The Beach Boys: An American Band

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. After signing with Capitol Records in 1962, Wilson wrote or co-wrote more than two dozen Top 40 hits for the group. He originally functioned as the band's songwriter, producer, co-lead vocalist, bassist, keyboardist, and de facto leader. Wilson is considered a major innovator in the field of music production, the principal originator of the California Sound, one of the first music producer auteurs, and the first rock producer to use the studio as its own instrument. The unusual creative control Capitol gave him over his own records effectively set a precedent that allowed other bands and artists to act as their own producers or co-producers. He was a major influence on the retrospectively-termed "sunshine pop" and Flower Power music that proceeded.

Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys.

Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their lead guitarist, as the younger brother of bandmates Brian and Dennis Wilson, and as the group's de facto leader in the early 1970s. He was also the band's musical director on stage from 1965 until his death.

Michael Edward Love is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the Beach Boys. Characterised by his nasal and sometimes baritone singing, Love has been one of the band's vocalists and lyricists for most of their career, contributing to each of their studio albums.

Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys.

Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American singer, musician and songwriter who is a member of the Beach Boys. He also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bruce & Terry, the Rip Chords, and California Music) and composed the 1975 Barry Manilow hit, "I Write the Songs". Born in Illinois, Johnston grew up in Los Angeles and studied classical piano in his early years. While in high school, he arranged and played on his first hit record, Sandy Nelson's "Teen Beat" (1959), and also worked with musicians such as Kim Fowley and Phil Spector. One of Johnston's first gigs was as a member of the surf band the Gamblers before becoming a staff producer at Columbia Records. In 1965, Johnston joined the Beach Boys for live performances, initially filling in for the group's co-founder Brian Wilson. Johnston's first appearance on the band's records was as a vocalist on "California Girls" (1965). He later contributed original material to the group's albums, including "The Nearest Faraway Place" on 20/20 (1969), "Tears in the Morning" and "Deirdre" on Sunflower (1970), and "Disney Girls (1957)" on Surf's Up (1971). Johnston left the Beach Boys in 1972 and subsequently embarked on a solo career. During this time, Johnston recorded one solo album, Going Public (1977), his latest to date. In late 1978, he rejoined the Beach Boys to co-produce the group's L.A. (Light Album) (1979). Since then, he has continued to tour as a member of the band. Born in Peoria, Illinois in 1942, he was adopted as child by William and Irene Johnston of Chicago and grew up in the wealthy Los Angeles neighborhoods of Brentwood and Bel-Air. His adoptive family is of Irish descent, with his grandparents hailing from Markethill, County Armagh. His adoptive father was president of the Owl Rexall Drug Company in Los Angeles after moving from Walgreens in Chicago. Johnston attended the private Bel Air Town and Country School (later renamed John Thomas Dye School) and the University of California, Los Angeles. He also studied classical piano in his early years, training at Interlochen Arts Camp as a youth. In high school, Johnston switched to contemporary music. He performed in a few "beginning" bands during this time and then moved on to working with young musicians such as Sandy Nelson, Kim Fowley, and Phil Spector. Soon, Johnston began backing people such as Ritchie Valens, the Everly Brothers, and Eddie Cochran. In 1959, while still in high school, Johnston arranged and played on his first hit record, "Teen Beat" by Sandy Nelson. The single reached the Billboard Top Ten. The same year, Johnston made his first single under his own name, "Take This Pearl" on Arwin Records (a record label owned by Doris Day) as part of the Bruce & Jerry duo (Jerry Cooper was a high school friend of Bruce's). The teenage Hot Rod film entitled "Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow" (1959), features the song "I Promise You" by Johnston and Judy Harriet. In 1960, Johnston started his record production career at Del-Fi Records, producing five singles and an album – Love You So – by Ron Holden (many of the album's eleven tracks were written or co-written by Johnston). ... Source: Article "Bruce Johnston" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Van Dyke Parks is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks.