View source for The Beach Boys

{{short description|American rock band}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}

{{very long|date=December 2025}}

{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = The Beach Boys
| image             = File:Beach Boys 1967 (cropped and restored).jpg
| landscape         = yes
| caption           = The Beach Boys' original lineup in 1967<br />From left: [[Carl Wilson]], [[Al Jardine]], [[Brian Wilson]], [[Mike Love]], and [[Dennis Wilson]]
| background        = group_or_band
| origin            = [[Hawthorne, California]], U.S.
| genre             = <!--PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE GENRES WITHOUT TALK PAGE CONSENSUS-->{{flatlist|
* [[Rock music|Rock]]
* [[Pop music|pop]]
* [[Surf music|surf]]
* [[Psychedelic music|psychedelia]]
}}
| works             = {{flatlist|
* [[The Beach Boys discography|Discography]]
* [[List of songs recorded by the Beach Boys|songs]] ([[List of unreleased songs recorded by the Beach Boys|unreleased]])
* [[List of songs covered by the Beach Boys|covers]]
* [[The Beach Boys' unreleased and bootleg recordings|unreleased projects]]
* [[The Beach Boys live performances|live performances]]
}}
| years_active      = 1961–present
| label             = {{flatlist|
* [[Candix Records|Candix]]
* [[Capitol Records|Capitol]]
* [[Brother Records|Brother]]
* [[Warner Records|Warner]]
* [[Reprise Records|Reprise]]
* [[Columbia Records|CBS]]
* [[Caribou Records|Caribou]]
}}
| spinoffs          = {{hlist|[[California Music]]|Kenny & the Cadets}}
| website           = {{URL|thebeachboys.com}}
| current_members   = * [[Mike Love]]
* [[Bruce Johnston]]
| past_members      = * [[Brian Wilson]]
* [[Carl Wilson]]
* [[Dennis Wilson]]
* [[Al Jardine]]
* [[David Marks]]
* [[Ricky Fataar]]
* [[Blondie Chaplin]]
}}

'''The Beach Boys''' are an American [[Rock music|rock]] band formed in [[Hawthorne, California]], in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers [[Brian Wilson|Brian]], [[Dennis Wilson|Dennis]], and [[Carl Wilson]], their cousin [[Mike Love]], and their friend [[Al Jardine]]. Distinguished by their [[vocal harmonies]], adolescent-oriented lyrics, and musical ingenuity, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The group drew on the music of [[Traditional pop|older pop]] [[vocal group]]s, 1950s [[rock and roll]], and black<!--- Quote from Geoffrey Himes: "black R&B was crucial to their sound." There is a notable distinction between the "white" and "black" R&B records of the 1950s, as explained by Carl Wilson: "The black artists were so much better in terms of rock records in those days that the white records almost sounded like put-ons." ---> [[R&B]] to create their unique sound. Under Brian's direction, they often incorporated [[classical music|classical]] or [[jazz]] elements and pioneered [[Recording studio as an instrument|unconventional recording techniques]] in innovative ways.

They formed as a [[garage band]] centered on Brian's songwriting and managed by the Wilsons' father, [[Murry Wilson|Murry]]. Jardine was briefly replaced by [[David Marks]] during 1962–1963. In 1962, they landed their first national hit with "[[Surfin' Safari (song)|Surfin' Safari]]", beginning a [[The Beach Boys discography#1960s|string of hit singles]] that reflected a [[southern California]] [[youth culture]] of [[surfing]], cars, and romance, dubbed the "[[California sound]]". They were one of the few American rock bands to sustain their commercial standing during the [[British Invasion]]. 1965 saw the addition of [[Bruce Johnston]] to the band, as well as Brian's move away from beach-going themes for more introspective lyrics and ambitious studio productions. In 1966, the ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' album and "[[Good Vibrations]]" single raised the group's prestige as rock innovators; both are now widely considered to be among the greatest and most influential works in [[popular music]] history.

After shelving the ''[[Smile (The Beach Boys album)|Smile]]'' album in 1967, Brian gradually ceded control of the group to his bandmates. In the late 1960s, the group's commercial momentum faltered in the U.S., and they were frequently dismissed by the [[Music journalism#20th century rock criticism|early rock music press]]. Rebranding themselves in the early 1970s, [[Blondie Chaplin]] and [[Ricky Fataar]] of [[the Flames]] briefly joined their lineup while Johnston left the band before rejoining in the late 1970s. Carl took over as ''[[de facto]]'' leader until the mid-1970s, when the band responded to the growing success of their live shows and [[greatest hits]] compilations by becoming an [[oldies]] touring act. Brian would return as producer for ''[[15 Big Ones]]'' (1976) and ''[[The Beach Boys Love You]]'' (1977) after which his contributions again became sporadic. Dennis drowned in 1983, and Brian became estranged from the group in the late 1990s. Following Carl's death from lung cancer in 1998, Jardine left the band while Love was granted legal rights to [[The Beach Boys (touring band)|tour under the group's name]] and continued performing with Johnston and, occasionally, Marks. In the early 2010s, the surviving original members, alongside Marks and Johnston, briefly reunited for the album ''[[That's Why God Made the Radio]]'' (2012) and a [[The 50th Reunion Tour|50th anniversary tour]]. Brian died in 2025 of respiratory arrest.

The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed and [[List of best-selling music artists|commercially successful bands]] of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide. They helped legitimize popular music as a recognized art form, and influenced the development of music genres and movements such as [[Psychedelic rock|psychedelia]], [[power pop]], [[progressive rock]], [[Punk rock|punk]], [[Alternative rock|alternative]], and [[Lo-fi music|lo-fi]]. Between the 1960s and 2020s, the group had 37 songs reach the U.S. [[Top 40]] of the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] (the most by an American band), with four topping the chart. In 2004, the group was ranked number 12 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s list of the [[Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time|greatest artists of all time]], the highest ranking of any American band. Many critics' polls have ranked ''[[Surfer Girl]]'' (1963), ''[[The Beach Boys Today!]]'' (1965), ''Pet Sounds'', ''[[Smiley Smile]]'', ''[[Wild Honey (album)|Wild Honey]]'' (both 1967), ''[[Friends (The Beach Boys album)|Friends]]'' (1968), ''[[Sunflower (The Beach Boys album)|Sunflower]]'' (1970), ''[[Surf's Up (album)|Surf's Up]]'' (1971), and the archival compilation box set ''[[The Smile Sessions]]'' (2011) among the finest albums in history. The founding members were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1988.

==History==
{{very long|date=September 2025|section|words=11,000}}

===1958–1961: Formation===
[[File:Beach Boys Landmark - Plano general I.jpg|thumb|right|[[Beach Boys Historic Landmark|Historical landmark in Hawthorne, California]], marking where the Wilson family home once stood]]
At the time of his 16th birthday on June 20, 1958, [[Brian Wilson]] shared a bedroom with his brothers, [[Dennis Wilson|Dennis]] and [[Carl Wilson|Carl]]{{mdash}}aged 13 and 11, respectively{{mdash}}in their family home in [[Hawthorne, California|Hawthorne]]. He had watched his father [[Murry Wilson]] play piano, and had listened intently to the harmonies of vocal groups such as [[the Four Freshmen]].{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=3}} After dissecting songs such as "[[Ivory Tower (1956 song)|Ivory Tower]]" and "[[Good News (musical)|Good News]]", Brian would teach family members how to sing the background harmonies.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=12}} For his birthday that year, Brian received a [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel tape recorder]]. He learned how to [[overdub]], using his vocals and those of Carl and their mother.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=3}} Brian played piano, while Carl and [[David Marks]], an eleven-year-old longtime neighbor, played guitars that each had received as Christmas presents.{{sfn|Stebbins|2007|p=1}}

Soon Brian and Carl were avidly listening to [[Johnny Otis]]' [[KFRN|KFOX]] radio show.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=3}} Inspired by the simple structure and vocals of the [[rhythm and blues]] songs he heard, Brian changed his piano-playing style and started writing songs.{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}} Family gatherings brought the Wilsons in contact with cousin [[Mike Love]]. Brian taught Love's sister Maureen and a friend harmonies.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=3}} Later, Brian, Carl, Love and two friends performed at [[Hawthorne High School (Hawthorne, California)|Hawthorne High School]] under the name "Carl and The Passions".{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=5}} Brian also knew [[Al Jardine]], a high school classmate.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=103}} Brian suggested to Jardine that they team up with his cousin and brother Carl. Soon after Dennis also joined the band on demand of the Wilson's mother Audree. Love gave the fledgling band its name: "The Pendletones", a pun on "[[Pendleton Woolen Mills|Pendleton]]", a brand of woolen shirt popular among local surfers at the time.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=21}} Dennis was the only avid surfer in the group, and he suggested that the group write songs that celebrated the sport and the lifestyle that it had inspired in [[Southern California]].{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=104}}{{sfn|Warner|1992|p=328}}{{refn|group=nb|Nick Venet said that none of the members, including Dennis, surfed until after the fact.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=60}}}} Brian finished the song, titled "[[Surfin'|Surfin{{'-}}]]", and with Mike Love, wrote "[[Surfin' Safari (song)|Surfin' Safari]]".{{sfn|Warner|1992|p=328}}

Murry Wilson, who was an occasional songwriter, arranged for the Pendletones to meet his publisher Hite Morgan.<ref name=RockHallofFame /> He said: "Finally, [Hite] agreed to hear it, and Mrs. Morgan said 'Drop everything, we're going to record your song. I think it's good.' And she's the one responsible."{{sfn|Murphy|2015|p=99}} On September 15, 1961, the band recorded a demo of "Surfin{{'"}} with the Morgans. A more professional recording was made on October 3, at World Pacific Studio in Hollywood.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=104}} David Marks was not present at the session as he was in school that day.<ref>{{cite web |last=Greene |first=Andy |title=Exclusive QA: Original Beach Boy David Marks on the Band's Anniversary Tour |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-q-a-original-beach-boy-david-marks-on-the-bands-anniversary-tour-20120316 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=March 16, 2012 |access-date=February 19, 2013 |archive-date=February 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202174751/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-q-a-original-beach-boy-david-marks-on-the-bands-anniversary-tour-20120316 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Since he did not appear on the first performance by the band that would become "the Beach Boys", most historians discount him as a true founding member of the group.{{sfn|Stebbins|2011}}}} Murry brought the demos to Herb Newman, owner of [[Candix Records]] and [[Era Records]], and he signed the group on December 8.{{sfn|Warner|1992|p=328}} When the single was released a few weeks later, the band found that they had been renamed "the Beach Boys".{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=104}} Candix wanted to name the group the Surfers until [[Russ Regan]], a young promoter with Era Records, noted that there already existed a group by that name. He suggested calling them the Beach Boys.{{sfn|Murphy|2015|p=117}} "Surfin{{'"}} was a regional success for the West Coast, and reached number 75 on the national [[Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart.

===1962–1967: Peak years===
====Signing to Capitol Records====
[[File:Beach Boys 1963.jpg|thumb|right|The Beach Boys, in [[Pendleton Woolen Mills|Pendleton]] outfits, performing at a local high school, late 1962]]
By this time the de facto manager of the Beach Boys, Murry landed the group's first paying gig (for which they earned $300) on New Year's Eve, 1961, at the [[Ritchie Valens]] Memorial Dance in [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]].{{sfn|Warner|1992|p=328}} In their early public appearances, the band wore the heavy Pendleton woolen jacket-like shirts that local surfers favored{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=19}} before switching to their trademark striped shirts and white pants (a look that was taken directly from the [[Kingston Trio]]).{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=187}}{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=106}} All five members sang, with Brian playing bass, Dennis playing drums, Carl playing lead guitar, and Al Jardine playing rhythm guitar, while Mike Love was the main singer and occasionally played saxophone. In early 1962, Morgan requested that some of the members add vocals to a couple of instrumental tracks that he had recorded with other musicians. This led to the creation of the short-lived group Kenny & the Cadets, which Brian led under the pseudonym "Kenny". The other members were Carl, Jardine, and the Wilsons' mother Audree.<ref name="Kenny"/>{{refn|group=nb|The only songs the group recorded were two Morgan compositions "Barbie" and "What Is a Young Girl Made Of?"<ref name="Kenny">{{cite web |author-link=Richie Unterberger |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |title=Kenny & the Cadets |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kenny-the-cadets-mn0000070397 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618221231/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kenny-the-cadets-mn0000070397 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} In February, Jardine left the Beach Boys and was replaced by David Marks on rhythm guitar.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=105}} A common misconception is that Jardine left to focus on [[dental school]]. In reality, Jardine did not even apply to dental school until 1964, and the reason he left in February 1962 was due to creative differences and his belief that the newly-formed group would not be a commercial success.{{sfn|Murphy|2015|p=151}}

After being turned down by [[Dot Records|Dot]] and [[Liberty Records|Liberty]], the Beach Boys signed a seven-year contract with [[Capitol Records]].<ref name="photobucket13">{{cite magazine |url=http://i351.photobucket.com/albums/q476/marcus1970/hit%20parader%201966/HitParaderp6October1966.jpg |title=The Beach Boy Empire |last=Taylor |first=Derek |date=October 5, 1966 |magazine=Hit Parader |page=13 |author-link=Derek Taylor |access-date=June 29, 2013 |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525143421/http://i351.photobucket.com/albums/q476/marcus1970/hit%20parader%201966/HitParaderp6October1966.jpg |url-status=live}}</ref> This was at the urging of Capitol executive and staff producer [[Nick Venet]] who signed the group, seeing them as the "teenage gold" he had been scouting for.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=62}} On June 4, 1962, the Beach Boys debuted on Capitol with their second single, "Surfin' Safari" backed with "409". The release prompted national coverage in the June 9 issue of ''[[Billboard Magazine|Billboard]]'', which praised Love's lead vocal and said the song had potential.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=June 9, 1962 |title=Reviews of New Singles |magazine=Billboard Magazine |volume=74 |issue=23 |page=40 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=sSkEAAAAMBAJ |page=4}} |access-date=April 27, 2013}}</ref> "Surfin' Safari" rose to number 14 and found airplay in New York and Phoenix, a surprise for the label.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=105}}

====First studio albums====
The Beach Boys' debut album, ''[[Surfin' Safari]]'', was released in October 1962. It was different from other rock albums of the time in that it consisted almost entirely of original songs, primarily written by Brian with Mike Love and friend [[Gary Usher]].{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=105}} Another unusual feature of the Beach Boys was that, although they were marketed as "surf music", their repertoire bore little resemblance to the music of other surf bands, which was mainly instrumental and incorporated heavy use of [[spring reverb]]. For this reason, some of the Beach Boys' early local performances had young audience members throwing vegetables at the band, believing that the group were poseurs.<ref name="Emami">{{cite news |last1=Emami |first1=Gazelle |title=Surf Music Evolution: From The Beach Boys To Punk |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/surf-music-evolution_n_3322063 |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=December 6, 2017 |access-date=May 2, 2020 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619021802/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/surf-music-evolution_n_3322063 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{listen
|filename=Surfin' USA.ogg
|pos=left
|title="Surfin' U.S.A." (1963)
|description="[[Surfin' U.S.A. (song)|Surfin' U.S.A.]]" was a rewrite of [[Chuck Berry]]'s "[[Sweet Little Sixteen]]" with lyrics about surfing, later becoming one of the best known surf rock songs.{{sfn|Marcus|2013|p=95}}
|}}

In January 1963, the Beach Boys recorded their first top-ten single, "[[Surfin' U.S.A.]]", which began their long run of highly successful recording efforts. It was during the sessions for this single that Brian made the production decision from that point on to use [[double tracking]] on the group's vocals, resulting in a deeper and more resonant sound.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=32}} The [[Surfin' U.S.A. (album)|album of the same name]] followed in March and reached number 2 on the ''Billboard'' charts.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=35}} Its success propelled the group into a nationwide spotlight, and was vital to launching surf music as a national craze,{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=71}} albeit the Beach Boys' vocal approach to the genre, not the original instrumental style pioneered by [[Dick Dale]].<ref name="Emami"/> Biographer Luis Sanchez highlights the "Surfin' U.S.A." single as a turning point for the band, "creat[ing] a direct passage to California life for a wide teenage audience&nbsp;... [and] a distinct Southern California sensibility that exceeded its conception as such to advance right to the front of American consciousness".{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|pp=10, 13}} Jardine returned in spring 1963 so Brian could make fewer touring appearances. Issues between Marks, his parents, and manager/the Wilsons' father Murry led Marks to quit in October 1963.

''[[Surfer Girl]]'' marked the first time the group used outside musicians on a substantial portion of an LP.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=107}} Many of them were the musicians Spector used for his [[Wall of Sound]] productions.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=111}} Only a month after ''Surfer Girl'''s release the group's fourth album ''[[Little Deuce Coupe]]'' was issued. To close 1963, the band released a standalone Christmas-themed single "[[Little Saint Nick]]", backed with an [[a cappella]] rendition of the [[Lord's Prayer|scriptural]] song "[[The Lord's Prayer (1935 song)|The Lord's Prayer]]". The A-side peaked at number 3 on the US ''Billboard'' Christmas chart.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=45}}

====Reaction to British Invasion====
[[File:Sullivan Beach Boys.jpg|thumb|right|The band performing "[[I Get Around]]" on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in September 1964 ]]

The surf music craze, along with the careers of nearly all surf acts, was slowly replaced by the [[British Invasion]].{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|pp=1313–1314}} Following a successful Australasian tour in January and February 1964, the Beach Boys returned home to face their new competition, [[the Beatles]]. Both groups shared the same record label in the US, and Capitol's support for the Beach Boys immediately began waning. Although it generated a top-five single in "[[Fun Fun Fun]]", the group's fifth album, ''[[Shut Down Volume 2]]'', became their first since ''Surfin' Safari'' not to reach the US top-ten. This caused Murry to fight for the band at the label more than before, often visiting their offices without warning to "twist executive arms".{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=50}} Carl said that Phil Spector "was Brian's favorite kind of rock; he liked [him] better than the early Beatles stuff. He loved the Beatles' later music when they evolved and started making intelligent, masterful music, but before that Phil was it."<ref name=HimesSurf/> According to Mike Love, Carl followed the Beatles more closely than anyone else in the band, while Brian was the most "rattled" by the Beatles and felt tremendous pressure to "keep pace" with them.{{sfn|Love|2016|pp=88, 104, 184}} For Brian, the Beatles ultimately "eclipsed a lot [of what] we'd worked for&nbsp;... [they] eclipsed the whole music world".{{sfn|Leaf|1978|p=52}}{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=70}}{{refn|group=nb|He remembered "flipping out [over the Beatles]. I couldn't understand how a group could be just yelled and screamed at. The music they made, '[[I Want to Hold Your Hand]]' for example, wasn't even that great a record, but the[ir fans] just screamed at it.&nbsp;... It got us off our asses in the studio. [We] said 'look, don't worry about the Beatles, we'll cut our own stuff'."<ref>{{cite AV media |people=[[David Espar|Espar, David]], [[Robert Levi|Levi, Robert]] (Directors) |year=1995 |title=Rock & Roll |medium=[[Miniseries]]}}</ref> He recalled that he and Love immediately felt threatened by the Beatles, believing that the Beach Boys could never match the excitement created by the Beatles as performers, and that this realization led him to concentrate his efforts on trying to outdo them in the recording studio.<ref name="MSLE">{{cite book |year=2002 |title=Mojo Special Limited Edition: 1000 Days That Shook the World (The Psychedelic Beatles – April 1, 1965 to December 26, 1967) |title-link=Mojo (magazine)#Special editions |location=London |publisher=Emap |page=4}}</ref>}}[[File:The Beach Boys (1965).png|thumb|left|The Beach Boys in 1964; clockwise from top left: [[Mike Love]], [[Brian Wilson]], [[Carl Wilson]], [[Dennis Wilson]], [[Al Jardine]]]]

Brian wrote his last surf song for nearly four years, "[[Don't Back Down]]", in April 1964.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=51}} That month, during recording of the single "[[I Get Around]]", the band dismissed Murry as their manager. He remained in close contact with the group, offering unsolicited advice on their business decisions.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|pp=112–113}} When "I Get Around" was released in May, it would climb to number 1 in the US and Canada, their first single to do so (also reaching the top-ten in Sweden and the UK), proving that the Beach Boys could compete with contemporary British pop groups.{{sfn|Moskowitz|2015|p=42}} "I Get Around" and "Don't Back Down" both appeared on the band's sixth album ''[[All Summer Long (album)|All Summer Long]]'', released in July 1964 and reaching number 4 in the US. ''All Summer Long'' introduced exotic textures to the Beach Boys' sound exemplified by the [[piccolo]]s and [[xylophone]]s of [[All Summer Long (The Beach Boys song)|its title track]].{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=110}} The album was a swan-song to the surf and car music the Beach Boys built their commercial standing upon. Later albums took a different stylistic and lyrical path.{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|pp=72–73}} Before this, a live album, ''[[Beach Boys Concert]]'', was released in October to a four-week chart stay at number 1, containing a set list of previously recorded songs and covers that they had not yet recorded.{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=72}}

In June 1964, Brian recorded the bulk of ''[[The Beach Boys' Christmas Album]]'' with a forty-one-piece studio orchestra in collaboration with [[The Four Freshmen|Four Freshmen]] arranger [[Dick Reynolds (musician)|Dick Reynolds]]. The album was a response to Phil Spector's ''[[A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector|A Christmas Gift for You]]'' (1963). Released in December, the Beach Boys' album was divided between five new, original Christmas-themed songs, and seven reinterpretations of traditional Christmas songs.{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|pp=59–60}} It would be regarded as one of the finest [[holiday album]]s of the rock era.{{sfn|Moskowitz|2015|p=42}} One single from the album, "[[The Man with All the Toys]]", was released, peaking at number 6 on the US ''Billboard'' Christmas chart.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=75}} On October 29, the Beach Boys performed for ''[[The T.A.M.I. Show]]'', a concert film intended to bring together a wide range of musicians for a one-off performance. The result was released to movie theaters one month later.{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|pp=30–31}}

====Artistic growth in 1965====
[[File:The Beach Boys 1964 Billboard.png|thumb|right|The band with caricatures in Paris, November 1964]]
By the end of 1964, the stress of road travel, writing, and producing became too much for Brian. On December 23, while on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston, he suffered a [[panic attack]].{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|pp=63–64}} In January 1965, he announced his withdrawal from touring to concentrate entirely on songwriting and record production. For the last few days of 1964 and into early 1965, session musician and up-and-coming solo artist [[Glen Campbell]] agreed to temporarily serve as Brian's replacement in concert.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=77, 79}} Carl took over as the band's musical director onstage.<ref name="Jarnow15" />{{refn|group=nb|Contracts at that time stipulated that promoters hire "Carl Wilson plus four other musicians".<ref name="Jarnow15" /> Additionally, in February, July, and October, Brian rejoined the live group for one-off occasions.<ref name=GIGS65>{{cite web |last1=Doe |first1=Andrew G. Doe |title=GIGS65 |url=http://esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs65.html |website=Bellagio 10452 |publisher=Endless Summer Quarterly |access-date=June 15, 2018 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006142154/http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs65.html |url-status=live}}</ref>}} Now a full-time studio artist,{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=111}} Brian wanted to move the Beach Boys beyond their surf aesthetic, believing that their image was antiquated and distracting the public from his talents as a producer and songwriter.<ref>{{harvnb|Sanchez|2014|pp=91–93}}; {{harvnb|Kent|2009|p=27}}</ref> Musically, he said he began to "take the things I learned from Phil Spector and use more instruments whenever I could. I doubled up on basses and tripled up on keyboards, which made everything sound bigger and deeper."{{sfn|Wilson|Greenman|2016|p=88}}

Released in March 1965, ''[[The Beach Boys Today!]]'' marked the first time the group experimented with the "album-as-art" form. Music writer Scott Schinder referenced its "[[suite (music)|suite-like structure]]" as an early example of the [[Album Era|rock album format]] being used to make a cohesive artistic statement.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=111}} Brian also established his new lyrical approach toward the autobiographical; journalist [[Nick Kent]] wrote that the subjects of Brian's songs "were suddenly no longer simple happy souls harmonizing their sun-kissed innocence and dying devotion to each other over a honey-coated backdrop of surf and sand".{{sfn|Kent|2009|p=13}} In the book ''Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop'', [[Bob Stanley (musician)|Bob Stanley]] remarked that "Brian was aiming for [[Johnny Mercer]] but coming up [[indie rock|proto-indie]]."{{sfn|Stanley|2013|pp=219–220}} In 2012, the album was voted 271 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's list of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/the-beach-boys-the-beach-boys-today-20120524 |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Beach Boys, 'The Beach Boys Today' |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=May 31, 2012 |access-date=August 12, 2012 |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022163036/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/the-beach-boys-the-beach-boys-today-20120524 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Quote box
| quote = We needed to grow. Up to this point we had milked every idea dry [and did] every possible angle about surfing and [cars]. But we needed to grow
artistically.
| source = — Brian Wilson{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=54}}<ref name=HimesSurf />
| width = 25em
| align = left
}}

