Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963

by James B. Murphy

They were almost The Pendletones--after the Pendleton wool shirts favored on chilly nights at the beach--then The Surfers, before being named The Beach Boys. But what separated them from every other teenage garage band with no musical training? They had raw talent, persistence and a wellspring of creativity that launched them on a legendary career now in its sixth decade.

Following the musical vision of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys blended ethereal vocal harmonies, searing electric guitars and lush arrangements into one of the most distinctive sounds in the history of popular music. Drawing on original interviews and newly uncovered documents, this book untangles the band's convoluted early history and tells the story of how five boys from California formed America's greatest rock 'n' roll band.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

436 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2015

About the author

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There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Seth Arnopole · Rating 4 out of 5]

In recent years I have become more enthralled with the kind of extensively researched book that covers a narrow area of interest and/or short time frame, with much attention to primary sources. I’ve read a number of books on The Beach Boys, and this one finally filled in some gaps about the family music publisher/recording studio operators who “discovered” them, the first record companies who released their music, and even Al Jardine’s family background. This might also be the only author who got an interview with Brian Wilson’s first girlfriend Judy Bowles, who supposedly inspired “Surfer Girl” and whose brother helped with the surfing spots named in “Surfin’ USA.”

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very detailed book, and for someone who is interested in record labels, songwriting credits, recording contracts and royalty payments, this might be the ideal book. It started out to be the story I was looking for, how the Beach Boys got together, began singing together, became popular, and how Brian Wilson remained the creative genius behind it all. I salute the author for his ability to discover and uncover so much detail. The only reason I rated it 3 stars is that I was looking for the personal story, not so much the documentation. Still, it was enjoyable.

[M.L.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fairly comprehensive look at the Beach Boys' beginning. Reminds me of the very ambitious work on the Beatles, Tune In, by Mark Lewisohn, in that Murphy interviewed old friends of the Boys from high school/college and research biographies and backstories of the people around them, to provide context for what they were producing.

I find it hilarious, after reading a couple of books on the Beach Boys, that no matter how neutral the authors try to be, notorious douchebag Mike Love still comes off as a douchebag. There's just no hiding that.

And, no matter how hard Murphy tried to minimize Murry Wilson's personality in this volume, Murry Wilson was quite obviously an abusive man.

If you're a Beach Boys nut, and especially interested in recording dates and releases, then you'll enjoy this volume.

[Rick Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a big Beach Boys fan and this book has some good information. The problem is it’s just got way too much extra information that is of little interest. In short, reading this book was a slog. The author obviously loves The Beach Boys but this cries out for a good editor that can cut about half the junk out. If you want to know biographies of people who are way at the periphery of the Beach Boys’ career, minutiae about contracts and meaningless dates plus tutorials on the physics of recording, this may be for you.

[Jay Pruitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book essentially covers the first couple years of the Beach Boys, presented almost like one were reading a calendar / planner on a day-by-day basis. In other words, Thursday 23rd Al and Brian met with so-and-so to discuss such-and-such....Friday 24th The Beach Boys planned at the County Fair between 4pm and 8pm, before an audience of 1,200 people. Etc, etc...

Not really what I was expecting. Even though I'm a huge Beach Boys fan, I skimmed through most of the pages.

[Al Menaster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, lots of interesting info about the formation of the Beach Boys. But way too many listings of every show where they performed.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book but it is really geared toward the serious music aficionado and record collectors out there. It covers the Beach Boys from their likely inception in 1961 through 1963 when they started to garner their first real success on Capitol Records.

I read a particularly harsh criticism from someone who did not read the whole book but had a background of living in Redondo Beach and was quibbling with some of the facts as presented in the book. To this I would say that the author mentions straight up from the very beginning of the book that he did his best to get the details correct however there was a lot of confusion and quarrels even among the people involved about what happened on what date and where.

Look, we are talking about events that are now over 50 years ago. Two of the three Wilson brothers as well as their parents are deceased and due to Brian Wilson's mental health issues, it's possible that the details will be forever lost. I was not particularly cut up at the name of a wrong high school or auditorium name being used incorrectly but if that is the kind of detail that drives you mad, then simply don't read the book.

However, if you are a serious audiophile, this author has gone to a great deal of time and trouble to locate acetates, original recordings and pressings from obscure labels in order to identify some of the earliest recordings and songs written by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys in its earliest formation. There is a level of detail that true record collectors will appreciate if they want to find these obscure 45's for their collections.

There is biographical information about the parents of the Wilson's, The Love's and The Jardine's that give a little insight into how the members of the group came to have a love and appreciation for music. The biographical detail is not in depth reporting on family dynamics, psychological or social settings. It is focused solely on music and its place in the life of each member and how that evolved into the formation of the group.

I was expecting more of a biography but I stuck with the book to see where it was headed and found myself drawn into some of the details that are meaningful to the collector. But make no mistake, this book is very long on detail and presents conflicting accounts as they were given to the author by the players involved. With that in mind, there are times when the reader simply has to “pick a side” and decide to go with that version of events or reject an alternate version in favor of information they may have read from another source.

The indexing and end notes are expansive for those wanting to dig further or cross reference for their own work. For the average reader, three stars but for the serious record collector and audiophile, this is probably a five star effort.

[Joseph Tully · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required reading for the serious fan.