Although renowned for being America's foremost "Boys Of Summer," The Beach Boys are in fact rock's "Men For All Seasons." There are plenty of autumnal winds blowing through The Beach Boys' ageless career – especially in the 1960s.
In early October 1961, the Beach Boys gathered at Hite and Dorinda Morgan's Stereo Masters studio in Hollywood. These sessions produced both sides of their debut single, "Surfin'" backed with "Luau." The record would become the band's first charting hit, peaking at Number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.
October 1st, 1962, saw the release of the band's debut long player – Surfin' Safari. Still a fan favorite and bona fide garage rock classic, out of the gate, this group made their mark with their first Top 40 LP and the early-'60s definitive call to arms in the Brian Wilson / Mike Love-written title track.
Brian Wilson always viewed The Beach Boys' debut set as both a validation and a liberation:
"The album Surfin' Safari started with what I call my first adventure in songwriting. I was 20 and feeling energetic. I was getting the knack of writing melodies. A melody goes in little rhythms, because nobody has the attention span to create a whole melody at once. This is why I got a couple of notes at a time. Occasionally I'd get lucky and write 10 notes all at once. Part of that is luck; the key to writing a song is patience and 'stick-to-it-iveness.' I was still a kid, thrilled to create at my piano, and I found myself developing an album. It was this spirit that got the pre-production phase of my career going over at Capitol Records' recording studio."
Mike Love was both impressed and pleasantly surprised that Capitol took a leap of faith on the band so early on:
"Up to that point rock acts rarely did albums, Elvis Presley being the one exception. The thinking was that teenagers would pay for hit singles but not bulky LPs. Capitol, however, believed that one hit song, Surfin' Safari, would carry our first album's commercial load and our label played the surf idea to the hilt."
Beach Boys co-founder David Marks literally learned how to play guitar alongside his best friend and neighbor Carl Wilson. He shed light on the dual guitar chemistry that the group's early recordings – especially the Surfin' Safari album – all showcased:
"Carl and I had gotten interested in guitars when we were around nine years old. We started hanging out and playing together, learning the Dick Dale and Duane Eddy songs, The Ventures — all those instrumentals."
Just over three weeks after dropping their first album, on October 27th, 1962 — barely a year into their performing career — The Beach Boys performed for the first time at The Hollywood Bowl, playing two shows. The Hollywood Bowl Y Day concerts to benefit the YMCA also featured appearances by Bobby Vee, Jackie DeShannon, Shelley Fabres, Paul Petersen, The Rivingtons, Bobby Freeman, The Castells, Annette Funnicello, Soupy Sales, Joey Bishop, Troy Donahue, and Jayne Mansfield, among others.
Photo courtesy of Capitol Archives
Fans were in for an unexpected treat during the fall of '63 with a double shot of Beach Boys albums issued a scant 21 days apart – Surfer Girl and Little Deuce Coupe. It showed not only the brilliance of the music but the sheer prowess of the band that half an album of new songs (featuring such beauties as "Spirit Of America" and "Ballad of Ole' Betsy") would see fruition just as their listeners were still reveling in such instant classics as "Surfer Girl," "In My Room," and "Catch A Wave." Three weeks after that album's release, the Boys were headed back into the Top 10 with their latest Wilson/Love slice of teenage Americana, "Be True To Your School." October 1963 also saw the recording sessions for probably rock's most original Christmas song, "Little Saint Nick," a holiday perennial for over 60 years!
Photo courtesy of Capitol Archives
It was in the fall of '63 when Brian Wilson started to believe the Beach Boys had finally gained traction in the studio:
"When we were making 'Surfin'' or 'Surfer Girl,' we still played like we were a real band. We had my piano and bass, Carl and David Marks on guitar, and Dennis drumming. For Shut Down Volume 2, we had started to be a real thing, both in California and in the country. That meant that when we went into the studio to record, we got to play with older studio musicians. The musicians we used were the best in L.A. You could play them a song once, and they would play it right back to you and add their own ideas. Later, people called them The Wrecking Crew, but at the time, I don't think people called them that. They worked with Phil Spector, which was one of the reasons I knew about them."
October 1964 will forever be remembered by the brilliant single "Dance, Dance, Dance" – driven by Carl Wilson's exuberant and forward-thinking opening riff — backed by perhaps Wilson/Love's most perfect ballad – "The Warmth Of The Sun." On October 29th, 1964, The Beach Boys filmed their iconic appearance at The T.A.M.I. Show — captured live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles, in front of 3,000 screaming fans. In addition to spotlighting the most iconic early footage of Brian Wilson with The Beach Boys, T.A.M.I. featured jaw-dropping performances by Chuck Berry, The Supremes, James Brown, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, and others. The landmark film was the first theatrically released rock n' roll concert movie and stands as one of the shining testaments to the power and promise of early-'60s rock.