In April 1965, Campbell's own career success pulled him from touring with the group.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=86}} [[Columbia Records]] staff producer [[Bruce Johnston]] was asked to locate a replacement for Campbell; having failed to find one, Johnston himself became a full-time member of the band on May 19, 1965. With Johnston's arrival, Brian now had a sixth voice he could work with in the band's vocal arrangements, with the June 4 vocal sessions for "[[California Girls]]" being Johnston's first recording session with the Beach Boys. "California Girls" was included on the band's next album ''[[Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)]]''. The first single from ''Summer Days'' had been a reworked arrangement of "[[Help Me, Rhonda]]", which became the band's second number 1 US single in the spring of 1965.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|pp=111–112}} To appease Capitol's demands for a Beach Boys LP for the 1965 Christmas season, Brian conceived ''[[Beach Boys' Party!]]'', a live-in-the-studio album consisting mostly of acoustic covers of 1950s rock and R&B songs, in addition to covers of three Beatles songs, [[Bob Dylan]]'s "[[The Times They Are a-Changin' (song)|The Times They Are a-Changin']]", and idiosyncratic rerecordings of the group's earlier songs.{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=71}} The album was an early precursor of the "[[MTV Unplugged|unplugged]]" trend. It also included a cover of [[The Regents (doo-wop band)|the Regents]]' song "[[Barbara Ann]]", which unexpectedly reached number 2 when released as a single several weeks later.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=113}} In November, the group released another top-twenty single, "[[The Little Girl I Once Knew]]". It was considered the band's most experimental statement thus far.{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=72}}

====''Pet Sounds''====
Wilson collaborated with [[jingle]] writer [[Tony Asher]] for several of the songs on the album ''[[Pet Sounds]]'', a refinement of the themes and ideas that were introduced in ''Today!''.<ref name=Bolin2012>{{cite web |last1=Bolin |first1=Alice |title=The Beach Boys Are Still Looking at an Impossible Future |url=https://www.popmatters.com/feature/160169-when-i-grow-up-to-be-a-man/P1/ |work=[[PopMatters]] |date=July 8, 2012 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=October 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018171858/http://www.popmatters.com/feature/160169-when-i-grow-up-to-be-a-man/P1/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In some ways, the music was a jarring departure from their earlier style.{{sfn|Kent|2009|pp=21–23}}{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=149}} Jardine explained that "it took us quite a while to adjust to [the new material] because it wasn't music you could necessarily dance to—it was more like music you could make love to".{{sfn|Granata|2003|p=166}} In ''The Journal on the Art of Record Production'', Marshall Heiser writes that ''Pet Sounds'' "diverges from previous Beach Boys' efforts in several ways: its sound field has a greater sense of depth and 'warmth;' the songs employ even more inventive use of harmony and chord voicings; the prominent use of percussion is a key feature (as opposed to driving drum backbeats); whilst the orchestrations, at times, echo the quirkiness of '[[exotica]]' bandleader [[Les Baxter]], or the 'cool' of [[Burt Bacharach]], more so than Spector's teen fanfares".<ref name="ARP">{{cite journal |last1=Heiser |first1=Marshall |title=SMiLE: Brian Wilson's Musical Mosaic |journal=The Journal on the Art of Record Production |date=November 2012 |issue=7 |url=http://arpjournal.com/smile-brian-wilson%E2%80%99s-musical-mosaic/ |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415032648/http://arpjournal.com/smile-brian-wilson%E2%80%99s-musical-mosaic/ |archive-date=April 15, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Cashbox27unse 40 0013.jpg|thumb|left|The Beach Boys (Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and [[Bruce Johnston]]), with [[Terry Melcher]] and engineer [[Chuck Britz]], during the ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' sessions, 1966]]

For ''Pet Sounds'', Brian desired to make "a complete statement", similar to what he believed the Beatles had done with their newest album ''[[Rubber Soul]]'', released in December 1965.{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=44}} Brian was immediately enamored with the album, given the impression that it had no [[Filler (media)|filler tracks]], a feature that was mostly unheard of at a time when 45&nbsp;rpm singles were considered more noteworthy than full-length LPs.{{sfn|Fusilli|2005|p=80}}{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=114}} He later said: "It didn't make me want to copy them but to be as good as them. I didn't want to do the same kind of music, but on the same level."<ref name=HimesSurf/> Thanks to mutual connections, Brian was introduced to the Beatles' former press officer [[Derek Taylor]], who was subsequently employed as the Beach Boys' publicist. Responding to Brian's request to reinvent the band's image, Taylor devised a promotion campaign with the tagline "[[Brian Wilson is a genius]]", a belief Taylor sincerely held.<ref>{{harvnb|Sanchez|2014|p=92}}; {{harvnb|Kent|2009|p=27|loc=Taylor's belief}}</ref> Taylor's prestige was crucial in offering a credible perspective to those on the outside, and his efforts are widely recognized as instrumental in the album's success in Britain.<ref>{{harvnb|Sanchez|2014|pp=91–93|loc="credible perspective"}}; {{harvnb|Kent|2009|p=27|loc=origins, "single most prestigious figure"}}; {{harvnb|Love|2016|p=146}}; {{harvnb|Gaines|1986|p=152|loc=British success}}</ref>

{{Listen
| pos          = right
| filename     = The Beach Boys - God only knows.ogg
| title        = "God Only Knows"  (1966)
| description  = "[[God Only Knows]]" conditions its [[tonality]] between the keys of [[E major|E]] and [[A major]], which according to musicologist Stephen Downes, was innovative even in the context of the song's [[Baroque music|Baroque]] antecedents. It is often praised as one of the greatest songs ever written.{{sfn|Downes|2014|pp=36–38}}
}}

Released on May 16, 1966, ''Pet Sounds'' was widely influential and raised the band's prestige as an innovative rock group.{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=72}} Early reviews for the album in the US ranged from negative to tentatively positive, and its sales numbered approximately 500,000 units, a drop-off from the run of albums that immediately preceded it.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=85}} It was assumed that Capitol considered ''Pet Sounds'' a risk, appealing more to an older demographic than the younger, female audience upon which the Beach Boys had built their commercial standing.{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=47}} Within two months, the label capitulated by releasing the group's first [[greatest hits]] compilation album, ''[[Best of the Beach Boys]]'', which was quickly certified gold by the [[RIAA]].{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=85–86}} By contrast, ''Pet Sounds'' met a highly favorable critical response in Britain, where it reached number 2 and remained among the top-ten positions for six months.{{sfn|Gillett|1984|p=329}} Responding to the hype, ''[[Melody Maker]]'' ran a feature in which many pop musicians were asked whether they believed that the album was truly revolutionary and [[progressive music|progressive]], or "as sickly as peanut butter". The author concluded that "the record's impact on artists and the men behind the artists has been considerable".{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=139}}

===="Good Vibrations" and ''Smile''====
[[File:The Beach Boys September 16 1967 Billboard.png|thumb|The Beach Boys accepting a gold record sales certification for "[[Good Vibrations]]" at the [[Capitol Tower]], late 1966]]

Throughout the summer of 1966, Brian concentrated on finishing the group's next single, "[[Good Vibrations]]".{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=5}} Instead of working on whole songs with clear large-scale syntactical structures, he recorded short interchangeable fragments. Through [[tape splicing]], each fragment could be assembled into a linear sequence, allowing larger structures and divergent moods to be produced later.<ref name="ARP"/> Pop singles were usually recorded in under two hours at that time, so it was one of the most complex pop productions ever undertaken, with sessions for the song stretching over months in four major Hollywood studios. It was the most expensive single then ever recorded, with production costs estimated to be tens of thousands.{{sfn|Harrison|1997|pp=41–46}}

In the midst of "Good Vibrations" sessions, Wilson invited session musician and songwriter [[Van Dyke Parks]] to collaborate as lyricist for the Beach Boys' next album project, soon titled ''[[Smile (The Beach Boys album)|Smile]]''.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=129}}{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=114}} Wilson and Parks intended ''Smile'' to be a continuous suite of songs linked thematically and musically, with the main songs linked together by small vocal pieces and instrumental segments that elaborated on the major songs' musical themes.{{sfn|Williams|2010|pp=94–98}} It was explicitly American in style and subject, a conscious reaction to the overwhelming British dominance of popular music .{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=94}}{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=117}} Some of the music incorporated chanting, cowboy songs, explorations in Indian and Hawaiian music, jazz, classical [[tone poem]]s, cartoon sound effects, ''[[musique concrète]]'', and yodeling.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Sean |title=The Once and Future King: 'SMiLE' and Brian Wilson's Very American Dream |url=https://www.popmatters.com/feature/161935-the-once-and-future-king-smile-and-brian-wilsons-very-american-dream/ |website=Popmatters |access-date=July 17, 2014 |date=August 28, 2012 |archive-date=July 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728143335/http://www.popmatters.com/feature/161935-the-once-and-future-king-smile-and-brian-wilsons-very-american-dream/ |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'' writer [[Jules Siegel]] recalled that, on one October evening, Brian announced to his wife and friends that he was "writing a teenage symphony to God".{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=101}}

Recording for ''Smile'' lasted from mid-1966 to mid-1967, and followed the same modular production approach as "Good Vibrations".{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=390}} Concurrently, Wilson planned different multimedia side projects, such as a sound effects collage, a comedy album, and a "health food" album.<ref name="Nolan1971">{{cite magazine |last=Nolan |first=Tom |title=The Beach Boys: A California Saga |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=October 28, 1971 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-beach-boys-a-california-saga-19711028 |issue=94 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=July 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718092340/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-beach-boys-a-california-saga-19711028 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Capitol did not support all these, which led to the Beach Boys' desire to form their own label, [[Brother Records]]. Wilson employed his newfound "best friend" [[David Anderle]] as head of the label.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=164}} Released on October 10, 1966, "Good Vibrations" was the Beach Boys' third US number 1 single, reaching the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in December, and became their first number 1 in Britain.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=155–156}} The record was their first single certified gold by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=86}} It came to be widely acclaimed as one of the greatest masterpieces of rock music.{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=34}} In December, the Beach Boys were voted the top band in the world in the ''NME''{{'}}s annual readers' poll, ahead of the Beatles, [[the Walker Brothers]], [[the Rolling Stones]], and [[the Four Tops]].{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|pp=86–87}}

{{Listen
| pos          = left
| filename     = Beach Boys - Good Vibrations.ogg
| title        = "Good Vibrations" (1966)
| description  = "[[Good Vibrations]]" was the Beach Boys' third single to top the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. It proliferated a wave of pop experimentation with its rush of riff changes, echo-chamber effects, and intricate harmonies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=John |first1=Bush |title=Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/good-vibrations-mt0028092523 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=November 16, 2014 |archive-date=January 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112102732/http://www.allmusic.com/song/good-vibrations-mt0028092523 |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

Throughout the first half of 1967, the release date for ''Smile'' was repeatedly postponed as Brian tinkered with the recordings, experimenting with different takes and mixes, and appeared unwilling to supply finished versions of songs. Meanwhile, he began to suffer from delusions and paranoia, believing on one occasion that the would-be album track "[[The Elements: Fire|Fire]]" caused a building to burn down.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=118}} On January 3, 1967, Carl Wilson refused to be drafted for military service, leading to indictment and criminal prosecution, which he challenged as a [[conscientious objector]].<ref name="CW">{{cite web |url=http://reasonabledoubt.org/index.php/criminallawblog/entry/january-3-1967-beach-boy-carl-wilson-becomes-draft-dodger-today-in-crime-history |title=January 3, 1967, Beach Boy Carl Wilson Becomes a Draft Dodger – Today in Crime History |last=Buchanan |first=Michael |date=January 2, 2012 |access-date=August 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225084530/http://reasonabledoubt.org/index.php/criminallawblog/entry/january-3-1967-beach-boy-carl-wilson-becomes-draft-dodger-today-in-crime-history |archive-date=February 25, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The FBI arrested him in April,{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=100}} and it took years for courts to resolve the matter.<ref name="MF1976">{{cite magazine |title=The Beach Boys |magazine=Music Favorites |volume=1 |issue=2 |date=1976}}</ref>

After months of recording and media hype, ''Smile'' was shelved for personal, technical, and legal reasons.{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2017|pp=xiv, 60–63, 77–78}} A February 1967 lawsuit seeking $255,000 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|255000|1967|end_year={{Inflation-year|US}}}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}) was launched against Capitol Records over neglected royalty payments. Within the lawsuit was an attempt to terminate the band's contract with Capitol before its November 1969 expiry.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=170, 178, 243}} Many of Wilson's associates, including Parks and Anderle, disassociated themselves from the group by April 1967.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=120}} Brian later said: "Time can be spent in the studio to the point where you get so next to it, you don't know where you are with it—you decide to just chuck it for a while."<ref name="An American Band">{{cite AV media |people=Leo, Malcolm (Director) |year=1985 |title=[[The Beach Boys: An American Band]] |medium=Documentary}}</ref> In the decades following ''Smile''{{'}}s non-release, it became the subject of intense speculation and mystique{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=118}}{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=55}} and the most legendary unreleased album in pop music history.{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=72}}{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=63}} Many of the album's advocates believe that had it been released, it would have altered the group's direction and cemented them at the vanguard of rock innovators.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=119}} In 2011, ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]'' magazine staff voted ''Smile'' the "greatest [[bootleg recording]] of all time".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Beach Boys' 'Smile' named as the greatest ever bootleg by Uncut |url=https://www.nme.com/news/the-beach-boys/59950 |magazine=[[NME]] |access-date=December 12, 2014 |date=October 21, 2011 |archive-date=May 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506060911/http://www.nme.com/news/the-beach-boys/59950 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====British prominence====
Throughout 1966, [[EMI]] flooded the UK market with Beach Boys albums not yet released there, including ''Beach Boys' Party!'', ''The Beach Boys Today!'' and ''Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!)'',{{sfn|Savage|2015|p=476}} while ''Best of the Beach Boys'' was number 2 there for several weeks at the end of the year.<ref name="Mawer/OCC">{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217020406/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1966.php |url=http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1966.php |first=Sharon |last=Mawer |title=Album Chart History: 1966 |publisher=[[Official Charts Company|The Official UK Charts Company]] |date=May 2007 |archive-date=December 17, 2007 |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref> Over the final quarter of 1966, the Beach Boys were the highest-selling album act in the UK, where for the first time in three years American artists broke the chart dominance of British acts.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Andrews |first1=Grame |date=March 4, 1967 |title=Americans Regain Rule in England |magazine=Billboard |volume=79 |issue=9 |pages=1, 10 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=CykEAAAAMBAJ |page=1}} |access-date=April 27, 2013}}</ref> In 1971, ''[[New York (magazine)|Cue]]'' magazine wrote that, from mid-1966 to late-1967, the Beach Boys "were among the vanguard in practically every aspect of the counter culture".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Pet Sounds |magazine=Cue |date=1971 |volume=40 |issue=27 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=EwgwAQAAIAAJ}}}}</ref>

===1967–1969: Faltering popularity and Brian's reduced involvement===
====''Smiley Smile''====
From 1965 to 1967, the Beach Boys had developed a musical and lyrical sophistication that contrasted their work from before and after. This divide was further solidified by the difference in sound between their albums and their stage performances.{{sfn|Lambert|2016|p= {{page needed|date=May 2018}}}} This resulted in a split fanbase corresponding to two distinct musical markets. One group enjoys the band's early work as a wholesome representation of American popular culture from before the political and social movements brought on in the mid-1960s. The other group also appreciates the early songs for their energy and complexity, but not as much as the band's ambitious work that was created during the formative [[psychedelic era]].{{sfn|Lambert|2016|p={{page needed|date=May 2018}}}} At the time, rock music journalists typically valued the Beach Boys' early records over their experimental work.{{sfn|Lambert|2016|p=218}}{{refn|group=nb|For example, critics from ''Rolling Stone'' were wary of the group's changing music, with [[Ralph J. Gleason]] writing in January 1968: "The Beach Boys, when they were a reflection of an actuality of American society (i.e., Southern California hot rod, surfing and beer-bust fraternity culture), made music that had vitality and interest. When they went past that, they were forced inexorably to go into electronics and this excursion, for them, is of limited scope, good as the vibrations were."{{sfn|Lambert|2016|p=218}}}}

Although ''Smile'' had been cancelled, the Beach Boys were still under pressure and a contractual obligation to record and present an album to Capitol.{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=124}} Carl remembered: "Brian just said, 'I can't do this. We're going to make a homespun version of [''Smile''] instead. We're just going to take it easy. I'll get in the pool and sing. Or let's go in the gym and do our parts.' That was ''[[Smiley Smile]]''."<ref name=Himes1983>{{cite magazine |last1=Himes |first1=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Himes |title=The Beach Boys High Times and Ebb Tides Carl Wilson Recalls 20 Years With and Without Brian |magazine=[[Musician (magazine)|Musician]] |date=September 1983 |issue=59 |url=http://troun.tripod.com/carl.html |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=May 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525211740/http://troun.tripod.com/carl.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Sessions for the new album lasted from June to July 1967 at [[Beach Boys Studio|Brian's new makeshift home studio]]. Most of the album featured the Beach Boys playing their own instruments, rather than the session musicians employed in much of their previous work.<ref name="Jarnow">{{cite web |last1=Jarnow |first1=Jesse |date=July 1, 2017 |title=1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-beach-boys-1967-sunshine-tomorrow/ |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=May 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522093644/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-beach-boys-1967-sunshine-tomorrow/ |url-status=live}}</ref> It was the first album for which production was credited to the entire group instead of Brian alone.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=119}}

In July 1967, lead single "[[Heroes and Villains]]" was issued, arriving after months of public anticipation, and reached number 12 in US. By then, the group's lawsuit with Capitol was resolved, and it was agreed that ''Smile'' would not be the band's next album.{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=134}} In August, the group embarked on a two-date tour of Hawaii.{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2017|pp=80, 82}} The shows saw Brian make a brief return to live performance, as Bruce Johnston chose to take a temporary break from the band during the summer of 1967, feeling that the atmosphere within the band "had all got too weird".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bellagio10452.com/unreleased.html |title=UNRELEASED |website=Bellagio10452.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=128}} ''Smiley Smile'' was released on September 18, 1967,{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=200}} and peaked at number 41 in the US,{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=119}} making it their worst-selling album to that date.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=124}} Critics and fans were generally underwhelmed by the album.{{sfn|Lambert|2016|p=216}} According to Scott Schinder, the album was released to "general incomprehension. While ''Smile'' may have divided the Beach Boys' fans had it been released, ''Smiley Smile'' merely baffled them."{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=119}} The group was virtually blacklisted by the music press, to the extent that reviews of the group's records were either withheld from publication or published long after the release dates.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=200}} When released in the UK in November, it performed better, reaching number 9.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=200, 203}} Over the years, the album gathered a reputation as one of the best "[[chill-out music|chill-out]]" albums to listen to during an LSD [[comedown (drugs)|comedown]].{{sfn|Kent|2009|p=44}} In 1974, ''NME'' voted it the 64th-greatest album of all time.{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2017|p=80}}

====''Wild Honey''====
{{Quote box
| quote = When we did ''Wild Honey'', Brian asked me to get more involved in the recording end. He wanted a break [because he] had been doing it all too long.
| source = —Carl Wilson<ref name="MF1976"/>
| width = 25em
| align = right
}}

The Beach Boys immediately recorded a new album, ''[[Wild Honey (album)|Wild Honey]]'', an excursion into [[soul music]], and a self-conscious attempt to "regroup" themselves as a rock band in opposition to their more orchestral affairs of the past.{{sfn|Harrison|1997|pp=49–50}} Its music differs in many ways from previous Beach Boys records: it contains very little group singing compared to previous albums, and mainly features Brian singing at his piano. Again, the Beach Boys recorded mostly at his home studio.<ref name=SmileySmileliner>{{cite AV media notes |title=Smiley Smile/Wild Honey |others=The Beach Boys |year=1990 |first=David |last=Leaf |author-link=David Leaf |publisher=[[Capitol Records]] |type=CD Liner |url=http://www.albumlinernotes.com/Smiley_Smile_Wild_Honey.html |access-date=May 26, 2014 |archive-date=May 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522030643/http://albumlinernotes.com/Smiley_Smile_Wild_Honey.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Love reflected that ''Wild Honey'' was "completely out of the mainstream for what was going on at that time&nbsp;... and that was the idea".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hart |first1=Ron |title=5 Treasures on the Beach Boys' New '1967—Sunshine Tomorrow' |url=http://observer.com/2017/07/beach-boys-1967-sunshine-tomorrow/ |website=[[New York Observer]] |date=July 20, 2017 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=June 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623193937/http://observer.com/2017/07/beach-boys-1967-sunshine-tomorrow/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

''Wild Honey'' was released on December 18, 1967, in competition with the Beatles' ''[[Magical Mystery Tour]]'' and the Rolling Stones' ''[[Their Satanic Majesties Request]]''.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=208}} It had a higher chart placing than ''Smiley Smile'', but still failed to make the top-twenty and remained on the charts for only 15 weeks.<ref name="SmileySmileliner" /> As with ''Smiley Smile'', contemporary critics viewed it as inconsequential,{{sfn|Leaf|1985|p=125}} and it alienated fans whose expectations had been raised by ''Smile''.<ref name="SmileySmileliner" /> That month, Mike Love told a British journalist: "Brian has been rethinking our recording program and in any case we all have a much greater say nowadays in what we turn out in the studio."<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Beat Instrumental |author=P.G. |title='Personal Promotion is the thing' say Beach Boys |date=February 1968}}</ref>

====''Friends'', ''20/20'', and Manson affair====
The Beach Boys were at their lowest popularity in the late 1960s, and their cultural standing was especially worsened by their public image, which remained incongruous with their peers' "heavier" music.<ref name="Christgau1975">{{cite news |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |date=June 23, 1975 |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/chicago-75.php |title=Beach Boys at Summer's End |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |access-date=September 14, 2018 |archive-date=September 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915001824/https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/chicago-75.php |url-status=live}}</ref> At the end of 1967, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' co-founder and editor [[Jann Wenner]] printed an influential article that denounced the Beach Boys as "just one prominent example of a group that has gotten hung up on trying to catch The Beatles. It's a pointless pursuit."{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=207}} The article had the effect of excluding the group among serious rock fans{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=207}}{{sfn|Leaf|1978|p=123}} and such controversy followed them into the next year.<ref name="scullati">{{cite journal |last1=Sculatti |first1=Gene |author-link=Gene Sculatti |url=http://www.teachrock.org/resources/article/villains-and-heroes-in-defense-of-the-beach-boys/ |title=Villains and Heroes: In Defense of the Beach Boys |journal=Jazz & Pop |date=September 1968 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714191639/http://www.teachrock.org/resources/article/villains-and-heroes-in-defense-of-the-beach-boys/ |archive-date=July 14, 2014}}</ref> Capitol continued to bill them as "America's Top Surfin' Group!" and expected Brian to write more beachgoing songs for the yearly summer markets.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=62}} From 1968 onward, his songwriting output declined substantially, but the public narrative of "Brian as leader" continued.{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2017|pp=xxi–xxii, 83}} The group also stopped wearing their longtime striped-shirt stage uniforms in favor of matching white, polyester suits that resembled a Las Vegas show band's.{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2017|pp=83, 85}}

[[File:The Beach Boys 1968.jpg|thumb|left|The Beach Boys in 1968, left to right: Dennis Wilson, Mike Love, Carl Wilson (top), Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston]]

After meeting [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]] at a [[UNICEF]] Variety Gala in Paris, Love and other high-profile celebrities such as the Beatles and [[Donovan]] traveled to [[Rishikesh]], India, in February–March 1968. The following Beach Boys album, ''[[Friends (The Beach Boys album)|Friends]]'', had songs influenced by the [[Transcendental Meditation]] the Maharishi taught. In support of ''Friends'', Love arranged for the Beach Boys to [[The Beach Boys' 1968 US tour with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|tour with the Maharishi in the US]]. Starting on May 3, 1968, the tour lasted five shows and was canceled when the Maharishi withdrew to fulfill film contracts. Because of disappointing audience numbers and the Maharishi's withdrawal, 24 tour dates were canceled at a cost estimated at $250,000.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=196}} ''Friends'', released on June 24, peaked at number 126 in the US.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=120}} In August, Capitol issued an album of Beach Boys backing tracks, ''[[Stack-o-Tracks]]''. It was the first Beach Boys LP that failed to chart in the US and UK.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|pp=120–121}}

