He is a singer-songwriter born in Los Angeles who was a founder member of The Beach Boys and first cousin to the Wilson Brothers and was occasionally seen as the negative creative force within the band.
He wrote the lyrics for “Good Vibrations” and co-wrote many of the early songs and won a lawsuit for his uncredited contributions. He initiated a lawsuit in 2005 against Brian Wilson and the Mail on Sunday newspaper arguing misuse of The Beach Boys’ name in promotions. According to most sources he was opposed to the lyrical content and “avant garde modalities” in the Pet Sounds and SMiLE album projects.
He accompanied The Beatles and Donovan on their trip to India in 1968 afterwards he became involved in Transcendental Meditation. In the mid-70s he recorded two albums with the band Celebration and then a solo album in 1981.
As well as co-writing he played the saxophone on “Kokomo” and was nominated for a Golden Globe for the Original Song Category for the song “Kokomo”, which is the only song that reached No. 1 which hadn’t been written with Brian Wilson.
He was mentioned in songs by The Fall and Bell & Sebastian.
After the death of Carl Wilson in 1998 the group disbanded but he took over the name “The Beach Boys” and still tours with other original members.
In 2014 he was awarded the Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award and 2016 saw the publication of his autobiography Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. The following year he released the solo album Unleash the Love.
Beach Boy Recordings
Little Honda (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)
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