Jon Stebbins

Jon Stebbins is a California based author, journalist and pop music historian. He has written six books including four acclaimed books on The Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson - The Real Beach Boy (ECW Press 2000), The Lost Beach Boy (Virgin Books 2007), The Beach Boys FAQ (Backbeat 2011) and The Beach Boys In Concert (Backbeat Books 2013). Jon's two non-Beach Boys book titles are It Happened At Chez Jay's (Fiondella Trust 2012) and Vinyl Record Collecting FAQ (due from Backbeat Books 2015). As a Rock journalist his writings have appeared in numerous publications including ASCAP's Playback magazine, MOJO, Goldmine, L.A. Times, Los Angeles magazine, L.A. Weekly, Upon Paper, San Luis Obispo New Times, Discoveries, American Way magazine, Endless Summer Quarterly, 20/20 and others. He has written liner notes for several music releases including the 2008 Sony Legacy edition of Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue. Jon has also been involved in a growing list of television productions as a consultant, writer and producer with credits for BBC1, BBC4, Biography Channel, Discovery Channel, Fox and VH1. His work for BBC television includes co-producing the 60-minute documentary Dennis Wilson - The Real Beach Boy for the BBC 4 Legends series, which was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award as Best Documentary. Jon also worked as a consulting producer on the series Secret Map of Hollywood and the series I'm In A Rock And Roll Band, and the documentaries Queen - The Days Of Our Lives and The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice? Jon has also logged time as a music correspondent for Dick Clark's Launch Radio syndicated stations and BBC2 radio. Three decades ago Jon was making an impact on the Los Angles club circuit as a singer/guitarist with his band The Point. The group formed in 1978 and garnered glowing reviews in the L.A. Times and L.A. Weekly with their self-titled EP released in 1980. Music Connection magazine voted The Point a Critics Pick in 1982 and a top-ten Players Poll choice in 1984. The Point released their lone LP titled Magic Circle in 1983 which was a college radio favorite and today is considered a Paisley Underground classic. In 2005 a song from the Magic Circle LP titled All My Life, co-written and sung by Jon, was included in the soundtrack of an episode of the hit WB network television show Gilmore Girls and was also featured on the Rhino Records box set release Children of Nuggets. The Point, who disbanded in 1985, reformed for a one-time reunion concert in the summer of 2008 in their hometown of Livermore, California. Jon resides on the Central Coast of California with his wife, two daughters and two dogs. He still picks up his guitar occasionally, but more often is at his computer researching and writing about popular music history.