The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys were born when five California teens made a quick-shot record about the surfing craze. In time the group would represent American music at its most creative and most fun-- occasionally at the same time-and become a musical institution for more than a half-century.

The original and most famous lineup comprised the three Wilson brothers-Brian (bass), Carl (guitar) and Dennis (drums)-plus cousin Mike Love (vocals) and local friend Al Jardine (guitar, replaced for a few years by David Marks); all five members were capable lead and harmony singers. Dennis was the only one who actually surfed, though Brian already had a knack for translating those good times into songs.

After a minor hit with 1961's "Surfin'," they launched a series of important singles that celebrated all the American essentials-cars ("Little Deuce Coupe"), girls ("Surfer Girl,") more surfing ("Surfin' USA:") and even school ("Be True to Your School"). Even the Beatles' arrival didn't break their stride, as 1964 brought two more smashes ("Fun, Fun, Fun" and "I Get Around"), by now with Brian as producer, arranger and main writer.

The first transition came when the pressured Brian had a panic attack aboard an airplane; he then left the live band (replaced by Bruce Johnston) and only worked in the studio. The immediate result was new sophistication; the next single "California Girls" was a full orchestral production, though still as upbeat as before. But Brian made his breakthrough on the 1966 album, Pet Sounds, whose finely crafted songs and arrangements would inspire many bands over the years (starting with the Beatles on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). It's been a fixture on "best album of all time" lists ever since.

Ironically one of its best-loved tracks, the Carl-sung love ballad "God Only Knows" was banned by many radio stations at the time for mentioning God in a non-religious context. The follow-up single "Good Vibrations," was still more innovative with its electronics and multi-part structure; it was an influential record and a Number One hit. But the bottom dropped out as Brian went to work on an ambitious song-cycle album, to be called Smile.

Plagued by drugs and instability (and as was later revealed, an abusive father), he broke down and cancelled the album, rushing out the hastily recorded (and downright odd) Smiley Smile in its place. Brian would struggle with mental illness for decades to come, though the Beach Boys would still reach creative if not commercial peaks on '70s albums (Sunflower, Surf's Up) that brought Carl and Dennis' creativity to the fore.

More notably, the 1974 compilation Endless Summer was a surprise hit and gave the Beach Boys a permanent place on the oldies circuit. Brian left and rejoined the group a few times, and they wound up having their biggest latter-day hit, 1988's critically reviled "Kokomo," without him.

And a happy ending was reached when Brian completed Smile with his solo band in 2004, a Beach Boys version was later assembled from the 1966 tapes. By general consensus, it lived up to 40 years' worth of hype. Dennis Wilson died in 1983 and Carl in 1998; the surviving Beach Boys did a 50th anniversary tour in 2012. Against all odds, the current Beach Boys (with Love and Johnston) and Brian Wilson's solo band (with Al Jardine) were still on the road in 2019.