The Beach Boys Story
The Beach Boys formed in 1961. The band members are; Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson who are all brothers, Al Jardine and Mike Love. All but Al Jardine lived in Los Angelas.
They were first called the Pendletones which was a shirt brand , but a record label executive named them the Beach Boys.
One of their first big hits was ‘Surfin’ that
was credited for starting the ‘surfing craze.’
1962 they released the album Surfin Safari
with the song ‘Surfin Safari’ hitting the U.S Top
40. 1963 ‘Surfin U.S.A’ reached #3 on the
charts. ‘Surfer Girl’ ended the the albums surfer cycle. Both the album
and single made U.S top 10. Their next two albums,
‘Little Deuce Coupe,’ and ‘Shut Down’, went
high on the U.S album charts.
Mid 1964 the song ‘I Get Around’ off of the
album ‘All Summer Long’ became their first U.S No.1
and their first UK top 10 hit. The year closed
with album ‘Beach Boys Concert’ which became
their first Us chart topping LP. Brian underwent
the first of several nervous breakdowns and
withdrew from regular touring for twelve years.
He was first replaced by Glenn Campell and then
later permanently replaced by Bruce Johnston.
A re-recording of ‘Help Me Rhonda’ became the
group’s second No.1 hit. ‘California Girls’
almost became a No.1 but never did.
Free from touring Brian began to take more
time writing and recording a attitude found in the
album ‘Beach Boys Party.’
1966 ‘Pet Sounds’ was one of the finest recorded
by the Beach Boys. Off that album the songs:
‘Sloop John B’, ‘God Only Knows’, ‘Wouldn’t
it be Nice’, and ‘Caroline, No’ all reached U.S top
40. Then they released their most famous song
‘Good Vibrations’ costing them $50,000.
Mid 1967 an abandoned album ‘Smile’ was produced
put was still bootlegged. Then produced
‘Smiley Smile’ which was an album which was
almost identical as ‘Smile’. Off of ‘Smiley Smile’
the song ‘Heroes & Villains’ made top
20
Their Popularity was declining with the albums
‘Wild Honey’, ‘Friends’ and ‘20/20’ selling
fewer and fewer copies and concert crowds
thinned. 1968’s ‘Do it again’ was their last U.S Top
20 single for eight more years.
1970 their contract with Capitol Records expired
and they then were offered their own record
label ‘ Brother Records’ through Warner-Reprise.
They produced their first album with the new
management called ‘Sunflower’ it was a critical
success but a commercial disaster. 1971 ‘Surf’s
Up’ was produced. It was a good seller and
people gave it good reviews but wasn’t popular for
long.
1972 they produced a not so good album called
‘Carl & The Passions - So Tough.’ Week cause
Bruce Johnston left the band and an injury
to Dennis Wilson’s hand that stomped him for drumming
for a while stopped the band from recording.
They then went on to Holland for the summer
producing the Album ‘Holland’ which was a
mild success and was also the group’s last album of
original material for three years.
1974 Capitol Records decided to produce an
album with some of the group’s best hits. The album
was called ‘Endless Summer.’ The album was
produced so fast that some songs were the incorrect
versions. It raced to the top of the U.S chart
and staid there for over a year.
1975 the album ‘Spirit of America’ made the
the U.S Top 10.
Leaving Warners the band tried to figure a
way to produce new material as fast as Capitol did.
Their answer was to return to the studio and
stage of Brian Wilson, who had been rarely
involved since the ‘Smile’ album. ‘15 Big
Ones’ was a US top 10 album and a version of Chuck
Berry’s ‘Rock & Roll Music’ made the US
top 5.
1977’s ‘The Beach Boys Love You’ was more a
Brian Wilson solo album. It was more like Dennis
Wilson’s solo album ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’.
1978 the Beach Boys signed to James Guercio’s
Caribou label while still owing Warner brothers
an album, so they produced an album ‘MIU.’
With the Caribou label they produced three albums in
five years. The Albums were: ‘La’(1979)-Bruce
Johnson worked on it-’Keep The Summer
Alive’(1980), ‘The Beach Boys’(1985).
Since 1985 the band has been doing one-off
single deals with little success. 1988 they produced
‘Kokomo’ from the film ‘Cocktail.’ It staid
outside the charts for sometime then finally made
its way to the top of the U.S chart. 1988
Brian Wilson
Dennis Wilson drowned December 1983. Not too
long ago Carl Wilson was diagnose with cancer in
the lungs and brain.