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[[File:The_Beach_Boys_1966_7963.jpg|
{{quote|''"Sun, Surf, [[Creator Breakdown|Schizophrenia]], Stagnation, [[Dork Age|Stamos]]."''|'''[[Mark Prindle]]''', [http://markprindle.com/beachboys.htm Beach Boys Reviews]}}
[[The Beach Boys]] were America's preeminent pop band in the early-to-mid [[The Sixties|Sixties]]. Originally composed of brothers Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Later included songwriter Bruce Johnston, and South Africans Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar. They are often regarded as America's answer to [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]], despite releasing their debut album two years before the Fabs.
Contrary to what one might expect, The Beach Boys have one of the longest and most fascinating stories of any band in recent history. Before the band even got started professionally, they had been singing together for years, playing at school functions under various names like Carl and the Passions and Kenny and the Cadets. They got their actual start basically out of Brian Wilson's garage; one labor day week-end in 1961; the Wilson brothers' parents went on a business trip to Mexico, and while they were gone, they recorded their first song, "Surfin'", in the garage. After that hit the local radio, they signed on to Capitol Records and quickly climbed the charts as the premiere [[Surf Rock]] band of the nation. They are often credited for popularizing the California culture throughout the country. However, the stress of touring and the competition from
From there, however, the story becomes a long, tragic string of practically nothing but [[It Got Worse]]. After ''Pet Sounds'' was released, Brian Wilson intended to top it with a revolutionary new album called ''Smile''. However, lack of support from anyone combined with his ailing psyche combined with his copious drug abuse combined with a royalty lawsuit led to the album's cancellation in 1967. The band instead released ''Smiley Smile'', which combined what the rest of the band felt were the stronger ''Smile'' tracks with some new, supposedly more commercial material (as opposed to the "weird" ''Smile'' songs). The album flopped, and from there, The Beach Boys struggled to just barely continue scraping the Top 40 for the rest of the 60's into the early 70's. During this time, Brian remained holed up in his room, Dennis Wilson became friends with Charles Manson, and the Wilson brothers' domineering father Murry Wilson sold their entire song catalog for a paltry sum of $750,000 (a catalog which is estimated to be worth at least $75 million today). The band's 1973 album ''Holland'' was artistically ambitious, but a commercial failure. At this point, it seemed as if the group was done.
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For much of the rest of the time, the surviving Beach Boys splintered into three units: The Beach Boys, which is essentially Mike Love, Bruce Johnston, and an assortment of session musicians milking every ounce of copper they can get from the udders of the past; Brian Wilson, who tours with a different assortment of session musicians and continues to record excellent music with them, including, at long last, his dream project ''Smile'' in 2004; and Al Jardine, who left the splintered remains of the original group after Carl's death and now tours with his son and an assortment of session musicians known as Al Jardine's Endless Summer Band.
In 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the band's first album, ''Surfin' Safari'', the unexpected happened: [https://web.archive.org/web/20131013091238/http://www.brianwilson.com/tour
Numerous artists have cited them as a major influence, including [[Animal Collective]], [[The Ramones]], [[
▲Numerous artists have cited them as a major influence, including [[Animal Collective]], [[The Ramones]], [[Alice Cooper (Music)|Alice Cooper]], [[Elton John (Music)|Elton John]], [[Weezer]], [[The Flaming Lips]], basically the entire indie rock genre, and [[The Beatles]] themselves.
{{sidemenu}}
Related Acts:
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*Three Dog Night
*[[The Grateful Dead]]
*[[Chicago (
*Jeffrey Foskett
*The Wondermints
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*The Mamas and the Papas
{{sidemenuend}}
* ''Surfin' Safari'' (1962)
▲Discography:
* ''Surfin'
* ''
* ''
* ''Shut Down Volume 2'' (1964)
* ''All Summer Long'' (1964)
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* ''That's Why God Made the Radio'' (2012)
{{creatortropes}}
* [[Abusive Parents]] - Murry Wilson.
* [[Age Progression Song]] - "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)"
* [[Album Filler]] - The band's early albums suffered from an overabundance of this; American LPs in those days generally consisted of two or three popular singles surrounded by whatever other songs the band had lying around. It wasn't until [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] released ''Rubber Soul'' that Brian realized that albums should be cohesive units with well-crafted music from start to finish.
** He was amazed and excited at an album that was "all good stuff!" To be fair, very few pop artists had even attempted such a thing at the time (1965), although the Beatles had arguably already managed one with ''A Hard Day's Night''.
* [[All Drummers Are Animals]] - Dennis Wilson was known affectionately as a "clubber". During a performance of "I Get Around" at the ''T.A.M.I. Show'', Dennis even shattered a drumstick mid-song.
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* [[Band of Relatives]] - The band featured the three Wilson brothers and cousin Mike Love.
* [[Big Eater]]: Brian Wilson ballooned to over 300 pounds during the nadir of his mental illness. Staying in bed all day didn't help either.
