A 1960’s Comparison: The Beatles vs. The Beach Boys
Brian’s passing has predictably stirred comparisons between the Beatles and Beach Boys and their impact on music. The purpose of this article is to explore that issue and objectively let the facts speak for themselves.
For the record, I’m a big fan of both bands. They both specialized in producing infectious pop songs with tight multi-part harmonies and loaded with lots of energy. One important distinction should be noted — the Beatles evolved into writing more genre diverse music than the Beach Boys who never strayed far from their original roots.
Their Early Beginnings
Brian Wilson’s passing on June 11 at 82 years old, while sad, ends his lifelong struggle with mental illness. He was the co-founding member of the “original’ Beach Boys, which consisted of Brian and his 2 brothers (Carl, Dennis), a cousin (Mike Love) and a friend (Al Jardine). I use the word “original” because numerous musicians were members of the Beach Boys including:
· Childhood friend David Marks joined the lineup from 1962 to 1963 and later played with the group in 1997 to 1999 and then again in the 2000s
· Although he was never an official member then session musician Glen Campbell toured with the group in 1964 and 1965.
· Bruce Johnston joined the group in 1965, staying until 1972 and then later rejoining again.
· Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar became members in the early 70s.
The Beach Boys formed in Southern California in 1961 and built their imagery around surfing, cars and girls, all of which became important components to the “California sound”. They didn’t pioneer this genre of pop music, but they undeniably raised its global credibility. Dennis was the only surfer in the band.
Surfin’ Safari, their first album was released in 1962 reaching No32 on the Billboard 200 chart and it produced their first Top 20 (No14) hit by the same name. The song was written by Brian and Mike Love who co-penned many of their hits, but I’ll delve into songwriting later in the article. My research findings surprised me.
Surfin’ U.S.A., their 2nd album, was released in early 1963 and reached No2 in America and surprisingly No13 in the UK. Again, it produced their first Top 5 (No3) hit single by the same name. The song was a re-write of Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” with new lyrics by Wilson and an uncredited Love.
The Beatles we’re all from Liverpool, England 5,300 miles from Southern California. Paul McCartney joined John Lennon’s band in 1957. George Harrison joined in 1958, and the core foursome was completed when Ringo Starr was added in 1962. Their music focused mostly on girl/boy relationships.
Their first single release was “Love Me Do” written by Lennon/McCartney which reached No17 on the UK chart in the fall of 1962. Please Please Me was their first album release in the spring of 1963 and it quickly reached No1(UK) and Top 10 in much of Europe. The album produced their first UK Top 5 (No2) single (“Please Please Me”) and their first No1 (“From Me To You”), both written by Lennon/McCartney. The album was released in America on a small non-descript record label (Vee-Jay) with no publicity and only reached No155 on the Billboard chart. It also birthed the fan phenomenon dubbed Beatlemania across the UK.
With The Beatles was their 2nd 1963 album release and it too reached No1 in both the UK and in key European markets. However, it suffered the same poor result in the US as their first album. Importantly, prior to this album release they issued 2 global smash No1 hit singles “She Loves You” and ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand”, both written by Lennon/McCartney.
Both bands were on their way to more global success.
1964 — The British Invasion
The Beatles much anticipated and hugely successful first US TV appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February opened the floodgates to a steady flow of other UK acts. These new performers all had been influenced by the Beatles UK success in 1963 and copied their “mop top” hair style, which was certainly not an American look. Many cleaned up their scruffy attire and donned matching suits, again copying the Beatles. So, most of the new British performers intentionally resembled the Beatles.
The following photos show 2 different attire approaches to support their desired stage image. The Beach Boys chose Southern California preppy, casual style and reflected an all-American image. The Beatles, at the direction of their manager, chose a more formal and professional approach right down to their “Beatle Boots”. Even the iconic drumhead logo (“The Beatles”) contrasted with the Beach Boys who used no logo.
Here are 1964 performance photos of the 2 bands.
The Beach Boys in late 1964. Note Al Jardine’s Rickenbacker 12 string guitar that George Harrison introduced in early 1964.
The Beatles performing live in February 1964.
The impact of Beatlemania on record sales can be easily contrasted by comparing these 2 Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 lists.
The Week Of December 28, 1963 (90% American)
1. Dominique (The Singing Nun)
2. There! I’ve Said It Again (Bobbi Vinton)
3. Louie Louie (The Kingsmen)
4. Since I Fell For You (Lenny Welch)
5. You Don’t Have To Be A Baby To Cry (The Caravelles)
6. Drip Drop (Dion DiMuci)
7. Forget Him (Bobby Rydell)
8. Popsicles And Icicles (The Murmaids)
9. Talk Back Trembling Lips (Johnny Tillotson)
10.Be True To Your School (The Beach Boys)
The Week Of April 4, 1964 (40% American)
1. Can’t Buy Me Love (The Beatles)
2. Twist And Shout (The Beatles)
3. She Loves You (The Beatles)
4. I Want To Hold Your Hand (The Beatles)
5. Please, Please Me (The Beatles)
6. Suspicion (Terry Stafford)
7. Hello, Dolly! (Louis Armstrong And The All-Stars)
8. The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) Betty Everett
9. My Heart Belongs To Only You (Bobby Vinton)
10. Glad All Over (The Dave Clark Five)
1964 year-ending US comparisons
Beatles — 6 No1 singles, 11 Top 10 hits, 3 No1 albums & A Hard Day’s Night movie.
