LONDON – The Beach Boys share their story in a new book chronicling their rise from a small garage band formed in a Los Angeles suburb in the early 1960s to one of the world’s greatest groups.

The Beach Boys By The Beach Boys is described as their only official book and features previously unseen photographs from recording sessions and pages of concert shots.

“It’s high time we had a really good book. There’s a lot of stuff from yesteryear, us growing up and different phases of our career,” said band member Mike Love, 83, at the London launch on May 9 evening.

“We actually wrote this, this is a book from The Beach Boys,” said his bandmate Bruce Johnston, 81.

The book is described as “told through the words” of Love, Johnston, Brian Wilson, 81, his late brothers Dennis and Carl, who died in 1983 and 1998 respectively, and Al Jardine, 81.

The group was formed in 1961 by the three American brothers, their cousin Love and friend Jardine. Johnston joined in 1965.

“It’s positivity and harmony and the love of making that music, and it translates to the audience,” Love said of the group’s lasting success. “Our music is all about positivity and harmony, and people just love to feel that.”

Their hits range from pop classics celebrating Southern California’s sunny youth culture, such as Surfin’ U.S.A. (1963), to the complex musical masterpieces of Heroes And Villains (1967) and Good Vibrations (1993).

Their story took a tragic turn as their renowned composer Brian Wilson – hailed as a genius by former Beatles member Paul McCartney – struggled with his mental health, even as he recorded some of his era’s most compelling harmonies.

In February, two long-time associates of Wilson petitioned a court, at his family’s behest, to place him under a conservatorship, saying he could not care for himself following his wife’s death in January.

The petition, approved by a judge on May 9, asked that Wilson’s publicist-manager Jean Sievers and business manager LeeAnn Hard be appointed “co-conservators of his person”.

Speaking before May 9’s hearing took place, Johnston said of Wilson: “Brian’s doing better than people think. Brian’s such a mystery, but Brian’s still Brian.”

Love said the band members, including Wilson, met in 2023 in Paradise Cove, where The Beach Boys shot their first album cover.

“(Wilson) brought up things that I’d forgotten about, and we sang a few things a cappella,” he said.

Some of the scenes feature in a new documentary, The Beach Boys, released on Disney+ on May 24, he added. REUTERS