Al Jardine
Encyclopedia
Alan Charles "Al" Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys
, a guitar
ist and occasional lead vocalist
. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1988.
. His family moved from Ohio to San Francisco, California, and later to Hawthorne, California
. In high school, he met a fellow student, Brian Wilson
, and played stand up bass on The Beach Boys' first recording, the 1961 song "Surfin'
." Following his leaving the band in early 1962, he worked in the air industry in Los Angeles. He was replaced by David Marks
. He rejoined the band in summer 1963 at the request of Brian Wilson and until October, he toured with and worked in the studio with David, until the latter left the band.
," as well as "Christmas Day," "Then I Kissed Her," "Cotton Fields
," "Susie Cincinnati," "Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)
," "Peggy Sue," "Lady Lynda
" and "Come Go With Me
" and shared the lead with other members of the band on tracks including "Break Away
" and "I Know There's an Answer
." On the latter track producer Brian Wilson preferred Al's lead vocal to his own.
Beginning with the Friends
album, Jardine also wrote or co-wrote a number of songs for the band, the most notable of which is probably "California Saga: California
" from the Holland
album, which charted in early 1973. Jardine's song "Lady Lynda
" was one of the band's biggest hits outside the USA. After Jardine's divorce from his wife, the song was re-written and re-titled "Lady Liberty" in honor of the centennial of the Statue Of Liberty in 1986. During the Pet Sounds
sessions, he was the one that suggested to Brian Wilson that the group record "Sloop John B
."
He also shared production credits with Ron Altbach on 1978's M.I.U. Album
. Two of the band's late-period hits ("Lady Lynda
" and "Come Go with Me
") were Jardine productions, as was his 1969 rewrite of Leadbelly
's "Cotton Fields
," which sold successfully in the UK but only reached #103 in the US. Its ex-US success replicated that of "Then I Kissed Her', both top 3 hits in many European countries and South Africa.
Al Jardine took the initiative for The Beach Boys to record a cover of The Mamas And The Papas' biggest hit, California Dreamin'
. It became a big success in 1985, reaching #5 on the US charts and featured a musicvideo resulting in airplay on the new music TV channel MTV. The musicvideo featured the three surviving members of The Mamas And The Papas in cameo roles.
died of lung cancer
, but remains a member of the Beach Boys corporation Brother Records
. He tours with his Endless Summer Band, containing many of the stage musicians who toured with The Beach Boys, including Billy Hinsche
of Dino, Desi and Billy, Ed Carter, Bobby Figueroa, and Jardine's son Matt Jardine, who sang with the Beach Boys during much of their later career. Despite rarely singing falsetto vocals since the early 1980s, recent videos show him in fine voice singing the lead and falsetto high parts on a live cover of Del Shannon's Runaway
.
In the fall of 2006, Jardine joined the band of Brian Wilson
for a short tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds
.
In March 2008, Jardine settled a suit brought against him by Mike Love
and the estate of Carl Wilson regarding use of the "Beach Boys" name. He had formed a band called Beach Boys Family & Friends featuring sons Matt and Adam Jardine, Carnie and Wendy Wilson, Daryl Dragon, Billy Hinsche and others.
In August 2010, the Red Hot Chili Peppers
began rehearsing for their album I'm With You
, which was released in 2011. They are using Jardine's home studio for their rehearsals.
Jardine released his first full-length solo studio album, A Postcard from California, in June 2010. The album contains contributions from fellow Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, and Mike Love – along with guest appearances from Neil Young
, Steve Miller
, Scott Mathews
, Gerry Beckley
, Dewey Bunnell (members of America
), Alec Baldwin
and Flea
.
The album was released digitally on June 29, 2010. The tracks are:
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist and occasional lead vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 1988.
Early life
Jardine was born in Lima, OhioLima, Ohio
Lima is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio along Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton and south-southwest of Toledo....
. His family moved from Ohio to San Francisco, California, and later to Hawthorne, California
Hawthorne, California
Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. The city at the 2010 census had a population of 84,293, up from 84,112 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
. In high school, he met a fellow student, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, and played stand up bass on The Beach Boys' first recording, the 1961 song "Surfin'
Surfin' (song)
"Surfin" is a song by American rock band The Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. It was released as the first Beach Boys single in November 1961 on Candix Records and it later appeared on the 1962 album Surfin' Safari. The Beach Boys were trying to think of something original and...
." Following his leaving the band in early 1962, he worked in the air industry in Los Angeles. He was replaced by David Marks
David Marks (musician)
David Marks is an American songwriter and musician. He is best known as being a member of The Beach Boys from February 1962 to October 1963. Marks was part of the Beach Boys line-up, at age 13, when they signed with Capitol Records on July 16, 1962...
