The Beach Boys became such a significant part of my life from such an early age. They were the band that grabbed me through the radio and make me really pay attention to pop music. It will have been the late 1970’s and, most certainly, The Terry Wogan Breakfast show on Radio 2. I heard these wonderful harmonies floating through the radio that just felt colourful and full of summer.
My Dad went away to work in Saudi Arabia and would return with a bagful of Pirate Tapes. When he asked me what tapes I would like, I always asked for Beach Boys ones. The people creating these illegal delights would fill the surplus space on the tape with the more obscure Beach Boys Albums. For example, Beach Boys Live in London 68 would have of Beach Boys 15 Big Ones tagged on the end. I quickly became familiar with their early and late work and loved the lot.
With the hindsight of a good musical education, I now know what appealed to me within those magical summer sounds. Brian Wilson was able to use The Beach Boys as a vehicle to transmit some of the most complex and beautiful harmonies ever to grace a pop record. Whilst the lyrics deliver the imagery of youthful summer paradise scenes that consisted of beaches, hod rods and beautiful girls, the music delivers a sophistication and sometimes darkness worthy of some of the greatest traditional composers.
The Warmth Of The Sun for example delivers delicious Major 7th chords that melt into Minor 7ths. A careful balancing act of chords found in C Major and C Minor working seamlessly together. Just before his death, Brian Wilson released an album called At My Piano where he played many of his amazing songs with just the intimacy of his piano. You can hear his craftsmanship pouring out of every tune. It was like a master jeweler holding up his finest works for the world to gasp at. It is only when you try and play his chords that you come to fully appreciate the genius that he was branded with from such an early age. The song ‘Till I Die’ from ‘Surfs Up’ album paints a perfect harmonic palette that is so unusual from the expected norm of a pop song. It begins with G#Maj7 to a Bb Sus 4. Wilson always created meticulous methods of using slash chords. Cmaj7 to Fmaj7/C and F6/C on the lyrics ‘How deep is the valley’ are sublime.
Wilson’s deep thinking, and the pressure to keep delivering such high quality music seriously effected his mental health. It was clear from the very beginning that he was a very vulnerable artist and, when the wheels did come off, it was the rest of the group that kept The Beach Boys machine running.
All members contributed to the writing process from the late 60’s onwards and really flourished as a result. In the 1970’s, the drummer of the band released an album called Pacific Blue that could be seen as the best Beach Boys album ever. What a masterpiece.
My Beach Boy obsession was rewarded in 1985 with an original album that was deemed fit for the new sparkling era that it was released in. Aptly named The Beach Boys, this album was certainly a very modern presentation of the classic Beach Boys vocal sound on a palette of Fairlight Samplers, Oberheim and DX7 Synths. Stevie Wonder offered the sublime ‘I Do Love You’ song to the band; one which Carl emulated Wonder’s vocal style and demonstrated what a brilliant and versatile singer he was. Gary Moore rocked up a stunning guitar solo on ‘Maybe I Don’t Know’ and the synth stunner ‘Crack At Your Love’ was worthy of any 80’s band at the time. ‘Where I Belong’, written by Carl Wilson and Bruce Johnson is, in my opinion, the best Beach Boys song not to be written by Brian Wilson; what an anthem!
The album was produced by Steve Levine who had established himself as producer of Culture Club. He brought all the new technology to the show and programmed the Linn drums. Just two years before, drummer Dennis Wilson had drowned in a diving accident and the band were traumatised by the loss of a brother, cousin and bandmate. It got a small ripple of interest at the time and didn’t chart too well but I love this album.
I got to see Brian Wilson in concert in 2011 and finally saw this music master with own eyes and heard him perform with my own ears. With the wonders of Spotify I was able to delve deeper into records I wouldn’t have been able to afford years ago. In 1995 Brian Wilson released ‘I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times’ and, when I heard it on Spotify, I recognised the voice of Sweet Pea Atkinson from Was (Not Was). I discovered that Don Was produced it and got the Was Not Was Vocalists to sing the harmonies. My two favourite bands coming together as the Universe aligned perfectly for that one record. Music will always deliver those joys to my doorstep.
We lost Brian Wilson in 2025. The poor man had struggled for years with mental health problems and it is a testimony to his strong spirit that he survived so long. The Beach Boys gave me a taste of what California life would be like and I have loved them since my first ever glimpse. Thank you for the music.
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