Brian Wilson has long been recognized as the songwriting genius of The Beach Boys, and rightfully so, but another member of the group who has made significant contributions the band’s canon of tunes is co-founder Mike Love. While Wilson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000, Love has yet to receive the honor, although he’s one of the institution’s 2025 nominees.
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Wilson wrote the music to the vast majority of Beach Boys songs during the band’s 1960s heyday, although he teamed up with a variety of lyricists on many tunes. He often worked with Love, who co-wrote such memorable hits as “Surfin’,” “Surfin’ Safari,” “Be True to Your School,” “Little Saint Nick,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “I Get Around,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “California Girls,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Good Vibrations,” “Darlin’,” and “Do It Again.”
Unfortunately for Mike, he wasn’t initially credited for his contributions to dozens of tunes, because his uncle, Murry Wilson, Brian’s father and The Beach Boys’ first manager, left his name off documents submitted to the band’s publisher.
In a new interview with American Songwriter, Love suggested that because he wasn’t credited at first for co-writing the many famous Beach Boys songs on which he collaborated, people weren’t aware of how important his contributions were to the band.
[Related: The Song the Beach Boys’ Mike Love Wrote in Tribute to George Harrison]
“For many years … there wasn’t a true perception of … who were the songwriters of those songs,” he maintained. “I was just eliminated. So, it’s nice that [induction into] the Songwriter[s] Hall of Fame … is in play this year. And I would appreciate being recognized for what I actually did. That would be really fantastic.”
About Love Having His Name Restored to the Credits of Many Songs
In the 1990s, Love launched successful lawsuit against Brian Wilson to have his name restored to the credits of many songs he co-wrote.
“There was a list of about 30 of [songs], and they included, among others, ‘Little Saint Nick,’ ‘I Get Around,’ ‘Help Me, Rhonda,’ ‘California Girls,’ and several others,” Love told American Songwriter. “There are actually more, but the 30 was based on a deal that was entered into with Brian’s attorneys at the time.”
Love acknowledged that his uncle Murry was mainly to blame for keeping his name off the song credits, although Brian was aware of what his father had done. That being said, Mike maintained that he didn’t hold a grudge against his cousin, noting that Brian wasn’t “able to stand up to [Murry].”
Love Appreciates the Enduring Popularity of The Beach Boys’ Music
Love told American Songwriter that regardless of whether or not he received proper credit for the songs he co-wrote for The Beach Boys, he extremely proud to be part of a band whose music has brought joy to so many fans over the years.
“I have a lot more to be grateful for and thankful for than to be bitter about,” he said. “I mean, when we do those songs, even if I wasn’t credited in the beginning, many of them are credited now. [Also,] the fact that Brian and I wrote these songs, and the rest of us did all those great harmonies that are known around the world, and people still, to this day, like to come out and hear us perform them … that’s pretty special.”
Love added, “[O]ur group didn’t start because of money or fame or fortune or any of that stuff. It came into being because we loved harmonizing together.”
The Beach Boys Songs Love Is Most Proud of Co-Writing
Asked which songs that he’s most proud of co-writing for The Beach Boys, Love first mentioned a beloved 1964 ballad that actually wasn’t a hit for the group.
“One of [them] is ‘The Warmth of the Sun,’” Mike said. “Brian and I wrote that in the wee hours of the morning of the same date that President [John F.] Kennedy was [fatally shot] in Dallas. So, when we recorded that song about five weeks later, January 1, it was charged with a ton of emotion, as you could well imagine.”
He continued, “We didn’t change the lyrics to conform to the event, but it just … carried with it such an impact. In fact, when we were writing it, [Brian] came up with this eerie melody, and the closest thing I could come up with lyrically is the loss of something, the loss of a love. And let’s say you’re in love with somebody, but they didn’t feel the same way, so it was never going to happen, but at least at one point in your life, you felt the euphoria of being in love. So that was the warmth of the sun.”
Love also said it was “hard not to be proud of” co-writing “Good Vibrations,” “California Girls,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.”
Regarding “Fun, Fun, Fun,” Mike that it’s the song with which The Beach Boys always ends their concerts.
“I’m thinking, you’re going out of that theater or that amphitheater or that stadium or whatever [venue] you’re in, and you’re thinking, ‘Fun, fun, fun,’” Love explained. “And that’s a good thing to be thinking about.”
Love Recalls Writing the Lyrics to “Good Vibrations”
It’s worth noting that all four Beach Boys songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100—“I Get Around,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Good Vibrations,” and “Kokomo”—were co-written by Love. “Good Vibrations” certainly is considered one of the band’s all-time great songs, known for Brian Wilson’s intricate, multilayered musical and vocal arrangements and inventive instrumentation.
Love recalled writing the song’s lyrics while listening to the music track during a 15-minute drive to the recording studio.
“I dictated a poem that I thought was representative of the time,” Mike shared. “It had nothing to do with the Vietnam war, nothing to do with integration or any … of the problems in life. I wanted to have [it be] all about good vibrations, ’cause that was the name of the song.”
When he arrived at the studio, Love said, he showed the poem to Wilson, who liked it.
Love said “Good Vibrations” was “a true collaboration” with Wilson.
“I wrote all the words. Brian sang the lead, [and the band] all did the harmonies,” he noted. “Brian did amazing stuff, including putting a theremin on the recording, which is very unusual, and kind of eerie.”
More About the 2025 Songwriters Hall of Fame
Love is among more than a dozen noteworthy artists who have been nominated for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in the “Performing Songwriters” category in 2025.
The other nominees include Bryan Adams; Boy George; George Clinton; Sheryl Crow; The Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald, and Patrick Simmons; Eminem; David Gates of Bread; Janet Jackson; Tommy James; Alanis Morissette; rap group N.W.A.; and Steve Winwood.
Voting for the 2025 inductees closes on Sunday, December 22.
The 2025 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction & Awards Gala will be held in New York City. The date and location of the event will be announced soon.
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