Beach Boys, The, American rock music
band formed in 1961 by brothers Brian Wilson, 1942–,
Dennis Wilson, 1944–83, and Carl
Wilson, 1946–98, with Mike Love,
1941–, and Alan Jardine, 1942–. The band
popularized, if not invented, California rock, a style that featured rich,
simple guitar work and vocal harmonies and that glorified a teenage life in
California centered on surfing, dating, and driving. Their hits include
"Surfin' USA," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "California Girls," and the
proto-psychedelic "Good Vibrations." Band leader, songwriter, and producer
Brian Wilson has led a troubled life, withdrawing from touring in the
mid-'60s and then from recording in the late '60s-mid-'70s. He is credited
with creating the band's distinction sound, as well as expanding the sonic
palette of popular music in the landmark album Pet Sounds
(1966). He suffered a serious breakdown while trying to complete the band's
followup album, Smile, which remained unreleased for many
years. The band has survived despite frequent personnel changes, and
maintained popularity since the 1980s as a nostalgia act. In 1988 they
achieved chart success again with "Kokomo." The original band, with
guitarist David Marks (1948- ) who briefly had been a member of the group
before Al Jardine joined, reunited for a 50th anniversary tour in 2011, but
then split up again amid continuing tension between lead singer Mike Love
and Brian Wilson. Wilson has also toured performing the band's and his own
solo music, including recreating both Smile and Pet
Sounds on stage.
See memoirs by Brian Wilson (1991, with T. Gold; 2017, with B. Greenman), M. Love
(2017, with J. S. Hirsch); biographies P. Ames, Catch A Wave: The
Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson
(2007), A. Webb, Dumb Angel: The Life and Music of Dennis
Wilson (2001), K. Crowley, Long Promised Road: Carl
Wilson; band histories, D. Leaf, The Beach Boys and the
California Myth (1978), S. Gaines, Heroes and Villains
(1986, 1995, ppr. ed.); studies by D. Priore, Look, Listen,
Vibrate, Smile (1997), Smile: The Story of Brian
Wilson's Lost Masterpiece (2005), P. Lambert, Inside
the Music of the Beach Boys (2007), L. Sanchez,
Smile (2014), J.B. Murphy, Becoming the Beach
Boys, 1961-63 (2015), R. Swan, All the Songs
(2018), T. Smucker, Why the Beach Boys Matter (2018).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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