In June 1968, Dennis befriended [[Charles Manson]], an aspiring singer-songwriter, and their relationship lasted for several months. Dennis bought him time at Brian's home studio, where recording sessions were attempted while Brian stayed in his room.{{sfn|Guinn|2014|pp=168–70, 340}}{{sfn|Love|2016|pp=202, 208}} Dennis then proposed that Manson be signed to Brother Records. Brian reportedly disliked Manson, and a deal was never made.{{sfn|Guinn|2014|p=168}} In July 1968, the group released the single "[[Do It Again (The Beach Boys song)|Do It Again]]", which lyrically harkened back to their earlier surf songs. Around this time, Brian admitted himself to a psychiatric hospital; his bandmates wrote and produced material in his absence.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=140–141}} Released in January 1969, the album ''[[20/20 (The Beach Boys album)|20/20]]'' mixed new material with outtakes and leftovers from recent albums; Brian produced virtually none of the newer recordings.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=213}}

The Beach Boys recorded one song by Manson without his involvement: "Cease to Exist", rewritten as "[[Never Learn Not to Love]]", which was included on ''20/20''. As [[Manson Family|his cult of followers]] took over Dennis's home, Dennis gradually distanced himself from Manson.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=224}} According to author [[David Leaf]], "The entire Wilson family reportedly feared for their lives."{{sfn|Leaf|1978|p=137}}

{{Multiple image
| image1            = Carl Wilson.jpg
| total_width       = 275
| image2            = Dennis Wilson 1971 cropped.jpg
| caption2          = [[Dennis Wilson]] in 1970
| caption1          = [[Carl Wilson]] in 1969
}}

In August, the Manson Family committed the [[Tate–LaBianca murders]]. According to Jon Parks, the band's tour manager, it was widely suspected in the Hollywood community that Manson was responsible for the murders, and it had been known that Manson had been involved with the Beach Boys, causing the band to be viewed as pariahs for a time.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Neill |first=Tom |title=Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ |year=2019 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-47757-4 |access-date=December 2, 2020 |archive-date=June 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606182949/https://books.google.com/books?id=zG92DwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> In November, police apprehended Manson, and his connection with the Beach Boys received media attention. He was later convicted for several counts of murder and [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]] to murder.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=219}}

====Selling of the band's publishing====
{{Further|Sea of Tunes}}

In April 1969, the band revisited its 1967 lawsuit against Capitol after it alleged an audit revealed the band was owed over $2 million for unpaid royalties and production duties.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=221}} In May, Brian told the music press that the group's funds were depleted to the point that it was considering filing for bankruptcy at the end of the year, which ''[[Disc & Music Echo]]'' called "stunning news" and a "tremendous shock on the American pop scene". Brian hoped that the success of a forthcoming single, "[[Break Away (The Beach Boys song)|Break Away]]", would mend the financial issues.<!-- <ref name="May69"/> -->{{Citation needed|reason=ref name May69 not defined.|date=December 2018}} The song, written and produced by Brian and Murry, reached number 63 in the US and number 6 in the UK,{{sfn|Badman|2004}} and Brian's remarks to the press ultimately thwarted long-simmering contract negotiations with [[Deutsche Grammophon]].{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=149}} The group's Capitol contract expired two weeks later with one more album still due. ''[[Live in London (The Beach Boys album)|Live in London]]'', a live album recorded in December 1968, was released in the UK and a few other countries in 1970 to fulfil the contract, although it would not see US release until 1976, under the erroneous re-title ''Beach Boys '69''.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=238}} After the contract was completed Capitol deleted the Beach Boys' catalog from print, effectively cutting off their royalty flow.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=221}} The lawsuit was later settled in their favor and they acquired the rights to their post-1965 catalog.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=}}

In August, [[Sea of Tunes]], the Beach Boys' catalog, was sold to Irving Almo Music for $700,000 (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|700000|1969|end_year={{Inflation-year|US}}}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}).{{sfn|Love|2016|p=226}} According to his wife, [[Marilyn Wilson]], Brian was devastated by the sale.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=224–225}} Over the years, the catalog generated more than $100 million in publishing royalties, none of which Murry or the band members ever received.{{sfn|Love|2016|p=227}} That same month, Carl, Dennis, Love, and Jardine sought a permanent replacement for Johnston, with Johnston unaware of this search. They approached Carl's brother-in-law [[Billy Hinsche]], who declined the offer to focus on his college studies.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=253}}

===1970–1978: Reprise era===
====''Sunflower'', ''Surf's Up'', ''Carl and the Passions'', and ''Holland''====
[[File:The Beach Boys Billboard 1971.jpg|thumb|240x240px|The Beach Boys in 1971; top left to right: Mike Love, Brian Wilson; middle left to right: Carl Wilson, Al Jardine, Dennis Wilson; bottom: Bruce Johnston]]
The group was signed to [[Reprise Records]] in 1970.<ref name="allmusic" /> Scott Schinder described the label as "probably the hippest and most artist-friendly major label of the time".{{sfn|Schinder|2007|pp=121–122}} The deal was brokered by Van Dyke Parks, who was then employed as a multimedia executive at [[Warner Music Group]]. Reprise's contract stipulated Brian's proactive involvement with the band in all albums.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=150}} By the time the Beach Boys' tenure ended with Capitol in 1969, they had sold 65 million records worldwide, closing the decade as the most commercially successful American group in popular music.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=November 14, 1970 |title=The Best Kept Secret in the World: "The Most Dynamic Vocal Group Rock Has Produced" |magazine=Billboard Magazine |volume=82 |issue=46 |page=4 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=sSkEAAAAMBAJ |page=4}} |access-date=April 27, 2013}}</ref> After recording over 30 different songs and going through several album titles, their first LP for Reprise, ''[[Sunflower (The Beach Boys album)|Sunflower]]'', was released on August 31, 1970.<ref name="White2000">{{cite AV media notes |title=Sunflower/Surf's Up |others=The Beach Boys |year=2000 |first=Timothy |last=White |author-link=Timothy White (editor) |publisher=[[Capitol Records]] |type=CD Liner |url=http://albumlinernotes.com/Sunflower_Surf_s_Up.html |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006135103/http://albumlinernotes.com/Sunflower_Surf_s_Up.html |url-status=live}}</ref> ''Sunflower'' featured a strong group presence with significant writing contributions from all six band members.{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=73}} Brian was active during this period, writing or co-writing seven of ''Sunflower'''s 12 songs and performing at half of the band's domestic concerts in 1970.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=153–154}} The album received critical acclaim in both the US and the UK.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=153}}

In early-1970, the Beach Boys hired radio presenter [[Jack Rieley]] as their manager. One of his initiatives was to encourage the band to record songs featuring more socially conscious lyrics.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=155}} He also requested the completion of ''Smile'' track "[[Surf's Up (song)|Surf's Up]]" and arranged a guest appearance at a [[Grateful Dead]] concert at [[Bill Graham (promoter)|Bill Graham]]'s [[Fillmore East]] in April 1971 to foreground the Beach Boys' transition into the counterculture.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|pp=241–242}} During this time, the group ceased wearing matching uniforms on stage,{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=155–156}} while Dennis took time to star alongside [[James Taylor]], [[Laurie Bird]], and [[Warren Oates]] in the cult film ''[[Two-Lane Blacktop]]'', released in 1971. In early 1971, David Marks reunited onstage in Boston with the Beach Boys, after which he received an offer from Mike Love to rejoin, which he declined.<ref>{{harvnb|Stebbins|2007|pp=172–174}}</ref> In July, the American music press rated the Beach Boys "the hottest grossing act" in the country, alongside [[Grand Funk Railroad]].{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=297}} The band filmed a concert for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC-TV]] in [[Central Park]], which aired as ''[[Schaefer Music Festival|Good Vibrations from Central Park]]'' on August 19.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=243}}

[[File:Beach Boys Good Vibrations from Central Park 1971.jpg|thumb|left|The Beach Boys performing in [[Central Park]], July 1971{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=297}}|alt=]]

On August 30, the band released ''[[Surf's Up (album)|Surf's Up]]'', which was moderately successful, reaching the US top-thirty, a marked improvement over their recent releases.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=242}} While the record charted, the Beach Boys added to their renewed fame by performing a near-sellout set at [[Carnegie Hall]]; their live shows during this era included reworked arrangements of many of their previous songs,{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=155–158}} with their [[set list]]s culling from ''Pet Sounds'' and ''Smile''.{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=140}} On October 28, the Beach Boys were the featured cover story on that date's issue of ''Rolling Stone''. It included the first part of a lengthy two-part interview, titled "The Beach Boys: A California Saga", conducted by [[Tom Nolan (actor)|Tom Nolan]] and David Felton.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=300}}

Early 1972 saw Bruce Johnston leave the band, and the recruitment of two former members of South African band [[the Flames]], guitarist/singer [[Blondie Chaplin]] and drummer/singer [[Ricky Fataar]]. The new line-up released ''[[Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"]]'' in May 1972. The original US release was a double album, the second disc being a reissue of ''Pet Sounds''.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=311}} After the upswing of ''Surf's Up'', ''Carl and the Passions'' was relatively unsuccessful in the US, charting at number 50. It was more successful in the UK, where it was issued as a single album without ''Pet Sounds'', peaking at number 25. The next album, ''[[Holland (album)|Holland]]'', was released in January 1973. Reprise initially rejected the album, feeling it lacked a strong single. Following the intervention of Van Dyke Parks, this resulted in the inclusion of "[[Sail On, Sailor]]".{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=184, 305}} Reprise approved, and the resulting album peaked at number 37. Brian's musical children's story, ''[[Mount Vernon and Fairway]]'', was included with the album as a bonus [[extended play|EP]].{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=181–182}}

====Greatest hits LPs, touring resurgence, and Caribou sessions====
After ''Holland'', the group maintained a touring regimen, captured on the double live album ''[[The Beach Boys in Concert]]'' released in November 1973, but recorded very little in the studio through 1975.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=323}} Several months earlier, they had announced that they would complete ''Smile'', but this never came to fruition, and plans for its release were once again abandoned.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=305}}{{refn|group=nb|Pursuant to the terms of their record contract, when the group missed their May 1973 deadline to deliver the ''Smile'' album, Warner Bros. deducted $50,000 from the band's next advance.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=305, 327}}}} Following Murry's death in June 1973, Brian retreated into his bedroom and withdrew further into drug abuse, alcoholism, [[chain smoking]], and overeating.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=329–330}} In October, the band dismissed Rieley as manager and appointed Mike Love's brother, Stephen, and [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]] manager [[James William Guercio]].{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=331, 336}} Chaplin and Fataar left the band in December 1973 and November 1974, respectively, reducing the band back to the original five members.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=332, 341}}

The Beach Boys' greatest hits compilation album ''[[Endless Summer (The Beach Boys album)|Endless Summer]]'' was released in June 1974 to unexpected success, becoming the band's second number 1 US album in October.{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=217}}{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=339}} The LP had a 155-week chart run, selling over 3 million copies.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=193}} A second volume of greatest hits, ''[[Spirit of America (album)|Spirit of America]]'', followed in April 1975, reaching US number 8, being certified Gold, and having a 43-week chart run. The Beach Boys became the number-one act in the US,{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=339}} propelling themselves from opening for [[Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young]] in the summer of 1974 to headliners selling out basketball arenas in a matter of weeks.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=193–194}} Guercio prevailed upon the group to swap out newer songs with older material in their concert setlists,{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=216}} partly to accommodate their growing audience and the demand for their early hits.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=192}} Later in the year, members of the band appeared as guests on Chicago's hit "[[Wishing You Were Here]]".{{sfn|White|1996|p=287}} At the end of 1974, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' proclaimed the Beach Boys "Band of the Year" based on the strength of their live performances.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=193–194}}{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=218}}

To capitalize on their sudden resurgence in popularity, the Beach Boys accepted Guercio's invitation to record their next Reprise album at his [[Caribou Ranch]] studio, located around the mountains of [[Nederland, Colorado]].{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=341}}{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=217}}{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=194–195}} These October 1974 sessions marked the group's return to the studio after a 21-month period of virtual inactivity, but the proceedings were cut short after Brian had insisted on returning to his home in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=341}} With the project put on hold, the Beach Boys spent most of the next year on the road playing college football stadiums and basketball arenas.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=195}}{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=218}} The only Beach Boys recording of 1974 to see release at the time was the Christmas single "[[Child of Winter (Christmas Song)|Child of Winter]]", recorded upon the group's return to Los Angeles in November and released the following month.

Over the summer of 1975, the touring group played a co-headlining series of concert dates with Chicago, a pairing that was nicknamed "[[Beachago]]".{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=196}}{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=219}} The tour was massively successful and restored the Beach Boys' profitability to what it had been in the mid-1960s.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=347}} Although another joint tour with Chicago had been planned for the summer of 1976,{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=219}} the Beach Boys' association with Guercio and his Caribou Management company ended in early 1976.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=362}}{{refn|group=nb|According to Gaines, Guercio may have been fired because members of the group "felt Caribou was being overpaid", although "many observers suggest the Beach Boys followed an old pattern of jettisoning personnel when their financial situation improved".{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=269}} Biographer Mark Dillon states that the tour evaporated due to Dennis' budding romance with [[Karen Lamm]], the ex-wife of Chicago keyboardist [[Robert Lamm]].{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=219}} }} Stephen Love subsequently took over as the band's ''de facto'' business manager.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=269}}

====''15 Big Ones'', ''Love You'', and ''Adult/Child''====
Early in 1975, Brian signed a production deal with [[California Music]], a Los Angeles collective that included Bruce Johnston and Gary Usher, but was drawn away by the Beach Boys' pressing demands for a new album.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=198, 205}} In October, Marilyn persuaded Brian to admit himself to the care of psychologist [[Eugene Landy]], who kept him from indulging in substance abuse with constant supervision.{{sfn|Love|2016|pp=253–255}}{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=198–199}} Brian was kept in the program until December 1976.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=215}}

[[File:Brian Wilson 1976.png|thumb|left|Brian Wilson behind [[Brother Studios]]' mixing console in early 1976]]

At the end of January 1976, the Beach Boys returned to the studio with Brian producing once again.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=358}} Brian decided the band should do an album of rock and roll and [[doo wop]] standards. Carl and Dennis disagreed, feeling that an album of originals was far more ideal, while Love and Jardine wanted the album out as quickly as possible.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=358}} To highlight Brian's recovery and his return to writing and producing, Stephen launched a media campaign and paid the [[Rogers & Cowan]] publicity agency $3,500 per month to implement it.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=287}} The band also commissioned an [[NBC]]-TV special, later known as ''[[The Beach Boys: It's OK!]]'', that was produced by ''[[Saturday Night Live|NBC's Saturday Night]]'' creator [[Lorne Michaels]].{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=215}}

Released on July 5, 1976, ''[[15 Big Ones]]'' was generally disliked by fans and critics, as well as Carl and Dennis, who disparaged the album to the press.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=364}} The album peaked at number 8 in the US, becoming their first top-ten album of new material since ''Pet Sounds'', and their highest-charting studio album since ''Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)''.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=96, 364}} Lead single "[[Rock and Roll Music (song)|Rock and Roll Music]]" peaked at number 5 – their highest chart ranking since "Good Vibrations".{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=362}}

From late-1976 to early-1977, Brian made sporadic public appearances and produced the band's next album, ''[[The Beach Boys Love You]]''.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=290}} He regarded it as a spiritual successor to ''Pet Sounds'', namely because of the autobiographical lyrics.{{sfn|Wilson|Greenman|2016|p=197}} Released on April 11, 1977, ''Love You'' peaked at number 53 in the US and number 28 in the UK.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=371}} Critically, it was widely praised, though it initially met with polarized reactions from the public.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=124}} Numerous esteemed critics penned favorable reviews, but casual listeners generally found the album's idiosyncratic sound to be a detriment.{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=233}} Since the time of its release, the album has come to be regarded as an early example of [[synth-pop]] and has gained a cult following.

''[[Adult/Child]]'', the intended follow-up to ''Love You'', was completed, but the release was vetoed by Love and Jardine.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=222–223}} According to Stan Love, when his brother Mike heard the album, Mike turned to Brian and asked: "What the fuck are you doing?"{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=223}} Some of the unreleased songs on ''Adult/Child'' later saw individual release on subsequent Beach Boys albums and compilations.{{sfn|Badman|2004|pp=256–371}} Following this period, his concert appearances with the band gradually diminished and their performances were occasionally erratic.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=226}}

====CBS signing and ''M.I.U. Album''====
[[File:The Beach Boys Konzert Michigan 1978 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|The Beach Boys performing a concert in Michigan, August 1978]]

At the beginning of 1977, the Beach Boys had enjoyed their most lucrative concert tours ever, with the band playing in packed stadiums and earning up to $150,000 per show.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=217–218}} Concurrently, the band was the subject of a record company bidding war, as their contract with Warner Bros. had been set to expire soon.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=294}}{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=216–217}} Stephen Love arranged for the Beach Boys to sign an $8 million deal with [[Sony Music|CBS Records]] on March 1.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|pp=294–295}} Numerous stipulations were given in the CBS contract, including that Brian was required to write at least four songs per album, co-write at least 70% of all the tracks, and produce or co-produce alongside his brothers.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=295}}{{refn|group=nb|According to Gaines, "When Brian signed the contract, he cried, knowing he would now have to go back to the studio full-time."{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=295}}}} Another part of the deal required the group to play thirty concerts a year in the U.S., in addition to one tour in Australia and Japan, and two tours in Europe.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=295}} The first Beach Boys-related release on CBS was Dennis' solo album ''[[Pacific Ocean Blue]]'', which would be issued in August 1977.

Within weeks of the CBS contract, the band dismissed Stephen, with one of the alleged reasons being that Mike had not permitted Stephen to sign on his behalf while at a TM retreat in Switzerland.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|pp=295–296, 298}} For Stephen's replacement, the group hired Carl's friend Henry Lazarus, an entertainment business owner that had no prior experience in the music industry.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=299}} Lazarus arranged a major European tour for the Beach Boys, starting in late July, with stops in Germany, Switzerland, and France.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=299}} Due to poor planning, the tour was cancelled shortly before it began. The band dismissed Lazarus and were sued by many of the concert promoters, with losses of $200,000 in preliminary expenses and $550,000 in potential revenue.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=300}}

In July, the Beach Boys played a concert at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] before Mike attacked Brian with a piano bench onstage in front of over 15,000 attendees.{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=301}}{{refn|group=nb|Love later explained that he had been "in a state of extreme sensitivity" after learning that his girlfriend was in a vegetative state following "a horrific car accident".{{sfn|Love|2016|p=427}}}} In August, Mike and Jardine persuaded Stephen to return as the group's manager,{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=302}} a decision that Carl and Dennis had strongly opposed.{{sfn|White|1996|p=321}}{{sfn|Gaines|1986|p=302}} By this point, the band had effectively split into two camps; Dennis and Carl on one side, and Mike and Jardine on the other, with Brian remaining neutral.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=218–219}}{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=371}} The internal wrangling came to a head in September, with Dennis declaring to a ''Rolling Stone'' journalist that he had left the band.<ref name=Swenson1977>{{cite magazine |last1=Swenson |first1=John |title=The Beach Boys – No More Fun Fun Fun |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=October 20, 1977 |url=http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=6867.0 |access-date=February 1, 2015 |archive-date=June 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624043744/http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=6867.0 |url-status=live}}</ref> The group was broken up until a meeting at Brian's house on September 17.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=371}} In light of the lucrative CBS contract, the parties negotiated a settlement resulting in Love gaining control of Brian's vote in the group, allowing Love and Jardine to outvote Carl and Dennis on any matter.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=371}}

The group had still owed one more album for Reprise. Released in September 1978, ''[[M.I.U. Album]]'' was recorded at [[Maharishi International University]] in Iowa at the suggestion of Love.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=224}} The band originally attempted to record a Christmas album, to be titled ''[[Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys]]'', but this idea was rejected by Reprise. These Christmas recordings would eventually be released in 1998 as part of the archival album ''[[Ultimate Christmas]]''. Dennis and Carl made limited contributions to ''M.I.U. Album''; the album was produced by Jardine and [[Ron Altbach]], with Brian credited as "executive producer".{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=225}} Dennis started to withdraw from the group to focus on his second solo album, ''[[Bambu (album)|Bambu]]'', which was shelved just as alcoholism and marital problems overcame all three Wilson brothers.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=124}}

===1978–1998: Continued recording and Brian's estrangement===
====''L.A. (Light Album)'' and ''Keepin' the Summer Alive''====
[[File:The Beach Boys 1979.jpg|thumb|right|The Beach Boys in 1979]]
The group's first two albums for CBS, 1979's ''[[L.A. (Light Album)]]'' and 1980's ''[[Keepin' the Summer Alive]]'', struggled in the US, charting at 100 and 75 respectively, though the band did manage a top-forty single from ''L.A. (Light Album)'' with "[[Good Timin' (The Beach Boys song)|Good Timin']]". The recording of these albums saw Bruce Johnston return to the band, initially solely as a producer and eventually as a full-time band member. In-between the two albums, the group contributed the song "[[It's a Beautiful Day (The Beach Boys song)|It's a Beautiful Day]]" to the soundtrack of the film ''[[Americathon]]''.

{{Quote box
| quote = I think a lot of critics punish the band for not going beyond "Good Vibrations"&nbsp;... they love the band so much that they get crazy because we don't top ourselves.&nbsp;... [but] growth in this business is tough.
| source = — Bruce Johnston, 1982<ref>{{cite news |last1=Racine |first1=Marty |title=The Past Is Present And The Future Is Tense |url=http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?action=printpage;topic=6867.0 |work=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=August 22, 1982 |location=Texas |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513152021/http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?action=printpage;topic=6867.0 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| width = 25em
| align = left
}}
On June 21, 1980, the Beach Boys performed a concert at [[Knebworth]], England, which featured a slightly intoxicated Dennis. The concert would later be released as a live album titled ''[[Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980]]'' in 2002. In 1981, the band scored a surprise US top-twenty hit when their cover of [[the Del-Vikings]]' "[[Come Go with Me]]", from the three year old ''M.I.U. Album'', was released as a single from ''[[Ten Years of Harmony]]'', a double compilation album focusing on the Reprise and CBS years.<ref>Whitburn, Joel (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 51.</ref>

In an April 1980 interview, Carl reflected that "the last two years have been the most important and difficult time of our career. We were at the ultimate crossroads. We had to decide whether what we had been involved in since we were teenagers had lost its meaning. We asked ourselves and each other the difficult questions we'd often avoided in the past."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lloyd |first1=Jack |title=Surf Wasn't Always Smooth |publisher=Knight News Service |date=April 25, 1980}}</ref> In 1981, he temporarily left the touring group because of unhappiness with the band's nostalgia format and lackluster live performances, taking the time to record and release his first solo album ''[[Carl Wilson (album)|Carl Wilson]]''.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=124}} He stated: "I haven't quit the Beach Boys but I do not plan on touring with them until they decide that 1981 means as much to them as 1961."<ref name="Jarnow15">{{cite web |last1=Jarnow |first1=Jesse |title=Carl Only Knows: A New Biography of the Man Legally Known as the Beach Boys |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/926-carl-only-knows-a-new-biography-of-the-man-legally-known-as-the-beach-boys/ |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=October 12, 2015 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616042103/https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/926-carl-only-knows-a-new-biography-of-the-man-legally-known-as-the-beach-boys/ |url-status=live}}</ref> He returned in May 1982, after approximately 14 months of being away, on the condition that the group reconsider their rehearsal and touring policies and refrain from "Las Vegas-type" engagements.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=373}}

During Carl's absence, [[Jeffrey Foskett]], who previously performed in Love's Endless Summer Beach Band, was recruited to the touring band to sing Carl's parts.<ref name=foskett>{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Randy |title=Hitting the high notes: Jeffrey Foskett keeps the Beach Boys reunion in harmony |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765586994/Hitting-the-high-notes-Jeffrey-Foskett-keeps-the-Beach-Boys-reunion-in-harmony.html?pg=all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712054406/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765586994/Hitting-the-high-notes-Jeffrey-Foskett-keeps-the-Beach-Boys-reunion-in-harmony.html?pg=all |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 12, 2015 |work=[[Deseret News]] |date=June 30, 2012}}</ref> On Carl's return, Foskett remained in the band to perform falsetto vocals and guitar until 1990, and would return for the 2012 reunion tour and album, and the touring band of 2014-2019. Though never named as an official member of the Beach Boys, he would later be identified by members as the band's only "vice principal".<ref name=foskett />

