Beach Boys . It is a group that was formed in Hawthorne , California in 1960 . The band was consolidated at first by the Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennos Wilson, along with Mike Love and Al Jardine, boys who were also close to the family and possessed a lot of talent.
Summary
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- 1 Beginnings of the group
- 2 The success of the group
- 3 Group decline
- 4 Group news
- 5 Discography
- 6 Sources
Beginnings of the group
Initially, the band takes the name of “The Pendletones”. The “look” of the group, as well as their songs reflected from the beginning the lifestyle of the young surfers of the 60s who were often marginalized by their customs.
At the end of 1961 , they recorded their first demo for Candix Records, under the name “Beach Boys”. From this production the single “Surfin´” and “Surfin´ Safari” comes off. The latter shortly after became a success and was able to access the pop music charts.
In 1962 , they released the album “Surfin Safari” and in 1963 they managed to place 3 albums on the market: “Surfin’USA”, “Surfer Girl” and “Little Deuce Coupe”.
The fact of maintaining the success achieved by the band, generates in Brian Wilson an anxiety attack. For this reason, he decides to temporarily move away from the tours that the band was doing to dedicate himself to composing and recording the next production. Wilson’s place is occupied by Glen Campbell at first, and later Bruce Johnston joins the group, who has remained a permanent member since then.
The musical duo “Jan & Dean” became close friends of the band, that is why they were the opening act for some of their concerts during 1963 and 1964 . The fact that Wilson was temporarily out of business allowed him to freely carry out his role as music producer, especially for the duo “Jan & Dean.” The song “Surf City” (written by Wilson) became “No. 1” on the US charts, which gave it a great acceptance by the general public.
The success of the group
In 1964 , two albums appeared: first “All Summer Long”, which achieved public acceptance, thanks to songs like “Drive-In” and “I Get Around”. Secondly, the LP “Shut Down, Vol. II” is released, achieving commercial success with the song: “Denny’s Drums”.
Starting in 1965 , the Beach Boys’ musical style took a more experimental turn (due to Wilson’s use of hallucinogens). The album “Today” offers less emphasis on guitars, and instead focuses on keyboards and percussion, also a lyrical maturity is clearly noted in the general content.
Also in 1965 , they released the album “Summer Days” and deservedly managed to be ranked # 3 in the rankings with the song “California Girls”. and manages to climb the top 20 with the single “The Little Girl I Once Knew”.
Wilson’s ingenuity in the recording studio, along with their increasingly sophisticated arrangements result in the most controversial album of the band: “Pet Sounds” in 1966 . The tracks “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “God Only Knows” clearly show Wilson’s skill as a songwriter, set-up and producer.
At the end of 66, Wilson meets the composer Van Dyke Parks, and they begin to work on the production of the album “Smile”, but due to internal problems with the band and the record company, the album was not completed; even so, many of the songs prepared for that album were later released on LPs: “Smiley Smile” and “Surf’s Up”.
In 1967 , under a more stable environment, the group released the LP “Smiley Smile”. That same year, they produce the album “Wild Honey” that includes popular songs like “Darlin ‘”, and a cover of the song “I Was Made to Love Her” by Stevie Wonder.
“Friends”, an acoustic album, influenced by the band’s practice of meditation, was released in 1968 .
Then, in 1968 , “Stack-O-Tracks” appeared, an album that could not enter the charts, and in 1969, the LP “20/20” was born, which managed to position itself in the American charts at number 68, and at No. 3 in the UK.
In 1970 they changed their record company to Reprise Records and a few months later the album ‘Sunflower’ was born and a year later, “Surf’s Up”. Shortly after, ‘Holland’ appears, an album that was more successful than the previous one. This material contains one of the most emblematic songs of the Beach Boys: “Sail on Sailor”, which gave them the opportunity to reach # 37 on the Billboard chart.
In 1974 , the Capitol record company, with whom they had previously worked, released a compilation of the band’s work, prior to the PetSounds album, under the cover of a double album: “Endless Summer”. With this album they managed to establish themselves on the Billboard chart for several weeks and in turn were able to achieve gold record recognition. The following year, a new compilation album comes out, this time under the name “Spirit of America.” These two productions collaborated in the image of the group, reviving the public’s interest in them.
“15 Big Ones” marked the return of Brian Wilson as an important part of the group. This album includes new songs composed by Brian, as well as new arrangements of old songs by other bands such as: “Rock and Roll Music”, “Blueberry Hill” and “In The Still of The Night”.
In 1977 , the Beach Boys created “Love You”, a collection of 14 songs that was not commercially successful.
Group decline
In the late seventies, Dennis Wilson relapses into drug and alcohol use, performing in deplorable states during some concerts. As a result of these events, the band is forced to publicly apologize after a performance in Sydney in 1979 .
The Beach Boys kick off the 80’s with a concert in Washington, DC, before a large audience. This concert resulted in a tour that lasted two years.
Dennis Wilson’s problems continued to spread until he was killed on December 28, 1983, when he accidentally drowned while making a cruise on a friend’s boat.
Despite the loss of Dennis, the Beach Boys kept the band, performing more successful concerts, such as the one that took place on July 4, 1985, where they managed to gather a crowd that exceeded 750,000 people (made by the which were inscribed in the “Guinness Book of Records”). Nine days after this event, they also performed at the “Live Aid” concert.
Unexpectedly, in 1988 , the Beach Boys, scored their first # 1 in 22 years of career with the song “Kokomo” and for this they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Walk of Fame that same year.
The 6 of February of 1998 , Carl Wilson died of lung cancer. However, Love and Johnston continued to tour, but none of the other original members accompanied them. Brian Wilson and Alan Jardine separately pursued their solo careers with new bands.
Group news
In 2001 , the group received a Grammy Award for their artistic career. Likewise, in 2004 , the specialized magazine “Rolling Stone” attributed them the position number 12 in its list of the 100 best artists of all time.
On November 13 of the 2006 marked the return of Boys Beach with meeting all the original members (Brian Wilson, Mike Love, A Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks) for the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the album Pet Sounds.
Discography
- Surfin ‘Safari (1962)
- Surfin USA (1963)
- Surfer Girl (1963)
- Little Deuce Coupe (1963)
- Shut Down Volume 2 (1964)
- All Summer Long (1964)
- The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album (1964)
- Today! (1965)
- Summer Days (and Summer Nights !!) (1965)
- Beach Boys’ Party! (1965)
- Pet Sounds (1966)
- Smiley Smile (1967)
- Wild Honey (1967)
- Friends (1968)
- Stack-O-Tracks (1968)
- 20/20 (1969)
- Sunflower (1970)
- Surf´s Up (1971)
- Holland (1973)
- The Beach Boys in Concert (1973)
- 15 Big Ones (1976)
- Love You (1977)
- MIU Album (1978)
- LA Light Album (1979)
- Keepin ‘The Summer Alive (1980)
- Still Cruisin ‘(1989)
- Summer in Paradise (1992)
- Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 (1996)
- Good Timin ‘: Live at Knebworth England 1980 (2002)
