[Brian] Basically, our
forte is harmonics,
'cause there's a
certain family blend.
[harmonizing]
Three brothers: Brian,
Dennis and Carl,
a cousin, Mike Love, and
our good friend Al Jardine.
That's family to me.
[audience cheering]
[announcer 1] Ladies
and gentlemen,
would you please welcome,
from Southern California,
America's band, The Beach Boys!
[cheering continues]
I like it. I like it.
["Fun, Fun, Fun" playing]
[d*ck Clark] There is no
other. There is only one.
They've broken
records everywhere.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Beach Boys!
[cheering]
♪ Well, she got
her daddy's car ♪
♪ and she cruised through
the hamburger stand, now ♪
♪ Seems she forgot all about the
library like she told her old man, now ♪
♪ And with the radio blasting ♪
♪ Goes cruising Just as
fast as she can, now ♪
♪ And she'll have
fun, fun, fun ♪
♪ Now that Daddy took
the T-bird away ♪
[Venet] The Beach Boys just
represented some sort of fantasy.
It was a pure
California phenomenon.
["Wouldn't It Be Nice" playing]
[Carl] We've known each
other for a really long time.
And there really is a great
deal of fellowship in the group.
And we've been
through an awful lot.
♪ Wouldn't it be nice
if we were older? ♪
♪ Then we wouldn't
have to wait so long ♪
♪ And wouldn't it be
nice to live together ♪
♪ In the kind of world
where we belong? ♪
[Love] It's kinda miraculous that
it's lasted for 60 years now.
But the fact that it was a family,
that's where the success came from.
[audience cheering]
♪ You know it seems the
more we talk about it ♪
♪ It only makes it worse
to live without it ♪
♪ But let's talk about it ♪
♪ Oh, wouldn't it be nice? ♪
♪ Good night, my baby ♪
♪ Sleep tight, my baby ♪
♪ Good night, my baby ♪
[music fades, ends]
[Brian] Here we go. Play
hard and strong all the way.
And watch me on that part now.
[crew] Twenty-eight.
["Good Vibrations" playing]
[Love] When I assess
the totality of it all,
The Beach Boys are
a family story.
There has definitely
been ups and downs.
We've probably been counted out as
a group, um, half a dozen times.
[Brian] When I was young, I learned
to sing harmony with my family.
That was a long time ago.
I remember the songs, the
lyrics, and a lot of fun.
I'm very proud of my brothers.
[music fades]
[Brian] Let's try it one
more time from the top.
One, two, one, two...
["Rag Mop" playing]
♪ M ♪
♪ I say M-O ♪
[Brian] I had two things
I wanted to do in my life.
One, I wanted to be a
psychologist, you know?
And two, I wanted to
be a baseball player.
♪ Mop, mop, mop, mop ♪
But I never really
set music as my goal.
My dad and my mom
always put on records.
And I said, "What's
that? I love that sound!"
[Carl] My dad was a songwriter,
and he had a minor R & B hit.
But, you know, my mom was
actually the musician,
so she would play and
my dad would write.
So there was a lot of
music in the house.
[Carl] My mom and dad both
really loved older tunes.
But I was more interested
with rock and roll.
["Let It Rock" playing]
♪ In the heat of the day
down in Mobile, Alabama ♪
And I'll never forget
the feeling in my body.
It was like electricity.
I'd never experienced
that kind of excitement.
Chuck Berry was the reason I
started playing the guitar.
♪ Payday coming when
my work is all done ♪
[Dennis] On a social level, I never
really spent any time with Brian.
I spent more time with Carl.
Because I could beat Carl up.
♪ Everybody's scrambling
and jumping around ♪
♪ Picking up their money
Tearing the teepee down ♪
[Dennis] Brian's influence on
me was his love for the music.
♪ You have to let it roll on ♪
[Dennis] First time
I realized it was...
We used to sing three-part
harmony in the back seat of a car.
[harmonizing]
And that's the birth of the
three brothers singing together.
[harmonizing continues]
[birds chirping]
[Marks] When I was about seven,
we moved into a house on the borderline
between Inglewood and Hawthorne.
And across the street from our
house was the Wilson house.
["Sloop John B" playing]
As we were moving in, Carl and Dennis
were throwing garbage and old car parts
across the street.
And saying, "Inglewood
sucks. Hawthorne rules!"
That was our introduction.
And I didn't like my parents very
much, so I hung out at the Wilsons'.
[Love] The Wilson household
was a tract home in Hawthorne.
And the garage was
converted into a music room.
And we would spend hours
listening to music and singing.
[Carl] And the big event of the year for
us would be to go over to Mike Love's
at Christmastime because the Loves would
have a big Christmas caroling party.
[Love] Growing up as the
first cousin of the Wilsons,
it was such a family hobby
harmonizing together.
And we had a grand piano, an organ
and a harp in our living room.
Brian and I hit it off because we
were about a year apart in age,
and we liked a lot
of the same music.
A lot of the doo-wop.
The Everly Brothers.
The Four Freshmen.
[Brian] The Four Freshmen were probably
the greatest four-part harmony group
that ever lived.
The notes were close together, which
gave it a warmth and a vibration.
[Love] It was a lot of
fun singing together.
But Brian somehow figured out the chords
the Four Freshmen were doing just by ear.
That was... That was a
whole different world.
[Carl] Brian was spending
hours every day at the piano
just going over and over these
Four Freshmen arrangements.
["It's A Blue World" playing]
♪ It's a blue world ♪
[Brian] I never quit.
To where I knew that what was on my
piano was exactly on their record.
♪ It's a blue world ♪
[Brian] I went and did that
on, like, 20 different songs,
which was my entire
harmonic education.
[Carl] Later on, he started
making up his own arrangements.
He would ask me to sing a
harmony part that he'd make up.
And I remember wanting to go out and
play, and he'd say, "Mom, make Carl sing."
[Jardine] Brian and I were on
the football team in high school.
And I'd heard his band at
the high school assembly,
and that's really what
got my brain going, "Wow!"
I was a guitar player, and I was very
impressed with his little quartet.
Including his brother Carl,
with Brian taking the falsetto.
And I thought we should hook up.
We bumped into each
other after graduation.
Brian said, "You know, I think I
should introduce you to my brothers
and my cousin, because
we need more voices."
So he invited me over to the
house, and we all just clicked.
We were like notes
on a keyboard.
[piano playing]
[Brian] Now, this time
let's sing it out naturally.
- Don't hold back.
- [Jardine] All right.
[Mike] Al Jardine, actually, was
the one person who could maintain
perfect pitch and changing harmonies
that were derivative
of the Four Freshmen.
[Dennis] Forget time
and beat and everything.
[Brian] No! We don't
want to forget beat.
[Jardine] We assembled around the
piano as Brian and his brothers.
Plus me and his cousin
Mike. That was our band.
Our first thing we ever learned
was a tune called, "Their
Hearts Were Full of Spring."
♪ There's a story told ♪
♪ Of a very gentle boy ♪
[Love] Brian would sing
the high part beautifully.
And I would sing the bass part.
And then Carl and Al Jardine
could sing really well and blend.
See, it wasn't only about the
note. It was about the blend.
You sublimate your individuality
to create this group harmony sound.
♪ Their hearts were
full of spring ♪
[Brian] After that, we'd
go, "Hey, look out for us.
We really harmonize here."
Then we kind of
went the other way.
["Misirlou" playing]
[Marks] Carl and I would hang
out every day after school.
And we were listening to a
lot of current surf stuff.
The Ventures.
The Marketts.
d*ck Dale.
[music continues]
Kids would go to the high-school
auditorium to watch surfing movies.
And that's what they were
using as background music.
Surfing was a big deal
in Southern California.
You dressed a certain way.
You talked a certain way.
They had a certain attitude.
[music continues]
[Carl] We all tried to surf,
but we could just never
really get the hang of it.
[Jardine] I went surfing
down on Manhattan Beach Pier.
It was a big day on the pier,
man. There were great big waves!
And the first thing I
did was lose my board.
And I almost drowned.
Brian was the same way.
I tried the one time, and the
board missed my head by that far.
I never tried again. [laughs]
We were landlubbers,
but Dennis was the guy.
[Dennis] I was into surfing.
I was into cutting class,
sneaking off to the beach.
I love the ocean.
[Love] Dennis and I went
to the beach one time
and we came back to the Wilson house,
and Dennis brought it up to Brian,
he said, "Why don't we do
something lyrically about surfing?"
At the time, surf music
was primarily instrumental.
The bands were
instrumental bands.
So, I just got with
Brian and came up with...
♪ Surfin' is the only
life The only way for me ♪
♪ Now surf Surf ♪
[Carl] The first time The Beach Boys
got together as a band to rehearse...
my folks went to Mexico
City on business.
[Brian] They left us
[Jardine] The money
ran out immediately.
I said, "Brian, we can't
just sit around and sing.
We gotta rent some instruments."
So I said, "Well, I think my mother,
Virginia, would probably help us out
if we audition for her."
We sang "Their Hearts
Were Full of Spring."
That was our go-to song.
And she was spellbound.
She gave us the $300
to rent the equipment,
and she said, "Go for it."
Gives me chills just
thinking about it.
[Brian] Put the monitor on.
♪ Surfin', surfin' ♪
[vocalizing]
[Carl] Hey, you're wasting tape.
[Brian] Keep your heads
up, and stay on it.
♪ Surfin', surfin' ♪
[Jardine] Murry and Audree were only
gone for about two or three weeks,
but we... we were
a band by then.
[Brian] He goes, "I thought that
money was supposed to be for food.
What are you guys doing?"
So we played him a song and
he goes, "Hey, I like that."
My uncle Murry was actually the
one who got us in the studio.
♪ So come along,
baby, and surf ♪
[Hite Morgan] Okay, boys. Slating.
This will be take one, "Surfin'."
♪ Surfin' is the only
life The only way for me ♪
♪ Now surf ♪
[Carl] The first session,
Al played acoustic bass.
I played an acoustic guitar.
Brian played a
drum with a pencil.
And Michael was on vocals.
♪ I got up this morning
Turned on my radio ♪
♪ I was checking out the surfin'
scene To see if I would go ♪
[Love] We were calling
ourselves The Pendletones.
Those were shirts that all the
surfers were wearing at the time.
[Love] And then somebody from the label
said, "The song is called 'Surfin'.'
What about The Beach Boys?"
[Jardine] None of
us really liked it.
And we got stuck
with it. [laughs]
[Love] We put out "Surfin'"
on a small, independent label.
A month later, we
heard it on the radio.
[switching radio stations]
["Surfin'" playing]
[Love] There was a radio station that
premiered, like, four songs a week.
And the one that got the most
call-ins won the contest.
Well, we had a big
family. [laughs]
And they go, "The pick of the
week, 'Surfin" by The Beach Boys!"
And we were out of our minds.
♪ It's the latest dance craze ♪
♪ We're going surfin' ♪
[Love] "Surfin'" went to number two in
LA, and then we started getting gigs.
