The Beach Boys were formed in 1961, they gained popularity for
their close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a California youth
culture of surfing, girls and cars. The group initially comprised
singer-musician-composer Brian Wilson, his brothers, Carl and Dennis,
their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Many changes in both
musical styles and personnel have occurred during their career, notably
because of Brian Wilson's mental illness and drug abuse (leading to his
eventual withdrawal from the group) and the deaths of Dennis and Carl
Wilson in 1983 and 1998, respectively. Extensive legal battles between
members of the group have also played their part. After Carl Wilson's
death, founding member Al Jardine was ousted by Mike Love. Love and
Bruce Johnston then leased the rights to the band's name and continue to
tour as The Beach Boys.
This is a non-profit, informational web page, meant to be a
reminder of the music we listened to 50 years ago. Use of copyrighted
material is consistent with the "fair use" provisions contained in
section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976; the use of copyrighted material is
of a nonprofit, educational nature, intended for the sole purposes of
research and comment and does not significantly negatively affect "the
potential market for or value of the copyrighted work(s)."