Mike Love maintains that the scene in Santa Monica over those couple of days was just as much a blast off stage as it was on:
"The T.A.M.I. Show was another one that was really cool. Of course, we were friends with Jan & Dean — and we weren't friends with The Rolling Stones! I think there's a little bit of ego involved there. They made the mistake of following James Brown. Keith Richards said that was the biggest mistake they ever made in their career. On The T.A.M.I. Show, I think we were all pretty fresh, and pretty new. I personally loved all the Motown stuff; when you've got Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, and Marvin Gaye on the same bill that's pretty serious business."
October 1964 saw the release of The Beach Boys' only chart-topping album of the 1960s, the groundbreaking Beach Boys Concert. Among its many highlights was Mike Love & the gang's notable take on Bobby "Boris" Pickett's Halloween fright night gem — "Monster Mash."
That month also saw the band snag its sixth Top 10 hit when "When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) peaked at Number Nine on the Billboard Hot 100.
October 1965 found The Beach Boys putting the finishing touches on the soon-to-be-issued Beach Boys Party! Album and their next single, "The Little Girl I Once Knew" – along with a pair of famed TV appearances on NBC's respective The Andy Williams Show and Jack Benny Hour.
Issued on October 10th, 1966, "Good Vibrations" was Brian Wilson's most ambitious production to date, featuring some of Mike Love's most brilliant lyrics. Its release resulted in not only the band's third Number One hit, but The Beach Boys' first million-selling single. As Mike Love recalled:
"I think 'Good Vibrations' was probably the height of our creativity in the '60s. It was not only successful -- really successful -- but it was very unique. It was probably the least derivative of our hit singles. Meaning, everything is based on something that came before -- that's what I mean by derivative. But with 'Good Vibrations,' it was so darn different, so unique-sounding. And yet it was successful as well. And I admit to liking things that are both successful and creative (laughs). It was a pleasure to work with my cousin Brian on co-creating that song. And, I think, many years ago, Rolling Stone had some poll and they regarded 'Good Vibrations' as the 'Single of the Century,' or something like that."
Brian Wilson revealed to us that during the "Good Vibrations" sessions, it was none other than his brother Dennis Wilson who contributed the church-like organ during the slower portion of the legendary track:
He was sitting at the organ, and I said, 'I wanna play the organ,' and he says, 'Well, let me play.' So I said, 'Alright,' and I taught him his part."
October '66 also saw the group's SMiLE project still operating at full throttle with such tracks as "Our Prayer," "Heroes And Villains," "Cabin Essence," "Wind Chimes," "Wonderful," "Do You Like Worms?" and "Child Is Father To The Man," among others, being committed to tape.
Mike Love recalled the infamous SMiLE sessions, spotlighting how tight the band could be once gathered in front of the mic:
"Vocally, The Beach Boys were still at their peak. Whatever reservations we had about SMiLE — and, yes, I had them — we put them aside and did everything we could to help Brian realize his dream. It was no different from what we did for 'Good Vibrations' or for 'Pet Sounds', no different from my mom's Christmas parties, when he gave us our parts and we sang them our best."
On October 21st, The Beach Boys live-premiered "Good Vibrations" during their concert at Lansing, Michigan's Jenison Field House at Michigan State University. Brian Wilson was on hand for the band's next two shows at Ann Arbor's Hill Auditorium at the University of Michigan to supervise the recording of a possible live album – the tapes of which were eventually released in 2016 as Graduation Day 1966.
Only weeks after releasing their Smiley Smiley album (their first all-new collection in a whopping 16 months), October '67 saw the band on the road with The Box Tops and hard at work on Wild Honey at Brian Wilson's Bellagio home studio and L.A.'s Wally Heider Studio. The group recorded such soon-to-be favorites as "Aren't You Glad," "Time To Get Alone," "Darlin'," "Been Way Too Long," "Here Comes The Night," and "Lonely Days," to name but a few.
After the tumult of the extended SMiLE era, Brian Wilson always had a soft spot for what Wild Honey represented for the band:
" Wild Honey certainly wasn't like a regular Beach Boys record. It was good to go back to the boogie-woogie piano I'd grown up with. In its way, it's very nostalgic. We used the theremin again for the title track. Carl had fun singing on that, he was laughing and dancing around."
