The Beach Boys

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The Beach Boys
Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Mike Love
Background information
OriginHawthorne, California
Years active1961-Present
MembersMike Love
Bruce Johnston
Mike Kowalski
Chris Farmer
Tim Bonhomme
John Cowsill
Scott Totten
Randell Kirsch
Past membersBrian Wilson
Al Jardine
Carl Wilson
Dennis Wilson
David Marks
Ricky Fataar
Blondie Chaplin
Glen Campbell

The Beach Boys are a pop music group formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961 who are widely considered one of the most influential bands in rock and pop music history. They have recorded dozens of Top 40 hits (including four US #1 singles), many best-selling albums, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

The original group comprised singer-musician-composer Brian Wilson, his brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Alan Jardine. Many changes in both musical style and personnel have occurred in their sometimes-stormy career, including Brian Wilson's mental illness, drug addiction and eventual withdrawal from the group; the deaths of Dennis Wilson in 1983 and Carl Wilson in 1998; and continuing legal battles among surviving members of the group.

The Beach Boys officially broke up in 1998 shortly after Carl Wilson's death, however Mike Love and Bruce Johnston maintain the rights to the name and continue to tour with their own band as The Beach Boys.

History

Early years

The group was formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California under the leadership of Brian Wilson, and included his brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love and school friend Al Jardine. The Wilsons' Hawthorne house, where the Wilson brothers grew up and the group began, was demolished in the 1980s to make way for I-105, the Century Freeway, and California Landmark #1041 at 3701 West 119th Street, dedicated on May 20, 2005, marks the location.

The early inspirations of the group were the Wilsons' musician father, Murry, and the close vocal harmonies of groups such as The Four Freshmen. The group performed initially as The Pendletons, after the Pendleton woolen shirts popular then. Although surfing motifs were very prominent in their early songs, Dennis was the sole actual surfer in the group. He suggested to his brothers that they do some songs celebrating his hobby and the lifestyle which had developed around it in Southern California.

At first Murry Wilson, by many accounts a hard-driving man, steered The Beach Boys' career, engineering their signing with Capitol Records in 1962. In 1964 Brian Wilson fired his father after a violent confrontation in the studio. Over the next few years they became increasingly estranged; when Murry died some years later, Brian and Dennis did not attend the funeral.

The Beach Boys' early material focused on the California youth lifestyle (e.g., "All Summer Long", "Fun, Fun, Fun"), cars ("Little Deuce Coupe") and of course surfing ("Surfin' U.S.A.," "Surfin' Safari," and many others). Although their music was bright and accessible, these early works contained remarkably sophisticated musical ideas. During this period, Brian Wilson rapidly progressed to become a melodist, arranger, and producer of world-renowned stature. Their early hits made them major pop stars in America and other countries, although their status as America's top pop group was challenged in 1964 by the emergence of The Beatles, who became The Beach Boys' major creative rival.

Like the Beatles, the Beach Boys showed very fast development during the mid-'60s, drawing upon the innovations of songwriters and producers such as Burt Bacharach and especially Phil Spector. They produced the enduring classic "California Girls" in 1965, a banner year for popular music which also saw similarly advanced singles by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Byrds, and James Brown.

Brian's innovations and personal difficulties

In 1964, suffering from anxiety attacks, Brian Wilson withdrew from touring to concentrate on songwriting and record production. Glen Campbell served as Wilson's replacement on tours, until his own career success required him to leave the group. Bruce Johnston was asked to locate a replacement for Campbell; having failed to find one, Johnston subsequently became a full-time member of the band, first replacing Wilson on the road, and then contributing his talents in the studio.

Jan & Dean, close friends with the band, and opening act for them in concert in 1963 and 1964, encouraged Brian to use session musicians in studio. This, along with Brian's withdrawal from touring, permitted him to expand his role as a producer. By 1964, traces of Wilson's increasing studio productivity and ideas were noticeable: "Drive-In," an album track from All Summer Long features bars of silence between two verses while "Denny's Drums," the last track on Shut Down, Vol. II, is a two minute drum solo. The use of session players on tracks such as "I Get Around" and "When I Grow Up," sounded more progressive than earlier songs.

