Muñoz became a working musician in New York and Los Angeles, and shares his exploits in chapters named after tarot cards (“The Fool,” “The Devil,” “The Hermit,” etc.). He dedicates a solid chunk of the narrative to his experiences touring with the Beach Boys in the 1970s, first on percussion and then on piano. In appealingly conversational style, Muñoz recalls both the “tremendous fun” of observing the group’s artistic peak, and the challenges presented by Brian Wilson’s declining mental health and Dennis Wilson’s worsening addictions. Less endearing are borderline-adolescent passages about the author’s sexual conquests (an early girlfriend is described as “a young Italian goddess” with “curly dark hair resting on her perfect teardrop D’s”) and enthusiastic drug use, though he does admit to being “terribly immature” and displays some gravity when he states his goal to “leave this world better than [he] found it.” Though this loose, wide-ranging account doesn’t rise to the level of showbiz classic, it’s likely to strike a chord with music lovers. Photos. (Sept.)