Carl Wilson also regarded the album highly and believed it was an important step for the band musically:
" Wild Honey was underrated. It didn't have the polish and pizzazz, but it brought out all our R&B influences that had always been there but people had overlooked."
October 1968 found The Beach Boys tracking music for the following year's 20/20 album, their last of the decade, by holding sessions for "I Can Hear Music," "The Nearest Faraway Place," "Be With Me," and "All I Want To Do," both in Los Angeles and for the first time -- Manhattan. While in New York City, The Beach Boys made their second and final appearance on CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show, performing "Good Vibrations" and their then-most recent hit, "Do It Again."
Photo courtesy of Capitol Archives
On October 11th, 1968, The Beach Boys made their debut at New York's legendary Fillmore East. The band played two shows supported by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Bruce Johnston recalled the late-'60s as being a particularly fertile time for the group, with every member contributing new and incredibly strong material for the first time:
"Sometimes band members surprise us with their songs. Dennis always had a piece of a good song in the oven and occasionally he would share it with us."
Al Jardine remembered being immediately impressed with the quality of Dennis Wilson's music at the time:
"The songs Dennis recorded for the 20/20 album had a lot of dynamism and resonated with his personality. He had a Wagnerian approach to music. Big, heavy drums, a lot of screaming – all the kinds of stuff that you'd hear in a German opera."
Photo courtesy of Capitol Archives
With the band off the road throughout all of October 1969, work continued on the Sunflower album -- then still provisionally named Add Some Music -- with sessions at Bellagio for Dennis Wilson's "Slip On Through," Brian's "Walkin'" and "Two Can Play," along with a pair of Wilson/Love collaborations -- "When Girls Get Together" and The Beach Boys' first single of the 1970's -- "Add Some Music To Your Day."
Dennis Wilson loved the fact that there was a studio available at all hours that would finally allow all the members' creativity to shine:
"If anyone wanted to come down and produce something, they could. They could release it on their own, or if somebody wrote a song and wanted to put it out on a Beach Boys album, they could… Instead, he wrote, sang and produced whenever he felt like he wanted to."
Al Jardine agreed that the recording setup at Bellagio was ideal for the band at the time:
"Oh, Brian's place, jeez! It all came alive there for me. We'd literally make a hit record without anybody showing up, which is a pretty cool thing. You just have to show up for work and whoever shows up gets the brass ring."
On October 3rd, 1970, the group played the Big Sur Music Festival in Monterey, California. Among the high-profile acts they shared the stage with were Linda Ronstadt, Kris Kristofferson, Country Joe & The Fish, and Joan Baez. The Beach Boys' performance of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" would be featured on the live album chronicling the event, Celebration - Recorded Live Big Sur Folk Festival Monterey, California 1970.
The month of October has continued to be memorable for The Beach Boys over the decades. On October 5th, 1974, the band scored their only studio chart-topper to date, when the historic Capitol compilation, Endless Summer, defied all odds and hit the Number One spot on the Billboard 200 album chart – just short of a decade after "America's Band" had last graced the top spot.
Brian Wilson admitted he was shocked to see The Beach Boys topping the charts after so many years:
" Endless Summer was named after a famous surf movie, and it had all our early hits on it. The album started selling like crazy… Of course, the old songs took off with the new generation. I was very much into that."
Mike Love was responsible for naming the massively successful compilation and played a large part in selecting its running order. He explained why there was an absolute truth in the LP's advertising:
"The environment in which we grew up and the things we chose to sing about primarily, which were the beautiful things about growing up in Southern California – the lovely girls, the lovely cars, the lovely weather, and the lovely beaches – it was like an endless summer."
Carl Wilson touched on how the multi-platinum package solidified the band's popularity for a new generation:
"The audience had become much wider in terms of their age. When we started playing, it was mostly high school students and then through the years it evolved into college students and families, even. The audience ranged from little babies and children to middle-aged people. It was real clear that we had a new audience. We just surrendered to it. We'd gone through so many changes over the idea of oldies over the years, but it became obvious what people wanted us to play."
Not too long ago, Al Jardine explained that The Beach Boys' music serves a much greater purpose than mere entertainment:
"Each song, or each track selection, is a special little messenger. And they convey a certain optimism, I think… it reminds us of a better time — a more positive time of growing up and experiencing things as a culture."
Enjoy the autumn leaves while you can — because pretty soon, as we all know too well, fall breaks (and back to winter). Listen to the fall playlist below.