[Jardine] Played our first
show on New Year's Eve.
In the midst of it all,
Dennis was learning the
drums quite proficiently.
I was really impressed.
[Brian] The way it
started out real fast,
we didn't have a chance to sit around
and think, "Hey, what happened?"
We were already heading towards
something without really knowing it.
♪ Surfin' is the only life ♪
[distorted] ♪ The
only way for me ♪
[music ends]
We had a hit record. Went to top 10
in LA, and we were excited as hell.
But I felt like
I... I don't know.
I had to finish my education.
That's what I thought.
My brother is a lawyer.
My father has a business master's
degree, and my mother is...
You know, they all had degrees.
Just felt like I was out
of place for a while.
So I left the band
to finish college.
It's the only time Brian
ever got upset with me.
[Marks] I wasn't in the band,
but I'd been hanging around.
I was, like, 12.
And Carl and I would play
guitars every day after school.
We were developing
our own style.
And Brian, his ear
picked up on that.
So, all of a sudden...
I was a Beach Boy.
["Karate" playing]
[Carl] After "Surfin'" was a hit,
Brian really wanted a career in music.
So my dad sold his business
and cleared the deck,
and then went about
getting us a record label.
[engine revving]
He went around all the
record labels in Hollywood.
Every one of them
turned us down.
Eventually, a man named Nick Venet,
who worked at Capitol Records,
heard the tape of our stuff.
[Venet] They had a demo
of "Surfin' Safari."
And every once in a while, you know
that the record is a number one record.
And he goes, "Oh, God. These
records are g*dd*mn smashes."
[shutters clicking]
[Love] We were able to sign with
Capitol Records, which was a big deal.
Some great artists on it.
The Four Freshmen were on, and Frank
Sinatra and Nat King Cole, you know?
I said, "I quit college."
And my brothers said,
"We quit high school."
You know, we quit!
[Love] I was the only person who
didn't need the court approval.
I was 21 and everybody else
was quite a bit younger.
And Capitol Records got us
in the studio immediately.
[chattering]
[Brian] Yeah. Hey, Dennis. Don't
forget that last verse, okay?
That first recording session was
in the basement of Capitol Records.
[Venet] Here we go, 38221.
[Brian] At first, it was really
quite overwhelming, you know?
Just to watch the
recording process.
[Venet] We're speeding it a bit.
We're rushing it. Slow
it down a little bit.
Get the feel on the bass
guitar. Get that groove going.
There we go. 38221.
[guitar strumming]
Brian's brilliant harmonies, and me
and Carl playing garage grunge guitars.
People never heard
anything like that.
[engineer] All right.
This will be take one.
♪ Let's go surfin' now
Everybody's learning how ♪
♪ Come on and safari with me ♪
♪ Come on and safari with ♪
♪ Early in the mornin'
We'll be starting out ♪
♪ Some honeys will
be coming along ♪
[Love] Murry was our manager,
and he was good at promotion.
[Marks] He would be handing out
pictures to kids in the parking lot.
♪ Come on, baby Wait and see ♪
I mean, he was promoting
the shit out of us.
[audience cheering]
[announcer] Here they are with a big new
hit, The Beach Boys with "Surfin' Safari."
[cheering continues]
♪ Let's go surfin' now
Everybody's learning how ♪
♪ Come on and safari with me ♪
♪ Come on and safari with ♪
[Kun] I grew up in Los Angeles, but I
never identified with beach culture.
And when I first heard
The Beach Boys' music,
my response was to reject it.
They were part of
a marketing blitz
for a culture that I
wanted nothing to do with.
The song selection. The way
the album covers were shot.
It was a concocted image.
♪ Let's go surfin' now
Everybody's learning how ♪
And that image of the white,
blond Southern California teenager
took off.
["Surfin' U.S.A." playing]
♪ If everybody had an
ocean Across the USA ♪
♪ Then everybody'd be
surfin' Like Californ-I-A ♪
[Kun] But the more you listen
to the records they made,
it wasn't about that.
They went beyond surfing.
They were participating in the
creation of a California dream.
- ♪ You'll catch 'em surfin' at Del Mar ♪
- ♪ Inside, outside USA ♪
[Was] I grew up in Detroit. I had
a paper route in the wintertime.
I walked to school
in the wintertime.
And then on weekends, I'd
go see Beach Blanket Bingo,
or one of those movies.
So, I was aware that there
were places that were warmer.
[laughs]
♪ Surfin' USA ♪
But the most articulate spokespeople
for the California dream
were The Beach Boys.
Man, they made me wanna go to
that place where they had cars
and girls in bikinis
and surf boards.
And sun and warmth. [laughs]
I really wanted to
be a part of that.
- ♪ Haggerties and Swami's ♪
- ♪ Inside, outside USA ♪
[Tedder] I grew up in
a very religious home,
so I was predominantly only
allowed to listen to gospel music.
But my mom was okay with
me playing The Beach Boys
because she thought they're
positive, they're uplifting.
That was huge for me, um, because
I was obsessed at an early age
with getting out of Oklahoma.
- [music continues]
- [cow moos]
I think particularly landlocked
states dead center of the country,
the appeal was even greater
because it was, like, foreign.
It's a foreign sound.
♪ Everybody's gone surfin' ♪
Their music takes you someplace.
You can listen to
"Surfin' U.S.A.,"
and geographically your brain
goes to sunny Southern California.
♪ Everybody's gone surfin' ♪
♪ Surfin' USA ♪
[Jardine] It just hit
America like a big wave.
They were selling an image, and the
music was alive and vibrant and exciting.
All around the world, people were
listening to Beach Boy music.
[music fades]
I was having this, like, "Gosh,
maybe I shouldn't have quit."
Then I got a call.
Brian was frantic.
Says, "I can't do this."
He says, "You gotta come. You
gotta come back to the band."
[Marks] Brian
didn't like touring,
'cause all he wanted to do was stay home
and produce records and write songs.
[Jardine] I was the only one Brian could
reach out to because I knew all the parts.
I thought, you know,
the guys really need me.
I miss the music.
So I said, "Okay, Brian.
I'm back."
["Little Deuce Coupe" playing]
♪ Little deuce coupe You
don't know what I got ♪
[Jardine] The next day, we
were on the road touring.
♪ Well, I'm not bragging,
babe So don't put me down ♪
[Love] I can remember
getting to Lake Minnetonka.
People were breaking the windows
trying to get into the place.
And there's still a line of cars
about a mile or two down the road.
[audience cheering]
[Dennis] I remember the first
time we heard girls screaming.
We thought there was
a fire. [chuckles]
We looked around.
[audience screaming]
[Marks] We were all just,
you know, having a ball.
And, meanwhile, Brian was able
to stay home and do his thing.
[Love] He was writing
a ton of songs.
And because we were on tour,
I wasn't the only person
writing with him at that time.
So he co-wrote
things with others.
♪ She's got a competition clutch
with the four on the floor ♪
♪ And she purrs like a kitten
'til the lake pipes roar ♪
[Jardine] I enjoyed the
road. I thought it was fun.
But Murry wasn't a
very fun road manager.
♪ I got the pink slip, Daddy ♪
On many levels, Murry had a
lot to do with our success.
But Murry started to
infringe on the music.
Oh, he would
critique, all right.
He said we didn't know
what we were doing.
And we would have a
certain sound in mind,
and he'd want it
to be different.
[Marks] He would actually come
onstage and adjust my amp.
Of course I'd go back and
put it the way I wanted it.
And he'd call me over, and he ripped
me a new one for not smiling onstage,
or not having enough
treble on my guitar.
Eventually, I just got mad at
him because he was yelling at me,
so I said, "I quit the band."
And Murry goes, "Everybody
hear that? He quits the band."
I loved Murry a lot, but
that wasn't really fair.
I was some arrogant 15-year-old.
What the hell do you expect?
And so, after four albums as
a Beach Boy, that was over.
Brian was totally upset, 'cause he knew
what the consequences were gonna be.
He would have to be on
the road more if I left.
["Little Surfer Girl" playing]
[Wilson-Rutherford] When
I was in high school,
my friend says, "I know these
guys called The Beach Boys."
"Would you like to
see their show?"
♪ Little surfer Little one ♪
[Wilson-Rutherford] I
grew up in West Hollywood,
and there was this coffee
house called Pandora's Box.
We were sitting
in the first row,
and I remember Brian
looked at me and he went,
"Hey, can I have a sip
of your hot chocolate?"
I gave him a sip of it.
When he gave it back to me,
it spilled on me. [chuckles]
It was funny. [laughs]
You know, before long,
I was dating Brian.
♪ I will make your
dreams come true ♪
He had a great personality.
I mean, he was so much fun.
But he was very cerebral
when it came to music.
And, at the time,
I was singing with my cousin
Ginger and my sister Diane.
So we started making records
with Brian and for Capitol.
♪ Girl, surfer girl My
little surfer girl ♪
[Wilson-Rutherford]
Music was our whole life.
It was everything.
♪ Girl, surfer girl My
little surfer girl ♪
Brian would tell me that he just
wanted to be home and make records,
you know, and
write and all that.
And the guys had a hard
time understanding that,
because, you know, going
out on the road was fun.
But it wasn't fun for Brian.
["In My Room" playing]
[Brian] I mean, I've tried to work
around people, and I can do it.
It's a little hard, you know?
But when I go
alone, I can think.
You know, and I can get
some stuff together.
♪ There's a world
where I can go ♪
♪ Tell my secrets to ♪
♪ In my room ♪
♪ In my room ♪
[Brian] I think that
music is very healing.
It puts me into a quiet place
to create or to do what
I'm supposed to do.
[Was] I've worked with Brian,
and the way to talk with him is
through the language of music.
You can get close
to him that way.
That's a secret language.
And I think Mike understood
the complexity of Brian.
♪ In my room ♪
[Love] Whereas Brian was
innately gifted musically,
I was more into the
lyrics and the concepts.
And so it was a good
partnership there.
[Was] Some people maybe denigrate them
for those early songs being simple.
But I think that's a virtue.
Songs about having fun and
love and unrequited love.
It was perfect music
for a teenager, man.
[Brian] They could understand
that. They could relate to it.
They could feel it.
Simplicity is what got us going.
[audience screaming]
[Jardine] With Brian's wonderful
ability to write melodies
and Mike's very clever
way of writing lyrics,
we found a perfect formula.
But when it got to the
point of going onstage,
Mike was lead singer.
♪ Giddy up ♪
He developed that
persona quite early.
♪ Well, I'm a long, tall Texan ♪
♪ I ride a big, white horse ♪
♪ He rides from Texas
on a big, white horse ♪
♪ Well, I'm a long, tall Texan ♪
♪ I ride a big, white horse ♪
[Love] Ultimately, I think
Brian was melancholy.
So I complemented Brian's
melancholy with my upbeatness.
♪ Hurrah, hurrah
Is that your hat? ♪
♪ He rides from Texas
with a ten-gallon hat ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
[Wilson-Rutherford] All the guys
loved that Mike was so funny.