* [[Biopic]] - Two of 'em: ''Summer Dreams'', a cheap, exploitative nightmare of a poorly-cast inaccuracyfest, and ''An American Family'', a high-budget two-parter that starts out promising but goes downhill the moment they make [https://web.archive.org/web/20131024095732/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct04/images/smile17brianvandat.l.jpg Van Dyke Parks]'s hair [[They Just Didn't Care|strawberry blond]].
* [[Car Song]] - A staple of their early work, including an entire Filler album of car songs in 1963, ''Little Deuce Coupe''.
* [[Career Resurrection]] - Twice, once in the 70's with ''Endless Summer'', and again in the 80s with "Kokomo".
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* [[Creator Backlash]] - Carl and Dennis both hated ''M.I.U. Album'' with a passion. Dennis was so repulsed by the concept behind it (it was essentially Mike's paean to Transcendental Meditation) that he refused to participate in the recording sessions. He said of the album, "It should self destruct.. I hope that the karma will fuck up Mike Love’s meditation forever."
* [[Creator Breakdown]] - Brian Wilson is probably one of the most tragic examples in recent memory.
* [[Defictionalization]] - "Kokomo" was not written about any real life tropical getaway spot. However, after the song became a hit, at least two resorts sprang up sporting the name.
* [[Determinator]] - To some extent, Mike Love, for his abject refusal to stop touring or let the Beach Boys name die ([[Franchise Zombie|for better or worse]]).
** The band itself, for sticking together during ordeals that most lesser bands would've broken up like angry lovers over.
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** '''{{color|black|Melancholic:}}''' Brian Wilson
** '''{{color|green|Phlegmatic:}}''' Dennis Wilson
* [[
* [[Garfunkel]] - Surprisingly averted; ''every'' band member had something to contribute in terms of writing. Even the widely reviled Mike Love wrote a good majority of the band's lyrics, and Al Jardine, widely regarded as a hanger on, was instrumental in the creation of "Sloop John B". Not to mention both of them wrote some of the best material on the band's 1973 opus ''Holland''.
* [[Gentle Giant]] - Brian Wilson's friggin' tall, somewhere between 6'2 and 6'3.
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* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]] - The group's early-'70s lineup included Ricky Fataar, better known to many as [[The Rutles|Stig O'Hara]].
* [[I Am the Band]] - Brian was this during the ''Pet Sounds'' and ''Smile'' era, while Mike Love has had this role since roughly 1978.
* [[In Name Only]] - The unit currently calling itself the Beach Boys. Despite being advertised with an out-of-date band photo (including Brian and the deceased Carl), only Mike Love and Bruce Johnston appear from the original group.▼
* [[In the Style Of]] - "Girl Don't Tell Me" sounds very much like [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]' song "Ticket to Ride." It's possible that "Girl Don't Tell Me" was influenced by "Ticket to Ride," as the the former was recorded on April 30, 1965 and the latter had been released on April 9 of that year.
** "Surfin' USA" came so close to a [[Chuck Berry]] tune (specifically, "Sweet Little Sixteen") that Chuck sued the Boys.
* [[Incredibly Long Note]] - [[Large Ham|Mike Love]] has taken to introducing "Be True to Your School" with one of these at concerts in recent years. Examples [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2qE61E0i7s here].
* [[Intercourse
▲* [[In Name Only]] - The unit currently calling itself the Beach Boys. Despite being advertised with an out-of-date band photo (including Brian and the deceased Carl), only Mike Love and Bruce Johnston appear from the original group.
▲* [[Intercourse With You]] - "All I Want To Do". Granted, it ''is'' a [[Sex, Drugs and Rock And Roll|Dennis Wilson]] song:
▲{{quote| ''Well, I don't care where you wanna go''<br />
''And I don't care what you wanna do''
▲''Just so you go with me''<br />
''
''
''Well, I just wanna make-a some love to you'' }}
* [[Irony]] - Sad irony, but still... The only member of the band who could surf was the one who drowned.
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** ''Smile'' was one of the first "holy grails" of music to surface on bootlegs.
* [[Large Ham]]: Ever seen Mike Love at one of their live shows?
* [[Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition]] - In addition to the "basic" 2-LP and 2-CD editions, the 2011 ''Smile Sessions'' set is also being released as a box set with 5 CDs, 2 LPs, 2 45rpm singles, a 60-page book, a poster, and a 3-D cover.
** And if you want something even more elaborate and have a spare $6,000 laying around, you can get an extra-special edition of the box with a cover that lights up *and* an autographed surfboard. [http://www.merchdirect.com/TheBeachBoys/Combos/SMiLE_LIGHT_UP_Box_SetSurfboard?productid=14652 Seriously.]
* [[Lyrical Dissonance]] - Most of the songs on ''Pet Sounds'' are euphoric, beautiful songs about loneliness, self-isolation, paranoia, and heartbreak.
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** ''15 Big Ones'', while partially a reference to the number of songs on the album, was also a reference to how many years the band had been together by that point.
** The very first incarnation of what became the ''Sunflower'' album allegedly bore the tongue-in-cheek title of ''The Fading Rock Group Revival.''
