The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American pop-rock band formed in Hawthorne, California. The band, formed in 1961, is primarily made up of the Wilson-Love family at the core of the band, with friends and neighbors as early collaborators. Originally famous for their pioneering surf rock California sound, the band shapeshifted into a progressive pop and baroque pop band, and made the extremely influential record Pet Sounds in 1966. After the collapse of the avant-garde and experimental Smile, the band shifted out of popular culture. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the band gathered a cult following. Since members left and people died in the 1980's and 1990's, the band has effectively become a touring act.

At the beginning, the band was led by soon-to-be-genius bassist Brian Wilson, who would write the music to most songs, arrange harmonies, and sing falsetto / soprano vocals. Brother Carl Wilson would play lead guitar and sing tenor vocals with neighbor Al Jardine, on rhythm guitar. Al would soon drop out and be replaced with neighbor David Marks, also on rhythm guitar. Brother Dennis Wilson would play percussion / drums and no vocals (at least in this period), while cousin Mike Love would sing lead vocals, along with percussion and some saxophone. When harmonizing, Mike would take the baritone / bass vocals.

This was the group that excelled throughout 1962 and 1963; their first record (with Al) was "Surfin'", released on Candix Records. "Surfin'" was a local hit, which gave the group some notoriety for other record labels. Candix shut down in early 1962, so the band recorded a demo tape with four songs. Capitol Records, a major label, would take two selections and release them as a single. While the group was recording their debut album, "Surfin' Safari" would reach #14 on the Billboard Top 100. The album would not do as well, but their next new single, "Surfin' U.S.A." (a re-write of "Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry) hit #3 on the charts, and became their biggest success for a while.