1965 marked more blatant experimentation behind the soundboard with Wilson. Today! featured less focus on guitars, more emphasis on keyboards and percussion, volume experiments, and increased lyrical maturity, with Side A appointed to sunny pop tunes and Side B to dark ballads. The Boys' followed up their #3 smash "California Girls" in November 1965 with another top 20 single, "The Little Girl I Once Knew," which is considered to be the band's most experimental statement prior to Pet Sounds—using silence as a pre-chorus, clashing keyboards, moody brass, and vocal tics, it was perhaps too extreme to go much higher than its modest peak at #20, the band's second single to not go top 10 since 1963.

Wilson's growing mastery of the recording studio and his increasingly sophisticated songs and complex arrangements would reach an early peak with the acclaimed LP Pet Sounds (1966). Classic singles from that album, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "God Only Knows," showed Wilson's growing skill as a composer, arranger and producer. "God Only Knows" is said to have been the first pop single ever released in the U.S. to have the word "God" in the title (because of which many radio stations in the U.S. refused to play it.) "Caroline, No," also taken from Pet Sounds, was issued as a Brian Wilson solo single, the only time Brian was credited as a solo artist during the early Capitol years.

The album's meticulously layered harmonies and inventive instrumentation (performed by the cream of Los Angeles session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew) set a new standard for popular music. It remains one of the more evocative releases of the decade, with a distinctive strain of melancholy and nostalgia for youth. The album is still widely regarded as a classic and Paul McCartney has named it one of his favorite albums of all time (with "God Only Knows" as his favorite song), often saying that it was a major influence on the Beatles' album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Despite the critical praise it received, the album was poorly promoted by Capitol Records and failed to become the major hit Brian had hoped it would be (only reaching #10). Its failure to gain wide recognition hurt him deeply.

Because of his withdrawal from touring, Wilson was able to complete almost all the backing for the album while the Beach Boys were on tour in Japan. They returned to find a substantially complete album, requiring only their vocals to finish it off. There was some resistance from within the band to this new direction. Lead singer Mike Love is reported to have been strongly opposed to it, partly because he feared the band would lose its audience if they changed their successful formula, and partly because he personally disliked the new material, which he famously criticized as "Brian's ego music." At Love's insistence, Brian changed the title of one song from "Hang on to Your Ego" to "I Know There's an Answer." Another likely factor in Love's antipathy to Pet Sounds was that Wilson worked extensively on it with outside lyricist Tony Asher rather than with Love, even though Love had co-written the lyrics for many of their earlier songs and was the lead vocalist on most of their early hits.

Seeking to expand on the advances made on Pet Sounds, Wilson began an even more ambitious project, originally dubbed Dumb Angel. Its first fruit was "Good Vibrations," which Brian described as "a pocket symphony". The song became the Beach Boys' biggest hit to date, and a US and UK # 1 single in 1966 — many critics consider it to be one of the best rock singles of all time. In 1997 it was named the "Greatest Single of All Time" by Mojo music magazine, in 2000, VH1 placed it at number 8 on their "100 Greatest Rock Songs" list, and in late 2004 Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number 6 on their "500 Best Songs of All Time" list. It was also one of the more complex pop productions ever undertaken, and was reputed to have been the most expensive American single ever recorded, costing a reported $16,000—more than most pop albums of that time—with sessions stretching over several months in at least three major studios.

In contrast to his work on Pet Sounds, Wilson adopted a modular approach to "Good Vibrations" — he broke the song into sections and taped multiple versions of each at different studios to take advantage of the different sound of each facility. He then assembled his favorite sections into a master backing track and added vocals. The song's innovative instrumentation included drums, organ, piano, tack piano, two basses, guitars, electro-theremin, harmonica, and cello. The group members recall the "Good Vibrations" vocal sessions as among the most demanding of their career.

Even as his personal life deteriorated, Wilson's musical output remained remarkable. The exact nature of his problems was a topic of much speculation. He abused drugs heavily, gained an enormous amount of weight, suffered long bouts of depression, and became paranoid. Several biographies have suggested that his father may have had bipolar disorder, and after years of suffering, Wilson's own condition was eventually diagnosed as schizophrenia.

The story behind "Smile"

Main article: Smile (Brian Wilson album)
File:Beachboys smile cover.jpg
The original cover of SMiLE. More than 400,000 SMiLE covers were produced; they have been kept in a warehouse in Pennsylvania before finally being destroyed in the late 80's. Reportedly, there are nowadays less than a dozen original SMiLE covers in existence [1].

