Beach boys history biography

The Beach Boys began their careers with sunny paeans about California life that led to multiple No. 1 hits, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and years of successful tours. However, the band has also faced harsh realities such as Brian Wilson's mental illness, the early deaths of Dennis and Carl Wilson, and conflicts within the group over their music.

The Wilson brothers endured a rough childhood

The Beach Boys arrived on the scene with "Surfin'" in 1961. Of the group's founding members — brothers Brian, Carl, and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love and Brian's classmate Al Jardine — only Dennis surfed (the ocean scared Brian), but that didn't keep them from creating more hit songs that highlighted the idyll of life in California, including "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Surfin' U. S. A." Their songs were usually composed, produced and arranged by Brian, with Love often providing lyrics.

Though early Beach Boys songs focused on fun and sun, the Wilson brothers had actually endured a horror-filled childhood. Father Murry engaged in physical, verbal and psychological abuse (he'd even take out his glass eye and have a boy look into the empty socket). Brian's deafness in one ear may have been caused by a blow from his father. As Murry was initially the band's manager, he continued to put pressure on his sons while they found success. Brian once said of his father, "He scared me so much I actually got scared into making good records."

Brian became frustrated enough to fire Murry in 1964. However, he still felt pressure to keep creating hits and that year had his first nervous breakdown. "I was run down mentally and emotionally because I was running around, jumping on jets from one city to another on one-night stands, also producing, writing, arranging, singing, planning, teaching — to the point where I had no peace of mind and no chance to actually sit down and think or ev

NOTE: Many visitors to this site desire to know basic information about the Beach Boys, specifically, who is still surviving (Brian Wilson, Mike Love, and Al Jardine), who has passed on (Dennis Wilson drowned in 1983, Carl Wilson died from cancer in 1998), and who is now touring (Brian Wilson tours as a solo artist, Mike Love tours with Bruce Johnston (who joined the Beach Boys in 1965) as "The Beach Boys") and Al Jardine occasionally tours with his own band.  This page is to give a brief overview of the Beach Boys lives and careers.

The seminal line-up comprised Brian Wilson (b. 20 June 1942, Hawthorne, California, USA), Carl Wilson (b. 21 December 1946, Hawthorne, California, d. 6 February 1998), Dennis Wilson (b. 4 December 1944, Hawthorne, California, USA, d. 28 December 1983), Al Jardine (b. 3 September 1942, Lima, Ohio, USA) and Mike Love (b. 15 March 1941, Baldwin Hills, California, USA).When the aforementioned three brothers, one cousin and a schoolfriend formed a casual singing group in Hawthorne in 1961, they unconsciously created one of the  longest-running, compulsively fascinating and bitterly tragic sagas in popular music. As Carl and The Passions, the Pendletones and Kenny and the Cadets, they rehearsed and played high-school hops while elder brother Brian began to demonstrate his songwriting ability. He was already obsessed with harmonics and melody, and would listen for hours to close-harmony groups, especially the Four Freshmen and the Hi-Lo's. One of his earliest songs, 'Surfin'' (written at the  suggestion of keen surfing brother Dennis), was released on a local label, and the topical name 'Beach Boys' was innocently adopted. The domineering father of the brothers, Murry Wilson, immediately seized on their potential and appointed himself as manager, publicist and producer. After his own abortive attempts at a career in music, he began to live his frustrated career dreams through his sons. 'Surfin', with Murry's effo

The Beach Boys will tell their story in their own words in the first-ever official book from the surf-rock legends.

The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys compiles exclusive interviews from band members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston — as well as archival text from late members Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson — to form the autobiography, which spans the beginnings of the band and signing their Capitol Records contract up through their famed 1980 Independence Day concert at the National Mall in Washington D.C.

In addition to the interviews, the book also features ephemera from the Capitol Records, Beach Boys, and their own personal archives, including lyric sheets, chord sheets, live photographs, handwritten notes, studio documents, tape boxes, tour posters, and much more.

The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys also boasts contributions from some of the countless artists inspired by the band, including Lindsey Buckingham, Thom Yorke, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Ray Davies, Bob Dylan, Def Leppard, the Flaming Lips, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, David Lee Roth, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Roger McGuinn, Graham Nash, Jimmy Page, Carly Simon, Pete Townshend, and Rufus Wainwright.

The “bookstore” version of the autobiography will arrive in hardcover form in 2024, but this December, Genesis Publications will release just over 400 “deluxe” copies of the 400-page tome, woven from 100% recycled plastic gathered from oceans and coastline and autographed by Brian Wilson, Love, Jardine and Johnston. That version is available now on Amazon. (An extremely limited “Artluxe” version has already sold out.)

‘There’s love in the music and people can relate to the love, regardless of whether you’re two years old or 92 years old,” Brian Wilson says in the book. “For me, music is about love. Love is the

For more than six decades, The Beach Boys’ music has been an indelible part of American history. Their brilliant harmonies conveyed simple truths through sophisticated, pioneering musical arrangements. The Beach Boys transcended their music and have come to represent Californian culture. They provided fans around the world with a passport to experience love, youthful exuberance, and surf culture. Founded in Hawthorne, California in 1961, The Beach Boys were originally comprised of the three teenaged Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl, and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and school friend Al Jardine. The Beach Boys signed with Capitol Records in July 1962 and released their first album, Surfin’ Safari, that same year.

The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands of all time, with over 100 million records sold worldwide. Between the 1960s and today, the group had over 80 songs chart worldwide, 36 of them in the US Top 40 (the most by a US rock band), and four topping the Billboard Hot 100. Their influence on other artists spans musical genres and movements. Countless artists have cited Pet Sounds as their inspiration for creating their own musical masterpieces. Rolling Stone ranked Pet Sounds No. 2 on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” and The Beach Boys No. 12 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.”

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and recipients of The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award®, The Beach Boys are a beloved American institution that remains iconic around the world.