THE BEACH BOYS

“God only knows what I’d be without you”

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 "C"

Main Decade: 60's

Main Eras:

Rock & Roll II, Early Sixties (1960-1966)

Psychedelia (1966-1969)

The Great Transition (1970-1980+)

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Key Members:

Brian Wilson, Bass and Lead Vocals

Carl Wilson, lead guitar and vocals

Dennis Wilson, Drums and Vocals

Mike Love, vocals

Al Jardine, rhythm guitar and lead vocals

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Key Songs:

Good Vibrations, God Only Knows, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, California Girls, I Get Around, Surfin’ USA, Kokomo, Be True To Your School, Little Deuce Cup, Shut Down, Fun Fun Fun, Catch A Wave, Surfing Safari, Don’t Worry baby, The Warmth of the Sun, Help Me Rhonda, Farmer’s Daughter, Surfer Girl, In My Room, Don’t Worry Baby, Wendy, She Knows Me Too Well, Let Him Run Wild, Barbara Ann, Heroes and Villains

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Ah… The Beach Boys are the most curious case in the history of rock. They were possibly the most overrated band in the United States at the time, especially during their initial period from 1961 to 1965, when Americans saw the group as their last nationalistic lifeline against the onslaught of British music. And then they became one of the most underrated bands in history, because when they finally began to evolve with *Today!* and *Pet Sounds*, many still considered them too simplistic and pigeonholed as surf rock, and they were buried amidst the psychedelic movement, just when they were at their best. Today, I consider them one of the most underrated bands, and one that circumstances treated most unfairly, even cruelly. Everyone knows them, and has heard at least some of their songs: “Sufin’ USA,” “California Girls,” or “I Get Around,” and they say, “Well, they’re not bad, but how boring to hear just surf.” And they don’t give themselves the chance to listen to the albums from their mid-60s period. Certainly, the Beach Boys aren’t the most diverse band, somewhat like the Kinks in England. Simple rock and roll, surf, ballads, pop, some psychedelic touches, and impressive harmonization from the five voices, with Brian and Mike on lead vocals and the rest providing incredibly complex backing vocals. As they moved away from rock and roll and closer to pop-rock with elaborate vocal melodies, their sound worked better. But they didn’t stray too far from their own style, and the fact that they released such a tremendous and ridiculous number of albums in their early period worked commercially, trying to capitalize on their fame and the moment, but it left much to be desired in terms of quality, and those albums have a lot to offer. But there's a lot of filler. In fact, now that I've listened to them all in one go to prepare the intro, it's truly tedious to listen to all the albums from the band's early period. You end up almost catatonic from the lack of diversity, that uniformity of sound that makes almost everything sound the same, absolutely the same; and although there are undoubtedly some good tracks, at least during this period it's perhaps better to approach the Beach Boys through compilations rather than album by album. Fortunately, in 1965-1966 they would begin to change for the better.

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Another point is that the Beach Boys were the Beatles' true rivals. Although commercially the rivalry was portrayed as Beatles-Rolling Stones, the truth is that these bands were friends, they partied together, lent each other songs, and met to plan the release of LPs and singles to make sure they didn't come out on the same day, they sang backing vocals on each other's songs… It doesn't exactly sound like genuine rivalry, does it?

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The Beach Boys, on the other hand, were a real and brutal rivalry, one that nearly drove Brian Wilson to madness. The fact that the Beach Boys were called "The American Beatles" infuriated Brian. After all, they released their debut album before the Liverpool lads. They had been playing together for much longer. It was a family group made up of Brian, Carl, and Denis Wilson, their cousin Michael, and a friend of all of them named Al Jardine. From childhood, the brothers would play harmonies at home in the evenings. Later, Brian took over playing the family piano while Carl played his first Rickenbacker. At 16, Brian and his cousin Mike performed as a duo at a school festival, singing a doo-wop song in harmony. The ovation they received made that day the equivalent of when Lennon and McCartney met on the other side of the Atlantic. Brian began writing songs, they brought Al Jardine into the band, and their first name was The Pendletones. Of the five original members of the group, Dennis was the only one who was an avid surfer. He suggested to his brother that they write upbeat songs related to their hobby, and that's how their first tunes, like "Surfin'," came about. Since surfing was a very popular movement in Southern California, the Pendletones began to find some success at college and informal gigs. Murry Wilson, the father of the three brothers, recognized their potential and became their manager. In September 1961, Murry arranged an audition for some executives at Candix Records, acquaintances of his. The boys performed a ballad a cappella, but it didn't impress the record company owners at all. Faced with this lukewarm reaction, Brian had the others join him in performing "Surfin'," even though it wasn't finished. The executives were impressed and gave them a few days to complete it and present it again. Mike and Brian finished it, and the band began rehearsing with rented instruments. Not everyone knew how to play an instrument, but that's how the group's final lineup came about. Since Mike had no instrumental skills, he remained the sole singer, even though Brian dominated the lead vocals.

