The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys, a pop music group born and formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961, are widely considered among the most influential bands in rock and pop music history. They recorded dozens of Top 40 hits (including four US #1 singles) and many best-selling albums. more...

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They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

The original group comprised singer-musician-composer Brian Wilson; his brothers, Carl and Dennis; their cousin Mike Love, and friend Alan Jardine, who was briefly replaced by David Marks. Many changes in both musical style and personnel have occurred in their sometimes-stormy career, including Brian Wilson's mental illness, drug addiction and eventual withdrawal from the group (he was replaced for three months in 1965 by Glen Campbell and then by Bruce Johnston so he could concentrate on writing new material); the deaths of Dennis Wilson in 1983 and Carl Wilson in 1998; and continuing legal battles among surviving members of the group.

After Carl Wilson's death, founding member Al Jardine retired from touring with the band. However, Mike Love and Bruce Johnston leased the rights to the name from Brother Records and continue to officially tour as The Beach Boys.

History

Early years

The group was formed in Hawthorne under the leadership of Brian Wilson and included his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Love and school chum Jardine. Dennis was quoted as saying "Brian is The Beach Boys and we are his messengers." The Wilsons' Hawthorne house, where the Wilson brothers grew up and the group began, was demolished in the 1980s to make way for Interstate 105, (the Century Freeway) and California Landmark #1041 at 3701 West 119th Street, dedicated on May 20, 2005, marks the location.

The early inspirations of the group were the Wilsons' musician father, Murry and the close vocal harmonies of groups such as The Four Freshmen. The group performed initially as The Pendletones, after the Pendleton woolen shirts popular then. Although surfing motifs were very prominent in their early songs, Dennis was the sole actual surfer in the group. He suggested to his brothers that they do some songs celebrating his hobby and the lifestyle which had developed around it in Southern California.

In 1961, Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, along with Al Jardine and Mike Love, recorded the song "Surfin'" on Candix Records. It was their first-ever hit and peaked at #75 on the pop charts. At first, Murry Wilson, by many accounts a hard-driving man, steered The Beach Boys' career, engineering their signing with Capitol Records in 1962. In 1964 Brian Wilson fired his father after a violent confrontation in the studio. Over the next few years, they became increasingly estranged; when Murry died some years later, Brian and Dennis did not attend the funeral. There have been rumors about the father being physically abusive to the boys as they were growing up.

Read more at Wikipedia.org