History Trivia / TheBeachBoys

** It is far from the only album that the band had issues with. In 1992, they got together to record what was to be another triumphant return for the band, ''Summer in Paradise''. Unfortunately, Brian Wilson was struggling with leaving the care of Eugene Landy at the time and couldn't make the recording sessions. This left notorious {{Jerkass}} Mike Love in charge of the recording. Love demanded synthesized drum and bass parts, prevented certain band members from being able to play on the album, insisted on allowing Creator/JohnStamos to sing on a track despite band member wishes, and made things a general living hell for those involved. The album barely sold 10,000 copies, was critically lambasted, was left out of the 2000-2001 reissues, and is [[CanonDiscontinuity seldom acknowledged by the band]], with not even [[OldShame Mike acknowledging it despite it supposedly being his pet project, as he only mentions it once in his entire biography.]]

*** As time went on, Brian's mental health further declined and grew increasingly more eccentric and erratic. He shelved "Fire", believing that it was magically lighting fires throughout the town. When he walked into a theater showing the film ''Film/{{Seconds}}'' (which was partially financed by Brian's main inspiration, Music/PhilSpector), a character coincidentally said, "Come in, Mr. Wilson." [[ParanoiaFuel This convinced Brian that Spector was following him and made a movie about him.]] He cut off contact with one of his friends because he was convinced that his friend's girlfriend was using ESP to stop Wilson from making the album. He suspected that his [[AbusiveParents father]] was spying on him from behind the scenes, and at one point [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy started to believe that Spector was leading a Jewish conspiracy against him]], hiring people to spy on Spector as a result and briefly driving away his friend David Anderle, himself Jewish (Brian would later go on to [[OldShame openly regret]] this display of anti-semitism. It's also worth noting that his wife at the time, Marilyn, was also Jewish). As the recording sessions progressed, he even began hearing voices.

** On at least two occasions they passed up an opportunity to release a song that became a #1 hit for someone else. Brian had initiated writing "Surf City", but gave it to Jan Berry to finish, and it became the SignatureSong for Music/JanAndDean. Murry Wilson was reportedly furious about Brian giving away the song. Then in the first part of TheSeventies, they worked with Terry Jacks, the leader of the Canadian band The Poppy Family. He suggested they cover "Seasons in the Sun", Rod [=McKuen=]'s English translation of Music/JacquesBrel's "Le Moribond". They did an initial version, with Carl on lead vocals and the others doing harmonies, but they declined to finish and release it. Instead, Jacks took the arrangement, rewrote some of the lyrics, and became a OneHitWonder with his own version. The Beach Boys take has never been officially released, but is easy to find online. Another #1, Music/BarryManilow's "I Write the Songs", was written by Bruce Johnston during one of his hiatuses from the band, leading fans to speculate whether they might've had a shot to record it as well.

* NamesTheSame:
** The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson does not close games for the San Francisco Giants (or at the end of the 2013 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers), though he did at one point sport a rather scary-looking beard. There is also a crew chief for the Penske Racing team in {{UsefulNotes/NASCAR}} named Brian Wilson.
** There's a Canadian music critic named Carl Wilson.
** There was a Nashville session backing vocalist in the 80s and 90s named Dennis Wilson.

* BuryYourArt: While Music/TheBeachBoys' career has often been described by fans and analysts as a qualitative rollercoaster, only two albums in their discography have never been reissued: ''Music/StillCruisin'' and ''Music/SummerInParadise''. Not only were the pair widely considered the band's worst albums by audiences (with the latter also being a commercial failure), but they were also derided by the band themselves, with even Music/MikeLove (of whom ''Summer in Paradise'' was his brainchild) scarcely mentioning the projects in his memoir. The only representation the two albums see post-release is "Kokomo" being a GreatestHitsAlbum staple (and even then it was originally included on the ''Film/{{Cocktail}}'' soundtrack) and the TitleTrack to ''Summer in Paradise'' being featured in their setlist.