. He rejoined the band in summer 1963 at the request of Brian Wilson and until October, he toured with and worked in the studio with David, until the latter left the band.
With The Beach Boys
Jardine, a member of the band for over 35 years, was the band's rhythm guitarist and harmony vocalist, and sang lead on songs such as the number one hit "Help Me, RhondaHelp Me, Rhonda
"Help Me, Rhonda" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for their American rock band The Beach Boys. The song is the first Beach Boys song to feature a lead vocal by Al Jardine. It was released in March 1965 on the album Today! as "Help Me, Ronda"...
," as well as "Christmas Day," "Then I Kissed Her," "Cotton Fields
Cotton Fields
"Cotton Fields" is a song written by blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly who made the first recording of the song in 1940.-Early versions:...
," "Susie Cincinnati," "Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)
Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)
"Lookin' at Tomorrow " is a song written by Al Jardine and Gary Winfrey for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1971 album Surf's Up. The lead vocal is by Jardine....
," "Peggy Sue," "Lady Lynda
Lady Lynda
"Lady Lynda" is a song written by vocalist and guitarist Alan Jardine and Ron Altbach for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1979 album L.A. ....
" and "Come Go With Me
Come Go with Me
"Come Go with Me" is a song written by C. E. Quick , an original member of the American doo-wop vocal group The Del-Vikings. The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings in 1956 and was released on Fee Bee Records...
" and shared the lead with other members of the band on tracks including "Break Away
Break Away (The Beach Boys song)
"Break Away" is a song recorded by The Beach Boys in 1969. Written by Brian Wilson and his father, Murry Wilson, is credited as lyricist using the pseudonym Reggie Dunbar...
" and "I Know There's an Answer
I Know There's an Answer
"I Know There's an Answer" is a song by the American rock band The Beach Boys, taken from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. It is the ninth track on the album. The song was composed and produced by Brian Wilson with the lyrics by Terry Sachen and Mike Love. The song was written during Brian's second...
." On the latter track producer Brian Wilson preferred Al's lead vocal to his own.
Beginning with the Friends
Friends (The Beach Boys album)
Friends is the fourteenth studio album by The Beach Boys, released in 1968.As work on the album began in February 1968, Mike Love, a recent convert to transcendental meditation , departed on a two week trip to India to study TM further with his new master, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...
album, Jardine also wrote or co-wrote a number of songs for the band, the most notable of which is probably "California Saga: California
California Saga: California
"California Saga: California" is a song written by Al Jardine for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1973 album Holland....
" from the Holland
Holland (album)
Holland is the nineteenth studio album by the American rock group The Beach Boys, released in January 1973. It was famously recorded in Baambrugge, Netherlands over the summer of 1972 using a reconstructed studio sent from home, and with two Brian Wilson tracks rush-recorded in Los Angeles and...
album, which charted in early 1973. Jardine's song "Lady Lynda
Lady Lynda
"Lady Lynda" is a song written by vocalist and guitarist Alan Jardine and Ron Altbach for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1979 album L.A. ....
" was one of the band's biggest hits outside the USA. After Jardine's divorce from his wife, the song was re-written and re-titled "Lady Liberty" in honor of the centennial of the Statue Of Liberty in 1986. During the Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...
sessions, he was the one that suggested to Brian Wilson that the group record "Sloop John B
Sloop John B
"Sloop John B" is the seventh track on The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album and was also a single which was released in 1966 on Capitol Records. It was originally a traditional West Indies folk song, "The John B. Sails," taken from a collection by Carl Sandburg . Alan Lomax made a field recording of...
."
He also shared production credits with Ron Altbach on 1978's M.I.U. Album
M.I.U. Album
M.I.U. Album is the 22nd studio album by The Beach Boys, released in 1978. Recorded at a fraught time for the band, only Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Brian Wilson appear throughout the album. Carl and Dennis Wilson are audible on only a few of the songs....
. Two of the band's late-period hits ("Lady Lynda
Lady Lynda
"Lady Lynda" is a song written by vocalist and guitarist Alan Jardine and Ron Altbach for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1979 album L.A. ....
" and "Come Go with Me
Come Go with Me
"Come Go with Me" is a song written by C. E. Quick , an original member of the American doo-wop vocal group The Del-Vikings. The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings in 1956 and was released on Fee Bee Records...
") were Jardine productions, as was his 1969 rewrite of Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
's "Cotton Fields
Cotton Fields
"Cotton Fields" is a song written by blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly who made the first recording of the song in 1940.-Early versions:...
