For a while, The Beach Boys were at the top of their game, blowing the competition out of the water. Few of their peers could keep up with their ability to experiment. Their catalog benefited from their creative bravery. That all ended in the early ’80s when Brian Wilson was fired from the group due to his struggles with addiction. More than this, though, there was an ongoing feud within The Beach Boys that laid the groundwork for their ever-changing lineup. Learn more below.
Videos by American Songwriter
The Feud at the Center of The Beach Boys’ Breakup
“The last two years have been the most important and difficult time of our career,” Carl Wilson said in 1980. “We were at the ultimate crossroads. We had to decide whether what we had been involved in since we were teenagers had lost its meaning. We asked ourselves and each other the difficult questions we’d often avoided in the past.”
The band was destined to fracture by this time, they were really only waiting on the final straw. But, difficulties within the band started much earlier. In the mid-’60s, Brian Wilson decided to retire from touring with the band in favor of spending all of his time in the studio. This change proved to be a profitable one for The Beach Boys. It was post-Wilson’s tour retirement that they earned some of their best songs. The entirety of Pet Sounds for example.
Though this arrangement earned them hits, it laid bare a monumental difference in creative direction. While the touring arm (mainly Mike Love) of The Beach Boys had one idea for their sound, Brian Wilson and his genius had another. This aggravated the cracks that were already present in Love and Wilson’s relationship.
Lawsuits
There was much wrong with The Beach Boys by the end of their tenure in the original lineup, but the biggest feud the band has experienced is the one between Mike Love and Brian Wilson. The pair fought over songwriting credits in court, making their disagreement as bandmates very apparent.
It go so messy that they eventually asked Wilson to leave the band, changing the lineup of the group forever. Though Wilson may have distanced himself from the band, he’s played with more original members as of late than Love. In 2012, Love announced a tour around the band’s 50th-anniversary. It did not include his original bandmates.
“I’m disappointed and can’t understand why [Love] doesn’t want to tour with Al, David and me,” Wilson said at the time. “We are out here having so much fun. After all, we are the real Beach Boys.”
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.