You know, I mean, they would
really give off of each other.
And Brian thought that Mike
was the greatest front man.
I, personally, always preferred
live music to the studio.
There's no feedback
in the studio.
But in live music, you see the effect that
the music has on the people immediately.
It's so positive. So much joy.
♪ My spurs jinglin'
down at my feet ♪
♪ I seen a man a-comin'
Comin' with a g*n and ♪
♪ I just can't be beat ♪
[audience cheering]
[harmonizing]
♪ Now here we are together ♪
♪ This would've been
worth waiting forever ♪
♪ I always knew
it'd feel this way ♪
[Buckingham] The Beach Boys came
into the popular consciousness
with the mythology of surfing
and the California lifestyle.
That fueled a lot of young
people's imaginations.
♪ Baby, please let me wonder ♪
[Buckingham] Those of us who
lived up in Northern California
tended to be somewhat opinionated
about Los Angeles. [laughs]
But what made the group transcend that
was they had this guy Brian Wilson.
I was quite taken with him as
a craftsman, as a producer.
And as much as I've been
influenced by Brian's music,
Brian was equally influenced by the
amazing songs coming on the radio
at that time.
♪ For so long I
thought about it ♪
[reporter] Phil Spector
is 25 years old.
He owns record and publishing
companies valued in the millions.
Dozens of hit records since
indicate that Spector's beat is
closely tuned to teen desire.
[interviewer] Was Spector
a big inspiration to you?
Are you kidding?
Are you kidding?
He was like a... He was it.
I was in my car with my girlfriend. All
of a sudden, this radio station goes,
"Here we go with 'Be My
Baby' by the Ronettes."
♪ The night we met I
knew I needed you so ♪
After he heard "Be My Baby," he
played that record every single day.
Drove me absolutely nuts.
♪ So won't you
say you love me? ♪
[Brian] Phil Spector's
music was intangible.
He knew how to mix, who knows,
probably 25 instruments?
He mixes 'em all into one sound, and that
was what he called the Wall of Sound.
♪ Be my, be my baby ♪
- ♪ Be my little baby ♪
- ♪ My one and only baby ♪
[Brian] It got to my soul.
♪ Say you'll be my darling ♪
- ♪ Be my, be my baby ♪
- ♪ Be my baby now ♪
♪ Whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪
[Randi] When Brian
heard "Be My Baby,"
he says, "I gotta have that
band. Those are the guys."
I played on "Be My Baby"
with a group of session musicians
called the Wrecking Crew.
We were the band that was
making those hit records.
Before that, most of the studio
musicians were all in the suits,
and nobody smoked.
Here we came and everybody
was making jokes, relaxed.
The story goes like, "These guys
are gonna wreck the business."
[Was] Phil Spector had three keyboard
players all playing the same part.
Five guitar players.
Three bass players.
Everyone's bleeding into
all the microphones.
And he built this
monolith of music.
♪ Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
[Brian] I was unable to
really think as a producer
up until the time I really got
familiar with Phil Spector's work.
Then I started to see the
point of the whole game.
It's the overall sound.
It's what they're going
to hear and experience
in the two and a half
minutes that counts.
- ♪ Be my, be my baby ♪
- ♪ Be my little baby ♪
[Carl] Brian really wanted
to produce his own records,
and that was a big
step at that time.
Capitol Records
really resisted it.
They weren't certain that he'd
be able to really deliver.
[no audible dialogue]
When you're 21, especially in that era,
you needed to have an adult in the room.
There was a method to things.
[Carl] Capitol wanted to
have their person in there,
and so Nick Venet was
assigned as our producer.
But that was very
unsatisfactory.
Especially to Brian.
He didn't really do
much except just,
"Okay, fellas. Take one
and take"... You know?
[presenter] The tower's
three recording studios
are the most modern
in the world.
[Brian] They want us to
use their recording studio,
and we didn't care too much
for the sound at the tower.
[Brian] I preferred a studio called
Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard.
So my dad told Capitol
that we're leaving.
[Audree] I remember Murry argued with
Capitol for five straight months.
I could hear his voice just
screaming, but Murry got his way.
[Venet] Had he been
unrelated to the group,
I could've probably seen my
way through the arguments.
But because he
was blood related,
whenever I told him he
was wrong or foolish,
the entire band took it as a
slander against the family.
And from then on, we
produced our own records.
["Don't Worry Baby" playing]
[Monáe] Growing up in
Kansas City, Kansas,
my grandmother would go to thrift
stores and get all these dusty vinyls.
And I just remember seeing The Beach Boys,
and I'm like, "What the hell is that?"
♪ Well, it's been
building up inside of me ♪
♪ For, oh, I don't
know how long ♪
[Monáe] When I got
into songwriting,
that's when I really started
to listen to The Beach Boys,
'cause I was so obsessed
with the harmonies.
- ♪ Ooh ♪
- ♪ But she looks in my eyes ♪
They really show what it's like
when everybody understands
the part they have to play.
♪ Don't worry, baby ♪
- ♪ Everything will turn out all right ♪
- ♪ Don't worry, baby ♪
♪ Don't worry, baby ♪
[vocalizing]
♪ I guess I should've kept my mouth shut
When I started to brag about my car ♪
There's something about those individuals
and the way they blended together.
They're all part of it.
You take any one
of those guys out,
and you don't have that
sound or that feel.
♪ And makes me wanna
drive when she says ♪
♪ Don't worry, baby ♪
- ♪ Don't worry, baby ♪
- ♪ Don't worry, baby ♪
♪ Everything will
turn out all right ♪
I remember the recording
session for "Don't Worry Baby."
I go, "Holy shit.
This is beautiful."
Definitely a turning
point for us.
And for Brian.
He knew exactly what he wanted.
He was really learning
to be a producer.
But his dad began
to be an obstacle.
[Murry] Sit up straight,
Carl, and you can play.
- You're laying down.
- [crew] That thing's on.
It's tough to manage your sons,
so I don't know how you can...
[scoffs] ...travel with them
and be their road manager.
And their manager manager. It
just... It just was very difficult.
["The Warmth of
the Sun" playing]
[Love] He would
come to a concert,
then told Brian to not use the sound
on the bass that he wanted to use.
He'd give us these signals
from the back of the hall.
He'd have his flashlight too.
But the flashlight under his face,
and he looked like Boris Karloff.
We're young guys in a rock band who
wanna have a certain sound onstage.
And here's the dad over there.
♪ The sunset at night ♪
He would literally go like
this, it means T for treble.
Treble up.
Treble up, and also we had to humble up.
That was another one of his big sayings.
[Murry] What's the matter? You
made too much money, buddy?
- Let's sing from your hearts. Let's go.
- [Brian] All right.
If they didn't do something
right, he would fine them.
Or if someone swore,
he would fine them.
It was so stupid.
Brian did always want
his father's approval.
But it got to the point where he really
didn't want Murry to tell him what to do,
because, you know, Murry's making
music from the '30s and '40s.
Brian said, "Oh, he's so corny all
the time. I can't. He's corny."
[Audree] The boys just
really weren't happy.
And Murry wasn't happy either. He
was miserable most of the time.
[Jardine] We went to
Australia for a tour.
That might have been
the turning point.
[Brian] Just a lot of arguing. A lot
of arguments that we had with him.
We finally said, "Look, we
can't deal with you anymore.
We gotta let you go and get
a new... get a new manager."
Brian and I made that decision,
and Murry took over the publishing.
But he was no
longer our manager.
[Wilson-Rutherford] Murry
protected them from day one.
You know, if Murry wasn't there
and wasn't protecting them,
I don't think they would be
anywhere where they are right now.
In fact, I know they wouldn't.
And so he was real, real hurt.
- [Carl] That was traumatic for him.
- It was terrible.
[Carl] It hurt his
feelings very much.
[Wilson-Rutherford] The firing
was very hard on Audree,
because Murry would, you know,
come down on her all the time.
You know, "Because you
were too soft with them."
[Audree] I just wanted
them always to be better.
Always to be stronger.
Always be honest.
God, they heard that enough.
[Brian] I was never
scared of my brothers.
I was scared of my dad
though. I'll tell you that.
He'd clobber me right in the face
for not getting the dishes done.
- At times, he was extremely...
- Depending on what he was hitting you with
at the time, you know?
He used a little thin board on
Carl, and he used a big one on me.
Carl was the baby.
And Brian. "Well, Brian
is different, Dennis."
You know, and he said,
"You can take it." Boom!
[Love] He was very abusive,
and I think that dealt some severe
self-worth issues to his sons.
Showed up in Brian in one way,
and showed up in Carl another way.
He developed a real
guarded personality.
And then Dennis was a rebel.
[Brian] When he grew
up into The Beach Boys,
man, let me tell you, he
was really a spark plug.
A real spark plug.
[audience cheering]
[Carl] In a sense, the
spotlight was on Dennis.
He was the sex
symbol of the group.
So a lot of us had to take
it right where it hurt.
It's like, "Mob the stage. Look out!
Get out of the way. We want Dennis.
- Will you please move that bass, Brian?"
- [audience screaming]
♪ Do you wanna dance
Under the moonlight? ♪
♪ Hold me, baby, all
through the night ♪
♪ Oh, baby, do
you wanna dance? ♪
[Wilson-Rutherford] The way Dennis
played the drums, it was Dennis's drums.
I think that made a
lot of the records too.
[Love] He was energetic,
boy. A lot of power.
Whoo!
[Jardine] He was a real
beach boy. He really surfed.
He really did what we
were singing about.
But that issue was that he'd rather
be in the water than in the studio.
♪ Do you wanna dance
Under the moonlight? ♪
♪ Kiss me, baby, all
through the night ♪
♪ Oh, baby, do
you wanna dance? ♪
[engine revving]
Dennis had all the cars and all the
girls. You know, the whole thing.
[engine revving]
He enjoyed being a beach boy.
[static on radio]
[band] We're The Beach Boys, and
we'd like to thank all the guys at...
[Jardine] We were in
New Zealand for a tour.
We were doing some spots
for the station there,
and the deejay said, "Hey,
there's a new band from England
taking over America."
We go, "Well, it's okay."
[laughs]
[reporter] 3,000 screaming teenagers
are at New York's Kennedy airport
to meet The Beatles.
This rock-and-roll
group has taken over
as the kingpins of musical
appreciation among the younger element.
- [shutter clicks]
- [chattering]
I first heard 'em on
The Ed Sullivan Show.
And I was flippin' out.
Pretty jealous. I remember that.
Ladies and gentlemen, The
Beatles. Bring 'em on!
[Jardine] Here we are in this
remote part of the world,
and they're on The
Ed Sullivan Show.
We were completely
caught off guard.
[no audible dialogue]
It was very humbling, because we had been
on top there for that year or so before.
Think I was just as
amazed as anyone.
Couldn't understand how
something like that could happen.
[mutters]
The Beatles.
[fans screaming]
The music they made...
"I Wanna Hold Your Hand," for example,
wasn't really that great a record.
But they... But they
got screamed at.