Shortly after completing "Good Vibrations," Wilson met session musician and songwriter Van Dyke Parks, and in late 1966 they began an intense collaboration that resulted in a suite of superb new songs for the Beach Boys' next album, which was eventually named Smile. Using the same methods as on "Good Vibrations," recording began in late 1966 and carried on into early 1967. Although the structure of the album and the exact running order of the songs have been subjects of endless speculation, it is apparent that Wilson and Parks intended Smile to be a continuous suite of songs that were linked both thematically and musically, with the main songs being linked together by small vocal pieces and instrumental segments that elaborated the musical themes of the major songs.

But some of the other Beach Boys—especially Love—found the new music too difficult and too far removed from their established style; another serious concern was that the new music was simply not feasible for live performance by the current Beach Boys lineup. Love was bitterly opposed to Smile and was particularly critical of Parks' lyrics; he has also since stated that he was becoming deeply concerned about Wilson's escalating drug intake. The problems came to a head during the recording of "Cabinessence," when Love demanded that Parks explain the meaning of the closing refrain of the song, "Over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield." After a heated argument, Parks walked out and his partnership with Wilson came to an abrupt end.

Many factors combined to focus intense pressure on Wilson as Smile neared completion, including mental instability, the pressure to perform against fierce opposition to his new music, the relatively poor response to Pet Sounds, Carl Wilson's draft resistance, and a major dispute with Capitol. Matters were complicated by his reliance on both prescription and illegal drugs, particularly marijuana and amphetamines, which only exacerbated his underlying mental health problems.

Just weeks before The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released, Smile was shelved. Over the next 30 years the legends surrounding Smile grew, until it became the most famous unreleased album in the history of popular music. Some of the tracks were salvaged and rerecorded at Brian's new home studio in drastically scaled-down versions. These were released, along with the completed versions of "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains", on the 1967 LP Smiley Smile, which would prove to be a critical and commercial disaster for the group.

Despite the cancellation of Smile, interest in the work remained high and versions of several major tracks—including "Our Prayer", "Cabinessence", "Cool, Cool Water", and "Surf's Up"—were assembled by Carl Wilson over the next few years and included on later albums. The band was expecting to complete and release Smile even until 1972, when it became clear that only Brian would ever be able to make sense out of the endless fragments that were recorded. A substantial number of original tracks and linking fragments were included on the group's 30th anniversary CD boxed set in 1993. Smile itself, in its original conception, did not surface until Wilson and Parks completed the writing and Brian rerecorded it as a solo project in 2004.

Mid-career brings changes

Following their peak popularity with the song "Good Vibrations" was a period of declining commercial success, with Smiley Smile and subsequent albums doing poorly on the US charts (although they fared better in the UK). Their image problems were not helped by the criticism that followed their withdrawal from the bill of the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival as a result of Carl's draft problems, an event that would undoubtedly have been crucial in establishing their new sound had they been able to present their new material there.

The 1967 album Wild Honey, regarded by many critics as a classic, features exuberant upbeat songs written by Brian and Mike, including the hit "Darlin'", and a cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her". Friends (1968) is a quiet, tuneful, and largely acoustic album, influenced by the group's adoption of the practice of Transcendental Meditation. The title single, however, backed by Dennis' songwriting debut Little Bird, was their least successful since 1962. This was followed by the single "Do It Again", a return to their earlier "fun in the sun" style, which was moderately successful in the US, but went to #1 in the UK.

As Brian's health deteriorated in the late 1960s and early 1970s, his song output diminished and he became increasingly withdrawn from the group. To fill the void, the other members of the group began writing songs, and Carl gradually took over leadership of the band, developing into an accomplished producer. To complete their contract with Capitol Records before signing with Reprise, they produced one more album, 20/20 (1969), primarily a collection of leftovers (including some from "Smile"), cover songs, and several new songs by Dennis. One of Denny's songs, "Never Learn Not To Love", featured lyrics by Charles Manson[2] originally titled "Cease to Exist". Besides "Do It Again", the album included their cover of the Ronettes' "I Can Hear Music", their last original top 40 hit for seven years.

Their first two Reprise LPs were Sunflower (1970) and 1971's Surf's Up, featuring new songs by Brian and all the group members, plus selections from the aborted "Smile" project. According to the liner notes for the 2004 version of Smile, Reprise expected the legendary album to be completed and released as part of the new contract, but this was never to be; however, these albums included some of their most evolved and complex music since the Smile period.

