The Beach Boys started as a garage band in Hawthorne, California, in 1961; the group included brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Like many others in California, the group was influenced by Chuck Berry and the black pioneers of rock and roll, and it embraced the guitar-oriented sound emerging on the west coast with Dick Dale and Duane Eddy. Dennis Wilson was part of the surfer subculture that was beginning to take shape in southern California; he thought surfing might be a good subject for a song and suggested it to Brian. Their first hit, "Surfin' Safari" (aggressively promoted by their manager/father/uncle Murray Wilson) sparked a nationwide craze for surfer fashion and lingo and for several years the band's lyrics focused on surfing, car racing, sun, and California fun. However, the band's breezy, bright lyrics were supported by surprisingly sophisticated musicianship. The distinguishing characteristic of the Beach Boys sound, their vocal harmonies, was adapted from the jazz vocal group the Four Freshmen, whom Brian Wilson greatly admired.
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The Four Freshmen (vocal jazz group), the Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry.
Must Haves:
 "Surfin' Safari"
"Fun, Fun, Fun"
"Little Deuce Coupe"
"Catch a Wave"
"Be True to Your School"
The Surfaris, the Mamas and the Papas, Jan and Dean, Huey Lewis and the News, the Raspberries
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