** Carl and Dennis both were disgusted by Mike's "Student Demonstration Time". Carl, a conscientious objector and vigorous opponent of the Vietnam War thought that the song was opposed to protesting in general, while Dennis felt that the lyrics glorified violent police tactics (such as at Kent State, which is mentioned in the song). They were only convinced to reluctantly participate after Mike told them that the song was encouraging peaceful protesting, not violence by protestors or police.

* OldShame:
** The band seem to agree with the general public's opinion that ''Summer in Paradise'' is one of the absolute worst albums ever. Exactly one song from it remains in their setlist, Music/MikeLove only mentions it once in his autobiography and it's never seen a digital release (which, considering the glut of outtakes, alternate takes, demos and other extra material that band has released, should tell you everything you need to know).
** Brian himself regrets his belief in a Music/PhilSpector-led Jewish conspiracy against him during the ''[=SMiLE=]'' sessions, describing himself as having become "fucked up" at the time out of jealousy towards both Spector and Music/TheBeatles.
** Music/BruceJohnston is known among fans for his dislike towards some Beach Boys albums (for example, the ''Music/Friends1968'' album which he has considered as wimpy music) but also towards his own material for the band, regarding songs like "[[Music/{{Sunflower}} Deirdre" or "Tears in the Morning"]] as tracks he wish he didn't make for the Beach Boys.

** They probably had more aborted albums than any other major artist. Besides ''Smile'' there was also the proposed 1967 live album ''Lei'd in Hawaii'', a live album of their 1975 tour with {{Music/Chicago}}, and two 1977 albums that got rejected by their label: ''Adult/Child'' (basically "Brian Wilson goes [[LoungeLizard Vegas]]") and ''Merry Christmas from the Beach Boys''. Except for the Chicago album, a good chunk of the material for these albums has been released on various rarities compilations over the years.
** Capitol rushed 1967's "Wild Honey" out without doing a proper stereo mix (essentially the two versions were a mono mix and a fake stereo mix). In 2017, they finally produced a proper stereo mix from the masters, released as "Sunshine Tomorrow" along with a load of outtakes from it and "Smiley Smile" ''and'' the unreleased live album "Lei'd In Hawaii".
** ''Summer In Paradise'' has never been reissued after its first print bombed.

** The band seem to agree with the general public's opinion that ''Summer In Paradise'' is one of the absolute worst albums ever. Exactly one song from it remains in their setlist, Music/MikeLove only mentions it once in his autobiography and it's never seen a digital release (which, considering the glut of outtakes, alternate takes, demos and other extra material that band has released, should tell you everything you need to know).

** Music/BruceJohnston is known among fans for his dislike towards some Beach Boys albums (for example, the ''{{Music/Friends}}'' album which he has considered as wimpy music) but also towards his own material for the band, regarding songs like "[[{{Music/Sunflower}} Deirdre]]" or "Tears in the Morning" as tracks he wish he didn't make for the Beach Boys.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: The "Landlocked" album is a classic example of this as it did not exist (at least not in the form people thought it did), but if you didn't know any better you would think it did. The Beach Boys assembled a reference reel of "Sunflower" outtakes in order to potentially use them on their next album. Meanwhile, "Surf's Up" was going to be called "Landlocked" (and some early promotional ads) until Brian allowed them to use the title track (from the Smile era) in order to increase its commercial potential, and the title was changed accordingly. Many put the two together and assumed that this reel of outtakes was an unreleased album called "Landlocked". In fact, there are only two tracks in common: "Take A Load Off Your Feet" and "Til I Die". Several other tracks from that period did end up released later.

*** As time went on, Brian's mental health further declined and grew increasingly more eccentric and erratic. He shelved "Fire", believing that it was magically lighting fires throughout the town. When he walked into a theater showing the film ''Film/{{Seconds}}'' (which was partially financed by Brian's main inspiration, Music/PhilSpector), a character coincidentally said, "Come in, Mr. Wilson." [[ParanoiaFuel This convinced Brian that Spector was following him and made a movie about him.]] He cut off contact with one of his friends because he was convinced that his friend's girlfriend was using ESP to stop Wilson from making the album. He suspected that his [[AbusiveParents father]] was spying on him from behind the scenes, and at one point [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy started to believe that Spector was leading a Jewish conspiracy against him]], hiring people to spy on Spector as a result and briefly driving away his friend David Anderle, himself Jewish (Brian would later go on to [[OldShame openly regret]] this display of antisemitism. It's also worth noting that his wife at the time, Marilyn, was also Jewish). As the recording sessions progressed, he even began hearing voices.