The addition of Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin in 1972 led to a dramatic departure in sound for the band. Carl and the Passions-"So Tough" was an uncharacteristic mix including several songs drawn from Fataar and Chaplin's previous group, Flame, which are nearly unrecognizable as Beach Boys songs. Although it includes the classics "Marcella", "All This is That" some fine and elaborately produced Dennis Wilson-penned tracks closing the original LP, the album is widely considered to be one of their most muddled and inconsistent. Continuing with Fataar and Chaplin, Holland (1973) was more successful. The album's lead single "Sail on Sailor," a brief return to the collaboration between Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, was one of the more emblematic of Beach Boys songs. Although it did not produce any top-40 hits, Holland was popular on free-form FM-radio, and includes several classics including Al Jardine's "California Saga: California".

In the summer of 1974 Capitol, in consultation with Love, released a double album compilation of the Beach Boys' pre-Pet Sounds hits, entitled Endless Summer. Helped by a sunny, colorful graphic cover, it caught the mood of the country and surged to #1 on the Billboard album chart, becoming their first gold record since "Good Vibrations", and stayed on the album chart for three years. [3] The following year another compilation, Spirit of America, also did well. These sales performances demonstrated that the classic Beach Boys sound was back in fashion.

In 1975, the Beach Boys staged a highly successful joint concert tour with Chicago, with each group performing some of the other's songs, including their previous year's collaboration on Chicago's hit "Wishing You Were Here". Beach Boy voices were also heard on Elton John's 1974 hit "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", but following Holland, the group produced no new music until 1976.

Brian's return

15 Big Ones marked the return of Brian Wilson as a major force in the group. This album includes several new songs composed by Brian, and several of his arrangements of favorite old songs by other artists, including "Rock and Roll Music" (which made #5), "Blueberry Hill", and "In The Still of The Night". Brian and Mike's "It's OK" was a return to their earlier "fun-in-the-sun" style, and was a moderate hit.

In 1977 the Beach Boys released the LP Love You, a collection of 14 songs mostly written by Brian alone, including more "fun" songs ("Honkin' Down The Highway"), a mature love song ("Let's Put Our Hearts Together")—a quirky mix ranging from infectious to touching to downright silly. Although not a commercial success, the album has since gained the status of a classic within the Beach Boys' oeuvre.

Brian's contributions diminished over the next several albums until he again virtually withdrew from the group. Although he appeared sporadically with them in concert, he contributed little to their performances or recordings. Despite a much-publicised "Brian's Back" campaign in the late '70s, most critics believed the group was past their prime. Many expected that Brian would one day become the latest in a long line of celebrity drug casualties.

Deaths of Dennis and Carl Wilson

In the late 70s, Dennis Wilson also began to suffer increasingly from drug and alcohol abuse, and some of the group's concert appearances were marred when he and other band members showed up onstage drunk or drugged. The band was forced to publicly apologize after a shambolic performance in Sydney in 1979 during which several members of the group appeared to be drunk. In spite of his own frequent drinking, Dennis Wilson managed to release his first solo work, Pacific Ocean Blue, and to launch the now famed work-in-progress Bamboo, with friend and musician Carli Muñoz.

In 1980, the Beach Boys played a Fourth of July concert on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. before a vast crowd. This tradition continued for the next two years, but in 1983 Secretary of the Interior James Watt banned the group from playing on the Mall, saying that rock concerts drew "an undesirable element". [4] This drew howls of outrage from the many of the Beach Boys' American fans, who stated that the Beach Boys sound was a very desirable part of the American cultural fabric. First Lady Nancy Reagan apologized, and in 1985 the group appeared on the Mall again. The group most recently appeared on the Mall in 2005 for the Fourth of July concert.

Dennis Wilson's problems had escalated in the early 1980s, and he accidentally drowned in late 1983 while diving from his boat as he drunkenly tried to recover items he had previously thrown overboard. Despite Dennis's death, The Beach Boys soldiered on, and they enjoyed a resurgence of interest later in the 1980s, assisted by tributes such as the David Lee Roth version of "California Girls". In 1987, they played with the rap group The Fat Boys, covering the song "Wipe Out" and filming a video for it. They scored their first #1 in 22 years with the 1988 song "Kokomo," which was featured on the soundtrack of the hit Tom Cruise movie Cocktail and which became their biggest-selling hit ever. In 1996 they guested with Status Quo on a re-recording of "Fun, Fun, Fun", which was a British Top 30 hit.

