The Beach Boys

USA, 1961–now

California group built around the Wilson brothers and Brian Wilson's writing. After early surf and car songs, Wilson stopped touring to work in the studio, producing Pet Sounds and 'Good Vibrations', both built on unusual chord movement and layered arrangement.

MusicRoots documents 7 artists who influenced The Beach Boys and 19 artists The Beach Boys influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced The Beach Boys?

• George Gershwin — Brian Wilson heard Rhapsody in Blue at about the age of two, lying by his grandmother's record player, and called it the work of art that set his life going - he returned to it decades later on Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin.
• Burt Bacharach — Bacharach's melancholy chord movement is part of the harmonic vocabulary behind Pet Sounds; Wilson thought he had unconsciously modelled 'Let's Go Away for Awhile' on him, and called him a hero and very influential on his work.
• Chuck Berry — 'Surfin' U.S.A.' is a direct rewrite of 'Sweet Little Sixteen'; authorship was legally acknowledged.
• The Four Freshmen — Brian Wilson spent hours learning the Four Freshmen's chord voicings, directly modelling the Beach Boys' vocal arrangements on them.
• Phil Spector — Spector's Wall of Sound was Wilson's direct studio inspiration for Pet Sounds.
• The Beatles — 'Rubber Soul' was the direct impulse for Pet Sounds — Wilson stated this publicly.
• Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers — Brian Wilson has named Frankie Lymon a formative vocal-group influence — the falsetto and harmony blend behind the early Beach Boys.

Which artists did The Beach Boys influence?

• Neutral Milk Hotel — The Beach Boys' harmony-rich 1960s pop is part of the psychedelic melodicism at Neutral Milk Hotel's heart.
• The Queers — The Queers welded Ramones buzz to Beach Boys-style vocal harmonies, a defining part of their pop-punk sound.
• The Turtles — The Beach Boys' California pop harmonies were a key influence on The Turtles' sunshine pop sound.
• Daft Punk — The Beach Boys were a documented early influence: Bangalter and de Homem-Christo's pre-Daft Punk band Darlin' was named after a Beach Boys song and covered it — the melodic warmth that later surfaced on Discovery.
• Fleetwood Mac — Lindsey Buckingham has repeatedly named Brian Wilson his production and harmony model — the studio craft behind the Rumours-era sound.
• The Jesus and Mary Chain — The Reids' stated equation: Beach Boys melodies inside the noise — the pop half of Psychocandy's chemistry.
• ABBA — The Beach Boys' stacked vocal harmonies were a documented model for ABBA's immaculate multi-part singing.
• Toto — The Beach Boys' layered harmonies and studio detail were a documented model for Toto's vocal and production polish.
• Electric Light Orchestra — The Beach Boys' intricate harmonies were among the acts that captivated Jeff Lynne and shaped ELO's melodic layering.
• Journey — Perry cited the Beach Boys' vocal approach among his models — the harmony sensibility in Journey's ballads.
• The Shins — The Beach Boys' sunlit harmony and melodic craft are woven through the Shins' bittersweet '60s-tinged pop.
• Animal Collective — The Beach Boys — especially Pet Sounds — are a deep influence on Animal Collective's warped, blissful vocal harmonies.
• Grizzly Bear — Brian Wilson's Beach Boys arrangements are formative to Grizzly Bear's lush, close-harmony chamber pop.
• Fleet Foxes — SMiLE-era Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys' harmonies are Robin Pecknold's north star — he grew up driving around listening to 'Surf's Up' and 'Feel Flows'.
• Weezer — The Beach Boys' harmony-drenched pop informs Rivers Cuomo's melodic, hook-first songwriting.
• Air — The Beach Boys' lush harmony and studio dreaminess are woven through Air's cinematic downtempo pop.
• Tame Impala — The Beach Boys' lush harmony and Brian Wilson's studio craft are a deep influence on Tame Impala's sun-dappled psychedelia.
• Bastille — The Beach Boys were part of Dan Smith's childhood listening, feeding Bastille's harmony-rich pop.
• Kraftwerk — Hütter has named the Beach Boys among the group's major influences, and their harmony is what sits on top of the motorik pulse in 'Autobahn'.