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After signing a recording contract with Candix, the label changed their awful name to Beach Boys, to better suit their sound. Surf music had been popular in California since the late 1950s, and there were already some groups with this type of guitar sound, but nothing like the harmonies they achieved. I don't know if the name contributed to that stigma in the mid-to-late 1960s, when people lost interest in surf music due to the psychedelic wave, and the band was already limited or pigeonholed simply by their name. But at least in the early years, it helped them. Initially, they released singles, with "Surfin'" being the first, and it was a huge hit on the California coast. They then began performing at various venues, and in February of '62 Brian made them all wear the striped shirts that would identify them in their early years. They then recorded another handful of singles, including "Surfin' Safari" and "Surfer Girl."

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Murry Wilson managed the band in a dictatorial manner, and, dissatisfied with the recordings, demanded that the guys record their own compositions, even though they were clearly far inferior to Brian's. However, despite his absolutist nature, he also worked for the good of the group, and in June he secured them a contract with Capitol for their first LP, released in November, with most of the tracks celebrating surfing, girls, and cars. The subsequent albums would maintain this tone. Murry wanted to ensure his boys achieved as much as possible while he was with them, and therefore their early record production was almost industrial: In '63 they released Surfin' U.S., Surfer Girl, and Little Deuce Coupe; in '64, Shut Down Vol. 2, All Summer Long, and the disastrous Christmas Album, as bad and opportunistic as the Beatles' For Sale. In 1965, after Brian fired his father as manager, they finally had more creative freedom to achieve a more mature sound, starting with *Today!*, and then with *Summer Days (And Summer Nights)*, where an evolution and maturity in the band's sound became noticeable. To take advantage of Christmas, they closed the year with *Party*, which, frankly, I've had more inspired drinking sessions with my friends to, only the Californians were able to record it in a studio. This doesn't even include the live albums. Ten albums from '62 to '65! By then, they had become a kind of American symbol, similar to what happened with Elvis. More than for their musical quality, they clung to that American image: the most important band, the last bulwark against the British invasion. Only the Byrds could challenge them for the title of the greatest American band of the first half of the '60s. Unfortunately, they had that surf rock pigeonholing as a drawback. In fact, they faced several challenges, such as being a family band (Brian had to deal with this constantly, lacking the freedom to take the reins as he wished), the fact that Murry was both a despotic manager and a father figure, leaving no room for discussion, and even the record label's pressure to stick to silly, idiotic songs about surf girls and cars for so long, until McCartney mocked them with "Drive My Car" and Wilson decided to break free. Not to mention that Brian was alone, while the Beatles boasted two geniuses, and instrumentally, the British band was light years ahead of their peers.

