For more than six decades, Al Jardine has been part of one of the greatest musical stories ever told. As a founding member of The Beach Boys, his voice helped define the sound of California in the 1960s, from the group’s sun-soaked harmonies to the complex arrangements you’d hear on records like All Summer Long, Pet Sounds, and beyond. But beyond the hits, Al has always had a deep appreciation for the songs and moments that shaped The Beach Boys’ journey. Since the passing of Brian Wilson, the creative force behind The Beach Boys and one of the most influential songwriters and composers of the 20th century, Al has continued to carry that legacy forward, performing around the world with The Pet Sounds Band and keeping the spirit of those recordings alive onstage. With the recent release of We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years offering another look into the group’s creative journey, there’s never been a better time to revisit the music and stories behind one of America’s greatest groups.
You know when talking about The Beach Boys or the California sound of the 1960s, Jan & Dean are often mentioned. From your perspective, what was the actual relationship between the two groups?
Al Jardine: I still spend time with Dean [Torrence] whenever I see him. We always enjoy his company. Dean was always a funny guy, whereas Jan tended to be more serious. We recorded in many of the same studios. In fact, Dean jumped into the session for “Barbara Ann” against Jan’s wishes and joined us on The Beach Boys Party! album. Jan & Dean were there before us. Mike [Love] kind of modeled some of his singing style after Jan, and that gave us a formula to build on. They were really fun guys.
Brian Wilson’s gifts as a composer and arranger are clearly well documented, but what was something he was exceptionally good at that people outside the studio rarely got to see?
AJ: You can’t teach someone how to write a song. Either you have it or you don’t, and Brian had that gift. But he had much more than that. He could arrange, produce, sing like an angel, and write lyrics. He was the whole package. The rest of us were his components. We played the instruments and interpreted his imagination musically and it worked. That’s probably the best way to put it.
During the making of Pet Sounds, did you realize Brian was creating something fundamentally different from previous Beach Boys records?
AJ: We were used to making hit records, so this was a big change. It was obviously not going to be one of those straightforward commercial projects. We knew it was going to be more complex and more thoughtful. That changed the formula. Mike had some difficulty with that because he was part of the songwriting team and we all had to adjust. I made my contribution with “Sloop John B.” We had just come off a tour of Japan and had a lot of work to do. Brian was very excited about it and it came off really well, but it took quite a while for the material to catch on. “Sloop John B” was a hit single, but it took time for the rest of the album to be appreciated as you see now.
60 years later, what does Pet Sounds mean to you now?
AJ: Performing it is a lot of fun because we have a way of staging it now that we didn’t back then. We have all the instruments and many of the people who worked with Brian’s touring band when he started performing it around 2002. Everything is in place now. We start with the “Pet Sounds” instrumental and work into various tracks from the album. It sounds really good.
If “Good Vibrations” had been completed in time for the release of Pet Sounds, do you think it belonged on the album?
AJ: Of course, it belonged there. But yeah, it would have been terrific to have it on Pet Sounds. But now it’s become almost an institution unto itself and it was a breakaway from traditional Beach Boys recordings. It went right to number one in the UK when it came out, which blew my mind and it changed the trajectory for a lot of people, including The Beatles. Brian's ear was just incredible. What's amazing is that he was deaf in one ear, and yet he could still come up with an arrangement like that. The way he heard music was truly unique.
During those mid-late ’60s tours of England, The Beach Boys were experiencing a level of fame that was almost unimaginable. Are there any memories from those trips that still stand out to you today?
AJ: Oh sure. We were riding through towns in open vehicles and there were crowds everywhere. England was a wonderful place for us and the fans there were incredibly enthusiastic. It was exciting to see how far the music had traveled from California.
Many of the post-Pet Sounds albums like 20/20, Sunflower, and Love You have developed larger followings over time. What are your thoughts on that growing appreciation?
AJ: We all grew exponentially. We all learned how to write songs thanks to Brian. We had a template. We could fill in where he was missing if necessary. We all became producers, writers, and arrangers because of Brian. It’s all thanks to Brian.
One of my favorite songs in the Beach Boys catalog is “At My Window,” a collaboration between you and Brian. What was the inspiration behind it?
