The most successful and important
American band of the
rock music era is without question, The Beach Boys. The band formed in
1961 in Hawthorne, CA, around the three Wilson brothers: Brian (b. June
20, 1942) (bass, piano, vocals), Dennis (b. Dec. 4, 1944 - d. Dec. 28,
1983) (drums, vocals), and Carl (b. Dec. 21, 1946) (guitar, vocals).
Additional members were Mike Love (b. Mar. 15, 1941) (vocals), the
Wilsons' cousin, and Al Jardine (b. Sep. 3, 1942) (guitar, vocals). From
the start, the focus of the group's music was Brian Wilson, who combined
a fascination with vocal harmony in the Four Freshmen mold with a love of
Chuck Berry-derived rock & roll. Added to that was the subject matter
of middle-class teenage life in Southern California -- surfing, cars,
and girls.
The
Beach Boys returned to prominence in the mid-'70s on a wave of nostalgia
and a potent concert act that focused on their early hits. Capitol Records had repackaged their catalogue repeatedly, but
Endless Summer amazingly topped the charts, becoming their first gold
album in seven years. In July 1976, The Beach Boys released 15 Big Ones, their
first new studio album in more than three years and their first album in a
decade to credit Brian Wilson as producer. The album spawned a Top Ten hit in
a cover of Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music," but the group's
commercial appeal, at least as far as new recordings, was temporary.
Subsequent albums The Beach Boys Love You (April 1977) and M.I.U. Album
(September 1978) sold less well. Brian Wilson's "comeback" also
proved elusive after 1977.
Especially with the dawn of the CD era, the extensive repackagings
of Beach Boys material have continued apace. The year 1993
finally brought a five-CD boxed-set retrospective,
Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys. In 1995, after the
resolution of various legal issues, lead singer Mike Love and Brian
Wilson began working together again. Yet the partnership was quickly
derailed due to various tensions, and Wilson began collaborating with Van
Dyke Parks and working on a new solo album. The following year, The Beach
Boys released a collection of duets with country artists titled Stars and
Stripes, Vol. 1. There were plans for a box set chronicling the Pet
Sounds sessions, but the compilation was delayed due to disagreements
within The Beach Boys camp.
Discography:
- The Pet Sounds Sessions: A 30th Anniversary
Collection
- Stars and Stripes Vol. I
- 20 Good Vibrations
- Best of the Beach Boys
- Car Trax: California Cruisin'
- Original Surfin' Hits: Their First
Recordings
- Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach
Boys
- Time To Get Alone
- All-Time Greatest Hits
- Back to Back
- Beach Boys Vs.Jan & Dean: 15 Greatest
Hits
- Do It Again!
- Merry Christmas From the Beach Boys
- Summer in Paradise
- Surf's Up
- Absolute Best of the Beach Boys, Vol. I
- Absolute Best of the Beach Boys, Vol. II
- Lost and Found! (1961-1962)
- Summer Dreams
- Surfin' Safari/ Surfin' USA
- Still Cruisin'
- Made in U.S.A.
- Beach Boys Caribou
- Rarities
- Keepin' the Summer Alive
- L.A. (Light Album)
- M.I.U. Album
- Love You
- 15 Big Ones
- Live in London
- Spirit of America
- Endless Summer
- Holland
- The Beach Boys in Concert
- So Tough
- Surf's Up
- Sunflower
- 20/20
- Best of the Beach Boys, Vol III.
- Friends
- Stack-o-Tracks
- Smiley Smile
- Wild Honey
- Best Of The Beach Boys
- Pet Sounds
- Beach Boys Party!
- Summer Days (and Summer Nights!)
- The Beach Boys Today!
- The Beach Boys' Christmas Album
- All Summer Long
- Beach Boys Concert
- Shut Down Volume 2
- Little Deuce Coupe
- Surfer Girl
- Surfin' Safari
- Surfin' USA