In late 1982, Eugene Landy was hired once more as Brian's therapist.<ref name="TelegraphObit">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/31/db3102.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/03/31/ixportal.html |title=Eugene Landy obituary |access-date=April 16, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225202250/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F03%2F31%2Fdb3102.xml&sSheet=%2Fportal%2F2006%2F03%2F31%2Fixportal.html |archive-date=February 25, 2008}}</ref> On November 5, Carl, Love and Jardine falsely informed Brian that he was destitute and no longer a Beach Boy, insisting he reenlist Landy as his caretaker to continue receiving his touring income,<ref name="Goldberg1984">{{cite magazine |last1=Goldberg |first1=Michael |title=Dennis Wilson: The Beach Boy Who Went Overboard |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=June 7, 1984 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-beach-boy-who-went-overboard-19840607 |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-date=August 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830173430/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-beach-boy-who-went-overboard-19840607 |url-status=live}}</ref> in addition to putting him on a strict diet and health regimen.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=243–244}} Coupled with counseling sessions that retaught him basic social etiquette, this therapy restored Brian's physical health, slimming down from {{convert|311|lb|kg}} to {{convert|185|lb|kg}} and Brian returned to the group.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brian Wilson on the Beach Boys, Gershwin and his upcoming biopic |url=http://www.ifc.com/fix/2011/11/brian-wilson-on-biopic-the-beach-boys-gershwin |work=IFC |access-date=August 28, 2013 |date=November 16, 2011 |archive-date=October 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005021909/http://www.ifc.com/fix/2011/11/brian-wilson-on-biopic-the-beach-boys-gershwin |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Death of Dennis, ''The Beach Boys'', and ''Still Cruisin''{{'}}====
[[Image:Reagans with the Beach Boys.jpg|thumb|The Beach Boys with President [[Ronald Reagan]] and First Lady [[Nancy Reagan]] at the [[White House]], June 1983]]
By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dennis had been embroiled in successive failed romantic relationships, including a tense and short-lived relationship with [[Fleetwood Mac]]'s [[Christine McVie]], and found himself in severe economic trouble resulting in the sale of [[Brother Studios]], established by the Wilson brothers in 1974 and where ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' was produced, and the forfeiture of his beloved yacht. To cope with the combination of devastating losses, Dennis heavily abused alcohol, cocaine, and heroin and was, by 1983, homeless and lived a nomadic lifestyle. He was often seen spending much of his time wandering the Los Angeles coast and often missed Beach Boys performances. By this point, he had lost his voice and much of his ability to play drums.<ref>{{cite AV media |last1=O'Casey |first1=Matt |title=Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1704872/ |via=IMDb |date=February 26, 2010}}</ref>

That year, tensions between Dennis and Love escalated to the point that each filed a restraining order against the other.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brain-sharper.com/entertainment/beach-boys-ob/ |title=Brian Wilson Explains Why The Beach Boys Will Never Get Back Together |publisher=BrainSharper |date=July 19, 2019 |last=Foster |first=JJ |access-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-date=March 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326061654/http://www.brain-sharper.com/entertainment/beach-boys-ob/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Following Brian's readmission for Landy's treatment, Dennis was given an ultimatum after his last performance in November to check into rehab for his alcohol problems or be banned from performing live with the band again. Dennis checked into rehab for his chance to get sober, but on December 28, he drowned at the age of 39 in [[Marina del Rey]] while diving from a friend's boat trying to recover items that he had previously thrown overboard in a fit of rage.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=247}}

The Beach Boys spent the next several years touring, often playing in front of large audiences, and recording songs for film soundtracks and various artists compilations.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=126}} One new studio album, the self-titled ''[[The Beach Boys (album)|The Beach Boys]]'', appeared in 1985 and proved a modest success, becoming their highest-charting album in the US since ''15 Big Ones''. It was the band's last album for CBS, as they returned to Capitol in 1986 with a 25th anniversary greatest hits album, ''[[Made in U.S.A. (The Beach Boys album)|Made in U.S.A]]'', which went double platinum. In 1988, the Beach Boys unexpectedly claimed their first US number 1 single in 22 years with "[[Kokomo (song)|Kokomo]]", which topped the chart for one week.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-beach-boys/chart-history/hsi/ |title=The Beach Boys Kokomo (From"Cocktail" ) Chart History |magazine=Billboard |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-date=November 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117203022/https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-beach-boys/chart-history/hsi/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The track was included on the band's next studio album, 1989's ''[[Still Cruisin']]'', which went platinum in the US.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53 |title=September RIAA certifications |date=October 25, 2003 |magazine=Billboard |language=en |page=53 |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618111308/https://books.google.com/books?id=IBEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53 |url-status=live}}</ref> During that period, Brian was largely absent during the recording sessions and tour dates due the recording of his debut solo album ''[[Brian Wilson]]'' and conflicts between the band and Landy.

====Lawsuits, ''Summer in Paradise'', and ''Stars and Stripes, Vol. 1''====
{{See also|Andy Paley sessions}}

Biographer [[Peter Ames Carlin]] summarized: "Once surfin' pin-ups, they remade themselves as [[avant-garde pop]] artists, then psychedelic oracles. After that they were down-home hippies, then retro-hip icons. Eventually they devolved into none of the above: a kind of perpetual-motion nostalgia machine."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carlin |first1=Peter Ames |author-link=Peter Ames Carlin |title=MUSIC; A Rock Utopian Still Chasing An American Dream |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/25/arts/music-a-rock-utopian-still-chasing-an-american-dream.html |date=March 25, 2001 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612204232/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/25/arts/music-a-rock-utopian-still-chasing-an-american-dream.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Music journalist Erik Davis wrote in 1990: "the Beach Boys are either dead, deranged, or dinosaurs; their records are Eurocentric, square, unsampled; they've made too much money to merit hip revisionism".<ref name="Davis1990"/> In 1992, critic Jim Miller wrote: "They have become a figment of their own past, prisoners of their unflagging popularity—incongruous emblems of a sunny myth of eternal youth belied by much of their own best music.&nbsp;... The group is still largely identified with its hits from the early Sixties."{{sfn|Miller|1992|pp=192, 195}}

Love filed a defamation lawsuit against Brian due to how he was presented in Brian's 1992 memoir ''[[Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story]]''. Its publisher [[HarperCollins]] settled the suit for $1.5 million. He said that the suit allowed his lawyer "to gain access to the transcripts of Brian's interviews with his [book] collaborator, Todd Gold. Those interviews affirmed—according to Brian—that I had been the inspiration of the group and that I had written many of the songs that [would soon be] in dispute."{{sfn|Love|2016|pp=353–354}} Other defamation lawsuits were filed by Carl, Brother Records, and the Wilsons' mother Audree.{{sfn|Love|2016|p=353}} With Love and Brian unable to determine exactly what Love was properly owed in royalties and songwriting credits, [[Love v. Wilson|Love sued Brian in 1992]], awarding him $5 million and a share of future royalties from Wilson.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 13, 1994 |title=Beach Boys' Mike Love Wins His Case, Stands to Collect Millions |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-13-fi-8511-story.html |access-date=March 10, 2021 |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=February 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215121946/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-12-13/business/fi-8511_1_beach-boys-lead-singer |url-status=live}}</ref> Thirty-five of the group's songs were then amended to credit Love.<ref name="Times1994">{{cite news |title=Beach Boys' Mike Love Wins His Case, Stands to Collect Millions |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-12-13-fi-8511-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 13, 1994 |access-date=October 1, 2012 |archive-date=February 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215121946/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-12-13/business/fi-8511_1_beach-boys-lead-singer |url-status=live}}</ref> He later called it "almost certainly the largest case of fraud in music history".{{sfn|Love|2016|p=373}}

After dissolving his relationship with Landy, Brian phoned [[Sire Records]] staff producer [[Andy Paley]] to collaborate on new material tentatively for the Beach Boys.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=273, 281}} After losing the songwriting credits lawsuit with Love, Brian told ''[[Mojo (magazine)|MOJO]]'' in February 1995: "Mike and I are just cool. There's a lot of shit Andy and I got written for him. I just had to get through that goddamn trial!"<ref name="MOJO1995">{{cite magazine |last1=Holdship |first1=Bill |title=Lost in Music |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |date=August 1995 |url=http://www.petsounds.com/mojo1.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980630153958/http://www.petsounds.com/mojo1.pdf |archive-date=June 30, 1998}}</ref> In April, it was unclear whether the project would turn into a Wilson solo album, a Beach Boys album, or a combination of the two.<ref name=Verna1995>{{cite magazine |last1=Verna |first1=Paul |title=From Brian Wilson to Jerry Lee Lewis, Andy Paley's Career Defies Description |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5QsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=April 22, 1995 |volume=107 |issue=16 |pages=88–89 |issn=0006-2510 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=May 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513062940/https://books.google.com/books?id=5QsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88 |url-status=live}}</ref> The project ultimately disintegrated.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=284}} Instead, Brian and his bandmates recorded ''[[Stars and Stripes Vol. 1]]'', an album of [[country music]] stars covering Beach Boys songs, with co-production helmed by [[River North Records]] owner [[Joe Thomas (producer)|Joe Thomas]].{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=291}} After the release of ''Stars and Stripes Vol. 1'', Brian became completely estranged from the band and did not perform or collaborate with his bandmates until 2012, focussing on his solo career instead. The group would also discuss about finishing the album ''Smile'', but Carl rejected the idea, fearing that it would cause Brian another nervous breakdown.{{sfn|Love|2016|p=384}} The [[Grammy Awards|Grammy]]-nominated<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/1999+GRAMMY+NOMINATIONS-a083603629 |title=1999 Grammy Nominations |access-date=2008-04-29 |archive-date=2018-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317035726/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/1999+GRAMMY+NOMINATIONS-a083603629 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[The Pet Sounds Sessions]]'' box set was released in 1997.

===1998–present: Love-led tours and brief reunion===
====Carl's death, name litigation, and ''The Smile Sessions''====
[[File:The Beach Boys concierto.jpg|thumb|The touring lineup of Mike Love and Bruce Johnston's "The Beach Boys Band", with David Marks, in 2008]]
In 1997, Carl was diagnosed with [[Lung cancer|lung]] and [[brain cancer]] after years of heavy smoking. Despite his terminal condition, Carl performed with the band on its summer tour (a double-bill with [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]]) while undergoing chemo. During performances, he sat on a stool and needed oxygen after each song.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=286–287}} When Carl became too unwell to perform in late 1997, David Marks returned as lead guitarist. Carl died on February 6, 1998, aged 51, two months after the death of the Wilsons' mother, Audree.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lopez |first1=Robert |last2=Kerkstra |first2=Patrick |title=Beach Boy Carl Wilson Dies of Cancer at 51 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-08-mn-16912-story.html |access-date=December 20, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=February 8, 1998 |ref=carlDeath}}</ref>

After Carl's death, Jardine quit the band. His final appearance with the band for more than a decade occurred on May 9, 1998, which was the final official Beach Boys show performed before the license dispute.<ref name="Bellagio G&S 1998">{{cite web |last1=Doe |first1=Andrew G. |display-authors=et al. |title=Gigs & Sessions:1998 |url=http://bellagio10452.com/gigs98.html |access-date=July 15, 2024 |website=Bellagio10452.com}}</ref><ref name="Billboard" /> During the dispute, Love, Johnston and Marks toured as "The California Beach Band".{{Refn|It was previously believed they did so as "America's Band", but this was disproven|group=nb}}<ref name="Bellagio G&S 1998" /> After Love secured a license from BRI, he, Johnston and Marks continued touring as the Beach Boys from July 4, 1998.<ref name="Bellagio G&S 1998" /><ref name="Billboard" /> At the time, Brian was also offered the license, but declined. Jardine began to perform regularly with his band "Beach Boys: Family & Friends" until he ran into legal issues for using the name without license. Jardine sued Love, claiming he had been excluded from their concerts.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Charles |last=Bermant |title=Jardine Loses "Beach Boys" |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jardine-loses-beach-boys-20010803 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=August 3, 2001 |access-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525143443/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jardine-loses-beach-boys-20010803 |url-status=live}}</ref> Brother Records, Inc. (BRI), through its attorney, Ed McPherson, sued Jardine. Jardine counter-claimed against BRI for wrongful termination.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914b847add7b049347841d8 |title=BROTHER RECORDS, INC. v. JARDINE &#124; 318 F.3d 900 &#124; 9th Cir. &#124; Judgment |website=Casemine.com |access-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830015442/https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914b847add7b049347841d8 |url-status=live}}</ref> Courts ruled in Love's favor, denying Jardine use of the Beach Boys name. Jardine appealed, and sought $4 million in damages. The [[California Court of Appeal]] ruled that "Love acted wrongfully in freezing Jardine out of touring under the Beach Boys name", allowing Jardine to continue with his lawsuit.<ref name="Billboard">{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/68217/al-jardine-gets-ok-to-sue-mike-love |title=Al Jardine Gets OK To Sue Mike Love |publisher=Billboard |date=November 12, 2003 |access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref> The case was settled outside of court with the terms undisclosed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/03/23/beach-boys-lawsuit-settled/ |title=Beach Boys lawsuit settled |publisher=The Mercury News |date=March 23, 2008 |access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Settlement Reached In Beach Boys Name Dispute |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1046108/settlement-reached-in-beach-boys-name-dispute |magazine=Billboard |date=March 21, 2008 |access-date=June 2, 2021 |archive-date=June 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604140450/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1046108/settlement-reached-in-beach-boys-name-dispute |url-status=live}}</ref> Marks quit the band again in 1999, due to a diagnosis of [[hepatitis C]]; after which Love and Johnston continued touring without him.<ref>{{cite news |title=Celebrity Health – David Marks |work=BBC News |date=May 23, 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7414433.stm |access-date=October 11, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Stebbins|2007|p=228}}</ref>

In 2000, ABC-TV premiered a miniseries, ''[[The Beach Boys: An American Family]]'', that dramatized the Beach Boys' story. It was criticized by numerous parties, including Wilson, for inaccuracies.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Holdship |first1=Bill |title=Heroes and Villains |url=http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=2371.25 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 6, 2000 |access-date=July 7, 2016 |location=[[Chicago]] |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235253/http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=2371.25 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys]]'', a greatest hits compilation, was released in 2003, going multi-platinum. In 2004, Wilson recorded and released his solo album ''[[Brian Wilson Presents Smile]]'', a reinterpretation of the unfinished ''Smile'' project. That September, Wilson issued a free CD through the ''[[Daily Mail|Mail On Sunday]]'' that included Beach Boys songs he had rerecorded, five of which he co-authored with Love. The 10-track compilation had 2.6 million copies distributed and prompted Love to file a lawsuit in 2005; he claimed the promotion hurt sales of the original recordings and his image was used for the CD.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-nov-04-et-quick4.4-story.html |title=Mike Love sues Brian Wilson |last1=Lewis |first1=Randy |date=November 4, 2005 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=August 4, 2013 |archive-date=November 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106074311/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/nov/04/entertainment/et-quick4.4 |url-status=live}}</ref> Wilson's wife [[Melinda Ledbetter|Melinda]] alleged that, during the deposition, Love turned to Wilson and remarked: "you better start writing a real big hit because you're going to have to write me a real big check".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beach-boys-brian-wilson-finally-defeats-one-of-mike-loves-dubious-lawsuits-120182/ |title=Beach Boys' Brian Wilson Finally Defeats One of Mike Love's Dubious Lawsuits |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=May 14, 2007 |last=Greene |first=Andy |access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref> Love's suit was dismissed in 2007 when a judge determined there were no triable issues and the case was without merit.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-16-et-quick16.1-story.html |title=Beach Boys lawsuit dismissed |last1=Lewis |first1=Randy |date=May 16, 2007 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=August 4, 2013 |archive-date=February 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227081628/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/16/entertainment/et-quick16.1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LA Times">{{cite news |title=Beach Boys lawsuit dismissed |url=http://www.proquest.com/ |access-date=June 27, 2010 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=May 16, 2007 |page=E.3}}</ref>

In 2006, Brian Wilson, Love, Jardine, Marks, and Johnston participated in a non-performing reunion atop the [[Capitol Records Building]] to celebrate that ''Sounds of Summer'' had been certified double-platinum.<ref name="Billboard 2012-2006 rooftop reunion">{{cite magazine |last1=Graff |first1=Gary |title=The Beach Boys: How The Reunion Happened |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/the-beach-boys-how-the-reunion-happened-1095910/ |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Billboard/Penske |access-date=July 17, 2024 |date=June 5, 2012}}</ref> Later that year, Jardine joined Wilson and his band for a tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of ''Pet Sounds''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ratliff |first=Ben |title=Wouldn't It Be Nice Not to Fuss Over Significance or Perfection? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/23/arts/music/23wils.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 23, 2006 |access-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref> In 2008, Marks briefly reunited with Love and Johnston's touring band for a tour of Europe.<ref name="Bellagio G&S 2008">{{cite web |display-authors=et al. |last1=Doe |first1=Andrew G. |title=Gigs & Sessions: 2008 |url=http://bellagio10452.com/gigs08.html |website=Bellagio10452.com |access-date=July 17, 2024}}</ref>

In 2010, Jardine released ''[[A Postcard from California]]'', his solo debut. The album features contributions from Brian, Johnston, Marks, and Love, as well as a posthumous feature from Carl and features of several other artist.<ref name="huffingtonpost1">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/ema-postcard-from-califor_b_697112.html |title=Mike Ragogna: A Postcard From California: A Conversation with The Beach Boys' Al Jardine |publisher=HuffPost |date=August 27, 2010 |access-date=November 5, 2011}}</ref> Also in 2010, Brian and Jardine sang on "[[We Are the World 25 for Haiti]]", a new recording of "[[We Are the World]]", to benefit the population of [[Haiti]].<ref name="Bellagio Guest Appearances">{{cite web |display-authors=et al. |last1=Doe |first1=Andrew G. |title=Guest Appearances |url=http://bellagio10452.com/guesting.html |website=Bellagio10452.com |access-date=July 11, 2024}}</ref>

Jardine made his first appearance with the Beach Boys touring band in more than 10 years in 2011 at a tribute concert for [[Ronald Reagan]]'s 100th birthday.<ref>{{cite web |last=Flanary |first=Patrick |title=Pacific Ocean coup: how Ronald Reagan helped bury a Beach Boy at sea |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/22/beach-boys-dennis-wilson-buried-at-sea-ronald-reagan-help |website=The Guardian |date=May 22, 2019 |access-date=January 7, 2020}}</ref> He made other appearances with Love and Johnston's touring band in preparation for a reunion.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

On October 31, 2011, ''[[The Smile Sessions]]'' [[compilation album]] and [[box set]] was released, featuring comprehensive session highlights and outtakes from the original 1966-1967 ''[[Smile (The Beach Boys album)|Smile]]'' recordings, with the first 19 tracks comprising a hypothetical version of the completed ''Smile'' album. ''The Smile Sessions'' received virtually unanimous critical acclaim upon release.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Smile Sessions – The Beach Boys|website=[[Metacritic]] |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/the-smile-sessions|access-date=November 11, 2011}}</ref> It was ranked number 381 in ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s 2012 list of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|greatest albums of all time]]<ref name="RS500list">{{cite magazine | url =https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/the-beach-boys-smile-2011-version-20120525  | title = The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Beach Boys, 'Smile 2011 Version' | magazine =Rolling Stone | date=2012 | access-date = December 3, 2015}}</ref> and won the [[Grammy Award]] for [[Grammy Award for Best Historical Album|Best Historical Album]] at the [[55th Annual Grammy Awards|2013 Grammy Awards]].<ref name="eonline">{{cite news|url=http://au.eonline.com/news/386489/2013-grammy-awards-winners-the-complete-list|title=2013 Grammy Awards Winners: The Complete List|date=February 10, 2013|access-date=April 12, 2013|author=Alyssa Toomey and Rosemary Brennan|work=[[E!]]}}</ref>

====''That's Why God Made the Radio'' and reunion tour====
[[File:The Beach Boys Smile (7300302550).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|The reunited Beach Boys performing "[[Heroes and Villains]]" in tribute to ''Smile'']]

On December 16, 2011, it was announced that Wilson, Love, Jardine, Johnston, and David Marks would reunite for a new album and [[Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour|50th anniversary tour]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/B/Beach_Boys/2011/12/16/19133156.html |title=Beach Boys gear up for reunion |access-date=December 16, 2011 |work=Sun Media |first=Darryl |last=Sterdan |date=December 16, 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709235328/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/B/Beach_Boys/2011/12/16/19133156.html |archive-date=July 9, 2012}}</ref> On February 12, 2012, the Beach Boys performed at the [[54th Annual Grammy Awards|2012 Grammy Awards]]. It marked the group's first live performance to include Wilson since 1996, Jardine since 1998, and Marks since 1999.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-grammys-beachboys-idUSTRE8171QK20120208 |work=Reuters |first=Jill |last=Serjeant |title=Reunited Beach Boys to perform at Grammy Awards |date=February 8, 2012 |access-date=July 6, 2021 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807191955/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-grammys-beachboys-idUSTRE8171QK20120208 |url-status=live}}</ref> A new studio album, ''[[That's Why God Made the Radio]]'', was released on July 5; it debuted at number 3 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], expanding the group's span of top-ten albums there across 49 years and one week, passing the Beatles with 47 years of top-ten albums.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/beach-boys-beatles-billboard-337926 |title=Beach Boys Surpass the Beatles for Billboard 200 Record |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=August 14, 2012 |first1=Gary |last1=Trust |date=June 14, 2012 |archive-date=June 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618192812/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/beach-boys-beatles-billboard-337926 |url-status=live}}</ref> Critics generally regarded the album as an "uneven" collection, with most of the praise centered on its closing musical suite.<ref name=Bolin2012/>

During the tour, when asked about the future held for the band and its reunion after the scheduled end of the tour in September, Love stated that "We're looking at our present and future. I think we're going to be doing this again with Brian for a long time." Wilson said that he had begun planning for another Beach Boys album for the band to record after the tour.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Condran |first1=Ed |title=Beach Boys celebrate 50 years with tour stop in Tampa |url=http://tbo.com/entertainment/entertainment/2012/may/03/7/fxnewso8-golden-boys-ar-399218 |access-date=January 2, 2020 |work=[[The Tampa Tribune]] |date=May 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505231342/http://tbo.com/entertainment/entertainment/2012/may/03/7/fxnewso8-golden-boys-ar-399218 |archive-date=May 5, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On June 1, 2012, Love received an e-mail stating "no more shows for Wilson". Love then began accepting invitations for when the reunion was over.{{sfn|Love|2016|pp=402–403}} Johnston told reporter Mark Dillon in mid-June that the current tour was "a one-time event. You're not going to see this next year. I'm busy next year doing my thing with Mike."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dillon |first1=Mark |title=The Beach Boys at 50 |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2012/06/15/the_beach_boys_at_50.html |newspaper=The Star |date=June 15, 2012 |ref=none}}</ref> On June 25, Wilson's team sent another e-mail asking Love to disregard the previous message, but by then, Love claimed that "it was too late. We had booked other concerts, and promoters had begun selling tickets."

[[File:The Beach Boys, May 29, 2012 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Brian Wilson, David Marks, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and Al Jardine performing together in May 2012.]]

