“Surfin’” was a crude blueprint for what would become the Beach Boys’ signature sound: a simple lead vocal line (sung by Mr. Love) accompanied by sunny harmonizing, doo-wop-style scatting and a rudimentary rock beat. To that point the surf music fad had primarily involved guitar instrumentals, but by adding vocals the Beach Boys created a wave rider’s credo:
Surfing is the only life, the only way for me
Now come on pretty baby and surf with me
Though Mr. Wilson embraced the youthful freedom that surfing represented, he never took to the sport. “I tried it once and got conked on the head with the board,” he once said.
Signed by Capitol Records in 1962, the group was prolific from the start, releasing 10 studio LPs through 1965. With short hair, toothy smiles and matching striped shirts, the young men cut a wholesome image. Their harmonies, shared by all members, were vivacious and pristine.
Mr. Wilson became the band’s primary producer and songwriter, and his sophistication soon shone through. “Surfer Girl,” a lilting, harmony-drenched ballad that went to No. 7 in 1963, was perhaps the first pop hit written, arranged, produced and sung by the same person.
Mr. Wilson’s first No. 1, however, came as a writer of Jan and Dean’s song “Surf City” (1963). In a sign of conflicts to come, Murry Wilson, who managed the Beach Boys and controlled the band’s songwriting copyrights, was furious that Brian had given a valuable hit to another act.
Other problems surfaced. “Surfin’ U.S.A.” resembled Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” a bit too closely, so Berry was added to the credits, and his publisher acquired the song’s copyright.
In December 1964, Mr. Wilson married Marilyn Rovell, who sang in a girl group called the Honeys. A few weeks later, just before Christmas, he had a panic attack on a flight to a Beach Boys engagement in Houston and decided to quit touring to concentrate on songwriting and recording.