[fans screaming]
[Jardine] They were selling an image like
we were, but we had different approaches.
They were a little crude, because
we were so, you know, refined.
Everything with us was
pitch-perfect. [laughing] You know?
We were singers. They were
players. That's what it felt like.
[fans screaming]
[Jardine] It was just a
different level of energy.
[Brian] It got us off our asses.
["Fun, Fun, Fun" playing]
It got us right off our
asses and in the studio.
We started cuttin',
and said, "Look, don't
worry about The Beatles.
We'll cut our own stuff.
Don't worry about it."
[presenter] Let's hear
it for The Beach Boys!
[crowd cheering]
[Love] ♪ Well, she
got her daddy's car ♪
♪ And she cruised through
the hamburger stand, now ♪
♪ Seems she forgot all about the
library like she told her old man, now ♪
[Love] The music business
is so competitive.
Always has been. Always will be.
And you always hope the
song is gonna be number one,
but there's too
much competition.
♪ Fun, fun, fun, 'til
her daddy takes... ♪
[switching radio stations]
♪ She loves you
Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
[reporter] The four lads
from Liverpool are off again
against the background of
thousands of screaming fans.
[fans screaming]
♪ You think you've
lost your love ♪
♪ Well, I saw her yesterday ♪
[McCartney] We'd put a song out.
Brian would hear it, then he'd do one.
And we ended up... It was
kind of like a rivalry.
You know, you kind of try and
top each other all the time.
- Here are The Beach Boys!
- [fans screaming]
♪ Round, round, get around
I get around, yeah ♪
- ♪ Round, round, round, I get around ♪
- [harmonizing]
- ♪ I get around ♪
- ♪ Round, round, round, I get around ♪
- ♪ From town to town ♪
- ♪ Get around, round, round ♪
♪ I get around ♪
♪ I'm a real cool head I'm
making real good bread ♪
[Keith Fordyce] On the West Coast
of America, a new sound was born.
The surfing sound. A
tremendous rage over there.
And it's been quite a
big success here too.
Here they are with
their big hit number,
"I Get Around," The Beach Boys!
♪ My buddies and me are
getting real well-known ♪
♪ Yeah, the bad guys know
us and they leave us alone ♪
- Mike Love.
- Brian Wilson.
- Paul, Ringo.
- [reporters chattering]
[fans screaming]
- ♪ I'm a real cool head ♪
- ♪ Get around, round, round ♪
♪ I'm making real good bread ♪
There's a lot of groups competing
with us, and I feel that competition.
[music continues]
[music continues]
♪ We always take my car
'Cause it's never been beat ♪
♪ And we've never missed
yet With the girls we meet ♪
♪ None of the guys go steady
'Cause it wouldn't be right ♪
♪ To leave their best girl
home Now on Saturday night ♪
- ♪ I get around ♪
- ♪ Get around, round, I get around ♪
- ♪ From town to town ♪
- ♪ Get around, round, I get around ♪
- ♪ I'm a real cool head ♪
- ♪ Get around, round, I get around ♪
- ♪ I'm making real good bread ♪
- ♪ Get around, round, I get around ♪
♪ Round ♪
[vocalizing]
- [music ends]
- [fans screaming, cheering]
[applause, cheering]
[d*ck Clark] Sure,
most everybody knows,
but for anybody who might not,
may we introduce you by name?
- Al Jardine.
- Thank you, Al.
- Dennis Wilson.
- Thank you.
Brian Wilson.
- Carl Wilson.
- Mike Love.
- Now, I think, uh... Whoop. What happened?
- [chuckles]
There you are.
You know it's an amazing thing
because you have hit after hit.
Who determines, Brian,
what will be done next?
- Well, I guess I do. I don't know.
- [band chuckles]
I write the songs and produce them,
so I have a lot to say about it.
[d*ck Clark] Do you have a...
[Wilson-Rutherford] There was so much
on him all the time as he got older.
Because Brian could write.
He could arrange.
He could sing.
He could play instruments.
He could do everything.
But the other parts of
life were hard for him.
[Love] Being on the
road, it's ever-changing.
He just wasn't cut out for that.
He was more of a homebody.
The toll that it takes on your body,
your family, your mental health,
your physical health,
it's not natural.
And if you're a homebody
whatsoever, it will destroy you.
I remember him
crying one morning.
And he said, "I can't
take it anymore."
[Jardine] December of '64, we
were taking a flight to Houston,
and he had a nervous
breakdown on the flight.
We were sitting
next to each other.
[Dennis] I was terrified
for my brother.
To see my brother in a position
where... [sighs] ...he was frightened.
[Jardine] By the time we
landed, he wanted to go home.
[Wilson-Rutherford] We were already
married, but it's funny he didn't call me.
He called his mom.
You know, and he
went to their house.
By the next day,
he was fine again.
He just went, you know, "I
just can't do it anymore, Mar.
I just can't do it."
[Brian] When we got home
from the 1964 tour, I quit.
I told them I was gonna stay
home and write music for them,
and they can go out and
tour. And they didn't agree.
I remember Michael was very
upset. He had tears in his eyes.
It was not fun to deal with,
but, as a cousin or friend,
you don't want him to have to do
something if he doesn't want to,
or if he's not capable of doing
it without harming himself.
So we agreed he was gonna
depart from the touring group,
and focus more on... on
the recording part of it.
[crew] Take six.
The idea was that Brian
would have the tracks
- prepared for us all ready to sing.
- [drumsticks tapping]
So that we could just come
home and do the vocals.
We were pretty damn busy. So
he hired the Wrecking Crew.
[Tedder] That's super
intimidating as a producer.
Especially if you're dealing
with the Wrecking Crew.
It's like everyone in this room
is a better musician than me.
[Blaine] But we were all maybe
And we thought, uh, you know, it's
a great account. Capitol Records.
[Kaye] Brian, though, had
something special from the start,
'cause we didn't have
to make up as much stuff
for him as we did
the other groups.
And... And he brought in parts.
I mean, they weren't
written out very well,
which made me believe that he
was not schooled or anything,
but the other groups
didn't do that.
[Randi] Brian, for some
reason, knew how to manage us.
How to get the message across.
He just took over.
That's all. He was the boss.
[Brian sighs] I couldn't believe
how much greater making music was
when I did have the time.
I didn't feel like I was being pressed
to make something in an unnatural way.
[Jardine] But we still had to
find a replacement Beach Boy.
And Glen Campbell was in
our Wrecking Crew band.
Why don't we call Glen
and ask him to come out?
I said, "What you want me to do?" He
said, "Play bass. Sing the high part."
I didn't know all the words,
but it seemed to work out fine.
[Jardine] He was a
studio-trained musician.
So he had no idea what
fame was all about.
As he steps outside of
the dressing room door,
all of a sudden this gaggle of girls
scared the living crap out of him.
[Campbell] I was just
moseying back to the car,
and, boy howdy, here come a
bunch of screaming teenagers.
And they tore my shirt off
and got a few locks of hair.
And it was really weird.
From that day on, I was the first
one in the car. I can tell you that.
[airplane passing overhead]
[Jardine] We were happy
Brian had the Wrecking Crew.
'Cause then if we'd come
home from a 30-day tour,
I could at least
get a little rest.
We were exhausted.
- [guitar strumming]
- [Carl] I'm ready now. I'm sorry, Brian.
Is that a good tone?
[Blaine] Carl used to come
and play with us quite often.
- [Carl] One, two, three.
- But Carl was the only one.
♪ Hi, little girl It's me ♪
♪ Don't you know who I am? ♪
♪ I met you last summer ♪
[Carl] I was very
in awe of them.
And it was a great thrill,
because we rehearsed a lot
more in the early days.
But by then, it became more of an
experimental type of recording,
trial and error.
Things would evolve in a
real organic sort of way.
I just really loved
being a part of that.
Carl was very
musically inclined.
Of course, he was
lead guitarist,
in addition to having
the voice of an angel.
♪ Said I'm the guy ♪
♪ Who left you with
tears in his eyes ♪
♪ You didn't answer my... ♪
Carl was the sweet one.
And, you know, shy.
But he had a heart of gold.
And he became the glue
in The Beach Boys.
[Carl] My role in the band has
always been a support role.
And it's changed through
the years because,
with our evolution and
Brian leaving the road,
I kinda took over as
the leader of the band.
[Love] The Beach Boys
effectively became two groups.
The recording group
and the touring group.
[music ends]
[Jardine] Brian was
happy as a lark.
He didn't have to be under
all that pressure anymore.
The next call I got from him, he
couldn't wait for us to get home
so he could go into the
studio and do the next album.
♪ Well, since she put me down
I've been out doin' in my head ♪
- [Brian] What's the matter?
- We doing a sing-along?
[Brian] I don't know.
[Jardine] We went into the studio
to record "Help Me, Rhonda" vocals.
Well, I was having trouble
with... with this one part.
- ♪ Well, Rhonda, you look so fine ♪
- ♪ Ooh ♪
- ♪ Look so fine ♪
- [Jardine] ♪ And I know I... ♪
[Brian] Hey, Al. You missed
the synco pretty bad.
- [Murry] Let's go.
- [Brian] Do it one more time.
[Murry] You've got it. Okay.
Now loosen up and be happy.
[Jardine] Murry came in and
wanted to produce the band...
♪ Since you put me down ♪
and, uh, it got
real uncomfortable.
[Murry] ♪ Since you
put me down, baby ♪
[scatting]
- Got it?
- [Brian] I got it, Murry.
[Murry] You're laughing,
but you know what I mean.
[Murry] Syncopate it a little.
He was drunk, you know?
And Brian was masterful
in the studio, okay?
[Murry] Give him
the track, Chuck.
[Brian] Don't sing with
it. Let him sing it once.
[Murry] You want
me to leave, Brian?
[Brian] No, I just want
you to let him sing it.
- [Murry] Your mother and I can leave.
- [Love] Did you really get drunk?
[Jardine] They were both trying
to produce me on the song.
And that's when they kind
of went to loggerheads.
Trying to get me to... So I kind
of feel responsible in a way,
but what the hell. I don't know.
- [Brian exclaims] Chuck, turn it down.
- [Murry] I'm a genius too.
Let's go, huh?
- [Brian mumbles]
- [chattering, chuckling]
[Brian] Turn down his playback.
[Audree] Murry was
jealous of Brian.
I didn't realize
that for a while.
And when I did, I thought...
I was kind of shocked.
[Murry] Brian. Forget who you are,
will you? Let's go. Let's roll.
[Brian] I'm just thinking
about who you are.
[Audree] Murry had such a great desire
to be a songwriter and to be recognized.
- [Brian] Can we run it?
- [Murry] You guys get too much money,
you start thinking you're
gonna make everything a hit.
- Brian...
- [Brian] Let me ask you this.
- Uh...
- [Murry] Come on now.
[Brian] I don't wanna start... I
just wanna make sure this is on tape.
[Murry] No, I'll never help
you guys mix another song.
- [Brian] Why?
