The amazing yet true history of The Beach Boys is well chronicled, and by any standard it’s one of the greatest and most musical stories ever told. From humble roots in southern California, The Beach Boys have become an enduring international sensation. Their famous harmonies and classic songs continue to travel the world bringing “Good Vibrations” everywhere.  

For more than five decades, The Beach Boys -- America’s first pop band to reach the 50-year milestone -- has recorded and performed the music that has become the world’s favorite soundtrack to summer. Founded in Hawthorne, California in 1961, The Beach Boys were originally comprised of the three teenaged Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and school friend Al Jardine. In 1962, neighbor David Marks joined the group for their first wave of hits with Capitol Records, leaving in late 1963, and in 1965, Bruce Johnston joined the band when Brian Wilson retired from touring to focus on writing and producing for the group.  

The Beach Boys signed with Capitol Records in July 1962 and released their first album, Surfin’ Safari, that same year. The album spent 37 weeks on the Billboard chart, launching the young group known for its shimmering vocal harmonies and relaxed California style into international stardom. The Wilson/Love collaboration resulted in many huge international chart hits, and the band’s initial surf-rock focus was soon broadened to include many other themes, helping to make The Beach Boys America’s preeminent band of the 1960s. 

1966’s Pet Sounds, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2016, is universally hailed as one of popular music’s most important recordings of all time. More than 100 domestic and international publications and journalists have lauded Pet Sounds as one of the greatest albums ever recorded, and it entered the GRAMMY® Hall of Fame in 1998. Pet Sounds tops MOJO magazine’s “Greatest Albums of All Time” at No. 1, while Rolling Stone ranked Pet Sounds at No. 2 in the magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

Impressively, The Beach Boys continue to hold Billboard / Nielsen SoundScan’s record as the top-selling American band for albums and singles, and they are also the American group with the most Billboard Top 40 chart hits (36). ‘Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys’ has achieved triple-Platinum sales status and ‘The SMiLE Sessions,’ released to worldwide critical acclaim in 2011, won the year’s GRAMMY® Award for Best Historical Album and was heralded as the No. 1 Reissue of the Year by Rolling Stone.

In 2012, The Beach Boys celebrated their 50th Anniversary.  Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and David Marks reunited for The Beach Boys’ 29th studio album, That’s Why God Made The Radio, and an international 50th Anniversary Tour, continuing one of music’s greatest stories.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and recipients of The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, The Beach Boys are a beloved American institution that remains iconic around the world.


Complete discography (more stuff that's not here) - available for free (or name your price) download @ jonaciddice.bandcamp.com.

John Hencken is following