The Beach Boys

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This article is about the American rock band. For other uses of The Beach Boys, see The Beach Boys (disambiguation).
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The Beach Boys
Beach boys.jpg
Background information
Origin Hawthorne, California
Years active 1961–present
Genre(s) Rock, pop, surf, psychedelia
Current Members
Brian Wilson
Mike Love
Al Jardine
Bruce Johnston
Former Members
Carl Wilson
Dennis Wilson
David Marks
Ricky Fataar
Blondie Chaplin

The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. Their first hit, "Surfin' USA" launched them into stardom in the early 1960's and had other major hits such as "I Get Around" and "Barbara Ann". In 1966, The Beach Boys released the album Pet Sounds which at first did not have major commercial success but is now considered one of the best albums of all time, ranking at number 1 in several lists of the greatest albums of all time. Rivers Cuomo has been heavily influenced by them, as far as basing the The Blue Album's cover on an old Beach Boys cassette he owned when he was younger. The group's de facto leader Brian Wilson was included in the map in the disk tray for Pinkerton, and the song Beach Boys in Pacific Daydream was made about them.

Overview

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The Beach Boys were founded by brothers Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson, at first managed by their father Murry Wilson, although he ended up being fired in 1964. Afterwards, they were joined by Mike Love and Al Jardine. After a relatively underlooked debut album, they recorded their first major hit, Surfin' USA and went into stardom. They released more and more hit singles, and with the release of 1965's The Beach Boys Today! they abandoned the beach and surfing themes most of their hits were about, although they are still stereotyped as a surf band. In 1966, after hearing [[The Beatles]' Rubber Soul, Brian Wilson decided to make an album full of cohesive songs, with no filler. This album turned into Pet Sounds, an album with ambitious production and rich and complex arragements and composition, influencing many acts such as Weezer. It is considered as one of the greatest and best albums of all time. Following this album, Wilson started working on a follow-up, SMiLE with lyricist Van Dyke Parks. Although, because of Wilson's decaying mental state the project was cancelled and a simplistic, stripped down lo-fi version called Smiley Smile was released instead. This release started a commercial downfall for the band, but after the release of 1974's Endless Summer compilation, the group enjoyed more commercial success and became an oldies act.