7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7

opera orchestras in the United States and Europe. His
motto, he claimed, was “If I rest, I rust.” His autobiography,
My First Forty Years, was published in 1983.

The Beach Boys

The original members were Brian Wilson (b. June 20, 1942, Inglewood,
Calif., U.S.), Dennis Wilson (b. Dec. 4, 1944, Inglewood, Calif.,
U.S.—d. Dec. 28, 1983, Marina del Rey, Calif.), Carl Wilson (b. Dec. 21,
1946, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.—d. Feb. 6, 1998, Los Angeles),
Michael Love (b. March 15, 1941, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.), and Alan
Jardine (b. Sept. 3, 1942, Lima, Ohio, U.S.). Significant later members
included David Marks (b. Aug. 22, 1948, Newcastle, Pa., U.S.) and
Bruce Johnston (original name William Baldwin; b. June 24, 1944,
Chicago, Ill., U.S.)

T

he dulcet melodies and distinctive vocal mesh of
the American rock group the Beach Boys defined the
1960s youthful idyll of sun-drenched southern California.
Initially perceived as a potent pop act—celebrants of
the surfing and hot rod culture of the Los Angeles Basin
during the 1960s—the Beach Boys and lead singer-bassist-
producer Brian Wilson later gained greater respect as
muses of post-World War II American suburban angst.
Notwithstanding sales of 70 million albums, their greatest
achievement was their ability to express the bittersweet
middle-class aspirations of those who had participated in
America’s great internal westward movement in the 1920s.
The Beach Boys extolled the promise of a fragile California
dream that their parents had had to struggle to sustain.
Growing up in suburban Los Angeles (Hawthorne),
the Wilson brothers were encouraged by their parents to
explore music. Their father, Murry, who operated a small
machinery shop, was also a songwriter. While still teenagers,
Brian, drummer Dennis, and guitarist Carl joined with