The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys story began in Hawthorne, California in 1961, when Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson formed a band with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine.

The group began as Kenny and the Cadets, Carl and the Passions, and finally the Pendletones. Brian, a fan of the Four Freshman , began teaching the others intricate Freshman styled harmonies. Murray Wilson, the father of the brothers and a sometime songwriter, suggested that the boys approach his publisher, Hite Morgan who owned a small recording and publishing company called Guild Music. The group intended to audition with some old favourites, but Morgan told them that they needed some original material to get recorded.

Dennis Wilson, the group's drummer was hooked on the sport of surfing and suggested to Brian that it would be a good subject for a song. Brian researched the lyrics by talking to surfers at Los Angeles beaches, then wrote "Surfin" and with Mike's help, wrote "Surfin' Safari," songs they made into demos in 1961. Hite Morgan took the demos to Joe Saraceno, the artists-and-repertoire man for Candix Records. He in turn played the tapes for Ross Regan, who worked at Buckeye Record Distributors. Regan thought the band sounded like another local group, Jan and Dean and suggested that the group change their name to suit the subject of their songs. "Something like the Lifeguards or The Beach Bums...something to do with the beach. I got it! Why don't you name them the Beach Boys."

In December 1961, "Surfin'" was issued on X Records as a promo. The catchy melody and youthful subject caught the attention of local teenagers and by February, 1962, "Surfin" hit Billboard's pop charts, starting at #118 and eventually reaching #75, selling over 50,000 copies. Having a hit record brought the group better bookings and on New Year's eve, they performed at the Long Beach Municipal Stadium in a memorial concert for Ritchie Valens . They were paid three hundred dollars.

A future in music seemed like a shaky choice and in February 1962, Jardine left to study dentistry. On February 8th, Brian, Dennis, and Val Poliuto of the Jaguars recorded six songs for Hite Morgan's Deck Records. In May, Candix went out of business and Murry Wilson, who had appointed himself as the group's manager, began taking their demos around to other labels. Several passed on the group, but Capitol's Nick Venet liked the demo of "Surfin' Surfari" and signed the group in June. A master of "Surfin' Safari" was recorded with new member, David Marks, who had replaced Jardine. Marks was a 14 year old guitarist who's family lived across the street from the Wilson clan. By August 11, 1962 "Surfin' Surfari" reached #14 and the flip side "409" charted at #76. "Surfin' Safari" marked the beginning of the unique harmonies the group would become known for. This was a new kind of rock and roll with Chuck Berry style rhythms and Four Freshman harmony.

The band's next release, "Surfin' U.S.A.," written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, was so close to Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" that his threat of a lawsuit got him sole writing credits. By May 25th it had reached number three in the U.S.A., being denied the top spot by Jan and Dean's "Surf City," which was written by their friend Brian Wilson. The flip side of "Surfin' U.S.A, a hotrod song called "Shutdown," reached number twenty-three.

The next surfing/drag racing two sider was the groups' first ballad "Surfer Girl" (#7 Pop, #18 R&B), along with Little Deuce Coupe" (#15 Pop). The group's popularity was such that two Brian Wilson produced albums, released almost simultaneous, hit the top ten on Billboard's album chart; Surfer Girl (#7) and Little Deuce Coupe (#4).

In early 1963, Murray Wilson put the band on the road for a relentless string of concerts across America, but Brian became more and more resentful of the time away from home. Brian began missing concert dates, so many that Murray felt he had to bring in some help for live shows and called on Al Jardine to rejoin the group. For a time, both Jardine and David Marks toured with the Beach Boys, but continuing friction between Marks and Murray caused David to quit the band. He would go on to form his own group, David Marks and The Marksmen, which lasted only about a year before he joined Casey Kasem's group, Band Without A Name. Later, David worked as a studio musician with The Turtles before leaving show business.