** Music/RogerWaters was planning to have The Beach Boys sing backup vocals on several songs for ''Music/TheWall'', but the band declined after learning what the lyrics were about. He ''did'' get Bruce Johnston, though. ([[TheRashomon The other story]] is that the Boys were okay with it, but Waters cancelled the session for some reason and settled for just Johnston.)

** Music/DennisWilson was supposed to sing the lead vocal on "Good Vibrations", but due to a bout of laryngitis, Music/Carlstepped in at the last minute.

** Wilson's breakdown also heavily affected the Beach Boys' music. After shelving ''Music/SMiLE'', Wilson led the band to record the drastically stripped back and surreal ''Music/SmileySmile'' in its place, which was such a radical departure from their previous work, it alienated near all of their fans and confused critics (though now it's been vindicated as a classic). The record flopped and The Beach Boys went from hip musical innovators to spending decades languishing in commercial failure. Brian's mental state only decreased more and more, leading to depression, auditory hallucinations which he still has today, and gaining massive amounts of weight. His feelings around the time are captured on the track "Til' I Die" from ''Music/SurfsUp'' (arguably their darkest record). He got better.

* BuryYourArt: While Music/TheBeachBoys' career has often been described by fans and analysts as a qualitative rollercoaster, only two albums in their discography have never been reissued: ''Music/StillCruisin'' and ''Music/SummerInParadise''. Not only were the pair widely considered the band's worst albums by audiences (with the latter also being a commercial failure), but they were also derided by the band themselves, with even Music/MikeLove (of whom ''Summer in Paradise'' was his brainchild) scarcely mentioning the projects in his memoir.

** "We Got Love", dropped from ''Music/{{Holland}}'' and replaced by "Sail On Sailor". Unbenownst to the band at the time, some copies had been pressed with it. A version ended up on ''The Beach Boys In Concert'' in 1974 before the studio version was officially released on a reissue of Holland 40 years later.

* ExecutiveMeddling: At least half of the hardships Music/BrianWilson and The Beach Boys faced could've been avoided if Capitol Records would've been better team players. Although, Murry Wilson didn't help matters with his overbearing management, which included tricking Brian into selling him the rights to his Capitol era songs and then selling them off (and this was AFTER he supposedly stopped managing them).

* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: ''Smile'', after 37 years.

** Brian Wilson frequently incorporated suggestions from his backing musicians into his songs. A notable example is the staccato instrument break in "God Only Knows", which is one of the song's most memorable hooks. It came from pianist Don Randi.

*** During the formation of Brother Records, guitarist Carl Wilson was drafted into the United States Army. He refused to report for duty, and was arrested for being a conscientious objector in May 1967.

** Music/DennisWilson was supposed to sing the lead vocal on "Good Vibrations", but due to a bout of laryngitis, Carl stepped in at the last minute.

* BeamMeUpScotty: Mike Love has denied ever using the phrase "Don't [[PrecisionFStrike fuck]] with the formula!" in his arguments with Brian Wilson during the ''Music/{{Smile}}'' sessions. It actually originated in a 1971 ''Magazine/RollingStone'' article, as a phrase that band associate David Anderle used to characterize Love's attitude toward ''Music/{{Smile}}'', but not necessarily intended as a direct quote.

** The band seem to agree with the general public's opinion that ''Summer In Paradise'' is one of the absolute worst albums ever. Exactly one song from it remains in their setlist, Mike Love only mentions it once in his autobiography and it's never seen a digital release (which, considering the glut of outtakes, alternate takes, demos and other extra material that band has released, should tell you everything you need to know).