Despite this, in July, Love stated: "There's talk of us going and doing a return to the Grammys next year, and there's talk about doing another album together. There's nothing in stone, but there's a lot of ideas being floated around".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/482551/beach-boys-talk-another-album-together |title=Beach Boys Talk 'Another Album Together' |magazine=Billboard |date=June 27, 2012 |access-date=June 6, 2017}}</ref> Ultimately, the reunion tour ended in September 2012 as planned, after a final show on September 28, but amid rumors that Love had dismissed Wilson from the Beach Boys.{{sfn|Love|2016|}}<ref name="Wilson">{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-xpm-2012-oct-09-la-et-ms-brian-wilson-al-jardine-respond-to-mike-love-on-beach-boys-flap-20121008-story.html |title='It kinda feels like getting fired' – Brian Wilson to Mike Love |first=Brian |last=Wilson |date=October 9, 2012 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Love and Johnston announced that the Beach Boys would revert to the pre-reunion lineup, without Brian, Jardine or Marks, all of whom expressed surprise. Although such dates were noted in a late June issue of ''Rolling Stone'', it was widely reported that the three had been "fired".<ref name="Wilson"/> On October 5, Love responded in a self-written press release to the ''Los Angeles Times'' stating he "did not fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys. I cannot fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys&nbsp;... I do not have such authority. And even if I did, I would never fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys." He claimed that nobody in the band "wanted to do a 50th anniversary tour that lasted 10 years" and that its limited run "was long agreed upon".<ref name="latimes.com">{{cite news |author-link=Mike Love |last=Love |first=Mike |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-mike-love-beach-boys-on-brian-wilson-20121004,0,6311413.story |title=Mike Love sets the record straight on Brian Wilson's 'firing' |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 5, 2012 |access-date=February 19, 2013}}</ref> Love and Johnston continue to perform under the Beach Boys name, while Wilson, Jardine, and Marks toured as a trio in 2013,<ref>{{cite news |title=Brian Wilson, Al Jardine & David Marks of the Beach Boys to Play Shows as a Trio |url=http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/03/08/brian-wilson-al-jardine-david-marks-beach-boys-mike-love/ |access-date=March 8, 2013 |newspaper=Rock Cellar Magazine |date=March 8, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316075924/http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/03/08/brian-wilson-al-jardine-david-marks-beach-boys-mike-love/ |archive-date=March 16, 2013}}</ref> and a subsequent tour with guitarist [[Jeff Beck]] also included Blondie Chaplin at select dates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/jeff-beck-brian-wilson-tour-nightmare/ |title=Jeff Beck Calls His Tour with Brian Wilson 'A Bit of a Nightmare' |first=Jeff |last=Giles |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |date=May 6, 2014 |access-date=April 5, 2019 |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215090152/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/jeff-beck-brian-wilson-tour-nightmare/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Wilson and Jardine continued to tour together in 2014 and following years, often joined by Chaplin; Marks declined to join them after 2013.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

====Occasional partial reunions====
[[File:Brian Wilson 20160328 185747 Byron Bay (26182663245).jpg|thumb|Wilson and Jardine performing during the Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour in 2016]]

In June 2013, Wilson's website announced that he was recording and self-producing new material  featuring Jardine, Marks, and Chaplin, among others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brianwilson.com/news/2013/6/6/brian-wilson-returns-to-capitol-music-group-currently-recording-and-self-producing-his-11th-solo-studio-album |title=Brian Wilson Returns to Capitol Music Group; Currently Recording and Self-Producing New Solo Studio Album |website=BrianWilson.com |date=June 6, 2013 |access-date=May 23, 2014 |archive-date=June 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609144416/http://www.brianwilson.com/news/2013/6/6/brian-wilson-returns-to-capitol-music-group-currently-recording-and-self-producing-his-11th-solo-studio-album |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[No Pier Pressure]]'', Brian's solo album for April 2015, marked another collaboration between him and Joe Thomas, featuring guest appearances from Jardine, Marks and Chaplin.{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2017|pp=164–166}}

In February 2014, Love, Jardine, Marks and Johnston appeared together at the 2014 Ella Awards Ceremony, where Love was honored for his work as a singer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mike receives Ella Award 2014 |url=http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,17233.0.html |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=smileysmile.net}}</ref> In April, when asked if he was interested in making music with Love again, Wilson said he wasn't,<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Caffrey |first1=Dan |title=Eight Minutes with Brian Wilson: An Interview |url=https://consequence.net/2015/04/interview-brian-wilson/ |magazine=[[Consequence of Sound]] |date=April 8, 2015 |access-date=April 9, 2015 |archive-date=April 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410203916/https://consequence.net/2015/04/interview-brian-wilson/ |url-status=live}}</ref> adding in July that he "doesn't talk to the Beach Boys [or] Mike Love".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harrison |first1=Tom |title=Brian Wilson here with 'best band I've ever worked with' |url=https://theprovince.com/travel/Brian+Wilson+here+with+best+band+ever+worked+with/11234184/story.html |newspaper=[[The Province]] |date=July 22, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724203723/http://www.theprovince.com/travel/Brian+Wilson+here+with+best+band+ever+worked+with/11234184/story.html |archive-date=July 24, 2015}}</ref> In December, ''[[Soundstage (TV series)|Soundstage]]'' aired an episode featuring Wilson performing with Jardine, Chaplin and Ricky Fataar at [[The Venetian Las Vegas|The Venetian]] in [[Las Vegas]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Reed |first=Ryan |date=2016-07-28 |title=Brian Wilson Preps Concert Set Featuring Al Jardine, Guests |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/brian-wilson-preps-concert-set-featuring-al-jardine-guests-104890/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:PetSounds2017.jpg|thumb|Wilson, Jardine and Blondie Chaplin performing with Wilson's solo band in 2017]]
In 2016, Wilson and Jardine embarked on the [[Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour]], promoted as Wilson's final performances of the album,{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2017|pp=169–170}} with Chaplin appearing as a special guest at all dates on select songs. That same year, Love and Wilson each published memoirs, ''[[Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy]]'' and ''[[I Am Brian Wilson]]'', respectively. Asked about negative comments that Wilson made about him in the book, Love challenged the legitimacy of statements attributed to Wilson in the book and in the press.<ref name="fes">{{cite news |last1=Fessier |first1=Bruce |title=Beach Boys seek to overcome discord with new wave of Love |url=http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/music/2016/11/16/beach-boys-seek-overcome-discord-new-wave-love/93977562/ |work=[[The Desert Sun]] |date=November 17, 2016 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=November 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106232144/https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/music/2016/11/16/beach-boys-seek-overcome-discord-new-wave-love/93977562/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' conducted in June 2016, Wilson said he would like to try to repair his relationship with Love and collaborate with him again.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Grow |first1=Kory |title=Brian Wilson Talks Mental Illness, Drugs and Life After Beach Boys |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/brian-wilson-talks-mental-illness-drugs-and-beach-boys-w443076 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=October 11, 2016 |access-date=March 2, 2018 |archive-date=March 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302225224/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/brian-wilson-talks-mental-illness-drugs-and-beach-boys-w443076 |url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2017, Love said: "If it were possible to make it just Brian and I, and have it under control and done better than what happened in 2012, then yeah, I'd be open to something."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Friedlander |first1=Matt |title=Beach Boys' Mike Love Says He's Open to Working With Brian Wilson Again |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/beach-boys-mike-love-open-working-brian-wilson/story?id=44828961 |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=January 17, 2017 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619101041/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/beach-boys-mike-love-open-working-brian-wilson/story?id=44828961 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:The Beach Boys (ZMF 2019) jm81889.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Johnston and Love performing as the Beach Boys in 2019]]

In July 2018, Wilson, Jardine, Love, Johnston, and Marks reunited for a one-off Q&A session moderated by director [[Rob Reiner]] at the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles. It was the first time the band had appeared together in public since their 2012 tour.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Newman |first1=Melinda |title=Reunited Beach Boys Catch a Nostalgic Wave During SiriusXM Town Hall |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8468014/beach-boys-siriusxm-town-hall-recap |date=July 31, 2018 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=October 1, 2018 |archive-date=October 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002053554/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8468014/beach-boys-siriusxm-town-hall-recap |url-status=live}}</ref> That December, Love described his new holiday album, ''[[Reason for the Season]]'', as a "message to Brian" and said that he "would love nothing more than to get together with Brian and do some music".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mike-loves-christmas-album-message-brian-wilson-224124673.html |title=Beach Boy Mike Love's Christmas album is 'a message to Brian Wilson' |website=Yahoo.com |date=December 11, 2018 |access-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-date=October 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031165915/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mike-loves-christmas-album-message-brian-wilson-224124673.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, Wilson and Jardine (with Chaplin) embarked on a co-headlining tour with [[the Zombies]], performing selections from ''Friends'' and ''Surf's Up''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/beach-boys-brian-wilson-zombies-tour-2019/ |title=Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, The Zombies Announce 'Something Great From '68' Co-Headlining Tour |date=May 7, 2019 |website=Liveforlivemusic.com |access-date=August 8, 2019}}</ref>

In February 2020, Wilson and Jardine's official social media pages encouraged fans to boycott the band's music after it was announced that Love's Beach Boys would perform at the Safari Club International Convention in [[Reno, Nevada]] on animal rights grounds. The concert proceeded despite online protests, as Love issued a statement that said his group has always supported "freedom of thought and expression as a fundamental tenet of our rights as Americans".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sodomsky |first=Sam |date=February 3, 2020 |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/brian-wilson-opposes-mike-loves-beach-boys-show-at-trophy-hunting-convention/ |title=Brian Wilson Opposes Mike Love's Beach Boys Show at Trophy Hunting Convention |website=Pitchfork |access-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204202855/https://pitchfork.com/news/brian-wilson-opposes-mike-loves-beach-boys-show-at-trophy-hunting-convention/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In October, Love and Johnston's Beach Boys performed at a fundraiser for [[Donald Trump]]'s [[Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign|2020 presidential campaign]]; Wilson and Jardine again issued a statement that they had not been informed about this performance and did not support it.<ref>Shaffer, Claire (October 19, 2020). [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/brian-wilson-al-jardine-donald-trump-beach-boys-fundraiser-1077437/ "Brian Wilson, Al Jardine Disavow Donald Trump's Beach Boys Fundraiser"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117000753/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/brian-wilson-al-jardine-donald-trump-beach-boys-fundraiser-1077437/ |date=January 17, 2021 }}. ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. Retrieved June 23, 2021.</ref>

====Intellectual property sale and Brian's death====
In February 2021, it was announced that Brian Wilson, Love, Jardine, and the estate of Carl Wilson had sold a majority stake in the band's intellectual property to [[Irving Azoff]] and his new company [[Iconic Artists Group]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/beach-boys-rights-sale-azoff-1129316/ |title=Inside the Ambitious Plan to Monetize the Beach Boys' Legacy |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=February 18, 2021 |access-date=February 19, 2021 |archive-date=February 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219005023/https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/beach-boys-rights-sale-azoff-1129316/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In April, [[Omnivore Recordings]] released the album ''[[California Music|California Music Presents Add Some Music]]'', featuring Love, Jardine, Marks, Johnston, and several of their children.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Greene |first=Andy |date=February 26, 2021 |title=Hear the Beach Boys Reunite on Charity Re-Recording of 'Add Some Music to Your Day' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beach-boys-add-some-music-1132591/ |access-date=April 7, 2021 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411140354/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/beach-boys-add-some-music-1132591/ |url-status=live}}</ref> That August, Capitol released the ''[[Feel Flows (album)|Feel Flows]]'' box set, comprising sessions from ''Sunflower and Surf's Up''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sheffield |first1=Rob |title=The Beach Boys' New 'Feel Flows' Box Set: An Exclusive Guide |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/the-beach-boys-new-feel-flows-box-set-an-exclusive-guide/ar-AAKFGMC?ocid=uxbndlbing |website=MSN |access-date=June 5, 2021 |date=June 3, 2021 |archive-date=June 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605181210/https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/the-beach-boys-new-feel-flows-box-set-an-exclusive-guide/ar-AAKFGMC?ocid=uxbndlbing |url-status=live}}</ref> Capitol succeeded this in December 2022 with the ''[[Sail On Sailor – 1972]]'' box set, this time focusing on ''Carl and the Passions'' and ''Holland''.[[File:BeachBoysAug102024.jpg|thumb|The Beach Boys touring band in 2024]]
In March 2024, the band announced a [[The Beach Boys (film)|self-titled documentary]] directed by [[Frank Marshall (filmmaker)|Frank Marshall]] and [[Thom Zimny]], which would be released by streaming service [[Disney+]], which includes new and archived interviews from various members of the band and their inner circle.<ref name="2024 self-titled documentary announcement">{{cite web |last1=Grobar |first1=Matt |title='The Beach Boys' Doc Sets Disney+ Premiere Date |url=https://deadline.com/2024/03/beach-boys-documentary-premiere-date-disney-plus-1235868547/ |website=Deadline |access-date=July 15, 2024 |date=March 26, 2024}}</ref> The documentary included some footage from a private reunion of Wilson, Love, Jardine, Marks, and Johnston at Paradise Cove, where the ''Surfin' Safari'' album cover photo was taken in 1962.<ref name="USA Today Paradise Cove 2023">{{cite web |last1=Ruggieri |first1=Melissa |title=Mike Love calls Beach Boys reunion with Brian Wilson in documentary 'sweet' and 'special' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/05/24/beach-boys-disney-documentary-interview/73779855007/ |website=USA Today |access-date=July 17, 2024 |date=May 24, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Rolling Stone Paradise Cove reunion 2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Kreps |first1=Daniel |title=The Beach Boys Hold 'Family Reunion' at 'Surfin' Safari' Spot in Clip From Band's Documentary |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-beach-boys-family-reunion-documentary-clip-1235021836/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |publisher=Rolling Stone/Penske Media Corporation |access-date=July 17, 2024 |date=May 16, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Billboard Paradise Cove reunion 2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Newman |first1=Melinda |title=New Beach Boys Documentary Brings Good Vibrations; 'It's a Fantastic Thing', Says Mike Love |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/beach-boys-documentary-mike-love-brian-wilson-1235692171/ |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Billboard/Penske Music Corporation |access-date=July 17, 2024 |date=May 24, 2024}}</ref> They and Chaplin also participated in a non-performing reunion at the documentary's premiere on May 24, 2024.<ref name="2024 documentary premiere reunion #1">{{cite web |last1=Novak |first1=Lauren |title=Brian Wilson Reunites With Beach Boys Amid Conservatorship Ruling & Health Struggles |url=https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/14636/brian-wilson-reunites-beach-boys-documentary-conservatorship/ |website=Remind Magazine |access-date=July 17, 2024 |date=May 22, 2024}}</ref>

In August 2024, Jardine revealed that, with Wilson's permission for the use of his band and name, he was planning a tour with many of the musicians from the Brian Wilson Band, minus Wilson himself as he had retired touring in 2022. In May 2025, during an interview with ''Variety'' that month, while promoting his tour with the newly-formed Pet Sounds Band, Jardine announced the upcoming release of a box set, called ''Brother Records 1454'', and due for release in early 2026, which will release the album ''Adult/Child'' alongside reissues of ''15 Big Ones'', ''The Beach Boys Love You'', and ''M.I.U. Album''.<ref name="Al PSB EP Variety interview 2025">{{Cite web |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=2025-05-30 |title=Al Jardine of the Beach Boys on Doing a Rare Solo Project, 'Islands in the Sun,' and Fronting Brian Wilson's Road Band for Upcoming Tour |url=https://variety.com/2025/music/news/al-jardine-beach-boys-ep-islands-in-sun-tour-interview-1236413758/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Masley |first=Ed |title=Al Jardine on losing Beach Boys' Brian Wilson: 'We thought he'd last forever' |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/08/03/brian-wilson-beach-boys-al-jardine-interview/85347716007/ |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=The Arizona Republic |language=en-US |quote=“It’s called ‘Brother Records 1454,'” Jardine says}}</ref>

Brian Wilson died in his sleep in his Beverly Hills home on June 11, 2025, at the age of 82.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Richard |date=June 11, 2025 |title=Brian Wilson obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/11/brian-wilson-obituary |access-date=June 12, 2025 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lambe |first1=Stacey |last2=DeSantis |first2=Rachel |date=June 11, 2025 |title=Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys Co-Founder and Singer, Dies at 82 |url=https://people.com/brian-wilson-dead-82-beach-boys-singer-co-founder-8548234 |accessdate=June 13, 2025 |work=[[People (magazine)|People]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Chris |date=June 11, 2025 |title=Brian Wilson, Beach Boys Co-Founder, Dies at 82 |url=https://variety.com/2025/music/news/brian-wilson-dead-beach-boys-1236428336/ |access-date=June 11, 2025 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson dies |url=https://news.sky.com/story/beach-boys-co-founder-brian-wilson-dies-13382290 |access-date=June 11, 2025 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref>  His primary cause of death was declared as [[respiratory arrest]] amid [[sepsis]], [[cystitis]], and other associated factors.<ref name="People">{{cite news |last1=Watts |first1=Marina |date=June 26, 2025 |title=Brian Wilson's Cause of Death Revealed 2 Weeks After Beach Boys Co-Founder Died at 82 |url=https://people.com/brian-wilson-cause-of-death-revealed-11752840 |accessdate=June 26, 2025 |work=[[People (magazine)|People]]}}</ref> Wilson had also been battling [[dementia]].<ref name="People" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Lambe |first=Stacy |date=June 11, 2025 |title=Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys Co-Founder and Singer, Dies at 82 |url=https://people.com/brian-wilson-dead-82-beach-boys-singer-co-founder-8548234 |accessdate=June 11, 2025 |work=People}}</ref> Wilson's death left Love and Jardine as the two remaining original members. Shortly after Wilson's death, Love, Jardine, and Chaplin paid tribute to Wilson on social media.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-11 |title=Beach Boys' Mike Love And Al Jardine Share Eulogies For Brian Wilson |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2311457/beach-boys-mike-love-and-al-jardine-share-eulogies-for-brian-wilson/news/ |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=Stereogum |language=en}}</ref> Jardine's tour with the Pet Sounds Band started in July, and was dedicated to Brian's memory. Love and Johnston would also pay tribute to Brian by playing a slideshow during their shows.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mike Love Cries During Emotional Tribute to Late Beach Boys Founder Brian Wilson: 'He Will Always Be in Our Hearts' |url=https://people.com/mike-love-cries-during-emotional-tribute-beach-boy-brian-wilson-11829042 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=People.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Musical style and development==
{{See also|Brian Wilson#Artistry}}
In ''Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis'', musicologist Daniel Harrison writes:
{{blockquote|Even from their inception, the Beach Boys were an [[experimental music|experimental]] group. They combined, as Jim Miller has put it, "the instrumental sleekness of [[the Ventures]], the lyric sophistication of Chuck Berry, and the vocal expertise of some weird cross between [[the Lettermen]] and [[Frankie Lymon]] and [[the Teenagers]]" with lyrics whose images, idioms, and concerns were drawn from the rarefied world of the middle-class white male southern California teenager.&nbsp;... [But] it was the profound vocal virtuosity of the group, coupled with the obsessional drive and compositional ambitions of their leader, Brian Wilson, that promised their survival after the eventual breaking of fad fever.&nbsp;... Comparison to other vocally oriented rock groups, such as [[the Association]], shows the Beach Boys' technique to be far superior, almost embarrassingly so. They were so confident of their ability, and of Brian's skill as a producer to enhance it, that they were unafraid of doing sophisticated, [[a cappella]] glee-club arrangements containing multiple [[suspension (music)|suspensions]], passing [[musical form|formations]], complex chords, and both [[chromatic]] and [[enharmonic]] [[modulation (music)|modulations]].{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=34}}}}

The Beach Boys began as a [[garage band]] playing 1950s style [[rock and roll]],{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=15}} reassembling styles of music such as surf to include [[vocal jazz]] harmony, which created their unique sound.{{sfn|Zager|2011|p=216}} In addition, they introduced their signature approach to common genres such as the [[pop ballad]] by applying harmonic or formal twists.{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=35}} Among the distinct elements of the Beach Boys' style were the nasal quality of their singing voices, their use of a falsetto harmony over a driving, locomotive-like melody, and the sudden chiming in of the whole group on a key line.<ref name="nasal">{{cite journal |last=Davis |first=Jonathan |title=The Influence of the Beatles on the Music of Rock & Roll |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgoYAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Columbia College, Columbia University |date=1966 |journal=King's Crown Essays |access-date=April 25, 2016 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619070433/https://books.google.com/books?id=kgoYAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Brian Wilson handled most stages of the group's recording process from the beginning, even though he was not properly credited on earlier recordings.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=105}}{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=26}}

[[File:1967 Rickenbacker 360-12 12 string electric guitar owned and photographed by Greg Field.jpg|thumb|upright|right|A [[Rickenbacker 360/12]] identical to the 12-string guitar used by Carl Wilson in the early to mid-1960s]]
Early on, Mike Love sang lead vocals in the rock-oriented songs, while Carl contributed guitar lines on the group's ballads.{{sfn|Miller|1992|p=194}} Jim Miller commented: "On straight rockers they sang tight harmonies behind Love's lead&nbsp;... on ballads, Brian played his [[falsetto]] off against lush, [[jazz]]-tinged voicings, often using (for rock) unorthodox harmonic structures."{{sfn|Miller|1992|p=194}} Harrison adds that "even the least distinguished of the Beach Boys' early uptempo rock 'n' roll songs show traces of structural complexity at some level; Brian was simply too curious and experimental to leave convention alone".{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=34}} Although Brian was often dubbed a perfectionist, he was an inexperienced musician, and his understanding of music was mostly self-taught.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|pp=105, 114}} At the lyric stage, he usually worked with Love,{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=73}} whose assertive persona provided youthful swagger that contrasted Brian's explorations in romanticism and sensitivity.{{sfn|Schinder|2007|p=108}} Luis Sanchez noted a pattern where Brian would spare surfing imagery when working with collaborators outside of his band's circle, in the examples "[[Lonely Sea]]" and "[[In My Room]]".{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=27}}

Brian's bandmates resented the notion that he was the sole creative force in the group.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=110}} In a 1966 article that asked if "the Beach Boys rely too much on sound genius Brian", Carl said that although Brian was the most responsible for their music, every member of the group contributed ideas.{{sfn|Love|2016|pp=146–147}} Mike Love wrote: "As far as I was concerned, Brian ''was'' a genius, deserving of that recognition. But the rest of us were seen as nameless components in Brian's music machine&nbsp;... It didn't feel to us as if we were just riding on Brian's coattails."{{sfn|Love|2016|pp=145–147}} Conversely, Dennis defended Brian's stature in the band, stating: "Brian Wilson ''is'' the Beach Boys. He is the band. We're his fucking messengers. He is all of it. Period. We're nothing. He's everything."{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=316}}

===Influences===
{{Further|List of songs covered by the Beach Boys}}
The band's earliest influences came primarily from the work of Chuck Berry and the Four Freshmen.{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=16}} Performed by the Four Freshmen, "[[Their Hearts Were Full of Spring]]" (1961) was a particular favorite of the group.{{sfn|Harrison|1997|pp=34, 54}} By analyzing their arrangements of [[pop standards]], Brian educated himself on jazz harmony.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=5}} Philip Lambert noted: "If [[Bob Flanigan (singer)|Bob Flanigan]] helped teach Brian how to sing, then [[George Gershwin|Gershwin]], [[Jerome Kern|Kern]], [[Cole Porter|Porter]], and the other members of this pantheon helped him learn how to craft a song."{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=6}} Other general influences on the group included [[the Hi-Lo's]],{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=16}} [[the Penguins]], [[the Robins]], [[Bill Haley & His Comets]], [[Otis Williams]], [[The Cadets (group)|the Cadets]], [[the Everly Brothers]], [[the Shirelles]], [[The Regents (doo-wop band)|the Regents]], and [[the Crystals]].{{sfn|Lambert|2007|pp=14–15}}

{{Quote box
| width = 25em
| align = right
| quote = Though the Beach Boys are often caricatured as the ultimate white, suburban act, black [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] was crucial to their sound.
| source = — [[Geoffrey Himes]]<ref name=HimesSurf />
}}
The eclectic mix of white and black vocal group influences – ranging from the rock and roll of Berry, the jazz harmonies of the Four Freshmen, the pop of [[the Four Preps]], the folk of [[the Kingston Trio]], the R&B of groups like [[the Coasters]] and [[the Five Satins]], and the doo wop of [[Dion and the Belmonts]] – helped contribute to the Beach Boys' uniqueness in American popular music.{{sfn|Murphy|2015|p=58}} Carl remembered that Love was "really immersed in doo-wop" and likely "influenced Brian to listen to it", adding that the "black artists were so much better in terms of rock records in those days that the white records almost sounded like put-ons".<ref name=HimesSurf />

Another significant influence on Brian's work was [[Burt Bacharach]].{{sfn|Matijas-Mecca|2017|p=37}} He said in the 1960s: "Burt Bacharach and [[Hal David]] are more like me. They're also the best pop team – per se – today. As a producer, Bacharach has a very fresh, new approach."{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=64}} Regarding surf rock pioneer [[Dick Dale]], Brian said that his influence on the group was limited to Carl and his style of guitar playing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theaquarian.com/2005/08/10/brian-wilson-interview-with-brian-wilson/ |title=Interview with Brian Wilson |date=August 10, 2005 |publisher=theaquarian.com |access-date=November 22, 2009 |archive-date=October 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002160721/http://www.theaquarian.com/2005/08/10/brian-wilson-interview-with-brian-wilson/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Carl credited Chuck Berry, [[the Ventures]], and [[John Walker (musician)|John Walker]] with shaping his guitar style, and that the Beach Boys had learned to play all of the Ventures' songs by ear early in their career.<ref name="Hinsche">{{cite magazine |last1=Hinsche |first1=Billy |author-link1=Billy Hinsche |title=Carl Wilson Interview |magazine=[[Guitar One]] |url=http://www.billyhinsche.com/story4.html |date=November 2001 |access-date=May 18, 2015 |archive-date=August 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150824230014/http://www.billyhinsche.com/story4.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1967, [[Lou Reed]] wrote in ''[[Aspen (magazine)|Aspen]]'' that the Beach Boys created a "hybrid sound" out of rock and roll and the Four Freshmen, explaining that such songs as "Let Him Run Wild", "Don't Worry Baby", "I Get Around", and "Fun, Fun, Fun" were not unlike "Peppermint Stick" by the Elchords.{{sfn|Unterberger|2009|p=122}} Similarly, [[John Sebastian]] of [[the Lovin' Spoonful]] noted: "Brian had control of this vocal palette of which we had no idea. We had never paid attention to the Four Freshmen or doo-wop combos like [[the Crew Cuts]]. Look what gold he mined out of that."{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=16}}

