The Beach Boys at 60: A salute to one of rock music's most influential groups
22.01.2022 - 12:03
/ officialcharts.com
The Beach Boys are one of the most influential groups in rock history. In celebration of a new film about Brian Wilson, entitled Long Promised Road, we take a look at how they altered the musical landscape for generations to come.
The Beach Boys have sold over 100 million records during their 60-year career, and the core quintet of the three Wilsons, Love, and Jardine were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Their UK Official Chart history is very impressive. Their 1966 compilation Best Of The Beach Boys Vol.1 spent 55 weeks in the Top Ten.
While none of their studio albums reached the top, their 1976 Number 1 compilation 20 Golden Greats was the second-biggest selling album of 1976 spending 85 weeks on the list. Their 40 charting albums have racked up 593 weeks in total. They’ve enjoyed 28 Top 40 hit singles, including two Number 1s (Good Vibrations and Do It Again) and spent 281 weeks on the chart.
The Beach Boys were formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group's original line-up consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine, having originally called themselves Carl and the Passions during high-school.
Their vocal harmonies and musical genius saw them become one of the most influential acts of the rock area, initially scoring a string of massive hits in the US that reflected their primary interests of girls, cars and surfing such as Surfin’ USA, I Get Around and Help Me, Rhonda and albums such as Surfin’ Safari, Surfin’ USA and Surfer Girl and Little Deuce Coupe. A lot of surfing, basically.
In 1966, the band released Pet Sounds, probably their best-known record. Packed with tracks, it was engineered almost solely by Wilson, and included