- [Murry] When you guys get so big
that you can't sing from your
hearts, you're going downhill.
- [Brian] Downhill?
- [Murry] Downhill!
- Son. Son, I'm sorry.
- [Brian scoffs]
[Murry] I've protected you for
if you're not gonna listen
to an intelligent man.
[Brian] Are you going now?
[Murry] If you wanna fight
for success, I'll go all out.
[Brian] No. I don't...
We don't want to do that.
- [Murry] You think you got it made?
- [Brian] No, we don't.
[Murry] Chuck and I used to
make one hit after another...
[fingers snapping] ...in 30 minutes.
You guys take five hours to do it.
- [Brian] Times are changing.
- [Murry] You know why?
- Because you think you have an image.
- [Brian] Times are changing.
[Murry] Don't ever forget.
[Brian] Times are changing.
[crowd clamoring]
["Baby Please Don't Go" playing]
[Lyndon Johnson] We have learned
at a terrible and brutal cost
that weakness does
not bring peace.
And it is this lesson that
has brought us to Vietnam.
♪ Baby, please don't go
down to New Orleans ♪
♪ You know I love you so ♪
[Love] The culture was
changing in all kinds of ways.
[Timothy Leary] The psychedelic
experience is a voyage
into the countless galaxies
of your own nervous system.
♪ He had his shackles on ♪
♪ Baby, please don't go ♪
The repeated use of LSD may
permanently alter the brain's function.
[controller] Liftoff.
[Ed White] I feel like
a million dollars!
[reporter 2] Freedom march from Selma
to Montgomery finally gets underway.
♪ I make you walk alone
Baby, please don't go ♪
[Carl] The mid-'60s was an
incredibly rich time musically.
Just really opened up.
Also the awakening
of consciousness.
Society not wanting to let the status quo
go on just because it's the status quo.
♪ Baby, please don't go ♪
♪ Baby, please don't go ♪
[Jardine] We were on
tour and got back home.
We started getting indications that
Brian was taking some hallucinogens.
LSD and stuff like that, which a lot
of the writers were doing at the time.
He drove me around the
parking lot about 20 times.
Explaining about this great
trip he'd just taken, you know?
[Brian] Oh, yeah. I did LSD, and
it just totally tore my head off.
You just come to grips with what you are
and what you can do and what you can't do.
And you learn to face
it, you know? [laughs]
[Jardine] Pretty soon, the
music was changing. Evolving.
[Brian] Here we go. This
is real good now. Take 43.
["California Girls" playing]
[music ends]
Brian was hearing these
arrangements in his head.
Who knows where they come from?
Who knows where
any arranger hears?
But most arrangers are guys who
have studied, studied, studied.
They know just how to
put 'em on a score.
Brian used to explain it to us.
[Brian] Here's the whole secret of this
whole thing is if we can go... [vocalizes]
If we can have that
emphasis there, okay?
It was a matter of us tuning in to what
he was saying and playing what he wanted.
[Kaye] We felt a little bit
more at home with Brian.
He knew that we
were jazz players.
And took after Phil Spector, in the sense
that he'd use the three or the four hours.
And he'd do, like,
one whole tune.
Whereas on the
other record days,
we would do three or four
tunes in the same time.
The big difference between Phil and
Brian was Brian was still inventing.
He was constantly
rewriting himself.
He knew where it was
going, but we didn't.
And if you're a creative person, he'd
let you have that freedom to create,
and he knew how to use it.
It's great talent to
be able to do that.
[Brian] Sorry, but that drags.
I hate to say it, really.
That... That drags, Carol.
We appreciate your loyal support.
See you next week, I hope.
In the meantime, it's Shindig! finale
time with Glen Campbell. Right over there.
Thank you.
[Jardine] By that time, Glen
Campbell has his own hit records.
He can't come out
on tour anymore.
♪ Dream, dream, baby ♪
Mike called me up. He said,
"You're in the record business."
"Who do you know that could come out
for the weekend to fill in for Glen?"
So, I called about ten people.
I called him back. I said,
"I can't find anybody.
But, honest to God,
there's still time.
I can go to the airport,
and I'll bring a keyboard,
and I'll just fill
in for the weekend."
And that's how it started.
[Love] One of my first
memories of Bruce,
I went into his hotel room,
and he was learning the bass,
so he could play it onstage.
He'd only ever played keyboard.
My dream was to
make $250 a week.
I thought, "Wow."
And Carl calls me. He said,
"Could you come back out?"
So I came out for two weeks.
Carl says, "We can cut you
a check. What do you want?"
Two hundred and fifty dollars.
And so I get a check for $3,000, 'cause
he thought I was asking per night.
I said, "Okay."
[chuckling] So, that's
how I got into the band.
My best friend
was Terry Melcher.
And so Terry calls
me up, and he said,
"My mom, Doris Day, she's
got the best stereo system."
So we go over, and there's
John and Michelle Phillips,
Mike Love, Brian Wilson,
me, Doris, Terry Melcher.
And we listened to Rubber Soul.
["I'm Looking
Through You" playing]
[Johnston] Now, that was a turning
point in The Beatles' world.
It was also a turning
point for Brian.
♪ I'm looking through you ♪
♪ Where did you go? ♪
[Brian] When I first
heard that, I flipped.
I said, "I want to make
an album like that."
Where all the songs seem to be like
a collection of folk songs, you know?
[Johnston] He saw Rubber
Soul as a thematic album.
A little light went on,
and he started dreaming up.
Conceptual album. Front
to back. Thematic.
[Buckingham] They're
competing against The Beatles,
but these guys are still
wearing striped shirts?
♪ I wish they all could be... ♪
[Buckingham] I think Brian saw the
need to grow out of that identity.
Not to be defined by the external labels,
which had been now placed on the band.
[car whirring]
[audience laughs]
[Buckingham] This is what you did last
time, and we want you to do that again.
I can hardly wait to get
out there and hang ten.
[audience laughing]
Hey, maybe you guys would
like to join our club.
Your surfing club, huh?
That sounds real cool.
[Tedder] Evolution is
absolutely necessary,
but you have a hit with
a certain style of song.
And you will have guys in the
band who will just be like,
"Guys, this is well-tread
territory. We know it works.
Let's do another one like this."
♪ We wish they all could
be California Girls ♪
[Buckingham] A lot of artists,
when they have they have to
make these kind of choices,
don't often make
the choice for art.
[pop music playing]
Al Jardine had this great
idea for The Beach Boys
to record a version of this
folk song called "Sloop John B."
♪ We come on the sloop John B ♪
♪ My grandfather and me ♪
[Jardine] It was recorded
by The Kingston Trio.
Basically a template from
my own musical upbringing.
I was in a folk
group in high school.
We replicated The Kingston
Trio note-for-note.
But when The Beach Boys formed,
I left my folk group behind.
I feel kinda guilty about
it, to be honest with you.
Anyway, I played Brian a
song called "Sloop John B."
♪ Hoist up the John B's sail ♪
[Jardine] Growing up, he
didn't like folk music really.
He was more music-driven
than story-driven.
♪ Call for the captain
ashore Let me go home ♪
[Jardine] But we sat
down at the piano,
and I suggested we add a few chords
to give it that Beach Boy influence.
And he liked it. It
fit our vocal style.
And then Brian went into the studio when
we were away touring to finish the song.
[Johnston] I remember being in Japan,
and Brian sent a mix of "Sloop John B."
- ♪ Hoist up the John B's sail ♪
- ♪ Hoist up the John B's ♪
- ♪ See how the mainsail sets ♪
- ♪ See how the mainsail ♪
♪ Call for the captain ashore ♪
♪ Let me go home ♪
- ♪ I wanna go home ♪
- ♪ Oh, let me go home ♪
- ♪ Let me go ♪
- ♪ Hoist up the John B's sail ♪
♪ Hoist up the John B's ♪
♪ I feel so broke up ♪
♪ I wanna go home ♪
[Jardine] He produced
a masterpiece.
If I'd produced it, it
would still be a folk song.
But now... now it's a classic.
[Carl] Brian was really growing
way beyond the three-, four-chord
format of doing pop tunes.
It just wasn't gonna do.
♪ Let me go home ♪
[Brian] All of a sudden,
I began to realize that I
had a lot of music to make.
[producer] Here we go.
"Wouldn't It Be Nice." Take one.
["Wouldn't It Be Nice" playing]
[Brian] I wanted to write some songs
that reflected how I really felt,
rather than just car songs, surf
songs, something more introspective.
So I said, "Mike, I'm writing
with another collaborator."
And he goes, "What? But I
thought I was your collaborator."
I said, "Well, for this one album,
Tony Asher is my collaborator."
[Asher] I was so overwhelmed
by what Brian was playing
and coming up with and singing,
I didn't think that
much about the fact
that lyrics were quite different than
the majority of the songs they'd done.
♪ I keep lookin' for
a place to fit in ♪
♪ where I can speak my mind ♪
[Asher] I knew there were lots of
things that he heard in his head
that I had no idea of.
[Brian] "I Just Wasn't Made
For These Times." Take one.
That's when we started realizing
there's some genius here.
[Brian] You got one, two, three...
boom. No. It's one, two, three... boop!
[Kaye] They kept getting
better and better and better.
[Brian] Take two.
"Let Go of Your Ego."
I think not being schooled,
like he was, was a great thing.
You know, because he
didn't know the limits.
He didn't know he was not
supposed to do things.
[Brian vocalizing]
Let's make it real tight, okay?
Phil Spector records,
marvels that they are,
they're kinda... They're
still like in black and white.
Brian got the same guys but
wrote songs and arrangements
that put the thing
in Technicolor.
[Brian] Nice.
[Love] We were still in Japan
while he was recording a lot
of the tracks for Pet Sounds.
[Brian] Then when they got back, the
tracks were ready for 'em, ready to go.
All they had to do was go
and learn their parts, sing.
[Jardine] A lot of the
lyrics were strange.
Especially to Mike, who's
more sensitive to lyrics.
[Brian] Here we go. Take 11.
Take 19, please.
Okay. Take 27, please.
[Love] Brian had an obsession with
getting things absolutely perfect.
Like on "Wouldn't It Be Nice,"
we must have done the
backgrounds 30 times.
♪ You know it's gonna
make it that much better ♪
♪ When we can say good
night and stay together ♪
[Love] I started calling him "dog
ears," because it was perfect vocally,
but Brian could hear something
that most human beings cannot.
♪ And after having
spent the day together ♪
[Love] You listen to the
vocals on Pet Sounds,
they're some of the
best ever recorded.
♪ Happy times together
we'd be spending ♪
♪ I wish that every
kiss was never-ending ♪
♪ Oh, wouldn't it be nice? ♪
[Carl] To us it was
more than a record.
It was a new place.
It was popular music
coming to a new level.
♪ Baby, then there wouldn't be
a single thing we couldn't do ♪
- ♪ Oh, we could be married ♪
- ♪ Oh, we could be married ♪
- ♪ And then we'd be happy ♪
- ♪ And then we'd be happy ♪
♪ Oh, wouldn't it be nice! ♪
[vocalizing]
[Love] But when we played
it for Capitol Records,
and they said, "Geez.