The Beach Boy's next single, "Be True to Your School" reached number six on December 21, 1963. The song featured the march "On Wisconsin" and the cheerleading in the background was provided by three friends of the Wilson's, Barbara, Marilyn and Diane Rovell, who called themselves The Honeys. The flip side, "In My Room", which Brian recorded with studio musicians instead of the rest of The Beach Boys, went to number twenty-three.

The band's amazing success continued as one of their best rocker's "Fun, Fun, Fun," with Mike Love on lead vocal, reached number five on March 21, 1964.

Their songs consistently reached the top ten, but it took a song that was written by Brian and Mike in a taxi en route to the Salt Lake City airport, to make it to number one. In early June of 1964, " I Get Around" hit the top spot in the nation and was quickly followed by two more top ten hits, "When I Grow Up" at #9 and "Dance, Dance, Dance" at #8.

The demands to tour and produce more hit records was overwhelming and the next album would accomplish both. "The Beach Boys Concert" album, recorded in Sacromento, California, became the first live album to top the charts. Murray Wilson however, never seemed to let up on the overwhelming pressure he put on the band. He was a demanding and controlling man who insisted on controlling the group's every move. Without his knowledge, the band reportedly sat him behind a studio mixing board that wasn't actually hooked up, to keep him harmlessly occupied.

Brian was a rather shy person by nature and finally cracked under the strain. On December 23, while on a plane trip from Houston to Los Angeles, Brian had a nervous breakdown brought on by the overwhelming schedule of writing, producing, recording, and touring.

Despite protests by his brothers, Brian stopped touring with the band and guitarist/singer Glenn Campbell was brought in to perform for him on the road. Campbell had earlier worked as a session man with the group, recording the guitar intro to "Dance, Dance, Dance".

In 1965 the Beach Boys did a remake of Bobby Freeman's hit "Do You Wanna Dance" with Dennis Wilson on lead vocal, it went to number twelve. By April, Glen Campbell had had his fill of the Beach Boys and was replaced by Bruce Johnson, formerly of a band called the Ripchords.

In the spring of 1965, "Help Me Rhonda" became the groups second number one song, pushing the Beatles "Ticket to Ride" out of the top spot. Despite a hearing loss in his right ear, Brian continued to write and produce vocal harmony hits. One of them, "California Girls" had a memorable keyboard intro and with Mike Love on lead vocal, reached number three on August 28, 1965.

The Beach Boys next hit song was truly an accident. While taking a break during a recording session, the band started to jam with Dean Torrance of Jan and Dean. The result was a sloppy version of an old song called "Barbara Ann". Complete with talking, clapping and partying in the background, the song was released as a single and "Barbara Ann" soared to number two nationally with Dean Torrance singing lead vocal.

The band showed it's diversity as "Sloop John B", a 1927 folk song, with Al Jardine on lead vocal, went to number three on May 7, 1966.

It was followed by "Wouldn't It Be Nice", a song that was banned from radio stations at first because of the line: "...say goodnight and stay together." The song eventually got air play and went to #8 on the national music charts. The flip side, "God Only Knows," though it only reached number thirty-nine, had the distinction of being called the greatest love song ever written by Paul McCartney.

No longer touring, Brian Wilson concentrated on writing for the Beach Boys and using elaborate production techniques on the group's recordings. While the rest of the group was on tour, Brian began working on the "Pet Sounds" album, employing scores of studio musicians and utilizing advanced studio techniques. However, despite lush orchestral sound and songs such as "God Only Knows," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Caroline No," and "Sloop John B," Pet Sounds sold poorly compared to other releases.

Severely disappointed, Brian began work on the next album , first called "Dumb Angel", then changed to "Smile". While working on this project, Capiol Records released the Beach Boys next hit. It was a song that Brian and Mike wrote and Brian spent six months working on. The song, recorded in seventeen different sessions in four Los Angeles studios and at a cost of over sixteen thousand dollars, was "Good Vibrations". The engineer would later say that the last take sounded exactly like the first, six months earlier. Influenced by Phil Spector , Brian built a heavily overdubbed and echoed rock symphony that appealed to record buying teens. On December 10 1966, it reached number one. Meanwhile, Brian began behaving erratically as rumours of heavy drug use circulated. It was reported that Brian had a giant sand box built around his grand piano, so he could get inspiration from feeling the beach beneath his feet while composing.