," which sold successfully in the UK but only reached #103 in the US. Its ex-US success replicated that of "Then I Kissed Her', both top 3 hits in many European countries and South Africa.
Al Jardine took the initiative for The Beach Boys to record a cover of The Mamas And The Papas' biggest hit, California Dreamin'
California Dreamin'
"California Dreamin is a popular song by The Mamas & the Papas, first released in 1965. The song is #89 in Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time...
. It became a big success in 1985, reaching #5 on the US charts and featured a musicvideo resulting in airplay on the new music TV channel MTV. The musicvideo featured the three surviving members of The Mamas And The Papas in cameo roles.
Post-Beach Boy career
Jardine left the touring version of the Beach Boys in 1998 after Carl WilsonCarl Wilson
Carl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys...
died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
, but remains a member of the Beach Boys corporation Brother Records
Brother Records
Brother Records, Inc. is a record label and holding company formed in October 1966 that holds the intellectual property rights of the Beach Boys, including the "The Beach Boys" trademark....
. He tours with his Endless Summer Band, containing many of the stage musicians who toured with The Beach Boys, including Billy Hinsche
Billy Hinsche
William "Billy" Hinsche is an American musician who was part of the singing group Dino, Desi, & Billy. He has also provided backing vocals for Warren Zevon and toured with The Beach Boys. His sister, Annie Hinsche-Wilson-Karges, was married to the group's guitarist, Carl Wilson.- External links...
of Dino, Desi and Billy, Ed Carter, Bobby Figueroa, and Jardine's son Matt Jardine, who sang with the Beach Boys during much of their later career. Despite rarely singing falsetto vocals since the early 1980s, recent videos show him in fine voice singing the lead and falsetto high parts on a live cover of Del Shannon's Runaway
Runaway (Del Shannon song)
"Runaway" was a number-one Billboard Hot 100 song made famous by Del Shannon in 1961. It was written by Shannon and keyboardist Max Crook, and became a major international hit...
.
In the fall of 2006, Jardine joined the band of Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
for a short tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds
Pet Sounds is the eleventh studio album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, released May 16, 1966, on Capitol Records. It has since been recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of popular music and one of the best albums of the 1960s, including songs such as "Wouldn't...
.
In March 2008, Jardine settled a suit brought against him by Mike Love
Mike Love
Michael Edward "Mike" Love is an American singer/songwriter and musician with The Beach Boys. He was a founding member of the band along with his cousins Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, and their friend Al Jardine, and continues to perform with the band to the present day...
and the estate of Carl Wilson regarding use of the "Beach Boys" name. He had formed a band called Beach Boys Family & Friends featuring sons Matt and Adam Jardine, Carnie and Wendy Wilson, Daryl Dragon, Billy Hinsche and others.
In August 2010, the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
began rehearsing for their album I'm With You
I'm with You (album)
I'm with You is the tenth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records on August 26, 2011 in several countries and on August 29 in the US, a day earlier than originally planned...
, which was released in 2011. They are using Jardine's home studio for their rehearsals.
Jardine released his first full-length solo studio album, A Postcard from California, in June 2010. The album contains contributions from fellow Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnston, David Marks, and Mike Love – along with guest appearances from Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, Steve Miller
Steve Miller (musician)
Steven H. "Steve" Miller is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who began his career in blues and blues rock and evolved to a more popular-oriented sound which, from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s, resulted in a series of successful singles and albums.-Early years:Born in Milwaukee,...
, Scott Mathews
Scott Mathews
.Scott Mathews is a multi-platinum selling music producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and entrepreneur.-Early Days:...
, Gerry Beckley
Gerry Beckley
Gerald Linford "Gerry" Beckley is a founding member of the band America.Beckley was born to an American father, and an English mother. He began playing the piano at the age of three and the guitar a few years later. By 1962, Beckley was playing guitar in The Vanguards, an instrumental surf music...
, Dewey Bunnell (members of America
America (band)
America is an English-American folk rock band that originally included members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring #1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist...
), Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
and Flea
Flea (musician)
Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
.
The album was released digitally on June 29, 2010. The tracks are:
- A Postcard From California – 4:59
- California Feelin' – 2:03
- Looking Down The Coast – 3
- Don't Fight The Sea – 3:23
- Tide Pool Interlude – 1:38
- Campfire Scene – 0:44
- A California Saga – 2:52
- Help Me Rhonda – 3:47
- San Simeon – 2:48
- Drivin' – 3:12
- Honkin' Down The Highway – 2:34
- And I Always Will – 4:19