This is great, guys.
But couldn't you do
something more like
'Surfin' U.S.A.' or 'California
Girls' or 'I Get Around'?"
[no audible dialogue]
[Brian] Capitol Records
didn't really understand,
they were concerned about selling
albums and having commercial success.
And, uh, we were growing up.
We'd allowed Capitol Records to do
our PR and public relations and stuff.
And they didn't know
how to treat it.
So, we needed somebody who got the
idea of Pet Sounds being an evolution.
Derek Taylor was brilliant. He was
The Beatles' publicist for a while.
Then he moved to America,
and he became our publicist.
Derek Taylor is the one that came up with
the "Brian Wilson is a genius" moniker.
[Kun] If you look in
The Beach Boys' history,
there is that constant struggle
between Brian and everybody else.
And, I think, perhaps the genius
label, in a way, gets linked to him
in part because of his
psychological struggles.
The solitude of Brian.
The loneliness of Brian.
I think that's gone a long way to
fleshing out his musical genius
as part of a larger sense of,
"Well, he's a lone... a lone
figure separate from the group."
And that's not fair to them.
[Johnston] I'm president of
the Brian Wilson fan club.
But the musicality of every
Beach Boy is essential.
If we didn't have the ability, we wouldn't
have been able to sing these parts.
Brian was lucky to have our
voices to sing his dreams.
When we were done with the album,
I'm talking to Derek Taylor,
and he said, "Why don't you come
to England to promote Pet Sounds?"
I said, "But it's
not out there."
"Bring it anyway."
There's a guy who
was getting famous
and dying to become one of
The Beach Boys. Keith Moon.
[chuckling] So he
shows up at my suite.
He says, "I'm gonna guide
you through England,
and you're going
to meet everybody."
And I probably
did 20 interviews.
I was a hero.
"Hey, I've got the new Beach
Boys' album. It's Pet Sounds."
And then, at the end of the
week, I come back to the hotel.
"Hey, man. You better
get up to the suite."
"Why?"
"Lennon and McCartney are waiting
for you. They wanna hear Pet Sounds."
"What? I... I haven't been
in the band that long."
["God Only Knows" playing]
So, they're dressed
in Edwardian suits.
And they play the album
a couple of times.
[McCartney] I just thought, "Oh, dear
me. This is the album of all time.
What the hell are we gonna do?"
Just 'cause the musical
invention on that is, like, wow.
♪ I may not always love you ♪
♪ But long as there
are stars above you ♪
♪ You never need to doubt it ♪
♪ I'll make you
so sure about it ♪
When I first heard "God Only
Knows," I remember crying.
I remember tearing up
thinking about those lyrics.
♪ If you should ever leave me ♪
♪ Though life would
still go on Believe me ♪
♪ The world could
show nothing to me ♪
♪ So what good would
living do me? ♪
♪ God only knows what
I'd be without you ♪
[Was] When we listen to
something like Pet Sounds now,
and the orchestration on
that, people go, "Yeah, cool."
What they forget
is, he did it first.
[laughs]
Brian put together textures that no one
had ever put into popular songs before.
[vocalizing]
♪ God only knows what
I'd be without you ♪
[Buckingham] Brian made that decision
to thwart the listeners' expectations
for the sake of his art,
and it did not go unnoticed.
[Love] Paul McCartney said "God Only
Knows" is like the perfect song.
And then they got busy
on their next album.
[Kun] I think it's more interesting
to think less of the competition,
and more of it as
a collaboration.
Together, that healthy collaboration
was advancing the music.
It was advancing the culture.
It was advancing what rock
music meant and could be.
And I always wondered, if one
of them didn't have the other,
would their music actually
be what it became?
But Sgt. Pepper's was more of a
commercial success than Pet Sounds.
This is one of the great
accomplishments of The Beatles
was they evolved and
thwarted over and over again.
But they did it gradually.
They did it as a group who
all wanted the same thing.
But with Pet Sounds, there
was kind of a jump from here,
all of a sudden
they're, you know,
something snapped, and you are
over here, unlike The Beatles.
[Johnston] Pet
Sounds was so radical
compared to the really
nice commercial albums
that we'd been making,
that Capitol had been so successful
in selling that they just wanted more.
So, instead of promoting
Pet Sounds here in America,
Capitol put out the first
Best of The Beach Boys
and promoted that.
And it went gold quickly.
And they didn't promote Pet Sounds because
they said that it wasn't commercial,
and the people
wouldn't understand it.
[Love] They called us "the number
one surfing group in the USA,"
it was completely ridiculous,
in light of the fact that there
was things like the Vietnam w*r,
and student demonstrations,
and the Civil Rights Movement,
and all these things that the youth of
society was completely caught up in.
It certainly wasn't the idyllic culture
that we sang about in the early '60s.
[Wilson-Rutherford] He
couldn't understand it.
The thing that he put his heart and soul
into more than any record he'd ever done,
and people didn't think
it was that great.
[Carl] Pet Sounds was not commercially
received as it was critically,
and I think it hurt Brian.
I think he was at a very
vulnerable stage in his life.
[Brian] My whole life depended
on the success of The Beach Boys,
and I'm very deeply affected
by what people think.
I said, "Look, I want to do
something that people will respect.
And not just industry
people, but the public."
[Brian] Let me hear the organ.
[Jardine] "Good Vibrations"
was very schizophrenic.
It was recorded in many different
studios. Uh, three to be exact.
[Brian] Stop, please.
[feedback]
I'd bet you it'd be a half million bucks
just for the track now. Just the track.
[Blaine] He really was going
after what he was going after.
I mean, who in their right mind
ever thought of putting a theremin
on a... on a pop record?
[theremin playing]
[Brian] Let's go from the
top. You got that. Okay.
All right. This will be take 25.
[Randi] "Good Vibrations."
We were in for three months.
Nobody does that.
A lot of guys would say,
"He's out of his mind."
I never said that.
I always respected the
genius of Brian Wilson.
Eventually, Brian made it
studio worthy for us to sing on.
But Mike's driving to the session,
but he hasn't written the words.
So his wife, Suzanne,
in the passenger seat.
Mike's driving, dictating words
to her as he goes to the studio.
♪ I'm pickin' up
good vibrations ♪
♪ She's giving me
the excitations ♪
- ♪ I'm pickin' up good vibrations ♪
- ♪ Oom-bop-bop, good vibrations ♪
- ♪ She's giving me the excitations ♪
- ♪ Bop-pop, excitations ♪
- ♪ Good, good, good, good vibrations ♪
- [vocalizing]
- ♪ She's giving me the excitations ♪
- ♪ Bop-pop, excitations ♪
- ♪ Good, good, good, good vibrations ♪
- [vocalizing]
- ♪ She's giving me the excitations ♪
- ♪ Bop-pop, excitation ♪
♪ Close my eyes ♪
[Johnston] It only took
us two nights to sing.
It took Brian several
months to put it together.
[Kaye] He spent a lot of time on that,
and I couldn't figure out why, you know?
But that was Brian.
♪ When I look in her eyes ♪
[Kaye] When I heard the thing,
I said, "Whoa! That's it, man.
That's the monster hit."
And it was the monster hit.
♪ I'm picking up
good vibrations ♪
♪ She's giving me excitations ♪
[Love] Once again,
our writing relationship proved
out to be extremely successful.
[Love] The problem was, Brian
was being hailed as a genius,
but there was no credit
for the rest of the band,
or Mike Love for writing songs.
It would've been nice had
that reality been put forward.
It might have been a little bit easier
for Brian to handle the "genius" label.
[crowd cheering]
[Love] In 1966, we were on tour.
And even though Pet Sounds
didn't do that well in the US,
England really came
through for us.
[screaming]
We were voted the number one group.
Number two being The Beatles.
[Jardine] They just loved us,
and "Good Vibrations" broke
in at number one over there.
So there was this pressure
to deliver something great
with the next album, Smile.
[audience cheering]
We were busy touring and stuff, so I
wasn't writing with him at that time.
It was Van d*ke Parks.
[crew] Twenty-one.
Take 250. Marker.
[Parks] All music passes with me
but The Beach Boys, I like because
of their essential modesty.
So, I wrote some
lyrics for Brian,
and I think that that's been
my best shot in town yet.
♪ Well you're well
You're welcome ♪
I met him on the lawn of
Terry Melcher's house.
[Brian] I thought, "Wow. That guy has
a great style of talking." You know?
And I said, "Hey. Would you like
to write some lyrics with me?"
He goes, "Sure.
I'll give it a try."
[dog barking]
[Parks] Those were the days
of considerable drug abuse.
♪ Well you're well
You're welcome ♪
[Brian] I was into taking
a lot of stimulant pills,
'cause I didn't think I had
any energy of my own, you know?
So I would take these pills,
and they would... [exclaims]
You know... [exclaims]
...there it is.
[exclaims] I took the pill.
[exclaims] I feel great.
And Van d*ke Parks and I used to
take uppers and write songs together.
We'd write our heads off.
[laughs]
[Parks] This was way
ahead of our time.
This was the most advanced
musical experimentation
in the popular music industry.
♪ Well, you're welcome to come ♪
[music ends]
[instruments playing]
[Carl] He started to get
into deep water then.
I should say he started to get
into difficulty inside of himself,
and, yet, the music
was fantastic.
[Brian] I was getting
pretty far out by that time.
I had the musicians
wearing fire helmets.
I had a guy bring in a
bucket with burning wood
to smell of smoke in the studio.
I mean, I was crazy.
[siren wailing]
It so happens that a
building burned down
the same day we were doing
that down the street.
I began to think that we started
that fire somehow mystically.
I had a lot of money, of
course. I'm a millionaire.
And I was able to get ahold
of all these dr*gs, you know?
And they f*cked... [laughs]
I was able to get ahold of all
these dr*gs and they messed me up.
They, uh... They
messed my mind up.
[Love] He was pretty
paranoid and ultra sensitive.
But I was there as one of the
troops to go in and do backgrounds.
I sang on many of those songs.
["Heroes And Villains" playing]
[Carl] It's been said that
Michael was not supportive.
And there were certain things
that he was not supportive of.
The heavy drug taking
and the acid alliteration, I used
to call it, of Van d*ke Parks.
[Parks] I wasn't close
enough to the other guys.
I was in a position of
defending my lyrics.
Mike Love said to me one
day... He said, "Explain this.
'Over and over, the crow cries,
"Uncover the cornfield."'
"Van d*ke, what does
that lyric mean?"
He says, "I don't know.
I haven't a clue."
I said, "Exactly."
[Carl] He thought the
lyrics were not relatable.
Personally, I loved it.
So artistic and abstract.
♪ Hung velvet overtaken me ♪
♪ Dim chandelier awaken me ♪
♪ To a song dissolved
in the dawn ♪
[Carl] I realized that Brian and Van
d*ke were expressing a new poetry.
But it could be that it was not an
appropriate project for The Beach Boys.
