7 The Beach Boys 7cousin Love and friends Jardine and Marks to write and
perform pop music in the alloyed spirit of Chuck Berry
and the harmonies-driven Four Freshmen and Four Preps.
Dennis, a novice surfer and adolescent habitué of the
Manhattan Beach surfing scene, goaded Brian and the rest
of the group (then called the Pendletons) into writing
songs that glorified the emerging sport. The regional
success in 1961 of the Beach Boys’ first single, “Surfin’,” led
in 1962 to their signing as Capitol Records’ first rock act.
Brian’s latent ambitions as a pop composer were unleashed;
for years he would write almost all the group’s songs, often
with collaborators (most frequently Love). The Beach
Boys soon appeared on Billboard’s U.S. singles charts with
such odes to cars and surfing as “409” and “Surfin’ Safari,”
while their debut album reached number 14. After the
commercial triumph of the follow-up album and single,
“Surfin’ U.S.A.,” in 1963, Brian assumed complete artistic
control. Their next album, Surfer Girl, was a landmark for
the unheard-of studio autonomy he secured from Capitol
as writer, arranger, and producer. Redolent of the Four
Freshmen but actually inspired by “When You Wish Upon
a Star” from Walt Disney’s film Pinocchio (1940), the title
track combined a childlike yearning with sophisticated
pop poignance. Like his hero, pioneering producer Phil
Spector, the eccentric Brian proved gifted at crafting
eclectic arrangements with crisply evocative rock power
(e.g., “Little Deuce Coupe,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “I Get
Around,” and “Don’t Worry Baby”).
After the first of a series of stress- and drug-related
breakdowns in 1964, Brian withdrew from touring and was
replaced first by singer-guitarist Glen Campbell, then by
veteran surf singer-musician Johnston. Brian focused
thereafter on the Beach Boys’ studio output, surpassing all
his role models with his band’s masterwork, Pet Sounds