If the Beatles are considered a group, and Crosby, Stills & Nash a songwriting trio, then the Beach Boys were a family, and not just an actual family. The band was formed by three brothers who reportedly spent a weekend’s earnings on food rather than instruments, as the TV movies are keen to say. Reality, as it always is, proves to be more nuanced than that, but the crux of the Beach Boys was centred around three siblings and an older cousin, creating the kind of family forged by life’s challenges set to song.
Surf’s Up: Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys is Peter Doggett’s way of making sense of a clan of brothers who created some of the most dazzling pop of the 20th century. Using a lovely turn of phrase, the author recognises the Beach Boys’ Carl Wilson’s abilities as a mediator: “None of that comprised an individual identity as an artist; it merely emphasised the immense skill required to facilitate the fulfilment of other people’s ideas.” Profiling every Beach Boy for his key strengths, Doggett regards Dennis Wilson as a “wanderer” and brother Brian as a composer who overcame verbal taunts from his father to become a musical tour de force.
The chapter on Mike Love is smartly handled: acknowledging his shortcomings but offering a sensible defence of some of his actions that have upset fans. He was, Doggett reasons, an entertainer who had to contend with a drunk drummer (Dennis Wilson), an unenthusiastic rhythm guitarist (Al Jardine) – not forgetting a bassist as impolite to Love in interview as the vocalist was about his cousin (Brian himself!) All the while, he recorded interpretations of Van Dykes Parks‘ words, even if he didn’t fully comprehend the poetic subtext behind them.
Doggett may be best remembered for 2009’s You Never Give Me Your Money, an excellent exploration of the Beatles’ financial mishaps; by that measurement, Surf’s Up: Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys is a slightly lesser work. It doesn’t have the grandeur or the high drama, nor is it as beautifully written as You Never Give Me Your Money was. However, Surf’s Up: Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys demonstrates the standard Doggett set, as seen in his book on the Liverpudlians.
Brian Wilson is an opaque character to write about, revealing a portion of himself in 1988 when he emerged as a slimmer solo artist. “Too Much Sugar”, a confessional about the songwriting bassist’s large appetite, cautioned listeners against overconsumption, in an effort to “live to 99.” Wilson spent his life jumping in and out of the spotlight: “He was forced to confront his fears and his failings in public, to recite his sins like a victim of the Maoist regime of self-criticism.”
It was at the height of Brian’s obesity that Eugene Landy entered the picture, placing the Beach Boy bassist in a hospital to detox. Landy’s imprint stuck on the songwriter for better or worse. In an alarming twist of fate, Brian Wilson never truly let go of the “adult/child duality” that had fascinated the psychologist. Keen to rise to the challenge, the bassist based a Beach Boys record around the title, invariably re-packaged under the snazzier name M.I.U. Album.
Landy and Love had their faults, but they were as fallible as we all are. The most sinister character in the Beach Boys’ mythos didn’t target Brian, but middle brother Dennis: Charles Manson. The drummer, horrified that Manson’s influence led to Sharon Tate’s murder, refused to discuss his (at best minimal) association with the cult leader, either at trial or to the press.
Dennis’ status as one of the Beach Boys cannot have escaped Manson’s knowledge: “Dennis’s celebrity and rugged physical appeal undoubtedly attracted and held many young people who might not have been entranced by Manson alone.” Dennis, like Brian, carried wounds for the rest of his life, and it is with sadness that the Wilson triumvirate has all left this earth; Brian being the last survivor.
Doggett’s writing style is punchy, but he treats his reader with respect. He’s aware that much of his work is common knowledge (the Beach Boys took part in a documentary with Frank Marshall for Disney in 2024). Still, little nuggets are revealed in Doggett’s research; for instance, Irish guitarist Sean O’Hagan, keen to meet the man who inspired some of his chamber pop, first saw Brian Wilson while he was wolfing down some ice cream.
Tying Surf’s Up back to the Beatles, Doggett notes that Paul McCartney saw the Beach Boys at the Whisky a Go Go in 1970. Their music may have influenced some of the harmonies heard on McCartney’s 1971 album, Ram. B Wilson admitted that McCartney “scared” him, because he’d written “Let It Be”, a song he couldn’t “figure out what it means”. Surf’s Up: Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys helps with figuring out more about this band’s vital legacy.