Credit: Wikipedia

The music of the 1960s was personified by American boy band, The Beach Boys. Brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson formed The Beach Boys in 1961, creating a unique fusion of R&B and 1950s rock and roll that was dubbed the "California sound". It appealed to the US youth culture of surfing, teenage romance and fast cars. The band's origins Initially, The Beach Boys were managed by the Wilson brothers' father, Murry Gage Wilson, after forming in their home town of Hawthorne, California. Their peak years were generally considered to be from 1962 to 1967, when they had a multitude of hit singles and albums. Many of their singles had a surfing theme, such as Surfin' Safari in 1962 and Surfer Girl in 1963, both of which charted in the US Billboard Hot 100. Surprisingly, the only true surfer in the band was drummer Dennis, the middle brother, who died in 1983. His lifestyle personified The Beach Boys' music. He famously admitted he lived a "fast life", adding he "wouldn't give it up for anything in the world". He was described as having a "surfer's indifference to possessions," and was said to have spent a fortune on his friends and having a good time. Brian, now 76, was the vocalist and keyboard and bass player when the band first formed. He was the oldest brother and the leader of The Beach Boys, writing or co-writing more than 20 top 40 hits for the band. He was also their producer in the early years. Carl, who died in 1998, played guitar and keyboard, as well as singing. He was the youngest of the three brothers. Initially, he was a backing vocalist, but progressed to singing lead vocals too. He became the band's leader and musical director after Brian suffered a spate of ill health in the mid-1960s. Their most famous song Written by Dennis Wilson and Mike Love (the Wilsons' cousin, who also sang with the band), The Beach Boys' most famous song was Good Vibrations, which they released in 1966. It reached number one in the US and UK singles' charts, achieving platinum status on both sides of the Atlantic. It also topped the charts in Australia and peaked at number two in Canada, Holland and Norway. The song had an interesting background, as Brian said it had been inspired by his mother, Audree. He recalled that when he was a child, she would talk about "vibrations", a concept which he found rather frightening at the time. His mother would tell him about how dogs would pick up invisible vibrations from people, explaining why they didn't bark at some, but seemed to take a dislike to others. Those people with "good vibrations" were the ones that the dogs liked. Recording and production Brian decided it would be interesting to write a song about picking up vibrations from people. The track was unique and psychedelic. It took two months to record and more than 70 hours of tape were used before the band members were happy with the end result. Brian had worked on the song obsessively and was hailed as a genius after Good Vibrations was released and became a huge hit. It became The Beach Boys' signature song and remains their most iconic record today, more than 50 years after its release. Hal Blaine, the legendary session musician, had played drums on Good Vibrations in the studio when the track was recorded. He was described as the "greatest drummer ever" in his obituary, following his death, at the age of 90, on 11th March 2019. Blaine had also played drums on Elvis Presley's Return To Sender, The Ronettes' Be My Baby and Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame confirmed he had played on 40 number one hit singles and 150 top 10 records in the United States during his long career.   Lyrics The writing of the lyrics proved a challenge for the band. Initially, Brian had enlisted the help of lyricist Tony Asher to put words to his idea, but Asher found this difficult, mainly because Brian played the tune on a piano and Asher found his playing style "primitive"! Eventually, it was Mike Love who wrote the lyrics, after the early version written by Brian and Asher was discarded. Love described his lyrics as a "flowery poem", with the male narrator "picking up good vibrations" from a woman with whom he was besotted. The song contains his description of everything he likes about her, beginning with the famous line, "I love the colourful clothes she wears and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair." It was an era of flower power and afterwards, Love said the "psychedelic vibe" had influenced him when writing the lyrics. Good, good, good, good vibrations! If you enjoy wearing colourful clothes, MA Griggs' country store, in picturesque Cornwall, has plenty to choose from! Our quality range of branded clothing is second to none and includes garments by Hunter, Joules and many more leading designers. Check out our website, or pop in to our retail store in person, to see our comprehensive range of outdoor wear for all seasons.