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The story of the Beach Boys is closely intertwined with that of the Fab Four. More so than we might imagine. The Beach Boys, along with the Beatles, were among the first bands to prioritize original material over covers. Brian Wilson was the one who began to refine the bass lines; he didn't exactly play impressive solos, but he started to move away from the standard, predictable rock and roll style, and Paul followed suit on Rubber Soul, creating crushing bass lines and riffs that made Wilson look ridiculous, though McCartney would ultimately take the credit as a great bassist. They released the meticulously crafted Today!, and the Beatles responded with Help!, which would ignite a stylistic and lyrical revolution. Brian then began to take it personally, meticulously preparing Summer Days (And Summer Nights) in July, to which the Beatles responded with the devastating Rubber Soul. Brian was blown away by the unity of that album, and then he focused on creating a masterpiece, taking his first break (we don't really count Party since it was a drunken night recording) of almost a year to concentrate on releasing a perfect album, with meticulously crafted songs and incredibly complex vocal melodies. Thus, they released the sublime Pet Sounds in May of '66, which is universally agreed to be the band's best album, and one of the best albums ever made, and everyone praises it, although I've always had the feeling that many of those who laud it haven't even given it a listen. Anyway, even McCartney has said that Pet Sounds is the best album in terms of vocals in history. The curious thing is that, despite being their best album, it was a commercial failure, being different from its predecessors and not having a single song about, well... surfing, girls, or cars. Pet Sounds was ignored by fans, but praised by critics and other bands. He pushed the Beatles to create songs with greater vocal complexity, like "Paperback Writer." But the English band released the masterful Revolver in August, and it ended up making the delicate Pet Sound look bad in comparison to the diversity, experimentation, and overall quality of the album. Brian Wilson couldn't believe it. He had spent a whole year in the studio getting the others to sing the symphonies that were playing in his head, and the four long-haired Brits had overshadowed him with apparent ease, leading to his downfall. Well, in my opinion, they are the first and second best albums of '66, but nobody likes coming in second and being eclipsed like that!

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Wilson became obsessed and began planning Smile! which would be THE masterpiece. His obsession became unhealthy; he forced the others into marathon sessions, and the harmonies were almost impossible to achieve due to their complexity. The first song on this album would be the glorious "Good Vibrations," an exquisite vocal symphony. The album was shaping up to be a true masterpiece, but the Beatles beat them to it this time with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which stunned everyone. Brian fell into a terrible depression; his Smile album lost its meaning because he felt it would sound ridiculous in comparison, and he got into drug problems while showing signs of madness. Smile was shelved because Wilson feared a repeat of the '66 debacle and wouldn't be released until 2004. If you ask me, if Smile had been released in 1967 with the vocal complexity but still freshness that the Beach Boys possessed at the time, Brian Wilson would have finally had his revenge, since, in my humble opinion, it would have blown Sgt. Pepper's out of the water. Unfortunately for Brian, "what if" doesn't exist. With his mental instability, the other band members began to sideline him, and he was partially replaced by Bruce Johnston on tours, although he remained a creative force, writing for the band.

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The following period, between 1967 and 1973, perhaps has fewer singles and well-known songs, but it boasts more well-rounded and balanced albums, with a greater pop influence, fueled by Brian's ideas from '67. According to fans, these are some of the group's best after Pet Sounds, but with a sound distinct from the group's early and middle periods. Albums like Wild Honey, Surf's Up, and Holland are quite consistent, more accessible, with Carl and Dennis heavily involved in the project. Later, Mike Love began to establish himself as the band's leader and songwriter, and the group's popularity and musical quality declined once again. Brian Wilson returned, and they continued releasing mediocre albums, clinging to nostalgia throughout the '80s, with a brief resurgence following Kokomo. Dennis died in 1983, and two years later Brian had another falling out and completely severed all ties with the Beach Boys. In 1996 they released their last official album, and in 1998 Carl died.

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In short, a great band that somehow doesn't enjoy the status it deserves. I think they did all the right things at the wrong time, and their main mistake was being so greedy in the early 60s. Perhaps if instead of 10 albums with a lot of filler they had released 5 or 6 with more carefully selected songs, the battle against the Beatles wouldn't have been so uneven. Unfortunately, they opted for quantity over quality, like good Americans. Even so, I think they are very underrated. Not because many magazines consider them the greatest band in the United States and even Americans themselves rank them just below Elvis Presley. But because they are an old, rusty symbol of the 60s, and those who defend them tooth and nail have hardly listened to anything beyond Endless Summer. Another big mistake was going at it with the Beatles. No one doubts that the Beach Boys are a good group, but even though they managed to give the Beatles a run for their money a couple of times, the British band was far superior, and Brian ended up going crazy from banging his head against the wall so much. I don't know, in those strange parallels of music, they've always seemed more similar to me in terms of skill and history to the Kinks, another family band that clung to local lyricism, had its most commercial period with its simplest music, was ignored in its mature phase, and continued through the '70s and '80s for better or worse...

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Only God knows where the Beach Boys would be if they had released Smile!

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Por Corvan  

9/Nov/2011

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