Members of the band appeared on sitcoms such as Full House (starring sometimes drummer John Stamos) and Home Improvement in the 1990s, as well as touring occasionally. However, their declining career contrasted dramatically with the massive public interest and rabid critical praise that followed Brian's gradual return to touring in the 1990s. The critically acclaimed documentary I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, important in restoring Wilson's reputation, saw him performing for the first time with his now adult daughters, Wendy and Carnie, and included glowing tributes to his talents from a host of major music stars of the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

Tragedy struck the Wilson family again in 1998 when Carl Wilson died of lung cancer. Although Love and Johnston continued to tour as The Beach Boys, no other original members accompanied them. Their tours remained popular, even as they came to be viewed primarily as a nostalgia act. Meanwhile, Brian Wilson and Al Jardine each separately pursued solo careers with their new bands.

Court Battles

Many legal problems arose from Wilson's psychological issues. In the mid 1970s the band hired controversial therapist Eugene Landy in an attempt to help him. Landy did achieve some significant improvements in Wilson's overall condition; from his own admissions about his massive drug intake, it's highly likely that Wilson would have died if Landy had not intervened. He successfully treated Wilson's drug dependence, and by 1987 Wilson had recovered sufficiently to record his first solo album. But Landy became increasingly possessive of his star patient and was fired after it became apparent that he was using his control over Wilson for his own benefit.

In addition to the challenges over the use of the band's name and over the best way to care for Wilson, there were three significant legal cases involving the Beach Boys in recent years. The first was Wilson's suit to reclaim the rights to his songs and the group's publishing company, Sea of Tunes, which he had signed away to his father in 1967. He successfully argued that he had not been mentally fit to make an informed decision. While Wilson failed to regain his copyrights, he was awarded $25 million for the loss.

The second lawsuit stemmed from Wilson's reclamation of his publishing rights. Soon after he won his case, Mike Love sued him to gain credit for his co-authorship of a number of important Beach Boys songs, including "California Girls", "Catch A Wave," "I Get Around," "When I Grow Up," "Be True To Your School," "Help Me Rhonda," "I Know There's An Answer," and numerous others, winning $13 million for lost royalties. In interviews, Mike revealed that on some songs he wrote most of the lyrics, on others only a line or two.

In November 2005, Love filed another lawsuit against Wilson. Love alleges that the UK publication The Mail on Sunday and Wilson’s representatives gave the false impression to the readers of The Mail on Sunday that their joint promotional giveaway of nearly three million copies of the CD called "Good Vibrations" was authorized by Mike Love and The Beach Boys. This free CD, Love alleges, includes five of Love and Wilson’s co-authored hit Beach Boys songs, and was done to promote Wilson's solo CD, Smile. Love also says that Smile and "Good Vibrations" were marketed using The Beach Boys’ names and images without permission. He is seeking several million dollars in damages, and also a million dollars to cover costs of advertising to correct the perceived damage to the band's reputation.

Love has stated: “Once again the people around Brian, my cousin and collaborator on many hits, who I love and care about, have used him for their own financial gain without regard to his rights, or my rights, or even the rights of the estates of his deceased brothers, Carl and Dennis, and their children... Unfortunately, history repeats itself. Because of Brian’s mental issues he has always been vulnerable to manipulation. I simply want to stop the infringers and stop the deception!”[5]

There has been speculation that Love's lawsuit is an attempt to pressure Wilson into agreeing to let him continue to use the profitable Beach Boys name for his and Johnston's touring efforts [6].

Wilson’s website listed the following statement in response: “The lawsuit against Brian is meritless. While he will vigorously defend himself he is deeply saddened that his cousin Mike Love has sunk to these depths for his own financial gain.”

Setting aside differences

On June 13, 2006, the major surviving Beach Boys (Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and David Marks) all set aside their differences and reunited for a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the album Pet Sounds and the double-platinum certification of their greatest hits compilation, Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys, in a ceremony atop the Capitol Records building in Hollywood. Plaques were awarded for their efforts to all major members, with Brian Wilson accepting for his late brothers Carl and Dennis. Wilson himself implied there is a chance that all the living members (having not performed together since the late 1980s) will reunite again [7].

Awards and designations

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 [8] and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998 [9].

