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The Beach Boys - An American Band

1961 - Hawthorne, California, the West Coast sound is born and from it a true American band, the Beach Boys. The Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennis, along with cousin Mike Love and close friend Al Jardine put together a sound of 3 part harmony with simple songs of what the band knew: surfing, the beach and girls. Of all the band members, the only actual surfer among them was the youngest of the Wilson’s, Dennis. In the early days, the Wilson brother’s father, Murray, produced the bands first recordings. Murray Wilson negotiated the Beach Boys first contract with Capitol Records and took over as their manager for 10% of the profits. It is no secret that Murray did not have a good relationship with his sons; he was extremely overbearing and abusive towards them. Conflict over creative differences and “too many rules” gave way to the bands decision to fire Murry as manager. Brian Wilson stepped in as producer and used his unique style of composing and mixing to refine the Beach Boy sound. The Beach Boys had their first number one hit in 1964 with “I Get Around”. Their album Beach Boys Concert was at the top of the chart for four weeks. The band also did tours across Eu

Brain’s fascination with Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound made him returned to the music studios. He began recording instrumental back tracks. In early 1965 the Beach Boys had their second hit with “Help Me Rhonda”. When Brian heard the Beatles 1965 Rubber Soul album, his amazement propelled him to start composing more songs with a lyricist named Tony Asher. He also started using marijuana and experimenting with LSD. In1966, the release of Pet Sounds hailed Brian Wilson praise as the innovative musical genius behind the Beach Boys. While the album impressed the music world, it did not impress the American fans. Brian’s continued drug use caused bad feelings among the band members. This continued and the release of Smiley Smile in 1967 didn’t help. Brother Carl Wilson summed up the LP as “a bunt instead of a grand slam,” it hurt the groups reputation and they where losing their teen fans. Later in the summer, headlining the Monterey Pop Festival ignited a turning point in rock and roll and according to Beach Boy Carl Wilson “we missed the boat.” The band went on an extended tour of Europe where they were hugely successful and returned to the United States inspired and confident. The Beach Boys had a top 20 hit with “Do It Again’, but the song induced thinking that the Beach boys where an oldies act. The 1969 release of 20/20 did better, bu