The Beach Boys Tell Their Own Story in First-Ever Official Book

The Beach Boys will tell their story in their own words in the first-ever official book from the surf-rock legends.

The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys compiles exclusive interviews from band members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston — as well as archival text from late members Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson — to form the autobiography, which spans the beginnings of the band and signing their Capitol Records contract up through their famed 1980 Independence Day concert at the National Mall in Washington D.C.

In addition to the interviews, the book also features ephemera from the Capitol Records, Beach Boys, and their own personal archives, including lyric sheets, chord sheets, live photographs, handwritten notes, studio documents, tape boxes, tour posters, and much more.

The Beach Boys by The Beach Boys also boasts contributions from some of the countless artists inspired by the band, including Lindsey Buckingham, Thom Yorke, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Ray Davies, Bob Dylan, Def Leppard, the Flaming Lips, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, David Lee Roth, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Roger McGuinn, Graham Nash, Jimmy Page, Carly Simon, Pete Townshend, and Rufus Wainwright.

The “bookstore” version of the autobiography will arrive in hardcover form in 2024, but this December, Genesis Publications will release just over 400 “deluxe” copies of the 400-page tome, woven from 100% recycled plastic gathered from oceans and coastline and autographed by Brian Wilson, Love, Jardine and Johnston. That version is available to preorder now through Genesis. (An extremely limited “Artluxe” version has already sold out.)

‘There’s love in the music and people can relate to the love, regardless of whether you’re two years old or 92 years old,” Brian Wilson says in the book. “For me, music is about love. Love is the message I want to share. I hope people feel that in my music. That makes the hard work worth it.”