Beach Boys — 1 No1 single, 5 Top 10 hits & no No1 albums.
Beatles singles stayed at the No1 position for a total of 18 weeks (roughly 30% of the year).
Beach Boys had 2 weeks at the top.
Unfortunately, Brian Wilson had a nervous breakdown and stops touring with band.
1965…More Beatles domination
Beatles — 5 No1 singles, 6 Top 10 songs, 3 No1 albums & Help movie.
Beach Boys — 2 No1 songs, 2 Top 10 songs, no No1 albums or movie.
Brian Wilson played a few live shows with the band.
1966…More Of The Same
Beatles — 2 No1 singles, 5 Top 10 songs, 3 No1 albums & 2 promotional song videos (a first).
Beach Boys — 1 No1 song, 2 Top 10 songs & no No1 albums & 1 promotional song video.
In May, the Beach Boys release their magnum opus Pet Sounds (reaches No10) as a response to the Beatles 1965 release of Rubber Soul (No1). So begins the above board competition and mutual admiration shared by both bands. Brian Wilson produced it and wrote or co-wrote 12 of the 13 tracks (see below). Because of the complexity of the instrumentation, he hired local session musicians (“The Wrecking Crew”) and the rest of the band only performed vocals. In 1967 he made the same decision on their next album Smiley Smile (reached No41), which was a big disappointment to many fans. Pet Sounds proved to be their final Top 10 album.
The Beatles created numerous instrumentally and technically difficult songs and would never have resorted a Wrecking Crew — like solution.
August — After 4 grueling years of touring the Beatles performed their final concert and spend the next 4 years studio-based. Another first.
Brian Wilson continues to play a few live shows with the band.
Songwriting
The Beatles released 189 original songs during their 8 year career and according to ChartMasters, the Beach Boys released “over 100” during the 1960’s. The Beatles had 3 very successful songwriters, and the consensus opinion is that Beach Boys basically had one, Brian Wilson. I was aware of Mike Love’s co-writing a few songs, but discovered that I underestimated the contribution of co-writers with the Beach Boys songs.
I researched the songwriting credits on just their Top 20 1960’s songs and found the following.
· The Beach Boys had 20 Top 20 songs.
· 3 songs were covers of someone else’s work.
· Brian & Mike Love co-wrote 11 or 55% of the songs.
· Brian, Carl Wilson & Mike Love wrote 1 song.
· Brian wrote 2 songs alone (“Surfer Girl”, “The Little Girl I Once Knew”)
· Brian co-wrote 3 other songs with other co-writers.
So, Brian Wilson co-wrote 90% of the 20 best selling songs. This finding is no way are intended to disparage Brian’s songwriting genius. I’ve read his 1991 autobiography “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and importantly he was the melody contributor. And, he’s as good as it gets! I also discovered that 8 of the 13 songs on their epic album Pet Sounds were co-written with lyricist Tony Asher including “God Only Knows”, “Caroline, No”, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”. Brian is the lone writer on only 2 of the 13 tracks.
This situation is somewhat analogous to Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Both Brian and Elton recognized their strength was creating melodies and not crafting lyrics.
Fast Aside: I just googled “who wrote the most top 10 songs in the 1960s?” and AI credited Brian Wilson as the sole writer for “Good Only Knows”. AI is still a work in-progress.
Brian Wilson’s greatest contribution to the Beach Boy’s sound was his role as their producer, arranger and music director.
Summary
By their own public statements, Pet Sounds made a big impact on all the Beatles and encouraged them to take greater studio risks. The result was 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Thank you, Beach Boys!
The Beatles career only spanned 8 short years (1962–1970). By comparison, a version of The Beach Boys continues to tour even today under the leadership of Mike Love and sometimes including Bruce Johnston in the band
Finally, here are the total record sales and performance comparisons.
Beatles — 14 No1 albums & 20 No1 singles (both Billboard records).
Beach Boys — Never had a No1 album & 3 No1 singles.
CBS News claims the Beatles have sold 1.6 billion singles and 177 million albums in the US. Worldwide, single sales are 2 billion and their album sales are 600 million.
BestSellingAlbum.org claims the Beach Boys have sold over 100 million records worldwide. I couldn’t find a breakdown between albums and singles.
For a more indepth overview of the musical influence that these 2 bands had on each other during the 1965–1967 period, you might enjoy this excellent recent article.
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