===Vocals===
Brian identified each member individually for their [[vocal range]], once detailing the ranges for Carl, Dennis, Jardine ("[they] progress upwards through G, A, and B"), Love ("can go from bass to the E above middle C"), and himself ("I can take the second D in the [[treble clef]]").<ref name="PopGenius"/>{{refn|group=nb|Starting with the 1970 sessions for the ''Surf's Up'' album, Stephen Desper remembers the emerging corrosive effects of Brian's incessant [[chain smoking]] and [[cocaine]] use: "He could still do falsettos and stuff, but he'd need Carl to help him. Either that or I'd modify the tape speed-wise to make it artificially higher, so it sounded like the old days."{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=160}}}} He declared in 1966 that his greatest interest was to expand modern vocal harmony, owing to his fascination with a voice to the Four Freshmen, which he considered a "groovy sectional sound".<ref name="PopGenius">{{cite magazine |title=Brian Pop Genius! |magazine=Melody Maker |date=May 21, 1966 |url=http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd420/kwan_dk/MMMay211966.jpg |access-date=August 17, 2014 |archive-date=December 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212161705/http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd420/kwan_dk/MMMay211966.jpg |url-status=live}}</ref> He added: "The harmonies that we are able to produce give us a uniqueness which is really the only important thing you can put into records – some quality that no one else has got."{{sfn|Moorefield|2010|p=17}}<ref name="PopGenius"/> For a period, Brian avoided singing falsetto for the group, saying: "I thought people thought I was a [[fairy (gay slang)|fairy]]&nbsp;... the band told me, 'If that's the way you sing, don't worry about it.'"<ref name=RCMSharp>{{cite magazine |last1=Sharp |first1=Ken |title=Christmas with Brian Wilson |magazine=[[Record Collector]] |date=January 2006 |pages=72–76 |location=United Kingdom}}</ref>

In the group's early recordings, from lowest [[interval (music)|intervals]] to highest, the group's vocal harmony stack usually began with Love or Dennis, followed by Jardine or Carl, and finally Brian on top, according to Jardine,<ref name=Sharp2013>{{cite web |last1=Sharp |first1=Ken |title=Al Jardine of the Beach Boys: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About "SMiLE" (Interview) |url=http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/04/02/al-jardine-smile-beach-boys-interview/ |website=Rock Cellar Magazine |access-date=July 2, 2014 |date=April 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714111352/http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/04/02/al-jardine-smile-beach-boys-interview/ |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> while Carl said that the blend was Love on bottom, Carl above, followed by Dennis or Jardine, and then Brian on top.<ref name="HimesSurf">{{cite web |last1=Himes |first1=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Himes |title=Surf Music |url=http://teachrock.org/media/essays/surf_himes_with_maia_edits_2.pdf |website=teachrock.org |publisher=Rock and Roll: An American History |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125223127/http://teachrock.org/media/essays/surf_himes_with_maia_edits_2.pdf |archive-date=November 25, 2015}}</ref> Jardine explains: <blockquote>We always sang the same vocal intervals.&nbsp;... As soon as we heard the chords on the piano we'd figure it out pretty easily. If there was a vocal move [Brian] envisioned, he'd show that particular singer that move. We had somewhat photographic memory as far as the vocal parts were concerned so that [was] never a problem for us.<ref name=Sharp2013/></blockquote> Striving for perfection, Brian ensured that his intricate vocal arrangements exercised the group's calculated blend of [[intonation (music)|intonation]], [[attack (music)|attack]], [[phrase (music)|phrasing]], and [[musical expression|expression]].{{sfn|Moorefield|2010|pp=17–19}} Sometimes, he would sing each vocal harmony part alone through multi-track tape.{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=106}}

{{Quote box
| width = 25em
| align = right
| quote = [Love] had a hand in a lot of the arrangements. He would bring out the funkier approaches, whether to go ''shoo-boo-bop'' or ''bom-bom-did-di-did-did''. It makes a big difference, because it can change the whole rhythm, the whole color and tone of it.
| source = — Carl Wilson{{sfn|McKeen|2017|p=131}}
}}
On the group's blend, Carl said: "[Love] has a beautifully rich, very full-sounding bass voice. Yet his lead singing is real nasal, real punk. [Jardine]'s voice has a bright timbre to it; it really cuts. My voice has a kind of calm sound. We're big oooh-ers; we love to oooh. It's a big, full sound, that's very pleasing to us; it opens up the heart."<ref name=HimesSurf/> Rock critic [[Erik Davis]] wrote: "The 'purity' of tone and genetic proximity that smoothed their voices was almost creepy, pseudo-[[castrato]], [and] a '[[barbershop music|barbershop]]' sound."<ref name="Davis1990">{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Erik |title=Look! Listen! Vibrate! SMILE! The Apollonian Shimmer of the Beach Boys |url=http://www.techgnosis.com/index_beach.html |access-date=January 14, 2014 |newspaper=LA Weekly |date=November 9, 1990 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204153729/http://www.techgnosis.com/index_beach.html |archive-date=December 4, 2014}}</ref> [[Jimmy Webb]] said: "They used very little [[vibrato]] and sing in very straight tones. The voices all lie down beside each other very easily – there's no bumping between them because the pitch is very precise."{{sfn|Hoskyns|2009|p=65}} Writer [[Richard Goldstein (writer born 1944)|Richard Goldstein]] reported that, according to a fellow journalist who asked Brian about the black roots of his music, Brian's response was: "We're white and we sing white." Goldstein added that when he asked where his approach to vocal harmonies had derived from, Wilson answered: 'Barbershop'."<ref name=GoldsteinSalon>{{cite web |last1=Goldstein |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Goldstein (writer born 1944) |title=I got high with the Beach Boys: "If I survive this I promise never to do drugs again" |url=http://www.salon.com/2015/04/26/i_got_high_with_the_beach_boys_if_i_survive_this_i_promise_never_to_do_drugs_again/ |website=[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]] |date=April 26, 2015 |access-date=October 18, 2015 |archive-date=November 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110040136/http://www.salon.com/2015/04/26/i_got_high_with_the_beach_boys_if_i_survive_this_i_promise_never_to_do_drugs_again/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Use of studio musicians===
[[File:The Beach Boys TV.jpg|thumb|The Beach Boys performing in 1964]]
Biographer James Murphy said: "By most contemporary accounts, they were not a very good live band when they started.&nbsp;... The Beach Boys learned to play as a band in front of live audiences", eventually to become "one of the best and enduring live bands".<ref name=RCMMurphy>{{cite web |last1=Sharp |first1=Ken |date=November 6, 2011 |title=Catch A Wave: A Chat with Beach Boys Author James B. Murphy |url=http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2015/11/06/becoming-the-beach-boys-author-james-b-murphy-interview/ |work=Rock Cellar Magazine |access-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-date=August 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802162621/https://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2015/11/06/becoming-the-beach-boys-author-james-b-murphy-interview/ |url-status=live}}</ref> With only a few exceptions, the Beach Boys played every instrument heard on their first four albums and first five singles.{{sfn|Stebbins|2011}} Music critic [[Richie Unterberger]] believed that "Before session musicians took over most of the parts, the Beach Boys could play respectably gutsy surf rock as a self-contained unit."{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=71}}

As Wilson's arrangements increased in complexity, he began employing a group of professional studio musicians, later known as "[[the Wrecking Crew (music)|the Wrecking Crew]]", to assist with recording the instrumentation on select tracks.{{sfn|Trynka|Bacon|1996|p=127}} According to some reports, these musicians then completely replaced the Beach Boys on the backing tracks to their records.{{sfn|Stebbins|2011}}<ref name="wong">{{cite web |last1=Wong |first1=Grant |date=January 3, 2022 |title=Brian Wilson Isn't the Type of Genius You Think He Is |url=https://slate.com/culture/2022/01/the-beach-boys-brian-wilson-documentary-genius-pet-sounds.html |website=Slate}}</ref> Much of the relevant documentation, while accounting for the attendance of unionized session players, had failed to record the presence of the Beach Boys themselves.<ref name="wong"/><ref name="SlowinskiMyth"/> These documents, along with the full unedited studio session tapes, were not available for public scrutiny until the 1990s.<ref name="SlowinskiMyth"/>

Wilson started occasionally employing members of the Wrecking Crew for certain Beach Boys tracks during the 1963 ''Surfer Girl'' sessions – specifically, on two songs, "Hawaii" and "Our Car Club".{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=24}}{{sfn|Stebbins|2011}} The 1964 albums ''Shut Down Volume 2'' and ''All Summer Long'' featured the Beach Boys themselves playing the vast majority of the instruments while occasionally being augmented by outside musicians.{{sfn|Stebbins|2011}} It is commonly misreported that Dennis in particular was replaced by [[Hal Blaine]] on drums.<ref name="SlowinskiMyth"/><ref name=P4K2008>{{cite web |last1=Orme |first1=Mike |title=Pacific Ocean Blue: Legacy Edition |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11943-pacific-ocean-blue-legacy-edition/ |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=July 8, 2008 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=October 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029161757/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11943-pacific-ocean-blue-legacy-edition/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Dennis's drumming is documented on a number of the group's singles, including 1964's "I Get Around", "Fun, Fun, Fun", and "Don't Worry Baby".<ref name="Slowinski2014b">{{cite AV media notes |title=Keep an Eye on Summer 1964 |others=The Beach Boys |year=2014 |first1=Alan |last1=Boyd |first2=Mark |last2=Linette |first3=Craig |last3=Slowinski |author-link1=Alan Boyd |author-link2=Mark Linett |publisher=[[Capitol Records]] |type=Digital Liner |url=http://www.thebeachboys.com/#?news=4111}} ([http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-beach-boys-1964-keep-eye-on-summer.html Mirror])</ref> Starting with the 1965 albums ''Today!'' and ''Summer Days'', Brian used the Wrecking Crew with greater frequency, "but still", Stebbins writes, "the Beach Boys continued to play the instruments on many of the key tracks and single releases".{{sfn|Stebbins|2011}}

Overall, the Beach Boys played the instruments on the majority of their recordings from the decade,<ref name="SlowinskiMyth"/> with 1966 and 1967 being the only years when Wilson used the Wrecking Crew almost exclusively.{{sfn|Stebbins|2011}}<ref name="SlowinskiMyth"/> ''Pet Sounds'' and ''Smile'' are their only albums in which the backing tracks were largely played by studio musicians.{{sfn|Stebbins|2011|pp=}}{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=25}} After 1967, the band's use of studio musicians was considerably reduced.{{sfn|Stebbins|2011}} Wrecking Crew biographer [[Kent Hartman]] supported in [[The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret|his 2012 book about the musicians]]: "Though [Brian Wilson] had for several months brought in various session players on a sporadic, potluck basis to supplement things, the other Beach Boys generally played on the earliest songs, too."{{sfn|Hartman|2012|p=59}}

The source of the longstanding controversy regarding the Beach Boys' use of studio musicians largely derives from a misinterpreted statement in Leaf's 1978 biography ''[[The Beach Boys and the California Myth]]'', later bolstered by erroneous recollections from participants of the recording sessions.<ref name="SlowinskiMyth"/>{{refn|group=nb|The statement in question was: "from 1963 through 1966 Brian used studio musicians on the instrumental tracks".{{sfn|Leaf|1978|p=73}}<ref name="SlowinskiMyth"/>}} Starting in the 1990s, unedited studio session tapes, along with [[American Federation of Musicians]] (AFM) sheets and tape logs, were leaked. Music historian Craig Slowinski, who contributes musician credits to the liner notes of the band's reissues and compilations, wrote in 2006: "[O]nce the vaults were opened up and the tapes were studied, the true situation became clear: the Boys themselves played ''most'' of the instruments on their records until the ''Beach Boys Today!'' album in early 1965."<ref name="SlowinskiMyth">{{cite web |last1=Slowinski |first1=Craig |title=Introduction |url=http://www.beachboysarchives.com/page2 |website=beachboysarchives.com |publisher=Endless Summer Quarterly |access-date=May 14, 2022 |date=2006}}</ref> Slowinski goes on to note: "when painting a picture of a Beach Boys recording session, it's important to examine ''both'' the AFM contracts and the session tapes, either of which may be incomplete on their own".<ref name="SlowinskiMyth"/>

During the period when Brian relied heavily on studio musicians, Carl was an exception among the Beach Boys in that he played alongside the studio musicians whenever he was available to attend sessions.{{sfn|Carlin|2006|p=114}} In Slowinski's view, "One should not sell short Carl's own contributions; the youngest Wilson had developed as a musician sufficiently to play alongside the horde of high-dollar session pros that big brother was now bringing into the studio. Carl's guitar playing [was] a key ingredient."<ref name="slowtoday">{{cite web |url=http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/custommusic2/craigslowinskicom.pdf#page=42 |title=The Beach Boys – The Beach Boys Today! |first=Craig |last=Slowinski |year=2007 |access-date=October 27, 2012 |archive-date=May 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504001719/http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/custommusic2/craigslowinskicom.pdf#page=42 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Carl's lead and rhythm guitar playing is featured on several of the band's singles, including "I Get Around", "Fun, Fun, Fun", "Don't Worry Baby",<ref name="Slowinski2014">{{cite AV media notes |title=Keep an Eye on Summer 1964 |others=The Beach Boys |year=2014 |first1=Alan |last1=Boyd |first2=Mark |last2=Linette |first3=Craig |last3=Slowinski |author-link1=Alan Boyd |author-link2=Mark Linett |publisher=[[Capitol Records]] |type=Digital Liner |url=http://www.thebeachboys.com/#?news=4111 |access-date=August 4, 2007 |archive-date=April 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430192013/http://www.thebeachboys.com/discography.aspx#?news=4111 |url-status=live}} ([http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-beach-boys-1964-keep-eye-on-summer.html Mirror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121004/http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-beach-boys-1964-keep-eye-on-summer.html |date=March 4, 2016 }})</ref> "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)", "Do You Wanna Dance?", and "Dance, Dance, Dance".<ref name="slowtoday"/>}}

===Spirituality===
The band members often reflected on the spiritual nature of their music (and music in general), particularly for the recording of ''Pet Sounds'' and ''Smile''.{{sfn|Sellars|2015|pp=8–9}} Even though the Wilsons did not grow up in a particularly religious household,{{sfn|Sellars|2015|p=8}} Carl was described as "the most truly religious person I know" by Brian, and Carl was forthcoming about the group's spiritual beliefs stating: "We believe in God as a kind of [[universal consciousness]]. God is love. God is you. God is me. God is everything right here in this room. It's a spiritual concept which inspires a great deal of our music."{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=85}} Carl told ''Rave'' magazine in 1967 that the group's influences are of a "religious nature", but not any religion in specific, only "an idea based upon that of Universal Consciousness.&nbsp;... The spiritual concept of happiness and doing good to others is extremely important to the lyric of our songs, and the religious element of some of the better [[church music]] is also contained within some of our new work."<ref name=Rave1967>{{cite news |last1=Grant |first1=Mike |title='Our influences are of a religious nature': the Beach Boys on Smile |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/11/beach-boys-smile-brian-wilson |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=October 11, 2011 |access-date=December 13, 2016 |archive-date=May 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507035916/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/11/beach-boys-smile-brian-wilson |url-status=live}}</ref>

During the recording of ''Pet Sounds'', Brian held [[prayer meeting]]s, later reflecting that "God was with us the whole time we were doing this record&nbsp;... I could feel that feeling in my brain."{{sfn|Fusilli|2005|p=97}} In 1966, he explained that he wanted to move into a [[religious music|white spiritual sound]], and predicted that the rest of the music industry would follow suit.{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=94}} In 2011, Brian maintained the spirituality was important to his music, and that he did not follow any particular religion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yakas |first1=Ben |title=Our Ten Minutes With Beach Boys Legend Brian Wilson |url=http://gothamist.com/2011/10/27/brian_wilson.php |date=October 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725054715/http://gothamist.com/2011/10/27/brian_wilson.php |archive-date=July 25, 2015}}</ref>

Carl said that ''Smile'' was chosen as an album title because of its connection to the group's spiritual beliefs.<ref name=Rave1967/> Brian referred to ''Smile'' as his "teenage symphony to God",{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=4}} composing a [[hymn]], "[[Our Prayer]]", as the album's opening spiritual invocation.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|pp=41, 270}} Experimentation with [[psychotropic]] substances also proved pivotal to the group's development as artists.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Griffiths |first1=David |title=Dennis Wilson: "I Live With 17 Girls" |magazine=Record Mirror |date=December 21, 1968}}</ref>{{sfn|Howard|2004|p=58}} He spoke of his LSD trips as a "religious experience", and during a session for "Our Prayer", Brian can be heard asking the other Beach Boys: "Do you guys feel any acid yet?".{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|pp=94, 116}} In 1968, the group's interest in [[transcendental meditation]] led them to record the original song, "[[Transcendental Meditation (song)|Transcendental Meditation]]".{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=215}}

==Legacy==
===Achievements===
The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed, [[list of best-selling musical artists|commercially successful]],<ref name=RockHallofFame /><ref name="Rolling Stone">{{cite magazine |title=100 Greatest Artists: The Beach Boys |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/the-beach-boys-19691231 |magazine=Rolling Stone |last=Buckingham |first=Lindsey |access-date=October 26, 2012 |archive-date=August 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815082057/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/the-beach-boys-19691231 |url-status=live}}</ref> and influential bands of all time.<ref name="Vogue2015">{{cite magazine |last1=Seymour |first1=Corey |date=June 5, 2015 |title=Love & Mercy Does Justice to the Brilliance of Brian Wilson |url=http://www.vogue.com/13266664/love-and-mercy-brian-wilson/ |magazine=[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]] |access-date=June 6, 2015 |archive-date=June 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607201456/http://www.vogue.com/13266664/love-and-mercy-brian-wilson |url-status=live}}</ref> They have sold over 100 million records worldwide.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/17/beach-boys-member-al-jardine-touring-brian-wilson/ |title=The Beach Boys Al Jardine: 'No, You're the Greatest' |first=Keith |last=Valcourt |work=[[The Washington Times]] |date=August 17, 2016 |access-date=May 16, 2017 |archive-date=June 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618234943/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/17/beach-boys-member-al-jardine-touring-brian-wilson/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The group's early songs made them major pop stars in the US, the UK, Australia and other countries, having seven top 10 singles between April 1963 and November 1964.{{sfn|Curtis|1987|p=101}} They were one of the first American groups to exhibit the definitive traits of a self-contained rock band, playing their own instruments and writing their own songs,{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=34}} and they were one of the few American bands formed prior to the 1964 British Invasion to continue their success.{{sfn|Curtis|1987|p=101}} Among artists of the 1960s, they are one of the central figures in the histories of rock.{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=56}} Between the 1960s and 2020s, they had 37 songs reach the US [[Top 40]] (the most by an American group) with four topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; they also hold [[Nielsen SoundScan]]'s record as the top-selling American band for albums and singles.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Beach Boys |url=https://www.umgcatalog.com/artists/the-beach-boys |website=UMG Catalog |date=November 15, 2018 |access-date=December 9, 2020 |archive-date=January 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127202043/https://www.umgcatalog.com/artists/the-beach-boys |url-status=live}}</ref>

Brian Wilson's artistic control over the Beach Boys' records was unprecedented for the time.{{sfn|Howard|2004|pp=54–55}} Carl Wilson elaborated: "Record companies were used to having absolute control over their artists. It was especially nervy, because Brian was a 21-year-old kid with just two albums. It was unheard of. But what could they say? Brian made good records."<ref name="Himes1983"/> This made the Beach Boys one of the first rock groups to exert studio control.{{sfn|Miller|1992|p=193}} Music producers after the mid-1960s would draw on Brian's influence, setting a precedent that allowed bands and artists to enter a recording studio and act as producers, either autonomously, or in conjunction with other like minds.{{sfn|Edmondson|2013|p=890}}

[[File:God Only Knows - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2014-12-30 13.09.36 by Sam Howzit).jpg|thumb|A manuscript of "[[God Only Knows]]" displayed in the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in [[Cleveland]]]]
In 1988, the original five members (the Wilson brothers, Love, and Jardine) were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]].<ref name=RockHallofFame>{{cite web |title=The Beach Boys Biography |url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/the-beach-boys/bio/ |website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |access-date=August 30, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140831092742/http://rockhall.com/inductees/the-beach-boys/bio/ |archive-date=August 31, 2014}}</ref> Ten years later, they were selected for the [[Vocal Group Hall of Fame]].<ref name="vocal hall">[http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/beach_boys.htm Vocal Group Hall of Fame Inductees: The Beach Boys] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217145328/http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/beach_boys.htm |date=February 17, 2007 }}, ''vocalgroup.org''. Retrieved January 15, 2007.</ref> In 2004, ''Pet Sounds'' was preserved in the [[National Recording Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="PetSoundsCongress">{{cite web |title=The National Recording Registry 2004 |newspaper=The Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2004reg.html |publisher=The National Recording Registry |access-date=December 29, 2017 |archive-date=March 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323150021/http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2004reg.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Their recordings of "In My Room", "Good Vibrations", "California Girls" and the entire ''Pet Sounds'' album have been inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Home►The Recording Academy►GRAMMY Awards |url=https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |publisher=[[National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=July 8, 2015 |archive-date=June 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626200735/https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Beach Boys are one of the most influential acts of the rock era.<ref name="allmusic">[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3640|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic "The Beach Boys – Overview"]. John Bush. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved July 12, 2008.</ref> In 2017, a study of [[AllMusic]]'s catalog indicated the Beach Boys as the sixth most frequently cited artist influence in its database.<ref name="AMinfluence">{{cite web |last1=Kopf |first1=Dan |last2=Wong |first2=Amy X. |title=A definitive list of the musicians who influenced our lives most |url=https://qz.com/1094962/a-definitive-list-of-the-musicians-who-influenced-our-lives-most/ |website=Quartz |date=October 7, 2017 |access-date=October 18, 2017 |archive-date=August 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190811015937/https://qz.com/1094962/a-definitive-list-of-the-musicians-who-influenced-our-lives-most/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, the staff of ''[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]'' ranked the Beach Boys as the top American band of all time; the publication's editor wrote in the group's entry that "few bands&nbsp;... have had a greater impact on popular music".<ref>{{cite web |title=The Top 50 American Bands of All Time |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-50-american-bands/ |website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]] |date=July 3, 2021 |access-date=July 5, 2021 |archive-date=July 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703162912/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-50-american-bands/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===California sound===
{{Main|California sound}}

[[File:The Beach Boys 1963 Billboard 2.png|thumb|The Beach Boys appearing in a 1963 ''Billboard'' advertisement]]
Professor of cultural studies James M. Curtis wrote in 1987: <blockquote>We can say that the Beach Boys represent the outlook and values of [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant|white Protestant Anglo-Saxon]] teenagers in the early sixties. Having said that, we immediately realize that they must mean much more than this. Their stability, their staying power, and their ability to attract new fans prove as much.{{sfn|Curtis|1987|p=101}}</blockquote> Historian [[Kevin Starr]] explains that the group first connected with young Americans specifically for their lyrical interpretation of a mythologized landscape: "Cars and the beach, surfing, the California Girl, all this fused in the alembic of youth: Here was a way of life, an iconography, already half-released into the chords and multiple tracks of a new sound."{{sfn|Starr|2009|p=373}} In critic [[Robert Christgau]]'s opinion, "the Beach Boys were a touchstone for real rock and rollers, all of whom understood that the music had its most essential roots in an innocently hedonistic materialism".<ref name="Christgau1975"/>

The group's "California sound" grew to prominence through the success of their 1963 album ''Surfin' U.S.A.'',{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=32}} which helped turn the surfing subculture into a mainstream youth-targeted advertising image exploited by the film, television, and food industry.{{sfn|May|2002|pp=114–115}} The group's surf music was not entirely their invention, being preceded by artists such as Dick Dale.{{sfn|Sanchez|2014|p=13}} However, previous surf musicians did not project a world view as the Beach Boys did.{{sfn|Miller|1992|p=193}} The band's earlier surf music helped raise the profile of California, creating its first major regional style with national significance, and establishing a musical identity for [[Southern California]], as opposed to [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]].{{sfn|Curtis|1987|p=103}} California supplanted New York as the center of popular music thanks to the success of Brian's productions.{{sfn|Howard|2004|pp=54–55}}

[[File:Little Deuce Coupe.jpg|thumb|right|The titular [[1932 Ford#Little Deuce Coupe|1932 Ford]] that appeared on the cover to the platinum certified album ''[[Little Deuce Coupe]]'']]
A 1966 article discussing trends in rock music writes that the Beach Boys popularized a type of drum beat heard in [[Jan and Dean]]'s "[[Surf City (song)|Surf City]]", which sounds like "a locomotive getting up speed", in addition to the method of "suddenly stopping in between the chorus and verse".<ref name="nasal"/> [[Pete Townshend]] of [[the Who]] coined the term "[[power pop]]", which he defined as "what we play—what the [[Small Faces]] used to play, and the kind of pop the Beach Boys played in the days of 'Fun, Fun, Fun' which I preferred".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Altham |first=Keith |title=Lily Isn't Pornographic, Say Who |magazine=[[NME]] |issue=May 20, 1967}}</ref>