Brian was often unhappy with the way his songs turned out and was known to destroy complete tapes in frustration. When the master tape was submitted to Capitol, they hated it and refused to release the "Smile" album. Another completely different set of recordings was made into an album that Brian called "Smiley Smile". It was released on the group's own recently formed label, Brother Records, distributed by Capitol. It was a dismal failure.

It took ten months for Capitol Records to release the Beach Boy's next single "Heroes and Villains," a complex but less commercial record which reached number twelve. Pulling out of a scheduled appearance at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June, 1967, The Beach Boys met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in December, after reading about the influence he had on The Beatles. Their fascination with his transcendental meditation culminated with a near disastrous tour with him in the spring of 1968. In between songs, The Maharishi would chant and try to enlighten the audience with his wisdom. The crowds often booed him off of the stage. Although the rest of the group eventually turned away, Mike Love became a life long follower of Maharishi Yogi.

The group's next recordings were straight rock, "Wild Honey" (#31 1967), "Darlin'" (#19 1967), "Do It Again" (#20 1968), and "I Can Hear Music" (#24 1969.)

Meanwhile, drummer Dennis Wilson had become friends with a strange little man by the name of Charles Manson, who had dreams of becoming a singer/songwriter. Manson used Dennis to try to persuade the rest of the group to record some of his material and eventually the band did record a Manson composition called "Cease To Exist". The title was changed to "Never Learn Not To Love" and was released as the "B" side of the single "Bluebirds Over The Mountain", which climbed to number 61 in early 1969, giving Manson a hit record on Billboard's Hot 100. It took a while for Dennis to catch on that Manson was a "hanger on" and by the time Dennis ended the friendship, Manson had soaked him for over $100,000. On August 9, 1969, a group of Manson's followers brutally murdered Sharon Tate and other residents of a home formerly occupied by Beach Boys' producer, Terry Melcher, who had moved out just a short time before. They also killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca at their nearby residence. Manson and his associates were arrested on November 19th and when questioned by the press about his friendship with Manson, Dennis Wilson would only say, "I don't talk about Manson, I think he's a sick f**k."

In the summer of 1969, the Beach Boys recorded their last record for Capitol, "Break Away" (#63). Hoping to re-capture their earlier success, they then changed record companies and signed with Warner Brother's Reprise label.

In the late 60s, harder rock and psychedelic music was the style and the Beach Boys image suffered as they were perceived as an oldies group in the midst of the progressive rock movement. That changed in 1970 when they appeared at the Big Surf Festival in North California, making fans out of the new hip rock crowd. They solidified that status in February 1971, playing Carnegie Hall in New York to an overwhelming response and sharing billing with the Grateful Dead at the Fillmore East in April.

1972 saw changes in the Beach Boys' on stage line-up when Dennis was sidelined after he injured his hand in a windowpane mishap. Bruce Johnson had a falling out with Jack Rieley, one of the group's management team and left for a solo career. They were replaced by Rick Faar and Blondie Chaplin of the South African group" Flame".

Personal tragedy struck the group on June 4, 1973 when Murray Wilson suffered a fatal heart attack at his home and died. Neither Brian or Dennis attended their father's funeral.

Meanwhile, the band's Warner Brothers records weren't as high quality as their Capitol sides. A reissue by Capitol of "Surfin' U.S.A". in the summer of 1974, reached #6, higher than any of the six singles they had done for Warner Brothers. The Warner Brothers material was getting more creative input from the group and less from Brian who had returned to produce the "15 Big Ones" album. The album included "Rock and Roll Music" that brought the group back to the top five for the first time in ten years. The album contained mostly oldies, but still managed to hit number eight.