Personnel changes through the years

The Beach Boys lineups

1961 - 1962

1962 - 1963

1963 - 1964

1964 - 1965

with


1965 - 1968

with


1968 - 1972

with


1972 - 1974

with


1974 - 1976

with


1976 - 1980

with


1980 - 1982

with


1982 - 1983

with


1983 - 1995

with


1995 - 1996

with


1996 - 1998

with


1998 - 1999

with


1999 - 2001

with


2001 - 2004

with


2004 - present

with

From the start, The Beach Boys have undergone many variations in composition, being represented by fill-ins as often as not. Wilson neighbor David Marks appeared on their first four albums and was a member from 1962 to 1963 as a temporary replacement for Jardine, who had left the group to pursue a career in dentistry. Marks rejoined the band in 1997, during Carl Wilson's last illness, and remained with them for two years.

Glen Campbell toured for several months with the group in 1965, as a touring replacement for Brian, who had played bass in concert. Campbell was subsequently replaced by Bruce Johnston, who later became a permanent member. During the mid-1970s drummer Ricky Fataar and guitarist Blondie Chaplin joined the band.

Though not official members, The Beach Boys' supporting band has featured many notable musicians over the years. Keyboard player Daryl Dragon, later famous as half of the pop duo Captain & Tennille, toured with the band, along with his future wife Toni Tennille. Carli Muñoz, who had been playing percussion with the band since 1970, in 1971 replaced Daryl Dragon as keyboard player until 1981. Jeff Foskett joined the touring band in 1981 as a guitarist and vocalist and remained with the group until 1990, Foskett is currently a member of Brian Wilson's group. Billy Hinsche, of Dino, Desi, & Billy fame, was also a longtime member of the supporting band throughout the '70s, '80s, and '90s.

Some of the changes in The Beach Boys' organization were less formal. They enjoyed a casual collaboration with fellow Southern Californians Jan and Dean. Much to the consternation of other band members, Wilson composed "Surf City" and gave the song, without compensation, to Dean Torrence. Jan and Dean, at the time not nearly as popular as The Beach Boys, recorded the song and scored their first number one single, long before the Beach Boys reached the same milestone. Years later, Torrence happened upon the studio where the Beach Boys were recording their "Beach Boys' Party!" album. He joined in the singing, and can be heard singing harmony in the "Barbara Ann" cut from that album.

Despite the deaths of two original Beach Boys, the band continues to this very day, one of the busiest bands on the circuits. Love and Johnston have often hinted at a new Beach Boys studio album, but as of this writing at the end of 2005, nothing has yet appeared.

To the surprise and delight of fans around the world, Wilson has mounted several major tours under his own name with a band containing members of The Wondermints and led by former Beach Boys guitarist Jeff Foskett plus other supporting musicians. Their note-perfect live performances of the entire Pet Sounds album earned some of the most glowing concert reviews of Wilson's career, with some commentators calling the shows "the concert of a lifetime". In 2003 and 2004, he and Van Dyke Parks reunited to complete the unfinished sections of Smile, and in 2004 Wilson and his band toured the world performing a live concert version of the album. They then recorded a new studio version of Smile using vintage recording equipment and including sessions at the fabled Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, where some of the original recordings were made.

Jardine toured for a while with the Beach Boys Family & Friends (which for legal reasons quickly became Alan Jardine Family & Friends Beach Band), featuring his sons Matt and Adam, Wilson's daughters Carnie and Wendy, and Carl's brother-in-law Billy Hinsche, among others. Jardine now tours as the Endless Summer Band which includes his two sons, Hinsche, and several other performers including members of the pop/rock band Tripsitter.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Anthologies

