JessicaCasey

March18, 2002

The Beach Boys

TheBeach Boys were a group made up of three brothers, Brian, Carl, and DennisWilson along with their cousin, Mike Love, and friend Alan Jardine, but he was replacedby David Marks until Alan came back. The group was from Hawthorne, California and began in 1961 in agarage. The group was lead by Brianmainly because he wrote their songs, orchestrated their harmony, and producedtheir recording sessions. He hadgenious ideas that were overlooked mainly because of their earlier hits thatdealt with surfing, hot rods, and girls. But people enjoyed the lyrics as well as the youthfulness of the music. Their earliest hits, like “Surfin’” “Surfin’Safari” and “Surfin’ USA” raised the profit for the state of California in1962-63. The Beach Boys were loved bynot only teens, but the teen’s parents because their lyrics were of driving toofast and staying out late. Unlike otherbands who suggested sex and racism.

The Beach Boys actually came secondonly to the Beatles in terms of their overall impact on the Top Forty. Thoughtheir lyrics were happy, sometimes their personal and professional lives werenot. Sometimes this unhappiness eveninterfered with their work. Their sophisticated harmonies and arrangementsaround the time of 1964 came because Brian quit touring with the band.  He started to work on their recordings.  This time produced “Help Me Rhonda” and“California Girls.” Brian started newprojects. The emergence of rock androll meant adding new music with a new type of sound. “Good Vibrations” put all their ideas into one song.  This song put them back on the charts, andput Brian back into a more ambitious album project called Smile. Smile was an albumthat would follow “Pet Sounds.” Somesay that “Smile” was never released because Mike Love and/or others in thegroup thought the lyrics were questionable and would do the group no good.  Some blame Brian who ended up blaminghimself because “maybe the music was inappropriate for the group to bemaking.” Brian’s use of drugs orunpredictable behavior could have been a major factor as well.    The album never got finished. Brian wantedto finish it in the early 70’s and release it soon after. The Beach Boysrebounded by bonding more closely and their low key albums.  In the 1970’s the Beach Boys were in demandfor tours. In 1974 they released their greatest hits album,” Endless Summerwhich spent 155 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100. The Beach Boys were no longer a teen band, but more like an oldiesband. “Smile” was actually supposed tobe released in 1988, but it did not happen because Brian knew that this wouldnot be right and the group members would totally reject.  This album will more than likely never bereleased, but Brian does perform some of these songs, as of 2001 in hisconcerts. Some of the songs include,“Surf’s Up” and “Good Vibrations.” Duringthis time the Beatles actually begin their revival. “Good Vibrations” was a song that was actually an attempt to outdo the Beatles and Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band.  The Beatles and The Beach Boys had a littlecompetitive thing going on.

A man by the name of Mike Quigleyinterviewed The Beach Boys in 1969. Here are some of the questions and answers: Mike asked Alan Jardine if their image had switched from surfmusic to the Pet Sounds stuff. He asksif they are trying to attract new fans, maybe the older crowd.  Alan says that this is true but they arestill trying to keep the young fans. Alan tells Mike that they try to keep their music happy, and not tooheavy. That pretty much sums up TheBeach Boys. They just wanted to befun. They proved that they were, withall their hits and touring, the fans loved and still love them.

LINKS:

www.thesmileshop.net/faqq.html

http://www.cabinessence.com/brian/lyrics/surfin_safari.html

http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lebanon/94/i4.htm

http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=65

http://www.brianwilson.com/brian