No other musical group has ever captured the sound of fun in the sun, good times, and growing up like the Beach Boys did. They helped define the California beach music sound. They provided a soundtrack for the 1960s because their music spoke to teenagers going through the difficult transition to adulthood. Throughout the 1960s and beyond, the Beach Boys expressed the desires, dreams, and hopes of many young people in the United States.

The Beach Boys began with the Wilson brothers forming the nucleus of the group: Brian (1942–) writing songs and playing bass, Carl (1946–1998) on guitar, and Dennis (1944–1983) on drums. They were joined by friend Al Jardine (1942–) on guitar and cousin Mike Love (1941–) on vocals in 1961. As the band got going, instrumental surf music was emerging as a popular musical style in southern California. The Beach Boys took that guitar sound and added lush vocal...