The Beach Boys are from Hawthorne, California.

Originally the band consisted of brothers: Brian (bass), Carl (lead guitar) and Dennis Wilson (drums), along with their cousin Mike Love (vocals, saxophone) and their friend and neighbour Al Jardine (rhythm guitar).

Later one of their producers Bruce Johnston joined the band (keyboards).

The Beach Boys took much criticism for their music as being light and for some reason too beachy. Guess what? They were expressing a life style of the Beach, Surfing and Hot Rods, that was truly Californian. 

Their name was The Beach Boys. 

Over the years those criticisms yielded and the band has become an iconic musical act expressing a truly American style of joyful sounds.

Not all was smooth sailing as the band had some serious internal questions and arguments about the album “Pet Sounds” which was a departure from their normal sound and was in fact produced by Brain when the others were on tour in Japan.

Brian was having psychological problems and wouldn’t come out of his room and he just kept writing music. He was the leader of the band and today is regarded as a musical genius.

Tom Petty said that he wore out his “Pet Sounds” album by playing it over and over again. He loved it.

I enjoyed the songs on the album and yes, it is a departure from their normal sound. (I think it may be an acquired taste.)

Over the years they have recorded 29 albums.

“In My Room” from the “Surfer Girl” album is a beautiful song that many critics have labelled “American Classic”.

Enjoy