AJ: I was a big fan of The Kingston Trio, and it was modeled after one of their songs. It had that folk style and I liked the idea of a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on in the world. There’s a little bird flying around, observing things. That’s really where the song came from. There’s also that bit where Brian tries to speak French. I asked Bruce [Johnston] to sing it and it had exactly that Kingston Trio folk feeling I was looking for.
What has been the most meaningful part of leading The Pet Sounds Band and carrying on The Beach Boys’ music?
AJ: It’s been great. My musical director, Darian Sahanaja, was Brian’s musical director as well, so we pretty much have the same team. It’s wonderful to accurately replicate the music we created so many years ago at studio quality. Going to the microphone now is almost like performing in a recording studio. You hear all the parts you remember. Most touring bands have to economize and can’t recreate every detail, but we can. With today’s keyboards we can even replicate string sections. It’s a beautiful sound, and people get to hear the music the way it was supposed to be heard.
One thing that’s really surprised fans is hearing The Pet Sounds Band perform songs from Love You, 15 Big Ones, and even material from the Adult/Child era. Given the recent We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years box set, what has it been like revisiting that period of the Beach Boys’ catalog on the road?
AJ: Oh, it’s been a revelation. To be honest, I don’t think I fully appreciated some of that material when we first made it. At the time, we were trying to reinvent ourselves and people didn’t quite know what to make of it. Looking back now, Brian was still writing wonderful songs, they were just different. When you get up onstage and sing something like “Solar System” or “The Night Was So Young,” you realize how beautifully crafted they really are. The audiences are responding to them in a way nobody could have predicted back then. And a song like “Ding Dang” is only a 57-second song, but everybody goes crazy for it. I even added some new lyrics and chords so it’s a bit longer now.
When looking at your solo catalog, one of your most recent songs, “My Plane Leaves Tomorrow (Au Revoir),” sat unfinished for years before appearing on last year’s EP Islands in the Sun. What was it like revisiting that song after so many years?
AJ: That one has a lot of personal meaning because Neil Young was helping me with my solo album, as was Flea. To hear those guys on the recording is refreshing and very meaningful. Neil doesn’t usually sing songs like this, and neither does Flea, and their energy made it more complete. When you’re talking about going off to war and maybe never coming back, it’s pretty heavy material. It’s not light. It’s very meaningful to me right now.
When you play shows along the East Coast, is it different compared to playing around California or other parts of the West Coast?
AJ: Not really, it’s pretty much the same. The band is still the same band and it sounds great. We play all the hits from The Beach Boys era, and we’re celebrating the 60th anniversary of Pet Sounds. It feels like a Beach Boys show. We’re performing in theaters with our own equipment and some rental gear, but it always feels great to be in that area of the world.
You’re bringing The Pet Sounds Band to Hammondsport, New York and for Upstate NY audiences there’s an interesting connection because before your family moved to Hawthorne, California, you actually spent part of your childhood in Rochester. What’s it like for you revisiting this area?
AJ: When we visited that area of the world as The Beach Boys, it was always fun. Now I’m coming back with my own band, and I was there a few years ago for an induction into the Hall of Fame. It’s always great coming back to Rochester.
I love that family photo of you, your brother, and your parents sitting on the steps of your old Rochester home. Your mother was incredibly supportive of your musical ambitions and even helped finance some of the group’s rental of instruments for some of the earliest recordings. Looking back, without her encouragement and financial support, would there have been a Beach Boys?
AJ: At that time, definitely because Brian was so talented that I think he would have become what he became regardless because his family was full of talent. But my mother’s help certainly got us started and helped us make our first recording. She provided the financing for it and she probably should have received a manager’s royalty. Looking back, it was the starting point and without her, things would have probably been delayed for quite a while.
Do you have any favorite memories of Upstate New York?
AJ: I don’t remember a lot of that stuff. What I do remember is growing up in Rochester and sitting on that front porch for that family photograph. That’s my memory. We lived down at Parkview Terrace near the Coast Guard station. There was a beautiful little bay there and I used to go ice skating. I love the whole Finger Lakes area and I look forward to seeing everybody there.