* [[Name's the
** There's a Canadian music critic named Carl Wilson.
* [[Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly]] - ''Smile'' defies pigeonholing. Not only does the whole thing sound nothing like any music that came before or after, each individual song sounds wildly different from the one that came before it.
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* [[The Pete Best]] - David Marks, who, for an 8-month period, filled in for Al Jardine on rhythm guitar while Al studied to be a dentist. Left in 1963 due to arguments with Murry. Since then, however, David has performed with the touring version of the band.
** An aversion was Glen Campbell, who filled in for Brian on tour during 1964 and 1965. He did pretty well on his own after leaving the band.
▲* [[Power Trio]] - Brian Wilson being the id, Mike Love being the superego, and Carl Wilson (more often than not) being the ego.
* [[Pun-Based Title]] - "Roll Plymouth Rock", from the ''Smile'' project. Its original working title ("Do You Dig Worms?") may be an even better example.
* [[Race Fetish]] - Or Region Fetish, anyway; "California Girls" is all about "the girls from state X are attractive in this way, while the girls from state Y are attractive in that way instead".
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* [[Saved From Development Hell]] - ''Smile'', after 37 years.
* [[Self-Backing Vocalist]] - Brian Wilson did this on a couple of ''Pet Sounds'' songs ("I'm Waiting for the Day" and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"), when the rest of the band wasn't up to par.
* [[Sex, Drugs and Rock
* [[Signature Song]] - "Surfin' USA" and "Good Vibrations".
* [[Similarly Named Works]] - "[[Intercourse
* [[Sixth Ranger]]- Bruce Johnston, offically
* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism]] - Really, the entire story of Brian Wilson vs. Mike Love can be boiled down to this, as Brian's desire to create moving, spiritual music clashed with Mike's attitude of "don't fuck with the formula".
* [[Soprano and Gravel]] - Variation: Mike Love's nasal growl alternating with Brian Wilson's soaring falsetto.
* [[Stop and Go]] - "The Little Girl I Once Knew" did this not once but twice, which almost certainly hurt the song's performance on the singles chart. Radio programmers were loath to play it due to its moments of dead air.
* [[Sure Why Not]] - Brian Wilson frequently incorporated suggestions from his backing musicians into his songs. A notable example is the staccato instrument break in "God Only Knows," which is one of the song's most memorable hooks. It came from pianist Don Randi.
* [[Surfer Dude]] - Practically invented this trope, but ironically, nobody in the band except Dennis actually surfed.▼
▲* [[Surf Rock]] - Probably the artist most associated with the sub-genre.
** Even though their sound is more Chuck Berry/Phil Spector meets the Four Freshmen than [[Dick Dale]].
▲* [[Surfer Dude]] - Practically invented this trope, but ironically, nobody in the band except Dennis actually surfed.
* [[The Svengali]] - As detailed above, Eugene Landy, Brian Wilson's therapist from the 70's to the late 90's.
* [[Theremin]] - "Good Vibrations" very famously uses one.
* [[Three Chords and
* [[Throw It In]] - "Here Today" has some background studio chatter that Brian Wilson apparently failed to notice. "Wendy" does, as well.
* [[Vaporware]] - ''Smile'', one of the earliest examples. Which became a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when Brian Wilson re-recorded and released it in 2004, becoming one of the most critically-acclaimed albums of that decade.
* [[Vocal Tag Team]]
* [[What Could Have Been]] - ''Smile'', of course, is arguably the greatest What Could Have Been in rock history.
** [http://cabinessence.net/essays/talesalt.html This] [[Alternate Universe Fic]] gives us an idea of what could've happened if ''Smile'' had been released and the band stayed in vogue: a "Battle of the Bands" campaign set up by Capitol Records between The Beach Boys and
** [[Pink Floyd|Roger Waters]] was planning to have The Beach Boys sing backup vocals on [[The Wall|"The Show Must Go On"]], but the band declined after learning what the lyrics were about. He ''did'' get Bruce Johnston, though.
*** The other story is that the Boys were okay with it, but Waters cancelled the session for some reason and settled for just Johnston.
* [[Word Salad Lyrics]] - Van Dyke Parks on the ''Smile'' album. At one point, Mike Love asked him what the line "columnated ruins domino" meant, and Van Dyke Parks just said he had no idea.
** Also Jack Rieley, the band's manager on the ''Surf's Up'' album. Here's a sample from "Feel Flows":
{{quote|
''Engulfs all the senses''
''Imposing, unclosing thoughts that compose''
''Retire the fences''
''Whether wholly heartened life fades away''
''Whether harps heal the memory''
''Whether wholly heartened life fades away''
''[[
''[[
* [[Yoko Oh No]] - There seem to be multiple camps in the Beach Boys fandom over whether or not Brian's latest wife Melinda is a controlling she-devil, the only reason Brian's doing so well today, or both.
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[[Category:The Beach Boys]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Surf Rock]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beach Boys, The}}
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