The California sound evolved to reflect a more musically ambitious and mature worldview, becoming less to do with surfing and cars and more about social consciousness and political awareness.{{sfn|Howard|2004|pp=61–62, 83}} Throughout the 1960s, it fueled innovation and transition, inspiring artists to tackle largely unmentioned themes such as [[sexual freedom]], [[black pride]], [[drugs]], [[Opposition (politics)|oppositional politics]], other [[counterculture of the 1960s|countercultural]] motifs, and [[war]].{{sfn|Shuker|1994|p=35}} Soft pop, later known as "[[sunshine pop]]", derived in part from this movement.{{sfn|Howard|2004|p=69}} Sunshine pop producers imitated the orchestral style of ''Pet Sounds''; however, the Beach Boys were rarely representative of the genre, which was rooted in [[easy listening]] and advertising [[jingle]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/sunshine-pop-54224 |title=Gateways to Geekery: Sunshine Pop |last1=Murray |first1=Noel |date=April 7, 2011 |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |publisher=Onion Inc. |access-date=November 27, 2015 |archive-date=January 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104211848/http://www.avclub.com/article/sunshine-pop-54224 |url-status=live}}</ref>

By the end of the 1960s, the California sound declined due to a combination of the West Coast's cultural shifts, Wilson's psychological downturn, and the Manson murders, with David Howard calling it the "sunset of the original California Sunshine Sound&nbsp;... [the] sweetness advocated by the California Myth had led to chilling darkness and unsightly rot".{{sfn|Howard|2004|p=84}} Drawing from the Beach Boys' associations with Manson and former California governor Ronald Reagan, Erik Davis remarked: "The Beach Boys may be the only bridge between those deranged poles. There is a wider range of political and aesthetic sentiments in their records than in any other band in those heady times—like the state [of California], they expand and bloat and contradict themselves."<ref name="Davis1990"/>

During the 1970s, advertising jingles and imagery were predominately based on the Beach Boys' early music and image.{{sfn|Leaf|1978|p=8}} The group inspired the development of the West Coast style later dubbed "[[yacht rock]]". According to ''[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]]''{{'}}s Dan O'Sullivan, the band's aesthetic was the first to be "scavenged" by yacht rock acts like [[Rupert Holmes]]. O'Sullivan cites the Beach Boys' recording of "Sloop John B" as the origin of yacht rock's preoccupation with the "sailors and beachgoers" aesthetic that was "lifted by everyone, from [[Christopher Cross]] to [[Eric Carmen]], from '[[Buffalo Springfield]]' folksters like [[Jim Messina (musician)|Jim Messina]] to '[[Philly Sound]]' rockers like [[Hall & Oates]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Dan |title="California Über Alles": The Empire Yachts Back |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2012/09/the-yacht-rock-counterrevolution/ |work=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |date=September 4, 2012 |access-date=December 28, 2019 |archive-date=November 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115210504/https://jacobinmag.com/2012/09/the-yacht-rock-counterrevolution/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Innovations===
{{see also|Recording studio as an instrument}}
''Pet Sounds'' informed the development of pop, rock, jazz, [[electronic music|electronic]], [[experimental music|experimental]], [[punk rock|punk]], and [[hip-hop]].<ref name="Pitchfork50">{{cite web |last1=Hart |first1=Ron |title=The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds Celebrates its 50th Anniversary: Artists Pay Tribute to the Eternal Teenage Symphony |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9870-the-beach-boys-pet-sounds-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary-artists-pay-tribute-to-the-eternal-teenage-symphony/ |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=April 12, 2016 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616053153/https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9870-the-beach-boys-pet-sounds-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary-artists-pay-tribute-to-the-eternal-teenage-symphony/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Similar to subsequent [[experimental rock]] LPs by [[Frank Zappa]], the Beatles, and the Who, ''Pet Sounds'' featured countertextural aspects that called attention to the very recordedness of the album.{{sfn|Lowe|2007|pp=38, 219}} Professor [[John Robert Greene]] stated that the album broke new ground and took rock music away from its casual lyrics and melodic structures into then uncharted territory. He called it one factor which spawned the majority of trends in post-1965 rock music, the only others being ''Rubber Soul'', the Beatles' ''[[Revolver (Beatles album)|Revolver]]'', and the contemporary folk movement.{{sfn|Greene|2010|p=155}} The album was the first in popular music to incorporate the [[Electro-Theremin]], an easier-to-play version of the [[theremin]], as well as the first in rock music to feature a theremin-like instrument.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=240}} With ''Pet Sounds'', they were the first group to make an entire album that departed from the usual small-ensemble electric rock band format.<ref name="Sommer2016">{{cite web |last1=Sommer |first1=Tim |author-link=Tim Sommer |title=This Is Your Brain on 'Pet Sounds' |url=http://observer.com/2016/05/this-is-your-brain-on-pet-sounds/ |website=[[The Observer]] |date=May 16, 2016 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=May 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516071455/http://observer.com/2016/05/this-is-your-brain-on-pet-sounds/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to David Leaf in 1978, ''Pet Sounds'' and ''Good Vibrations'' "established the group as the leaders of a new type of pop music, [[Art Rock]]".{{sfn|Leaf|1978|p=74}} Academic [[Bill Martin (philosophy)|Bill Martin]] states that the band opened a path in rock music "that went from ''Sgt. Pepper's'' to ''[[Close to the Edge (Yes album)|Close to the Edge]]'' and beyond". He argues that the advancing technology of [[multitrack recording]] and [[mixing board]]s were more influential to experimental rock than [[electronic instruments]] such as the [[synthesizer]], allowing the Beatles and Beach Boys to become the first crop of non-[[classically trained]] musicians to create extended and complex compositions.{{sfn|Martin|2015|p=75}} In ''Strange Sounds: Offbeat Instruments and Sonic Experiments in Pop'', Mark Brend writes:
{{blockquote|Other artists and producers, notably the Beatles and Phil Spector, had used varied instrumentation and multi-tracking to create complex studio productions before. And others, like [[Roy Orbison]], had written complicated pop songs before. But "Good Vibrations" eclipsed all that came before it, in both its complexity as a production and the liberties it took with conventional notions of how to structure a pop song.{{sfn|Brend|2005|p=19}} }}

The production of "Good Vibrations" was unprecedented in any prior genre or recording;{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=55}} Carlin wrote that it "sounded like nothing that had ever been played on the radio before".{{sfn|Carlin|2006|pp=95–96}} It contained previously untried mixes of instruments, and was the first successful pop song to have cellos in a juddering rhythm.{{sfn|Brend|2005|pp=18–19}} [[Charlie Gillett]] called it "one of the first records to flaunt studio production as a quality in its own right, rather than as a means of presenting a performance".{{sfn|Gillett|1984|p=329}} Brian used Electro-Theremin for the track. Upon release, the single prompted an unexpected revival in theremins while increasing awareness of [[analog synthesizer]]s, leading [[Moog Music]] to produce their own brand of [[ribbon controller|ribbon-controlled]] instruments.{{sfn|Pinch|Trocco|2009|pp=102–103}}{{refn|group=nb|Even though the Electro-Theremin was not technically a theremin, the song became the most frequently cited example of the theremin in pop music.{{sfn|Brend|2005|p=16}}}} In a 1968 editorial for ''[[Jazz & Pop]]'', Gene Sculatti predicted that the song "may yet prove to be the most significantly revolutionary piece of the current rock renaissance&nbsp;... In no minor way, 'Good Vibrations' is a primary influential piece for all producing rock artists; everyone has felt its import to some degree".<ref name="scullati" />

Discussing ''Smiley Smile'', Daniel Harrison argues that the album could "almost" be considered art music in the Western classical tradition, and that the group's innovations in the language of rock can be compared to those that introduced [[atonality|atonal]] and other nontraditional techniques into that classical tradition.{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=47}} However, such notions were not widely acknowledged by rock audiences nor by the classically-minded at the time.{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=59}} Harrison concludes: "What influences could these innovations then have? The short answer is, not much. ''Smiley Smile'', ''Wild Honey'', ''Friends'', and ''20/20'' sound like few other rock albums; they are ''sui generis''.&nbsp;... It must be remembered that the commercial failure of the Beach Boys' experiments was hardly motivation for imitation."{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=59}} Musicologist [[David Toop]] placed the Beach Boys' innovations alongside [[Les Baxter]], [[Aphex Twin]], [[Herbie Hancock]], [[King Tubby]], and [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Bush |first=John |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/ocean-of-sound-mw0000538713 |title=Ocean of Sound – David Toop |work=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=January 11, 2014 |archive-date=February 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204174743/http://www.allmusic.com/album/ocean-of-sound-mw0000538713 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''Sunflower'' marked an end to the experimental songwriting and production phase initiated by ''Smiley Smile''.{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=52}} After ''Surf's Up'', Harrison wrote, their albums "contain a mixture of middle-of-the-road music entirely consonant with pop style during the early 1970s with a few oddities that proved that the desire to push beyond conventional boundaries was not dead", until 1974, "the year in which the Beach Boys ceased to be a rock 'n' roll act and became an oldies act".{{sfn|Harrison|1997|p=52}}

===Punk, alternative, and indie===
{{Quote box
| quote = For the artier branches of [[post-punk]], Wilson's pained vulnerability, his uses of offbeat instruments and his intricate harmonies, not to mention the ''Smile'' saga itself, became a touchstone, from [[Pere Ubu]] and [[XTC]] to {{sic|[[R.E.M.|REM]]}} and the [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]] to [[U2]] and My Bloody Valentine.
| source = — Music critic [[Carl Wilson (writer)|Carl Wilson]] (no relation to Beach Boys member Carl Wilson)<ref name=BBCMozart>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Carl |title=The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson: America's Mozart? |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150608-is-this-americas-mozart |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=June 9, 2015 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=June 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617010214/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150608-is-this-americas-mozart |url-status=live}}</ref>
| width = 25em
| align = right
}}
In the 1970s, the Beach Boys served a "totemic influence" on [[punk rock]] that later gave way to [[indie rock]]. Brad Shoup of [[Stereogum]] surmised that, thanks to the [[Ramones]]' praise for the group, many punk, [[pop punk]], or "punk-adjacent" artists showed influence from the Beach Boys, noting cover versions of the band's songs recorded by [[Slickee Boys]], [[Agent Orange (band)|Agent Orange]], [[Bad Religion]], [[Shonen Knife]], [[the Queers]], [[Hi-Standard]], [[the Descendents]], [[the Donnas]], [[M.O.D.]], and [[the Vandals]]. ''The Beach Boys Love You'' is sometimes considered the group's "punk album",<ref name=Shoup2015>{{cite web |last1=Shoup |first1=Brad |title=How Brian Wilson Helped Spawn Punk |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1793955/how-brian-wilson-helped-spawn-punk/franchises/essay/ |publisher=[[Stereogum]] |date=April 14, 2015 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=March 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307184909/https://www.stereogum.com/1793955/how-brian-wilson-helped-spawn-punk/franchises/essay/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|In 2015, Wilson was asked about punk rock and responded: "I don't know what that is. Punk rock? Punk? What is that?&nbsp;... Oh yeah. I never went for that. I never went for the fast kind of music. I go for the more medium tempo. [[Spencer Davis]], I liked that."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Deevoy |first1=Adrian |title=Beach Boy Brian Wilson: 'Punk rock? I don't know what that is' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/09/beach-boy-brian-wilson-punk-rock-love-and-mercy |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 9, 2015 |access-date=December 13, 2016 |archive-date=December 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229103611/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/09/beach-boy-brian-wilson-punk-rock-love-and-mercy |url-status=live}}</ref>}} and ''Pet Sounds'' is sometimes advanced as the first [[emo]] album.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1tM7yZdRsNn2qZth0WMCRBs/emo-never-dies-how-the-genre-influenced-an-entire-new-generation |title=Emo never dies: How the genre influenced an entire new generation |work=[[BBC Online]] |last=Britton |first=Luke Morgan |date=May 30, 2018 |access-date=August 9, 2018 |archive-date=August 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813010046/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1tM7yZdRsNn2qZth0WMCRBs/emo-never-dies-how-the-genre-influenced-an-entire-new-generation |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1990s, the Beach Boys experienced a resurgence of popularity with the [[alternative rock]] generation.{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=155}} According to [[Sean O'Hagan]], leader of [[the High Llamas]] and former member of [[Stereolab]], a younger generation of record-buyers "stopped listening to indie records" in favor of the Beach Boys.{{sfn|Dillon|2012|pp=104–105}}{{refn|group=nb|When asked how he felt about "reintroducing Brian Wilson as an alternative music hero and getting people back into ''Pet Sounds'' and ''SMiLE''", O'Hagan mentioned that a "few of the touring American bands have told me that we did have such an impact, especially in LA".<ref name="Clay">{{cite web |last1=Woullard |first1=Clayton |title=The Goat Looks In: Interview with Sean O'Hagan of the High Llamas |url=http://claythescribe.com:80/2016/03/04/interview-with-sean-ohagan-of-the-high-llamas/ |website=Clay the Scribe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305111207/http://claythescribe.com/2016/03/04/interview-with-sean-ohagan-of-the-high-llamas/ |archive-date=March 5, 2017 |date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>}} Bands who advocated for the Beach Boys included founding members of [[the Elephant 6 Collective]] ([[Neutral Milk Hotel]], [[the Olivia Tremor Control]], [[the Apples in Stereo]], and [[of Montreal]]). United by a shared love of the group's music, they named [[Pet Sounds Studio]] in honor of the band.{{sfn|Dillon|2012|pp=136–137}}{{sfn|Priore|2005|p=155–156}} ''Rolling Stone'' writer Barry Walters wrote in 2000 that albums such as ''Surf's Up'' and ''Love You'' "are becoming sonic blueprints, akin to what early Velvet Underground LPs meant to the previous indie peer group".<ref name="CN00"/> The High Llamas, [[Eric Matthews (musician)|Eric Matthews]] and [[Saint Etienne (band)|Saint Etienne]] are among the "alt heroes" who contributed cover versions of "unreleased, overlooked or underappreciated Wilson/Beach Boys obscurities" on the tribute album ''[[Caroline Now!]]'' (2000).<ref name="CN00">{{cite magazine |last=Walters |first=Barry |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thebeachboys/albums/album/175726/review/5945258/surfs_up |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015120402/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thebeachboys/albums/album/175726/review/5945258/surfs_up |archive-date=October 15, 2007 |title=Surf's Up |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=September 14, 2000 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 6, 2019}}</ref>

The Beach Boys remained among the most significant influences on indie rock into the late 2000s.{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=292}} ''Smile'' became a touchstone for many bands who were labelled "[[chamber pop]]",<ref name=BBCMozart/> a term used for artists influenced by the lush orchestrations of Brian Wilson, [[Lee Hazlewood]], and Burt Bacharach.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chamber pop |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/chamber-pop-ma0000012300 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607142312/https://www.allmusic.com/style/chamber-pop-ma0000012300 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''Pitchfork'' writer Mark Richardson cited ''Smiley Smile'' as the origin point of "the kind of [[Lo-fi music|lo-fi]] [[bedroom pop]] that would later propel [[Sebadoh]], [[Animal Collective]], and other characters".<ref>{{cite web |title=The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1960s/ |website=[[Pitchfork (site)|Pitchfork]] |date=August 22, 2017 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418120228/https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1960s/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Sunflower'' track "[[All I Wanna Do (The Beach Boys song)|All I Wanna Do]]" is also cited as one of the earliest precursors to [[chillwave]], a [[microgenre]] that emerged in 2009.<ref name="Relix">{{cite web |title=Song Premiere: The Bright Light Social Hour "All I Wanna Do" (The Beach Boys Cover) |url=https://www.relix.com/blogs/detail/song_premiere_the_bright_light_social_hour_all_i_wanna_do_beach_boys_cover |website=Relix |date=March 14, 2016 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=July 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704063557/https://www.relix.com/blogs/detail/song_premiere_the_bright_light_social_hour_all_i_wanna_do_beach_boys_cover |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Polinice">{{cite web |author1=Polinice |title=Gli Uomini del Capitano: pezzi scritti dai membri secondari di una band |url=http://polinice.org/2013/11/25/gli-uomini-del-capitano-pezzi-scritti-dai-membri-secondari-di-una-band/ |website=Polinice |date=November 25, 2013 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=April 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417211441/http://polinice.org/2013/11/25/gli-uomini-del-capitano-pezzi-scritti-dai-membri-secondari-di-una-band/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Landmarks==
[[File:Beach Boys Walk of Fame.png|thumb| The Beach Boys' star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], located at 1500 Vine Street<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.walkoffame.com/the-beach-boys |title=The Beach Boys |publisher=Hollywood Walk of Fame |date=December 30, 1980 |access-date=May 22, 2013 |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514170039/http://www.walkoffame.com/the-beach-boys |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
* The Wilsons' California house, where the Wilson brothers grew up and the group began, was demolished in 1986 to make way for [[Interstate 105 (California)|Interstate 105]], the Century Freeway. A [[Beach Boys Historic Landmark]] (California Landmark No.&nbsp;1041 at 3701 West 119th Street), dedicated on May 20, 2005, marks the location.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Connell |first=Sean |title=A Tour Of Beach Boys' Haunts In Their Hometown Of Hawthorne, California – With Pictures! |newspaper=LA Weekly |url=http://www.laweekly.com/music/a-tour-of-beach-boys-haunts-in-their-hometown-of-hawthorne-california-with-pictures-2406507 |date=November 1, 2011 |access-date=March 6, 2018 |archive-date=March 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307024715/http://www.laweekly.com/music/a-tour-of-beach-boys-haunts-in-their-hometown-of-hawthorne-california-with-pictures-2406507 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* On December 30, 1980, the Beach Boys were awarded a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], located at 1500 Vine Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.walkoffame.com/the-beach-boys |title=The Beach Boys |publisher=Hollywood Walk of Fame |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514170039/http://www.walkoffame.com/the-beach-boys |archive-date=May 14, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2013}}</ref>
* On September 2, 1977, the Beach Boys performed before an audience of 40,000 at [[Narragansett Park#Later years|Narragansett Park]] in [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]], which remains the largest concert audience in Rhode Island history. On August 9, 2017, a commemoration ceremony produced by [[Al Gomes]] and Connie Watrous of [[Al Gomes#Big Noise|Big Noise]] took place in Rhode Island with the Beach Boys, and the street where the concert stage formerly stood (at 510 Narragansett Park Drive) was officially renamed to "Beach Boys Way".<ref>{{cite web |first1=Al |last1=Gomes |first2=Connie |last2=Watrous |first3=Tim |last3=Labonte |date=August 9, 2017 |title=The Beach Boys Street Commemoration Ceremony |publisher=Big Noise Projects |via=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWiTYLXubaM}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Markgraf |first=Diandra |title=Pawtucket celebrates Beach Boys Way |newspaper=The Valley Breeze |url=http://www.valleybreeze.com/2017-09-05/pawtucket/pawtucket-celebrates-beach-boys-way |date=September 5, 2017 |access-date=February 28, 2018 |archive-date=February 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217082856/http://www.valleybreeze.com/2017-09-05/pawtucket/pawtucket-celebrates-beach-boys-way#.WpcP-rirGzk |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Al |last1=Gomes |first2=Connie |last2=Watrous |date=June 1, 2024 |title=The Beach Boys and Big Noise Complete Projects |publisher=Big Noise Official Website |url=https://www.bignoisenow.com/beachboys.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Andy |title=In '77 Beach Boys Headlined R.I.'s Largest Concert |newspaper=The Providence Journal |url=http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170808/in-77-beach-boys-headlined-ris-largest-concert |date=August 8, 2017 |access-date=February 28, 2018 |archive-date=February 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219210742/http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170808/in-77-beach-boys-headlined-ris-largest-concert |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Beach Boys / "Beach Boys Way" Plaque |url=http://www.bignoisenow.com/images/artistphotos2018/BB_CommemorationPlaqueOL.pdf |date=September 2, 2017}}</ref>
* On September 21, 2017, the Beach Boys were honored by [[Roger Williams University]], along with Al Gomes and Connie Watrous of Big Noise, and plaques were unveiled to commemorate the band's concert on September 22, 1971, at the Baypoint Inn & Conference Center in [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island]]. The concert was the first-ever appearance of South African [[Ricky Fataar]] as an official member of the band and Filipino [[Billy Hinsche]] as a touring member, essentially changing the Beach Boys' live and recording act's line-up into a multi-cultural group. Diversity is a credo of Roger Williams University, which is why they chose to celebrate this moment in the band's history.<ref>{{cite news |last=McGaw |first=Jim |title=Friday, Sept. 22 will be 'Beach Boys Day' in Portsmouth |newspaper=The Portsmouth Times/Rhody Beat |url=http://rhodybeat.com/stories/friday-sept-22-will-be-beach-boys-day-in-portsmouth,27261 |date=September 17, 2017 |access-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123152632/http://rhodybeat.com/stories/friday-sept-22-will-be-beach-boys-day-in-portsmouth,27261 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Roger Williams University / Al Gomes and Connie Watrous of Big Noise Plaque |url=http://www.bignoisenow.com/images/artistphotos2018/BeachBoysRWUplaque.pdf |date=September 21, 2017 |publisher=Big Noise |access-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123152627/http://www.bignoisenow.com/images/artistphotos2018/BeachBoysRWUplaque.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Band members==
{{For|their touring configurations|The Beach Boys live performances#Touring members}}

===Current===
* [[Mike Love]] – vocals, saxophone, percussion, electro-Theremin {{small|(1961–present)}}
* [[Bruce Johnston]] – vocals, keyboards, bass {{small|(1965–1972, 1978–present)}}

===Former===
* [[Brian Wilson]] – vocals, keyboards, bass, percussion {{small|(1961–1996, 2011–2012;<ref name="Former">{{Cite web |date=8 March 2013 |title=Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks announce tour dates |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/news/brian-wilson-al-jardine-and-david-marks-announce-tour-dates-25170/ |access-date=12 June 2025 |website=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |quote=Brian Wilson has announced details of two live shows he will play with fellow former Beach Boys, Al Jardine and David Marks. The announcement of the live date comes after the group fell out with fellow members Mike Love and Bruce Johnston in 2012 when the pair revealed plans to continue playing live under The Beach Boys name, with or without Wilson, Jardine and Marks.}}</ref><ref name="Former 2">{{Cite web |date=February 4, 2020 |title=Brian Wilson urges fans to boycott Beach Boys gig |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51369603 |access-date=June 13, 2025 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |quote=Brian Wilson is urging fans to boycott a gig by his ''former'' band The Beach Boys, over trophy hunting fears. [...] Wilson tweeted that he and ''former'' guitarist Al Jardine had nothing to do with the event. [emphasis added]}}</ref><ref name="Former 3">{{Cite web |last=Roffman |first=Michael |date=October 18, 2020 |title=Brian Wilson and Al Jardine Condemn Trump's Beach Boys Benefit Concert |url=https://consequence.net/2020/10/brian-wilson-al-jardine-beach-boys/ |access-date=June 13, 2025 |website=[[Consequence of Sound]] |quote=Former members Brian Wilson and Al Jardine were not fans.}}</ref> ''died 2025; not touring during 1964–1976, 1982–1983, 1990–1996'')}}
* [[Carl Wilson]] – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass, keyboards {{small|(1961–1998; ''his death; not touring during 1981–1982, 1997–1998'')}}
* [[Dennis Wilson]] – vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards {{small|(1961–1983; ''his death; not touring during 1979–1980, 1983'')}}
* [[Al Jardine]] – vocals, rhythm guitar, bass {{small|(1961–1962, 1963–1998,<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 29, 2003 |title=Beach Boy banned from using name |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2705061.stm |access-date=June 13, 2025 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> 2011–2012;<ref name="Former"/><ref name="Former 2"/><ref name="Former 3"/> ''guest 2014'')}}
* [[David Marks]] – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars {{small|(1962–1963, 1997–1999, 2011–2012;<ref name="Former"/> ''guest 1971, 1995, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016'')}}
* [[Ricky Fataar]] – vocals, drums, percussion, rhythm guitar, [[pedal steel guitar]], flute {{small|(1972–1974; ''touring member 1971–1972'')}}
* [[Blondie Chaplin]] – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, slide guitar, bass {{small|(1972–1973; ''guest 1995'')}}

===Timeline===
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize  = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25
PlotArea   = left:90 bottom:80 top:10 right:20
Alignbars  = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period     = from:08/01/1961 till:{{#time:m/d/Y}}
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend     = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1962
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1962

Colors =
  id:vocals     value:red          legend:Vocals
  id:lead       value:teal         legend:Lead_guitar
  id:rhythm     value:brightgreen  legend:Rhythm_guitar
  id:keys       value:purple       legend:Keyboards
  id:bass       value:blue         legend:Bass
  id:drums      value:orange       legend:Drums,_percussion
  id:studio     value:black        legend:Studio_album
  id:live       value:gray(0.75)   legend:Live_album
  id:bars       value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