Maybe that would have been
most fitting as Brian's album.
♪ Columnated ruins domino ♪
[Brian] I wanted to do my kind of music,
and they wanted to do their kind of music.
So, it was a tug-of-w*r.
I felt like I was
getting pulled to pieces.
♪ Surf's up ♪
[humming]
♪ Aboard a tidal wave ♪
[Carl] Very chaotic, very
turbulent time for him,
and he was just not able to
finish the Smile project.
[Love] He took the Smile
tapes and shelved them.
It was too much
for him to finish.
He just put it away.
[music fades, ends]
It was, primarily, he had this fear, I
think, that the music would be rejected.
I thought that it was
inappropriate music for us to make.
[Alan Boyd] Inappropriate for you,
Brian Wilson, or for The Beach Boys?
For The Beach Boys, yeah.
[Alan Boyd] What was
inappropriate about it?
Well, it was just the ideas
behind the songs were too weird.
It was like fire and
elements and, you know?
I just threw it
away. I junked it.
[Jardine] We were pretty
exhausted by then.
And so, we decided to build
a studio inside Brian's home.
And we were able to come
back together socially,
and actually enjoy doing
what we were doing again.
It's almost like starting over.
And so we made this little
album called Smiley Smile.
♪ I'm gonna be around
my vegetables ♪
♪ I'm gonna chow
down my vegetables ♪
[Jardine] There's crazy
stuff on that album.
We had a song about
your favorite vegetable.
I know it sounds crazy.
♪ My favorite vegetable ♪
[Kun] Smiley Smile shows a
lot of psychological cracking,
and strangeness and oddballness.
That's when I was like, "Whoa!
This is quite different."
For someone who's hungry
for experimental sounds,
or unpredictable
musical experiences,
that whole album is an
unpredictable musical experience.
♪ I'm gonna keep
well, my vegetables ♪
♪ Cart off and sell
my vegetables ♪
[Tedder] Brian's innovation and obsession
with pushing the envelope musically
is what helped take
them to another level.
But there is an inherent risk
when you take those big swings:
To swing and completely overshoot your
fan base because you went too far.
[scatting]
[Brian] I created my head
off. I made a lot of records.
And sang my face off.
I reached the point of exhaustion,
and, uh, I did retreat.
♪ Your favorite vegetable ♪
[music ends]
[Wilson-Rutherford] He was at
this point with The Beach Boys
where they weren't as happy with
the music he wanted to create.
You know, there was a lot of
squabbling going on all the time.
And Brian just said, "You
know what? Let them do it.
Let them do it. Let them
see how easy it is."
[Buckingham] Even though
he was the mastermind,
he, suddenly, did not
have their full support.
And, I think, because it was his
family, it made that much more difficult
and, perhaps, much more
demanding on his psyche.
So many artists who have very,
very significant commercial success
forget why they got into the
business in the first place.
Why they do music.
And now, you are judging your
validity through commerce
more than anything else.
[Love] At that time the Monterey
Pop Festival was going on.
[Taylor] They were supposed to headline
Saturday night, but they dropped out.
I couldn't believe it.
Nobody could believe it.
This was such a turning point.
Who knows what
would've happened?
♪ Why don't you all fade away ♪
- ♪ Don't try to dig what we all say ♪
- ♪ Talkin' about my generation ♪
♪ I'm not trying to cause ♪
- ♪ A big sensation ♪
- ♪ Talkin' about my generation ♪
- ♪ I'm just talking about my generation ♪
- ♪ Talkin' about my generation ♪
[Love] You know, that was The Who,
Janis Joplin, along with Hendrix.
[Jardine] Jefferson Airplane,
and, of course, The Dead.
[music continues]
Psychedelia had kicked in and, all of
a sudden, it was a whole different era.
Monterey Pop was seen as
a culture-changing moment,
and they weren't there.
[Love] Because we were in such disarray,
we missed that train, so to speak.
["California Girls" playing]
[Kun] They weren't
with the times,
and they weren't pushing
to where things were going.
In the early '60s, they became the
poster boys for the California dream.
But at the end of the
'60s, that dream changed,
and they never made enough
of a public-facing shift
to change with the times.
♪ Well, East Coast
girls are hip ♪
♪ I really dig those
styles they wear ♪
♪ And the Southern girls
With the way they talk ♪
♪ They knock me out
when I'm down there ♪
[Kun] At that time, you have some of
the most culturally-relevant music
in American History.
Songs about the struggle for
civil rights, around identity,
around political freedoms.
And their image was as far as you could
be from the changes in the culture.
♪ I wish they all could
be California girls ♪
♪ Wish they all
could be California ♪
♪ I wish they all could
be California girls ♪
[Kun] And then there's Dennis.
Hi. My name is Dennis Wilson.
I make rock-and-roll records.
[engine revving]
["Mr. Soul" playing]
He became more of a
quintessential '60s LA rock guy.
♪ Oh, hello, Mr. Soul I dropped
by to pick up a reason ♪
Dennis was part of the scene.
He was part of the
Laurel Canyon world.
Part of the counter-cultural
world of the Sunset Strip.
He was just a wild person.
Interestingly enough, though,
he is actually the one who got us
interested in things like meditation.
Even if he was drunk, he'd
say, "Let's meditate."
One afternoon, Dennis picked up a couple
of hitchhikers on Sunset Boulevard,
and he took them home.
He told the girls he had a
guru, which was Maharishi,
who had taught all of
us how to meditate.
And then they said,
"Well, we have a guru.
His name is Charlie Manson."
I only met the guy once,
and that was enough for me.
Manson was actually an
aspiring songwriter.
So, Dennis and Charlie
started to write together.
And at that time, The Beach Boys released
a Charles Manson song as a B-side,
"Never Learn Not To Love."
There's lots of ways
to talk about Manson,
and one of them is that he's still
part of the California dream.
He wanted the dream. He
wanted the Hollywood dream.
He wanted to be a rock star.
He wanted to go through Dennis
to get to Terry Melcher.
[Love] Dennis introduced
Manson to Terry Melcher.
But he was turned down by Terry.
And what happened
next, happened next.
[reporter] In a scene
described by one investigator
as reminiscent of a
weird religious rite,
five persons, including actress
Sharon Tate, were found dead.
Manson went to Terry's house that he
used to rent, but Terry had moved.
That's where he had
those people k*lled.
It was just awful.
And I think it weighed
upon Dennis pretty heavily,
because he had a hand in
introducing him to our world.
[Jardine] He's always felt
bad about it ever since.
It wasn't his fault.
[Love] We were in a rough patch, and
Murry must have thought it was over.
Murry was the
publisher, remember?
He actually took over
the publishing catalog.
He, at one time, told us he was
gonna sell us back the publishing,
but he didn't.
[no audible dialogue]
[Wilson-Rutherford] Brian got a call, and
his father said, "I sold the catalog."
And Brian went, "You sold my songs?
How could you do that to me?"
Brian was real, real hurt.
It was very hard for him.
Murry just thought, "The guys
are gonna go so far for so long,
and then they're gonna die off,
just like all these other artists.
So I might as well cash in."
[Love] I wrote the words to many
songs Murry did not credit me on.
So I got cheated by my uncle.
But my cousin was going
through mental issues,
and he had no control
over his father.
And, so... [stammers]
What can you do?
[Wilson-Rutherford] Brian
was a half owner with Murry.
And what are you gonna do?
Go sue your own father?
No. He wasn't gonna do that.
It really hurt him, and I don't think he
got out of bed for three days after that.
[Brian] There were
reflashes of LSD.
It was said I'm insecure. I
can't face this. I can't do this.
I'm gonna hide in my bedroom.
You know, Brian,
he was troubled.
The guys would all be there, and he
says, "I'm just gonna stay in bed."
[Jardine] While we were recording
at his home in Beverly Hills,
he was reluctant to come
down and participate.
[Dennis] I would go to his house daily
and beg, "What can I do to help you?"
For... Forget recording.
I'd give up everything just as
long as my brother would be okay.
[Carl] It was very painful at
times to see Brian go through that.
And it was at that point
that Brian asked me to become
more involved in the production.
[Jardine] Carl was
Brian's protégée really.
And after all those years attending
the Wrecking Crew sessions,
Carl was ready for it.
- [Carl] Two. One, two, three. Go.
- [Carl] And I, of course, had led the band
from when he stopped
touring back in '64.
So, I think it was
kind of natural.
♪ This is the way ♪
♪ I always dreamed it would be ♪
♪ The way that it is ♪
♪ Oh, when you are holding me ♪
[Love] When Brian
stopped producing,
it opened the door to more of a
democratic process in the studio.
♪ I can hear music ♪
[Love] You've got
Dennis writing songs.
Bruce Johnston producing.
Al Jardine producing.
Of course, I wrote many
of those songs as well.
♪ I can hear music ♪
♪ Sweet, sweet music ♪
♪ Whenever you touch me, baby ♪
♪ Whenever you're near ♪
[Carl] But, of all of us, Dennis's music
began to evolve really quite amazingly.
["Forever" playing]
"Forever" was one of the great
pieces that Dennis created.
It just blew... I mean,
it just blew us away.
♪ If every word I said
could make you laugh ♪
- ♪ I'd talk forever ♪
- ♪ Together, my love ♪
♪ I ask the sky
just what we had ♪
♪ Mmm It shone forever ♪
[Wilson-Rutherford] Dennis
had all this hidden talent.
I used to watch him and go,
"God. I didn't know he could
play the piano like that."
He kinda hid that.
I think it was very
hard for him growing up.
He would be behind Brian and try
to match up to him musically.
But as Dennis got older,
he felt comfortable enough
to start bringing out, you
know, who he was musically.
♪ I've been so
happy loving you ♪
[Kun] You listen to those
late-'60s records and early-'70s,
they sound like
a different band.
And I do think maybe that's part
of why they weren't as popular,
is people didn't know
what to do with them.
♪ So hard to answer future's riddle
when ahead is seeming so far behind ♪
The Beach Boys as a sound was so
cemented on those early records.
It's almost like boy
bands or kid actors
who can't shake that
first period of success.
It haunted them,
because your sense of self starts
circulating with that artifice.
♪ But I hit hard at the battle
that's confronting me, yeah ♪
[Kun] My sense of their
career has always been,
"Well, we needed that to become
who we are, but who are we really?
Who are we as artists?"
And I don't think that
struggle ever left them.
♪ Long promised road ♪
[Johnston] We thought
the songs sounded great.
The public didn't think so.
We were down like $5,000 a night
for a gig. Can you believe that?
[Jardine] We were
just slugging it out.
Doing what he had
to do to survive.
♪ Long promised road ♪
We were no longer Beach Boys.
We were beach men.
In fact, we even tried
to change the name.
I said, "Let's call
ourselves 'Beach.'"
[Johnston] That would never
work, but Al was right.
The Beach Boys became
uncool to listen to.
[Jardine] We became determined
to reinvent ourselves.
Let's get out of this
Beach Boys thing, you know?