By now Dennis was back and Fataar and Chaplin were out. That year, the Beach Boys gained some respectability when they sang back up for Chicago's hit "Wishing You Were Here" (#11). They also sang harmony on B.J, Thomas's "Rock and Roll Lulaby".

In 1977, the Beach Boys signed with Caribou records and by 1979 charted with a disco flavoured remake of "Here Comes the Night" (#44) originally on their Wild Honey album. Dennis Wilson had now become romantically involved with Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie, in a relationship that would last nearly two years.

Bruce Johnson rejoined the group in 1979 and on July 4, 1980 the Beach Boys played a free concert in Washington, D.C. before a half million people, which became an annual event through the eighties.

Brian had spent most of 1971 to 1975 in bed and finally began a rehabilitation program under therapist Eugene Lundy in 1985, that would last until 1988.

Mike Love became the front man for The Beach Boys during the '80s, as the band continued to rely on old hits to support their constant touring on the oldies circuit. On the down side, Steve Love (Mike's brother) was sentenced to 5 years probation for embezzling nearly $1 million from the group and Brian was actually sued by his mother Audree, for items contained in his autobiography.

Sadness would again rule the band in December of 1983, when Dennis Wilson, depressed over mounting debts and personal problems jumped over board from his yacht at Marina Del Ray Harbour in Los Angeles and drowned. It was an ironic twist of fate for the only actual surfing Beach Boy. Brian, still unable to cope with day to day life, did not attend the funeral.

1985 brought happier times, as the Beach Boys recorded their best original record since the early days. With Mike Love on lead and Brian's strong falsetto, "Getcha Back" and its familiar harmony reached number twenty-six. Next came "Rock and Roll to the Rescue" (#68 1986) and a remake of the Mama and Papa's "California Dreamin'" (#57 1986). The Beach Boys performed at Ronald Reagan's Inaugural in January 1985 and Live Aid the following July.

In 1987 they had a minor hit with a remake of the surf classic "Wipeout," recorded with the Fat Boys rap group, but their best was yet to come.

In 1988, John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas wrote "Kokomo" for the Beach Boys to sing on the sound track to the movie, "Cocktail." It had been 21 years since Mike Love had sang lead on a number one record, but "Kokomo" shot to the top of the charts. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award and although the Beach Boys were the sentimental favourites, they lost to Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry Be Happy".

Also in 1988, Brian Wilson's daughters Carnie and Wendy had formed the vocal group Wilson Phillips with Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas. Their debut album produced five hits, including "Hold On," "Release Me," and "You're In Love." By 1993 Wilson Phillips had disbanded, but Carnie and Wendy Wilson soon recorded the Christmas album "Hey! Santa" and later recorded as The Wilsons for Mercury Records.

Things would not stay happy for long though, as Carl was diagnosed with cancer in 1997. He fought the disease bravely, performing with the band on tour as late as 1998, before he passed away.

By 2002, the remaining Beach Boys touring group had fragmented even further, with Mike Love and Bruce Johnston touring together, banishing Al Jardine from the band. Lawsuits and counter lawsuits flew back and forth over the rights to use the Beach Boys name, the results of which prevented Jardine from touring as Beach Boys Family and Friends.

In November, 2005, Mike Love filed a lawsuit in US federal court, accusing Brian Wilson of promoting his 2004 album, "Smile", in a manner that "shamelessly misappropriated Mike Love's songs, likeness and the Beach Boys trademark, as well as the Smile album itself." Love objected to a promotion in which 2.6 million copies of a Beach Boys compilation CD were given away to readers of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper. The lawsuit said the giveaway undercut the band's sales.

By mid-June, 2006, the surviving members of The Beach Boys had apparently put aside all the lawsuits and nastiness to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their landmark "Pet Sounds" album and the double-platinum certification of "Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys". Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston made their first appearance together since 1996 on the roof of the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles. Also on hand was David Marks, who filled in for Jardine in the early 1960s. When asked if the original band would ever take the stage again, Brian Wilson said: "There's a chance of that."