The Beach Boys

Few bands have created their own musical genre, but if any group can claim that honor, it's The Beach Boys, who captured and turned the “surf sound” into the American pop music voice of a generation. Formed in 1961 by brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and high-school friend Al Jardine, The Beach Boys began life as The Pendletones. Their name changedmuch to the band's own surpriseonly after they recorded their first song, “Surfin',” in 1962 and the record company executive thought “The Beach Boys” was a more marketable moniker.<P> The band rocketed to the top of the charts with musical confections like “Surfin' USA,” “Wouldn't It Be Nice,” “Help Me, Rhonda” and “California Girls.” But leader Brian Wilson's growing musical sophistication (not to mention his encroaching mental illness and massive drug intake) changed the band. Their 1966 album Pet Sounds is credited with prompting The Beatles to record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but its follow-up album, Smile, was not released until 2004, owing to Brian Wilson's declining condition.<P> Decades of lawsuits and the death of Dennis Wilson in 1983 and Carl Wilson in 1998 followed, but The Beach Boys' songs endured. The current lineup for this 50th anniversary tour, which also includes early members Bruce Johnston and David Marks, will mix old favorites with songs from the new album That's Why God Made the Radio to remind us all that there is still hope for an endless summer.