♪ Don't go near the water ♪
♪ Don't you think it's sad? ♪
[Kun] That album has
"surf" in the title,
but Surf's Up is not about the surf
being up and everything's being good.
The first song on that record
is, "Don't Go Near the Water."
♪ Oceans, rivers,
lakes and streams ♪
♪ Have all been touched by man ♪
[Jardine] We felt like we were
doing serious music, you know?
But, uh, it didn't help
sell the album particularly.
So we decided we
needed a new sound.
In the past, Brian was the
leader, musically speaking.
But he didn't show up very
much anymore for the sessions.
[Love] In order to save the group,
sometimes things had to be done,
like more people
getting involved.
[Carl] Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin
were in a group called The Flames,
and we met them in London.
♪ Here she comes ♪
♪ Breathing life
into my thoughts ♪
[Fataar] They had this idea to
have me and Blonds join the group,
and I just thought it
was just so ridiculous.
It just didn't seem possible
because it seemed like such
a tight-knit family thing.
And when we first joined the
group, it was weird adjusting.
♪ Wherever she goes You
know the devil dances ♪
♪ And the gods lay
down in defeat ♪
[Chaplin] Being around them,
when we were working and stuff,
that was just a
lovely experience.
Of course, it wasn't as funky
as what we were used to.
Well, in our way of funky.
["Wild Honey" playing]
When we got involved, the
music got a little harder.
For live, we pumped a whole
lot more than they used to.
And I'm not knocking you
guys, but whatever. [laughs]
♪ Mama, I'm tellin' you as
sure as I am standing here ♪
♪ She's my girl ♪
♪ Now that's the way I'm
keeping it Now, Mama, dear ♪
[Chaplin] But things
weren't going that great.
It wasn't at the big beach... I mean,
things had calmed down quite a bit.
Beach Boys were hurting.
[Jardine] We were
kinda on our last leg.
We all just felt we needed to
get away and reinvent ourselves.
[Love] And we had never been outside of
the United States in terms of recording.
And so, we went to Holland.
[Jardine] We were true to our music,
but we were on a downward spiral.
[Kun] They go from being one of
the most globally-known pop artists
to, some degree,
falling off the map.
There's no thought process
that was governing the group
that made any sense at all.
[Jardine] And then
Capitol, unbeknownst to us,
decides to release kind
of like a big "Best of."
[announcer] Twenty of your favorite
original Beach Boys hits are now together
in a fabulous two-record
set, called Endless Summer.
♪ Do you love me Do
you, surfer girl ♪
[Jardine] The songs were
all from the early albums.
♪ Get her out of my heart ♪
It represented an
era of positivity.
♪ And she'll have fun, fun, fun 'til
her daddy takes the T-bird away ♪
And Endless Summer became
a number one smash album.
[Love] All of a sudden, there's a
new generation of record buyers.
So to them, it's all brand-new.
♪ I wish they all could
be California girls ♪
[Jardine] It was funny. That image
we were trying to get away from...
It's what saved us.
And that reenergized our career.
We got a second chance.
♪ If everybody had an ocean... ♪
You gotta remember, they've
been a touring band forever.
♪ Then everybody'd be
surfin' Like Californ-I-A ♪
[Randi] They're one of the few bands
that could reproduce their sound.
- ["Don't Worry Baby" playing]
- [audience cheering]
[Tedder] The Beatles
stopped touring,
largely, in part, because they
couldn't play the stuff live.
♪ I hear the sound
of a gentle word ♪
[Tedder] I can't imagine pulling off half
the stuff that The Beach Boys recorded.
[Jardine] And then we
started doing stadiums.
♪ And after having
spent The day together ♪
♪ Hold each other close
The whole night through ♪
[Jardine] And that's when the
We had the eight-year-olds coming,
and the 80-year-olds were coming.
[audience cheering]
[Love] We benefited by the fact
that our songs resonate with young people
no matter what generation they're in.
[audience cheering]
[Love] It's so great
to be a part of that,
and the fact that my cousin Brian and I
got together and wrote some great songs
that people still like to hear.
However, because my uncle
Murry sold the publishing,
we didn't own the songs.
So he screwed his own
sons and grandchildren.
[Wilson-Rutherford] At the
beginning, they depended on Murry.
And if there was no Murry,
there would be no Beach Boys.
But Murry didn't have the vision to
see what the catalog would bring in.
The hundreds of
millions of dollars.
You know, and he sold this
thing for, like, 700,000.
[Love] Because Murry did not credit
me on the songs I cowrote with Brian,
the only avenue I thought that I had
to get credit was to file a lawsuit.
I think that was kinda
where we lost it.
I go, "Wait a minute, guys. Hold on
here. What's the deal?" You know?
After that, we sort of got
separated a little bit.
[Love] There have been ups and
downs in our relationship...
and, these days, we
don't really talk much.
But, you know, if I could,
I'd probably just tell him...
that I love him.
And nothing...
anybody could do
could erase that.
["Good Vibrations" playing]
♪ Gotta keep Those
lovin' good vibrations ♪
♪ A-happenin' with you ♪
♪ Gotta keep Those
lovin' good vibrations ♪
♪ A-happenin' with you ♪
♪ Gotta keep Those
lovin' good vibrations ♪
♪ A-happenin' with you ♪
[Carl] I asked Brian one time,
"Why do you think we succeeded?"
He said, "Well, I think the
music celebrated the joy of life
in a real simple way.
Just a real direct
experience of joyfulness."
[music continues]
[chattering]
[Kun] Their music was part
of a widespread desire
to believe in the possibility
of a California dream,
even if it doesn't seem
to line up in neat ways.
["A Day in the Life
of a Tree" playing]
[Kun] A band who's known
for surfing who didn't surf.
A band that's synonymous
with the beach
that record songs about
staying in your room.
[audience cheering]
They represent much more complexity than,
I think, most people give them credit for.
[Carl] There's someone
with us tonight.
He's responsible for
us being here, period.
Let's hear it for
Brian! Come on!
[Monáe] They soundtrack
the best parts of life.
And their sound is one of one.
But I think none of them would have
been able to shine without each other.
[harmonizing]
[Love] A lot of people have a
favorite in the group, you know?
But a group is a group.
[music continues]
[no audible dialogue]
The Beach Boys are
a family story,
not without its ups and downs,
but the positivity far
outweighs the negativity.
[music fades]
[audience cheering, whistling]
[announcer] Welcome!
Welcome all 400,000 of
you on this beautiful day.
We are proud to present the
one and only Beach Boys!
[audience cheering]
["Darlin'" playing]
♪ Oh, d-d-d-d-darlin' ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, my darlin',
you're so fine ♪
[vocalizing]
♪ Don't know if
words could say ♪
♪ But, darlin',
I'll find a way ♪
♪ To let you know
what you meant to me ♪
♪ Guess it was meant to be ♪
♪ I hold you in my heart ♪
♪ As life's most precious part ♪
- ♪ Oh, darlin' ♪
- ♪ Oh, keep dreamin' of darlin' ♪
- ♪ I dream about you often, my darlin' ♪
- ♪ My darlin', you're so fine ♪
♪ I love the way you soften
my life with your love ♪
♪ Your precious
love, uh-huh, oh ♪
♪ I was feelin'
like half a man ♪
♪ Then I couldn't
love, but now I can ♪
♪ You pick me up when
I'm feelin' sad ♪
♪ More soul than I ever had ♪
♪ Gonna love you
every single night ♪
♪ 'Cause I think you're
too outta sight ♪
- ♪ Oh, oh, darlin' ♪
- ♪ Oh, keep dreamin' of darlin' ♪
♪ I dream about you
often My pretty darlin' ♪
♪ I love the way you soften
my life With your love ♪
♪ Your precious love, oh, oh ♪
♪ Every night, oh ♪
♪ Every night Oh, darlin' ♪
♪ Gonna love you every
single night Yes, I will ♪
♪ 'Cause I think you're too
doggone Outta sight, outta sight ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, my darlin' ♪
♪ I dream about you
often My pretty darlin' ♪
♪ I love the way you soften
my life With your love ♪
♪ Your precious love, oh ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Every night, oh ♪
♪ I keep dreamin'
'bout darlin' ♪
♪ Every night Oh, darlin' ♪
[applause, cheering]
[Brian speaking, indistinct]
Thank you very much.
Enjoy the fireworks!
[audience cheering]
Thank you again.
["Kokomo" playing]
♪ Aruba, Jamaica ♪
♪ Ooh, I wanna take
you Bermuda, Bahama ♪
♪ Come on, pretty mama ♪
♪ Key Largo, Montego
Baby, why don't we go ♪
♪ Jamaica Off the
Florida Keys ♪
♪ There's a place
called Kokomo ♪
♪ That's where you wanna go
To get away from it all ♪
♪ Bodies in the sand ♪
♪ Tropical drink
melting in your hand ♪
♪ We'll be falling in love To
the rhythm of a steel drum band ♪
♪ Down in Kokomo ♪
♪ Aruba, Jamaica ♪
♪ Ooh, I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama ♪
♪ Come on, pretty mama ♪
♪ Key Largo Montego ♪
- ♪ Baby, why don't we go ♪
- ♪ Ooh, I wanna take you down to Kokomo ♪
♪ We'll get there fast And
then we'll take it slow ♪
♪ That's where we wanna go ♪
♪ Way down in Kokomo ♪
♪ Martinique That
Montserrat mystique ♪
♪ We'll put out to sea ♪
♪ And we'll perfect
our chemistry ♪
♪ By and by we'll defy A
little bit of gravity ♪
♪ Afternoon delight ♪
♪ Cocktails and
moonlight nights ♪
♪ That dreamy look in your eye ♪
♪ Give me a tropical
contact high ♪
♪ Way down in Kokomo ♪
♪ Aruba, Jamaica ♪
♪ Ooh, I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama ♪
♪ Come on, pretty mama ♪
♪ Key Largo Montego ♪
- ♪ Baby, why don't we go ♪
- ♪ Ooh, I wanna take you down to Kokomo ♪
♪ We'll get there fast And
then we'll take it slow ♪
♪ That's where we wanna go ♪
♪ Way down in Kokomo ♪
♪ Port au Prince I
wanna catch a glimpse ♪
♪ Everybody knows ♪
♪ A little place like Kokomo ♪
♪ Now if you wanna go And
get away from it all ♪
♪ Go down to Kokomo ♪
♪ Aruba, Jamaica ♪
♪ Ooh, I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama ♪
♪ Come on, pretty mama ♪
♪ Key Largo Montego ♪
- ♪ Baby, why don't we go ♪
- ♪ Ooh, I wanna take you down to Kokomo ♪
♪ We'll get there fast And
then we'll take it slow ♪
♪ That's where we wanna go ♪
♪ Way down in Kokomo ♪
♪ Aruba, Jamaica ♪
♪ Ooh, I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama ♪
♪ Come on, pretty mama ♪
♪ Key Largo Montego ♪
[music fades]
Beach Boys, The (2024)
Moderator: Maskath3