* OutOfOrder: The UK releases of their albums was in a particularly strange order. For example, Surfin' USA (from 1962) didn't come out in the UK till 1965, and Surfer Girl (from 1963) did not come out in the UK till 1967 - both after "Little Deuce Coupe", which included tracks that had been taken from those albums. In terms of singles, "Then I Kissed Her" (from 1965's "Summer Days And Summer Nights") came out in the UK as a single in 1967, to the confusion of the band, who were putting out more advanced singles such as "Good Vibrations", and "Do It Again" came out as a single before "Friends" (1968) despite being released afterwards in the US. As a result of this, the impression of The Beach Boys in the UK for years was that they had always been about surfing, cars and girls, despite having moved on from those subjects. "Pet Sounds", however, did come out in 1966 as scheduled, which is just as well, as it became a big influence on Music/TheBeatles.

** "Here Today" has some background studio chatter that Brian Wilson apparently failed to notice. "Wendy" does, as well, including an audible cough. It was removed in the stereo mix.

*** In 1967, after missing another release date, he decided that he needed to focus on preparing the two tracks "Heroes and Villains" and "Vega-Tables" for release as potential lead singles. It was during this time that he began to doubt his own abilities, and started to fear that the public would hate the album. What didn't help was pressure from the label and Mike Love to stick to a more conventional sound over concerns that this new sound would alienate their audience of teenyboppers. Brian's fears would turn out to be justified in his mind when "Heroes and Villains", the follow-up single to "Good Vibrations" and the centerpiece to ''[=SMiLE=]'', flopped on the charts. He took that as a sign of rejection of his growing artistic abilities from the public.

** Dennis Wilson was supposed to sing the lead vocal on "Good Vibrations", but due to a bout of laryngitis, Carl stepped in at the last minute.
** They were involved with the creation of the Film/MontereyPop Festival and were at one point scheduled to headline and close the show, failed to perform. This resulted from a number of issues plaguing the group. Carl Wilson was in a dispute with officials over his refusal to be drafted into military service during the Vietnam War. The group's album Smile was recently scrapped, leaving Brian Wilson in a state and unwilling or incapable of performing (he had not performed live with the group since late 1964). According to friend Michael Vosse, Brian thought the Beach Boys would have been criticized by festival goers who were intent on seeing British acid rock groups. Mike Love said that "Carl was to appear in federal court the Tuesday after the concert, but for all we knew, they were going to arrest him again if he performed onstage...None of us were afraid to perform at Monterey." In 2017, Love reflected that drugs were influencing the band's decisions at the time. He maintained that pulling out of Monterey was not his decision. When asked about the decision, Bruce Johnston said "it went from 'Here's the money, here's the offer, you're headlining' to 'Now this is gonna be a non-profit show' so we pulled out."

* SimilarlyNamedWorks: "[[IntercourseWithYou All I Want to Do]]" vs. "[[SillyLoveSongs All I Wanna Do]]".

** ''Smile'', of course, is arguably the greatest What Could Have Been in rock history.[[note]][[http://www.surfermoon.com/essays/talesalt.html This]] AlternateUniverseFic gives us an idea of what could've happened if ''Smile'' had been released and the band stayed in vogue: a "Battle of the Bands" campaign set up by Capitol Records between The Beach Boys and Music/TheBeatles, with joint record store displays, combative television appearances, and the two bands vying for dominance of the charts. ''Yes''. Sadly, Brian still has his CreatorBreakdown in TheSeventies but makes a comeback [[spoiler: only to get assassinated by Mark David Chapman instead of Music/JohnLennon.]][[/note]]

** Wilson's breakdown also heavily affected the Beach Boys' music. After shelving ''Music/SMiLE'', Wilson led the band to record the drastically stripped back and surreal ''Music/SmileySmile'' in its place, which was such a radical departure from their previous work, it alienated near all of their fans and confused critics (though now it's been vindicated as a classic) The record flopped and The Beach Boys went from hip musical innovators to spending decades languishing in commercial failure. Brian's mental state only decreased more and more, leading to depression, auditory hallucinations which he still has today to and gaining massive amounts of weight. His feelings around the time are captured on the track 'Til' I Die' from ''Music/SurfsUp'' (arguably their darkest record). He got better.