BarData =
  bar:Mike         text:"Mike Love"
  bar:Carl         text:"Carl Wilson †"
  bar:Blondie      text:"Blondie Chaplin"
  bar:Al           text:"Al Jardine"
  bar:David        text:"David Marks"
  bar:Brian        text:"Brian Wilson †"
  bar:Bruce        text:"Bruce Johnston"
  bar:Dennis       text:"Dennis Wilson †"
  bar:Ricky        text:"Ricky Fataar"

PlotData =
  color:vocals width:3
  bar:Mike     from:start      till:end width:13
  bar:Brian    from:start      till:09/08/1996
  bar:Brian    from:05/01/2011 till:09/28/2012
  bar:Carl     from:start      till:02/06/1998
  bar:Dennis   from:start      till:12/28/1983
  bar:Al       from:start      till:02/20/1962
  bar:Al       from:04/01/1963 till:05/09/1998
  bar:Al       from:05/01/2011 till:09/28/2012
  bar:David    from:03/01/1962 till:10/05/1963
  bar:David    from:11/16/1997 till:07/04/1999
  bar:David    from:05/01/2011 till:09/28/2012
  bar:Bruce    from:04/01/1965 till:04/02/1972
  bar:Bruce    from:09/03/1978 till:end
  bar:Ricky    from:03/16/1972 till:12/31/1974
  bar:Blondie  from:03/16/1972 till:12/31/1973

  color:lead width:13
  bar:Carl     from:start till:02/24/1981 
  bar:Carl     from:02/24/1981 till:03/31/1982 width:7
  bar:Carl     from:03/31/1982 till:11/16/1997
  bar:Carl     from:11/16/1997 till:02/06/1998 width:7
  bar:David    from:11/16/1997 till:07/04/1999
  bar:David    from:05/01/2011 till:09/28/2012
  bar:Blondie  from:03/16/1972 till:12/31/1973

  color:rhythm width:13
  bar:Al       from:start till:02/20/1962
  bar:Al       from:10/05/1963 till:05/09/1998
  bar:Al       from:05/01/2011 till:09/28/2012
  bar:David    from:03/01/1962 till:10/05/1963
  bar:Ricky    from:03/16/1972 till:12/31/1974 width:7

  color:bass width:13
  bar:Brian    from:start      till:04/01/1963
  bar:Brian    from:04/01/1963 till:12/31/1964 width:7
  bar:Brian    from:12/31/1964 till:02/01/1968 width:5
  bar:Brian    from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1971 width:5
  bar:Brian    from:07/01/1976 till:05/09/1989 width:7
  bar:Brian    from:04/24/2012 till:09/28/2012 width:7
  bar:Al       from:start      till:02/20/1962 width:7
  bar:Al       from:04/01/1963 till:10/05/1963
  bar:Al       from:10/05/1963 till:06/01/1978 width:7
  bar:Bruce    from:04/01/1965 till:04/02/1972
  bar:Bruce    from:09/03/1978 till:01/01/2000 width:7
  bar:Carl     from:02/17/1966 till:05/15/1976 width:7
  bar:Blondie  from:03/16/1972 till:12/31/1973 width:7

  color:keys width:13
  bar:Brian    from:start      till:04/01/1963 width:7
  bar:Brian    from:04/01/1963 till:12/31/1964
  bar:Brian    from:12/31/1964 till:07/01/1976 width:7
  bar:Bruce    from:04/01/1965 till:04/02/1972 width:7
  bar:Brian    from:07/01/1976 till:11/22/1982
  bar:Brian    from:11/22/1982 till:03/01/1983 width:7
  bar:Brian    from:03/01/1983 till:07/04/1990
  bar:Brian    from:07/04/1990 till:09/08/1996 width:7
  bar:Brian    from:05/01/2011 till:09/28/2012
  bar:Bruce    from:09/03/1978 till:end
  bar:Carl     from:08/31/1970 till:05/15/1976 width:5
  bar:Carl     from:05/15/1976 till:02/24/1981 width:7
  bar:Carl     from:05/01/1982 till:05/09/1989 width:7
  bar:Dennis   from:01/01/1969 till:12/31/1971 width:7
  bar:Dennis   from:12/31/1971 till:10/01/1974
  bar:Dennis   from:01/01/1978 till:06/08/1979 width:7

  color:drums width:13
  bar:Dennis   from:start      till:12/31/1971
  bar:Dennis   from:10/01/1974 till:06/08/1979
  bar:Dennis   from:06/08/1979 till:06/02/1980 width:7
  bar:Dennis   from:06/02/1980 till:11/01/1983
  bar:Dennis   from:11/01/1983 till:12/28/1983 width:7
  bar:Ricky    from:03/16/1972 till:12/31/1974

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 at:11/01/1964
 at:03/08/1965
 at:07/05/1965
 at:11/08/1965
 at:05/16/1966
 at:09/18/1967
 at:12/18/1967
 at:06/24/1968
 at:02/10/1969
 at:08/31/1970
 at:08/30/1971
 at:05/15/1972
 at:01/08/1973
 at:07/05/1976
 at:04/11/1977
 at:08/02/1978
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 at:03/24/1980
 at:06/14/1985
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 layer:back color:live width:1
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 at:12/09/2016
 at:12/08/2017
 at:12/07/2018
}}

==Discography==
{{Main|The Beach Boys discography}}

{{Further|List of songs recorded by the Beach Boys|The Beach Boys' unreleased and bootleg recordings}}

===Studio albums===
{{div col}}
* ''[[Surfin' Safari]]'' (1962)
* ''[[Surfin' U.S.A. (album)|Surfin' U.S.A.]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Surfer Girl]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Little Deuce Coupe]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Shut Down Volume 2]]'' (1964)
* ''[[All Summer Long (album)|All Summer Long]]'' (1964)
* ''[[The Beach Boys' Christmas Album]]'' (1964)
* ''[[The Beach Boys Today!]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Beach Boys' Party!]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' (1966)
* ''[[Smiley Smile]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Wild Honey (album)|Wild Honey]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Friends (The Beach Boys album)|Friends]]'' (1968)
* ''[[20/20 (The Beach Boys album)|20/20]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Sunflower (The Beach Boys album)|Sunflower]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Surf's Up (album)|Surf's Up]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Holland (album)|Holland]]'' (1973)
* ''[[15 Big Ones]]'' (1976)
* ''[[The Beach Boys Love You]]'' (1977)
* ''[[M.I.U. Album]]'' (1978)
* ''[[L.A. (Light Album)]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Keepin' the Summer Alive]]'' (1980)
* ''[[The Beach Boys (album)|The Beach Boys]]'' (1985)
* ''[[Still Cruisin']]'' (1989)
* ''[[Summer in Paradise]]'' (1992)
* ''[[Stars and Stripes Vol. 1]]'' (1996)
* ''[[That's Why God Made the Radio]]'' (2012)
{{div col end}}

==Filmography==
* 1962: ''One Man's Challenge''
* 1964: ''[[T.A.M.I. Show]]''
* 1965: ''[[The Girls on the Beach]]''
* 1965: ''[[The Monkey's Uncle]]''
* 1971: ''Good Vibrations from Central Park''
* 1976: ''[[The Beach Boys: Good Vibrations Tour]]''
* 1979: ''[[The Midnight Special (TV series)|The Midnight Special]]''
* 1980: ''Beach Boys 4th of July Celebration: Live from Queen Mary''
* 1980: ''The Beach Boys: A Celebration Concert''
* 1981: ''The Beach Boys: 20th Anniversary Special''
* 1985: ''[[The Beach Boys: An American Band]]''
* 1987: ''The Beach Boys: 25 Years Together''
* 1988: ''[[Full House]]'' (one episode; Beach Boy Bingo)
* 1991: ''The Beach Boys Live in Japan '91''
* 1992: ''[[Full House]]'' (one episode; Captain Video [Part 1])
* 1993: ''The Beach Boys Today''
* 1996: ''[[The Beach Boys: Nashville Sounds]]''
* 1998: ''[[Endless Harmony: The Beach Boys Story]]''
* 1998: ''The Beach Boys: The Lost Concert 1964''
* 2002: ''[[Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980]]''
* 2004: ''[[Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys|Sights + Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys]]''
* 2006: ''The Beach Boys: In London 1966''
* 2012: ''The Beach Boys 50: Doin' It Again''
* 2012: ''[[The 50th Reunion Tour]]''
* 2014: ''The Beach Boys: Live at the Hollywood Bowl''
* 2016: ''[[Classic Albums]]: [[Pet Sounds]]''
* 2023: ''A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys''
* 2024: ''[[The Beach Boys (film)|The Beach Boys]]'' documentary on [[Disney+]]<ref name="2024 self-titled documentary announcement" />

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=nb|30em}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

===Print sources===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Badman |first=Keith |title=The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=sLEMdjRhDgQC}} |year=2004 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-0-87930-818-6}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Bogdanov |editor-first1=Vladimir |editor-link1=Vladimir Bogdanov |editor-last2=Woodstra |editor-first2=Chris |editor-last3=Erlewine |editor-first3=Stephen Thomas |editor-link3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=1-pH4i3jXvAC}} |year=2002 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-0-87930-653-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Brend |first1=Mark |title=Strange Sounds: Offbeat Instruments and Sonic Experiments in Pop |date=2005 |publisher=Backbeat |location=San Francisco, Calif. |isbn=9780879308551 |edition=1. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6KRDxYOp4UC |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=March 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325202428/https://books.google.com/books?id=m6KRDxYOp4UC |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |first=Peter Ames |last=Carlin |author-link=Peter Ames Carlin |title=Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eYyovo_AbqAC}} |year=2006 |publisher=Rodale |isbn=978-1-59486-320-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Curtis |first=James M. |title=Rock Eras: Interpretations of Music and Society, 1954–1984 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=F0xAUXaBYqoC}} |year=1987 |publisher=Popular Press |isbn=978-0-87972-369-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Dillon |first=Mark |title=Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys: The Songs That Tell Their Story |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=QAP0yVAVq3YC}} |year=2012 |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-77041-071-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Downes |first=Stephen |title=Aesthetics of Music: Musicological Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2tbpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-48691-3 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=May 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501062035/https://books.google.com/books?id=2tbpAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Edmondson |editor-first=Jacqueline |title=Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories that Shaped our Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQPXAQAAQBAJ |year=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-39348-8 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=August 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806202935/https://books.google.com/books?id=TQPXAQAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Fusilli |first=Jim |title=The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=xVIx8qes4V8C}} |date=2005 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4411-1266-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Gaines |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Gaines |title=Heroes and Villains: The True Story of The Beach Boys |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=-qkJvajmU4EC}} |year=1986 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York |isbn=0306806479}}
* {{cite book |last=Gillett |first=Charlie |author-link=Charlie Gillett |title=The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzmhhXUwyt4C&pg=PA329 |year=1984 |publisher=Perseus Books Group |isbn=978-0-306-80683-4 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=February 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222205841/https://books.google.com/books?id=EzmhhXUwyt4C&pg=PA329 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Granata |first=Charles L. |title=Wouldn't it Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds |date=2003 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eduXp1caQ4YC}} |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1-55652-507-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Greene |first=John Robert |author-link=John Robert Greene |title=America in the Sixties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RY5JKjL7VBEC |year=2010 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-5133-8 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=May 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513022808/https://books.google.com/books?id=RY5JKjL7VBEC |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last1=Guinn |first1=Jeff |title=Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson |date=2014 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781451645170 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=CU4dBAAAQBAJ}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Harrison (music theorist) |editor1-last=Covach |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Boone |editor2-first=Graeme M. |title=Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199880126 |chapter-url=http://www.lipscomb.umn.edu/rock/docs/Harrison1997_BeachBoys.pdf |chapter=After Sundown: The Beach Boys' Experimental Music |pages=33–57 |access-date=August 31, 2014 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524174826/http://www.lipscomb.umn.edu/rock/docs/Harrison1997_BeachBoys.pdf |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |first=Kent |last=Hartman |author-link=Kent Hartman |title=[[The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret]] |year=2012 |edition=1st |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |isbn=978-0-312-61974-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Hoskyns |first=Barney |title=Waiting for the Sun: A Rock 'n' Roll History of Los Angeles |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=w7oB2UKVxgQC}} |author-link=Barney Hoskyns |year=2009 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-0-87930-943-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Howard |first=David N. |title=Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings |date=2004 |publisher=Hal Leonard |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |isbn=9780634055607 |edition=1. |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=O0VMAgAAQBAJ}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Carys Wyn |title=The Rock Canon: Canonical Values in the Reception of Rock Albums |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=rdC3n62ArX8C}} |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-0-7546-6244-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Kent |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Kent |chapter=The Last Beach Movie Revisited: The Life of Brian Wilson |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=bPMO0CtuBAsC}} |title=The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music |year=2009 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780786730742}}
* {{cite book |last=Lambert |first=Philip |title=Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: the Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7XsZAQAAIAAJ}} |year=2007 |publisher=Continuum |isbn=978-0-8264-1876-0}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Lambert |editor-first=Philip |title=Good Vibrations: Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys in Critical Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aU5KDQAAQBAJ |year=2016 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-11995-0 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=February 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216115831/https://books.google.com/books?id=aU5KDQAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Leaf |first=David |author-link=David Leaf |title=The Beach Boys and the California Myth |url=https://archive.org/details/beachboyscalifor00leaf |url-access=registration |year=1978 |publisher=Grosset & Dunlap |location=New York |isbn=978-0-448-14626-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Leaf |first=David |author-link=David Leaf |year=1985 |title=The Beach Boys |publisher=[[Courage Books]] |isbn=0-89471-412-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Love |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Love |title=Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioG0CwAAQBAJ |year=2016 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-698-40886-9 |access-date=October 6, 2016 |archive-date=August 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812050025/https://books.google.com/books?id=ioG0CwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Lowe |first=Kelly Fisher |title=The Words and Music of Frank Zappa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAYfqgGf4yYC&pg=PA219 |year=2007 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-6005-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marcus |first=Benjamin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4XoilnqtjkC |title=Surfing: An Illustrated History of the Coolest Sport of All Time |date=2013 |publisher=MVP Books |isbn=978-1-61058-761-7}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Martin (philosophy) |title=Avant Rock: Experimental Music from the Beatles to Bjork |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CCLyCgAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Open Court Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-8126-9939-5 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619025345/https://books.google.com/books?id=CCLyCgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Matijas-Mecca |first=Christian |title=The Words and Music of Brian Wilson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wmphDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |year=2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3899-6 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619070947/https://books.google.com/books?id=wmphDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=May |first=Kirse Granat |title=Golden State, Golden Youth: The California Image in Popular Culture, 1955–1966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4XoilnqtjkC |year=2002 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-5362-7}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite book |last=McKeen |first=William |title=Everybody Had an Ocean: Music and Mayhem in 1960s Los Angeles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBB0DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT131 |year=2017 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1-61373-494-0 |access-date=March 28, 2017 |archive-date=March 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328203417/https://books.google.com/books?id=YBB0DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT131 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Jim |author-link=Jim Miller (musician) |editor1-last=DeCurtis |editor1-first=Anthony |editor2-last=Henke |editor2-first=James |editor3-last=George-Warren |editor3-first=Holly |title=The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll: The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=9780679737285 |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=ubWAht7N7zsC |page=192}} |chapter=The Beach Boys}}
* {{cite book |last=Moorefield |first=Virgil |author-link=Virgil Moorefield |title=The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=PZ0R4_Oxr-4C}} |year=2010 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-51405-7}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Moskowitz |editor-first=David V. |title=The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XG9CgAAQBAJ |date=2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-0340-6 |access-date=October 6, 2016 |archive-date=February 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222081100/https://books.google.com/books?id=8XG9CgAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Murphy |first=James B. |title=Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961–1963 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=273eCQAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-7365-6 |access-date=December 19, 2015 |archive-date=June 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609195400/https://books.google.com/books?id=273eCQAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pinch |first1=T. J |last2=Trocco |first2=Frank |title=Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=CoUs2SSvG4EC}} |year=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-04216-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Priore |first=Domenic |author-link=Domenic Priore |title=Look, Listen, Vibrate, Smile! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oy4BAAAACAAJ |year=1995 |publisher=Last Gap |isbn=0-86719-417-0 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=August 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825105436/https://books.google.com/books?id=Oy4BAAAACAAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Priore |first=Domenic |author-link=Domenic Priore |title=Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=81YIAQAAMAAJ}} |year=2005 |publisher=Sanctuary |location=London |isbn=1860746276}}
* {{cite book |last=Sanchez |first=Luis |title=The Beach Boys' Smile |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=FC0_AwAAQBAJ}} |year=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-62356-956-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Savage |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Savage |title=1966: The Year the Decade Exploded |publisher=Faber & Faber |location=London |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-571-27763-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Schinder |first=Scott |chapter=The Beach Boys |editor-last1=Schinder |editor-first1=Scott |editor-last2=Schwartz |editor-first2=Andy |title=Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever |date=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0313338458 |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=chj91X0dWzUC}}}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Sellars |editor-first=Jeff |title=God Only Knows: Faith, Hope, Love, and The Beach Boys |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGKPCwAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-0767-6 |access-date=March 13, 2016 |archive-date=August 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825092425/https://books.google.com/books?id=CGKPCwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Shuker |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Shuker |title=Understanding Popular Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PMpOGoVFGFoC&pg=PA35 |year=1994 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-10722-8 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=May 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505063838/https://books.google.com/books?id=PMpOGoVFGFoC&pg=PA35 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Stanley |first=Bob |author-link=Bob Stanley (musician) |title=Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9emZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT221 |date=2013 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=978-0-571-28198-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Starr |first=Kevin |author-link=Kevin Starr |title=Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950–1963 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWy4TexzsScC |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-515377-4 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=June 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616202518/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWy4TexzsScC |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Stebbins |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Stebbins |title=The Lost Beach Boy |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=bnQIAQAAMAAJ}} |year=2007 |publisher=Virgin Books |isbn=978-1-85227-391-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Stebbins |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Stebbins |title=The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8T3ivyKmSQwC&pg=PT222 |year=2011 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-1-4584-2914-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Stebbins |first1=Jon |last2=Rusten |first2=Ian |author-link1=Jon Stebbins |title=The Beach Boys in Concert!: The Complete History of America's Band On Tour and Onstage |date=2013 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-1617134562}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Trynka |editor1-first=Paul |editor2-last=Bacon |editor2-first=Tony |title=Rock Hardware |date=1996 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=9780879304287 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=HDrIjd5FQ8QC}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |author-link=Richie Unterberger |title=White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=99VPNgEz81QC |page=122}} |year=2009 |publisher=Jawbone |isbn=978-1-906002-22-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Warner |first=Jay |title=American Singing Groups: A History from 1940s to Today |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=mTM_9JTeoMIC}} |year=1992 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-634-09978-6}}
* {{cite book |last=White |first=Timothy |author-link=Timothy White (editor) |title=The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=tNUpGwAACAAJ}} |year=1996 |publisher=Henry Holt (P) |isbn=978-0-8050-4702-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Paul |author-link=Paul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator) |title=Back to the Miracle Factory |date=2010 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4299-8243-6 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=COfUbzOvmmkC}}}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Brian |author-link1=Brian Wilson |last2=Greenman |first2=Ben |author-link2=Ben Greenman |title=I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CmiBQAAQBAJ |year=2016 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-82307-7 |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726035714/https://books.google.com/books?id=9CmiBQAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Zager |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Zager |title=Music Production: For Producers, Composers, Arrangers, and Students |date=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-8201-0 |edition=2nd |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=thgAKvlyip0C}}}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
'''Articles'''
* {{cite magazine |last1=Ratliff |first1=Ben |author-link1=Ben Ratliff |title=Looking for the Beach Boys |magazine=[[New York Review of Books]] |date=October 26, 2016 |url=http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/10/26/looking-for-the-beach-boys-fifty-years-later/}}
* {{cite news |last1=Rogers |first1=Jude |author-link=Jude Rogers |title=The lure of the beach |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/music/2008/06/beach-boys-wilson-bands-album |work=[[New Statesman]] |date=June 12, 2008}}

'''Books'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Abbott |editor-first=Kingsley |title=Back to the Beach: A Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys Reader |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=uM69PwAACAAJ}} |year=1998 |publisher=Helter Skelter |isbn=978-1-90092-402-3}}
* Berry, Torrence (2013). Beach Boys Archives, Volume 2. White Lightning Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1941028995}}.
* Berry, Torrence (2014). Beach Boys Archives, Volume 5. White Lightning Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1941028063}}.
* Berry, Torrence (2015). Beach Boys Archives, Volume 7. White Lightning Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1941028100}}.
* Berry, Torrence and Zenker, Gary (2013). Beach Boys Archives, Volume 1. White Lightning Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0989334457}}.
* Berry, Torrence and Zenker, Gary (2014). Beach Boys Archives, Volume 3. White Lightning Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1941028018}}.
* Berry, Torrence and Zenker, Gary (2014). Beach Boys Archives, Volume 4. White Lightning Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1941028025}}.
* [[Perry D. Cox|Cox, Perry D.]] (2017). Price and Reference Guide for the Beach Boys American Records (By Perry Cox, Frank Daniels & Mark Galloway. Foreword by [[Jeffrey Foskett]]). Perry Cox Ent. {{ISBN|978-1532348570}}.
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Cunningham |editor1-first=Don |editor2-last=Bielel |editor2-first=Jeff |title=Add Some Music to Your Day: Analyzing and Enjoying the Music of the Beach Boys |date=1999 |publisher=Tiny Ripple Books |isbn=978-0967597300}}
* {{cite book |last1=Curnutt |first1=Kirk |title=Icons of Pop Music: Brian Wilson |date=2012 |publisher=Equinox Publishing, Ltd}}
* {{cite book |last1=Desper |first1=Stephen W. |title=Recording the Beach Boys |author-link=Stephen Desper |date=2002}}
* {{cite book |last1=Doe |first1=Andrew |last2=Tobler |first2=John |author-link2=John Tobler |title=Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=km5OFb6eEYcC}} |year=2004 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-84449-426-2}}
* {{cite book |first=Brad |last=Elliott |title=Surf's Up: The Beach Boys On Record 1961–1981 |year=1984 |publisher=Popular Culture Inc}}
* {{cite book |last=Fawcett |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Fawcett |title=California Rock, California Sound: the Music of Los Angeles and Southern California |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=aX0rAQAAIAAJ}} |year=1978 |publisher=Reed Books}}
* {{cite book |last=Golden |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Golden |title=The Beach Boys: Southern California Pastoral |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=nls5AQAAIAAJ}} |year=1976 |publisher=Borgo Press |isbn=978-0-87877-202-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Granata |first1=Charles L. |last2=Asher |first2=Tony |author-link2=Tony Asher |title=Wouldn't it Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds |date=2003 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eduXp1caQ4YC}} |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=9781556525070}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=McParland |editor1-first=Stephen J. |title=In The Studio with Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys: Our Favorite Recording Sessions: A Look at Various Recording Sessions by The Beach Boys, 1961–1970 |date=2001 |publisher=CMusic Books}}
* {{cite book |last=Priore |first=Domenic |author-link=Domenic Priore |title=Look, Listen, Vibrate, Smile: The Book about the Mysterious Beach Boys Album |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Oy4BAAAACAAJ}} |year=1988 |publisher=Surfin' Colours Hollywood}}
* {{cite book |last=Sumrall |first=Harry |title=Pioneers of Rock and Roll: 100 Artists Who Changed the Face of Rock |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=cI4UAQAAIAAJ}} |year=1994 |publisher=Billboard Books |isbn=978-0-8230-7628-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Toop |first=David |author-link=David Toop |title=Exotica: Fabricated Soundscapes in a Real World: Fabricated Soundscapes in the Real World |date=1999 |publisher=Serpent's Tail |location=London |isbn=978-1852425951 |edition=1. publ.}}
* {{cite book |last=Toop |first=David |author-link=David Toop |editor-last=Hoskyns |editor-first=Barney |editor-link=Barney Hoskyns |title=The Sound and the Fury: 40 Years of Classic Rock Journalism: A Rock's Backpages Reader |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=VoUOTSUSVZoC |page=399}} |year=1982 |publication-date=2003 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=978-1-58234-282-5 |chapter=Surfin' Death Valley USA: The Beach Boys and Heavy Friends |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/soundfuryrocksba0000unse}}
* {{cite book |first=Paul |last=Williams |title=Brian Wilson & The Beach Boys: How Deep is the Ocean? : Essays & Conversations |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=CfCMwtZkTysC}} |date=June 1, 2003 |publisher=Omnibus |isbn=978-0-7119-9103-3}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{AllMusic | id= the-beach-boys-mn0000041874 | title= The Beach Boys}}
* {{discogs artist|The Beach Boys}}
* {{IMDb name|1274814}}

{{The Beach Boys main|state=expanded}}
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