Boxed sets

Unreleased albums


Singles

  1. Surfin'/Luau (Candix-331/November 1961) US: 75
  2. 409/Surfin' Safari (Capitol 4777/4 June 1962) US: 14
  3. Ten Little Indians/County Fair (Capitol 4880/19 November 1962) US: 49
  4. Surfin' U.S.A./Shut Down (Capitol 4932/4 March 1963) US: 3; UK: 34
  5. Surfer Girl/Little Deuce Coupe (Capitol 5009/22 July 1963) US: 7
  6. Be True To Your School/In My Room (Capitol 5069/14 October 1963) US: 6
  7. Little Saint Nick/The Lord’s Prayer (Capitol 5096/2 December 1963) US: 3 (x-mas)
  8. Fun, Fun, Fun/Why Do Fools Fall In Love (Capitol 5118/3 February 1964) US: 5
  9. I Get Around/Don’t Worry Baby (Capitol 5174/11 May 1964) US: 1; UK: 7
  10. When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)/She Knows Me Too Well (Capitol 5245/17 August 1964) US: 9; UK: 27
  11. Dance, Dance, Dance/The Warmth of The Sun (Capitol 5306/26 October 1964) US: 8; UK: 24
  12. The Man With All The Toys/Blue Christmas (Capitol 5312/16 November 1964) US: 3 (x-mas)
  13. Do You Wanna Dance?/Please Let Me Wonder (Capitol 5372/8 February 1965) US: 12
  14. Help Me, Rhonda/Kiss Me, Baby (Capitol 5395/5 April 1965) US: 1; UK: 27
  15. California Girls/Let Him Run Wild (Capitol 5464/12 July 1965) US: 3; UK: 26
  16. The Little Girl I Once Knew/There's No Other (Like My Baby) (Capitol 5540/8 November 1965) US: 20
  17. Barbara Ann/Girl Don't Tell Me (Capitol 5561/20 December 1965) US: 2;UK: 3
  18. Caroline No/Summer Means New Love (Capitol 5610/7 March 1966) US: 32 credited to Brian Wilson
  19. Sloop John B/You're So Good To Me (Capitol 5602/21 March 1966) US: 3; UK: 2
  20. Wouldn't It Be Nice/God Only Knows (Capitol 5706/11 July 1966) US: 8; UK: 2
  21. Good Vibrations/Let's Go Away For Awhile (Capitol 5676/10 October 1966) US: 1; UK: 1
  22. Then I Kissed Her (written by Phil Spector/E. Greenwich/J. Barry) (Capitol HF 298/May1967) UK: 5
  23. Heroes and Villains/You’re Welcome (Brother 1001/24 July 1967) US: 12; UK: 8
  24. Gettin' Hungry/Devoted To You (Brother 1002/28 August 1967) credited to Brian and Mike
  25. Wild Honey/Wind Chimes (Capitol 2028/23 October 1967) US: 31; UK: 29
  26. Darlin'/Here Today (Capitol 2068/11 December 1967) US: 19; UK: 11
  27. Friends/Little Bird (Capitol 2160/8 April 1968) US: 47; UK: 25
  28. Do It Again/Wake The World (Capitol 2239/15 July 1968) US: 20; UK: 1
  29. Bluebirds Over The Mountain/Never Learn Not To Love (Capitol 2360/2 December 1968) US: 61; UK: 33
  30. I Can Hear Music/All I Want To Do (Capitol 2432/24 February 1969) US: 24; UK: 10
  31. Break Away/Celebrate The News (Capitol 2560/23 June 1969) US: 63; UK: 6
  32. Add Some Music To Your Day/Susie Cincinnati (Brother 0894/23 February 1970) US: 64
  33. Cottonfields/The Nearest Faraway Place (Capitol 2765/20 April 1970) US: 103; UK: 5
  34. Slip On Through/This Whole World (Brother 0929/29 June 1970)
  35. Tears In The Morning/It’s About Time (Brother 0957/November 1970)
  36. Cool, Cool Water/Forever (Brother 0998/February 1971)
  37. Wouldn't It Be Nice (Live from The Big Sur Folk Festival) b/w "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (B-side by Merry Clayton) (Ode 66016 /April 1971)
  38. Long Promised Road/Deidre (Brother 1015/24 May 1971)
  39. Long Promised Road/'Til I Die (Brother 1047/11 October 1971) US: 89
  40. Surf's Up/Don't Go Near The Water (Brother 1058/8 November 1971)
  41. You Need A Mess of Help To Stand Alone/Cuddle Up (Brother 1091/15 May 1972)
  42. Marcella/Hold On Dear Brother (Brother 1101/26 June 1972) US: 110
  43. Sail On, Sailor/Only With You (Brother 1138/29 January 1973) US: 79
  44. California Saga (On My Way To Sunny Californ-i-a)/Funky Pretty (Brother 1156/16 April 1973) US: 84; UK: 37
  45. Child Of Winter (Christmas Song)/Susie Cincinnati (Brother 1321/23 December 1974)
  46. Sail On, Sailor/Only With You (Brother 1325/10 March 1975) US: 49
  47. Rock And Roll Music/The TM Song (Brother 1354/24 May 1976) US: 5; UK: 36
