The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. Since then, the band has undergone many variations in composition, with representation by fill-ins onstage. As of 2017, the only principal members included in the Beach Boys' touring band are co-founder Mike Love and 1965 addition Bruce Johnston.
In 1998, Love and Johnston sought authorization through the Beach Boys' corporation, Brother Records Inc. (BRI) to tour as "The Beach Boys" and secured the necessary license. Even though Brian Wilson and Al Jardine have not performed with Love and Johnston's band since their one-off 2012 reunion tour, they remain a part of BRI.
Video The Beach Boys live performances
1961-64: Early years
The group's instrumental combo initially involved Brian Wilson on bass guitar and keyboards, Carl Wilson on guitar, and Dennis Wilson on drums. Nine months after forming a proper group with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, the Beach Boys acquired national success, and demand for their personal appearance skyrocketed. Biographer James Murphy said, "By most contemporary accounts, they were not a very good live band when they started. ... The Beach Boys learned to play as a band in front of live audiences", but noted that they eventually became "one of the best and enduring live bands". 1964's Beach Boys Concert was their first live album, their only number one album in the US, and the first live album that ever topped pop music record charts, maintaining its position for four weeks during a sixty-two-week chart stay, and becoming a gold seller.
Maps The Beach Boys live performances
1965-98: Carl Wilson era
By the end of 1964, the stress of road travel, composing, producing and maintaining a high level of creativity became too much for Brian. On December 23, while on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston, he suffered a panic attack only hours after performing with the Beach Boys on the musical variety series Shindig!. In January 1965, he announced his withdrawal from touring to concentrate entirely on songwriting and record production. For the rest of 1964 and into 1965, Glen Campbell served as Wilson's temporary replacement in concert, until his own career success pulled him from the group in April 1965. 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, first replacing Brian on the road and later contributing in the studio, beginning with the vocal sessions for "California Girls" on June 4, 1965.
Carl subsequently became the musical director of the band onstage; contracts at that time stipulated that promoters hire "Carl Wilson plus four other musicians". Throughout 1965, Brian still performed live with the Beach Boys, but only on justified occasions. Shortly after completing the recording of the imminent Smiley Smile (1967), the band scheduled two performances in Hawaii for a prospective live album, Lei'd in Hawaii, that would be released on their new record label, Brother Records. Difficulties arose around this time. Johnston refused to travel for the reason that "it had all got too weird." To alleviate this, Brian was persuaded into making the trip. Ultimately, the band performed too poorly for the material to be released, and the recording allegedly suffered technical problems that could not be fixed in the studio. Brian would not go on another tour with the group until 1976, as part of the "Brian's Back!" campaign.
In 1981, Carl quit the live group because of unhappiness with the band's nostalgia format and lackluster live performances, subsequently pursuing a solo career. 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.
1998-present: Post-band split
After Carl died in 1998, the remaining members splintered. Love, Johnston, and Marks continued to tour together, initially as "America's Band", but following several cancelled bookings under that name, they sought authorization through Brother Records Inc. (BRI) to tour as "The Beach Boys" and secured the necessary license. Since 1999, Love is obligated to continue touring in order to maintain revenue flow to BRI. At the time, Wilson was also offered the license, but declined.. Jardine fought for the right to tour under the moniker "The Beach Boys Family & Friends" but was denied from using the name in any promotional or band name manner. Marks left the group in summer 1999, making a brief return for a European tour in 2008.
Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston reunited in 2012 for a new album and tour. However, Love took the option to end the tour later in the year, and continued touring with Johnston and his pre-reunion touring band. They were joined by Marks for several dates in 2014 and 2015.
Members
The following only pertains to the Beach Boys' touring band.
Current
- Mike Love - lead and backing vocals, tambourine, saxophone
- Bruce Johnston - keyboards, bass, percussion, backing and lead vocals
- Jeff Foskett - rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals
- Scott Totten - lead guitar, backing and lead vocals
- John Cowsill - drums, backing and lead vocals
- Tim Bonhomme - keyboards
- Randy Leago - saxophones, flutes, harmonicas, percussion
Former
Timeline
Discography
Live albums
- Beach Boys Concert (1964)
- Live in London (1970)
- The Beach Boys in Concert (1973)
- Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980 (2002)
- Songs from Here & Back (2006)
- Live - The 50th Anniversary Tour (2012)
- Live in Sacramento 1964 (2014)
- Live in Chicago 1965 (2015)
- Graduation Day 1966: Live At The University Of Michigan (2016)
- 1967 - Live Sunshine (2017)
References
Citations
Bibliography
Further reading
- Stebbins, Jon; Rusten, Ian (2013). The Beach Boys in Concert!: The Complete History of America's Band On Tour and Onstage. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1617134562.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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