Beyond the breakers

By Craig Mathieson
Updated August 14 2012 - 2:28pm, first published August 11 2012 - 3:00am
From left, Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Mike Love and David Marks have buried their differences because ''the music is all that really matters''.
From left, Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Mike Love and David Marks have buried their differences because ''the music is all that really matters''.
The band in Sydney in 1978 consisted of (from left) Carl Wilson, Love, Brian and Dennis Wilson, and Jardine.
The band in Sydney in 1978 consisted of (from left) Carl Wilson, Love, Brian and Dennis Wilson, and Jardine.

UNFORTUNATELY, it makes sense that the band who embodied rock'n'roll as a golden Californian ideal - beginning with surfing and hot rods and growing into a teenage symphony of love, heartbreak and wonder - should have the darkest legacy. Like Dorian Gray, the best music of the Beach Boys, and in particular Brian Wilson, the fragile genius at the band's centre, remains in pristine condition, a gorgeous soundscape of harmonies and instrumentation that remains deeply influential. But the band's picture - their tarnished history - is scarred by tragedy and vituperative conflict.

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