  48. It’s O.K./Had To Phone Ya (Brother 1368/9 August 1976) US: 29
  49. Everyone's In Love With You/Susie Cincinnati (Brother 1375/1 November 1976)
  50. Honkin' Down The Highway/Solar System (Brother 1389/30 May 1977)
  51. Peggy Sue/Hey, Little Tomboy (Brother 1394/28 August 1978) US: 59
  52. Here Comes The Night/Baby Blue (Caribou ZS9 9026/19 February 1979) US: 44; UK: 37
  53. Good Timin’/Love Surrounds Me (Caribou ZS9 9029/16 April 1979) US: 40
  54. Lady Lynda/Full Sail (Caribou ZS9 9030/June 1979) UK: 7
  55. It’s A Beautiful Day/Sumahama (Caribou ZS9 9031/September 1979) UK: 45
  56. Goin' On/Endless Harmony (Caribou ZS9 9032/11 March 1980) US: 83
  57. Livin' With A Heartache/Santa Ana Winds (Caribou ZS9 9033/20 May 1980)
  58. The Beach Boys Medley (October 1981) US: 12
  59. Come Go With Me/Don't Go Near The Water (Caribou ZS4 02633/2 November 1981) US: 18
  60. Getcha Back/Male Ego (Caribou ZS4 04913/8 May 1985) US: 26
  61. It’s Gettin’ Late/It’s O.K. (Caribou ZS4 05433/17 July 1985) US: 82
  62. She Believes In Love Again/It’s Just A Matter Of Time (Caribou ZS4 05624/2 October 1985)
  63. Rock’n’Roll To The Rescue/Good Vibrations (Live In London) (Capitol 5595/9 June 1986) US: 68
  64. California Dreamin'/Lady Liberty (Capitol 5630/1 September 1986) US: 57
  65. Happy Endings (with Little Richard)/California Girls (Critique 99392/November 1987) -
  66. Kokomo/Tutti Frutti (Little Richard) (Elektra 69385/18 July 1988) US: 1; UK: 25
  67. Still Cruisin’/Kokomo (Capitol 44445/7 August 1989) US: 93
  68. Somewhere Near Japan/Kokomo (Capitol 44475/January 1990)
  69. Wouldn't it be nice: UK chart 58, 06/90
  70. Problem Child/Tutti Frutti (Little Richard) (RCA 2646/July 1990)
  71. Hot Fun In The Summertime/Summer Of Love (Brother 5247/July 1992)
  72. Under The Boardwalk (1994 - Promo Only)
  73. Summer Of Love/I'm Always Here (other artist) (1995)
  74. Fun, Fun, Fun (short version)/? (Status Quo featuring the Beach Boys on backing vocals) Polydor/PolyGram UK Polydor/PolyGram/.../February 1996) UK: 24
  75. Little Deuce Coupe (with James House) (1996) US Country Chart: 69
  76. I Can Hear Music (with Kathy Troccoli) (River North 3011/August 1996) US Country Chart: 73
  77. Long Tall Texan (with Doug Supernaw) (1996-Promo only) US Country Chart: 69
  78. Fun Fun Fun (Status Quo featuring The Beach Boys on backing vocals) US 1997 (UK, Polydor/PolyGram TV 576 262-2, 02/1996: UK Chart: 24

EPs

  1. Four By The Beach Boys (Capitol R 5267/21 September 1964) US: 44
  • A: Little Honda; Wendy
  • B: Don’t Back Down; Hushabye

Album availability

  • With the exception of Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, and the three albums since 1989, all the Beach Boys albums are available in a two-LP-on-one-CD format. The rereleases of the 1960s albums also include bonus tracks.
  • Pet Sounds is available on both CD and DVD-Audio. A four-disc box set including numerous outtakes and alternate versions is also available. One CD release has both the stereo and mono mixes of the classic album as well as an alternate session outtake entitled Hang On To Your Ego .
  • The Beach Boys' Christmas Album is available both on its own and as part of the Ultimate Christmas album, which includes tracks from an aborted 1977 Christmas album.
  • Still Cruisin', Summer in Paradise, and Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 are currently out of print, but can be found used on CD.
  • The 1993 box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys presents a comprehensive review of the group's career plus a number of rare tracks, including some from the legendary Smile sessions.

Three albums have been released since the group's split.

References

  • Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 1992.
  • Wilson, Brian (with Todd Gold), Wouldn't It Be Nice, My Own Story, 1991.

See also

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