Group formed by the Wilson Brothers in Hawthorne, California in 1961. Their manager was their father Murry Wilson who was allegedly difficult to work with and caused problems such that two of the brothers did not attend his funeral.
They started out as The Pendletons, named after Pendleton woolen shirts. The single “God Only Knows” was refused airplays on many USstations because of the use of “God” in the title, which was the first time it had happened.
Paul McCartney named the album Pet Sounds as one of his favourite albums of all time with “God Only Knows” as his favorite song and said that was a major influence on the writing of the Sgt. Pepper album. In 1997 Mojo magazine named “Good Vibrations” the “Greatest Single of all Time”.
Due to problems that occurred within the group, their album Smile became the most famous unreleased album of all time. The band was forced to apologise publicly after a performance in Sydney where some of the members appeared drunk. Their 4th of July concerts on the National Mall in Washington DC were banned by the politician James Watt after a few years as he claimed they brought an “undesirable element”.
Their biggest selling hit was “Kokomo” and they were indicted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Vocal Hall of Fame in 1998.
They officially broke up in 1998 shortly after Carl Wilson’s death however Mike Love and Bruce Johnston maintain the rights to the name and continue to tour with their own band as The Beach Boys.
Members
- Brian Douglas Wilson (1961-1998) (songwriter, vocals, keyboard, bass)
- Carl Dean Wilson (1961-1998) (lead guitar, vocals)
- Dennis Wilson (1961-1972, 1976-1983)(drums, piano, guitar, vocals)
- Al Jardine (1961-1996)(bass, guitar, vocals)
- David Lee Marks (1962-1963, 1996-1998) (rhythm guitar, vocals)
- Ricky Fataar (1972-1976) (drums)
- Blondie Chaplin (1972-1974) (bass, vocals)
- Glen Campbell (1964-1965) (bass, keyboard, vocals)
- Mike Love (1961-Present) (lead vocals)
- Bruce Johnston (1965-1968, 1978-Present) (bass, keyboards, vocals)
- Mike Kowalski (1968-Present) (drums, vocals)
- Chris Farmer (1995-Present) (bass/vocals)
- Tim Bonhomme (1996-Present) (keyboards/vocals)
- John Cowsill (2001-Present) (keyboards/vocals)
- Scott Totten (2001-Present) (guitar)
- Adrian Baker (1981-1983, 1989-1993, 1998-2004)(vocals)
- Randell Kirsch (2004-Present) (guitar)
- Mike Meros (1998-2001) (keyboards)
- Phil Bardowell (1995?-2001) (guitar)
The Beach Boys Recordings
- Wendy (Brian Wilson)
- Livin’ With a Heartache (Carl Wilson/Randy Bachman)
- Little Honda (Brian Wilson/Mike Love)
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