In the 1960's, there were two groups on Capitol Records - one American, the other British - whose name began with the letters "B-E-A-." Each of these groups featured a bass playing songwriter born in June of 1942, and each group made records that have withstood the test of time to become classics of popular culture.
The Beatles, of course, broke up in 1970. But nearly 30 years after they made their first record, their American counterparts, The Beach Boys, are still going strong, selling out concert tours and having hit records as succeeding generations of fans fall in love with the golden harmonies of California's musical ambassadors to the world.
For The Beach Boys, it all began in the modest Wilson family home in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne. In the bedroom they shared, oldest brother Brian taught his younger siblings to sing. In late-night sessions, middle brother Dennis and baby brother Carl learned the harmonies that Brian had absorbed from countless listenings to Four Freshmen and Hi-Los records.
Joining in on Christmas carols at holiday gatherings was Mike Love, the Wilson brothers' first cousin. Mike and Brian also spent many nights together in the late '50's listening to the car radio and singing along to their favorite hits of the day.
However, until 1961, singing was just something the Wilson/Love clan did for fun. It was when that familial foursome became five in 1961, with the addition of Al Jardine (Brian's Hawthorne High football teammate and El Camino Junior College classmate), that the self-named "Pendletones" began to take their vocalizing a little more seriously.
But Al Jardine's voice wasn't just the long-searched-for fourth part to fill out the harmony blend. There might not have been a recording career if not for Al. It was Al's love of folk music (and a loan from Al's parents that the "boys" used for renting instruments) which eventually brought the group into the studio. There, thanks to a remarkable chain of events, they made their first recording and miraculously scored their first chart record. Called "Surfin'," it was released on the independent Candix label.
The formula? Their California garage band sound and an original song about a local fad had immediate teen appeal, and "Surfin'" reached the Top 3 on L.A. radio hit-lists. But as each of the newly-named Beach Boys earned only about $200 from that moment of fame, in early '62 (even though the group had made their live performing debut on December 31, 1961 at a Ritchie Valens memorial concert), the record business probably felt more like a hobby than a job. After all, Carl and Dennis were still in high school, Al and Brian were in college and Mike, the oldest was only 20.
Nonetheless, they were determined to have a career, and they cut a demo tape that would turn out to be their first major label record. With that tape and the help of the Wilson brothers' father, Murry, the group secured a record contract with Capitol Records in mid-1962. Their first single, "Surfin' Safari" b/w "409" was virtually an overnight hit, and almost right out of the box, The Beach Boys became Capitol's hottest act.
In the late summer of '62, the group recorded their first long-player, Surfin' Safari, and that release triggered an avalanche of music. From 1962-1969, Capitol released 20 Beach Boys albums, many of which went "Gold" and hit the Top 20, as The Beach Boys became first the most popular group in American and ultimately one of the most popular in the world.
Their chart success alone would have earned The Beach Boys their spot in The Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame (they were inducted in 1988). But The Beach Boys' story is one of not only commercial but also artistic success. Very simply, The Beach Boys pioneered the concept of the self-contained band, and in the process, revolutionized the recording business.
In an unparalleled act of rock 'n' roll rebellion, The Beach Boys, with Murry Wilson running interference, turned the system upside down, demanding and winning the right to control their records. The Beach Boys' declaration of independence smashed all precedents. Brian Wilson won his creative freedom, and The Beach Boys became the first, and for a long time, the only rock artists to completely control the musical output of their career.
From the beginning, the group featured Carl Wilson (Brian's studio sidekick, the head of the touring band and a truly pacific soul) on lead guitar ; Dennis (the inspiration for the Beach Boys' first song, the group's sex symbol and a real surfing beach boy) bashed on drums; Mike Love (Brian's first lyrical collaborator and the co-writer on many of The Beach Boys' biggest hits) sang lead and became the extroverted emcee of the live shows; Al Jardine (briefly replaced by Wilson neighbor David Marks in 1962 and 1963) strummed rhythm guitar and added his voice to the family blend; and Brian played bass, wrote the songs, arranged the instruments and the vocals, and produced the records. When Brian quit touring in late 1964, his spot was filled temporarily by then-studio musician Glen Campbell and permanently by songwriter/record producer Bruce Johnston.
The Beach Boys' biggest hits read like a soundtrack of the 1960s, from their early surf and car songs like "Surfin' USA" and "Little Deuce Coupe" to the fun in the sun smashes like "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "California Girls"...from the psychedelic beauty of "Good Vibrations" to the nostalgic "Do It Again." From 1962-1965, The Beach Boys scored 16 Top 40 hits including "I Get Around" b/w "Don't Worry Baby," one of the greatest singles of all time, and a #1 smash for the group at the very height of Beatlemania.
In 1966, The Beach Boys' one-two punch of the Pet Sounds album and the "Good Vibrations" single, earned the group international acclaim, and established group leader Brian Wilson as the influential genius of modern pop music. As Paul McCartney recently remarked, "Pet Sounds was my inspiration for making Sgt. Pepper's...the big influence. That was the big thing for me (in 1966). I just thought, 'Oh, dear me. This is the album of all-time. What are we going to do?'" At the end of 1966, a year-end poll in one of England's music papers found The Beach Boys topping The Beatles as the #1 vocal group in the world.
In 1967, the bubble burst. The competitive demands of the record business finally caught up with Brian (he'd produced 12 albums in less than five years), and he decided to take a less active role in the group's work for the remainder of their stay at Capitol. However, that didn't mean the hits stopped. In 1967-1969, the last years of their first Capitol association, The Beach Boys had five more Top 40 hits and released a number of albums, such as Brian's personal favorite, Friends, which The Beach Boys fans and critics regard fondly.
In 1969, The Beach Boys recorded their final Capitol single (although they released four new tracks on the Capitol compilation album Still Cruisin'). Appropriately titled "Breakaway" (to indicate that it was the end of the relationship), it's a spectacular production that flopped on the charts. The Beach Boys, who rode a wave out of their Southern California home to worldwide fame and fortune, had temporarily fallen out of favor with the American public.
But whether The Beach Boys records on Capitol were hits or misses, from 1962-1969 The Beach Boys created a body of work that stood the test of time to become one of the most cherished catalogues in American music history. Of course, in the years since then, The Beach Boys have become American's band, a cultural institution that continues to share its unique musical magic with millions of fans around the world. And throughout that time, whether it's been on compilations like 1974's platinum album, Endless Summer, or 1989's gold LP, Still Crusin' (featuring the #1 hit "Kokomo"), the Beach Boys and Capitol Records continue to team up for a permanent wave of chart success.
Despite the many quarrels, the Beach Boys kept touring during the early '90s, and Mike Love and Brian Wilson actually began writing songs together in 1995. Instead of a new album though, the Beach Boys returned with Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1, a collection of remade hits with country stars singing lead and the group adding backing vocals. Also, a Brian Wilson documentary titled {#I Just Wasn't Made for These Times} aired on the Disney Channel; an accompanying soundtrack featured spare renditions of Beach Boys classics by Brian himself. Carl's death from cancer in 1996 was a shock to bandmembers, fans and friends. Then, Brian began recognizing his immense influence on the alternative community -- he worked with biggest-fans Sean O'Hagan (of the High Llamas) and Andy Paley on a series of songs that would form his second solo album. Again, good intentions failed to carry through, as the recordings were ditched in favor of another overly produced, mainstream-slanted album named Imagination. By early 1999, no less than three Beach Boys-connected units were touring the country -- a Brian Wilson solo tour, the "official" Beach Boys led by Mike Love, and the "Beach Boys Family" led by Al Jardine.
