Beach Boys

**The Beach Boys** are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies, adolescent-oriented themes, and musical ingenuity, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. They drew on the music of older pop vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and black R&B to create their unique sound, and under Brian's direction, often incorporated classical or jazz elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways.

One of the first self-contained rock groups, the Beach Boys began as a garage band, managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, and with Brian as composer, arranger, producer, and de facto leader. In 1963, they had their first national hit with "Surfin' U.S.A.", beginning a string of top-ten singles that reflected a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, dubbed the "California sound". They were one of the few American rock bands to sustain their commercial standing during the British Invasion. Starting with 1965's The Beach Boys Today!, they abandoned beachgoing themes for more personal lyrics and ambitious orchestrations. In 1966, the Pet Sounds album and "Good Vibrations" single raised the group's prestige as rock innovators. After scrapping the Smile album in 1967, Brian gradually ceded control of the group to his bandmates.

In the late 1960s, the group's commercial momentum faltered in the US, and despite efforts to maintain an experimental sound, they were widely dismissed by the early rock music press. Carl took over as the band's musical leader; records from this period later enjoyed a cult following among fans. In the mid-1970s, as their concerts drew larger audiences, the band transitioned into an oldies act. Dennis drowned in 1983 and Brian soon became estranged from the group. Following Carl's death from lung cancer in 1998, the band granted Love legal rights to tour under the group's name. In the early 2010s, the original members briefly reunited for the band's 50th anniversary. As of 2021, Wilson and Jardine do not perform with Love's edition of the Beach Boys, but remain official members of the band.

## Links to Kershaw

In his autobiography, No Off Switch, Kershaw revealed what appealed to him of the Beach Boys:

> *"The milieu of the Beach Boys could not have been a more alien environment to a pre-pubescent in land-locked, industrial Rochdale – upon which the sun, when it shone, appeared to do so through Tupperware.*
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> *I think it was my school pal – and still my pal – Jonny Barnes, who introduced me to their carefree world of surfing, honey-coloured girls, gleaming teeth, infinite leisure time, blonde crew-cuts, parental wealth, hot-rod cars and recreational road traffic accidents. Jonny probably picked up on the Beach Boys from his mum who, bewilderingly, when Jonny and I were teenagers, appeared to be about 25.*
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> *I adored the Beach Boys, for all those sun-kissed temptations and their glorious songs and exquisite harmonies. They seemed to promise gratification on an epic scale, just waiting around the corner in late adolescence which, for a while, persuaded me – a physically underdeveloped specimen, always overlooked or even ridiculed by girls – that to adapt a Beach Boys attitude to a life in Lancashire was my best hope of getting shagged.*
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> *To this end, when I was fifteen, I made an attempt at surfing. That I embarked on this foolishness in the freezing breakers of Bridlington, with absolutely no knowledge of what I was doing, and barely able to swim. I nearly drowned and haven’t tried to surf since. However, despite being the cause of my near death, I still love my Beach Boys records."*
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## External Links

* Wikipedia
* Discogs
* Official Website