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Bruce Arthur Johnston
Bruce Johnston, 2006
Background information
Birth name	Benjamin Baldwin
Born	(1942-06-27) June 27, 1942 (age 69) Peoria, IL
Origin	Los Angeles
Genres	Rock and roll
Occupations	Musician, singer, songwriter
Years active	1959–present
Associated acts	The Rip Chords, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd

Bruce Arthur Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin on June 27, 1942) is a member of The Beach Boys and a songwriter, remembered especially for composing "I Write the Songs".^[1] Johnston was not one of the original members of the band. He joined the band on April 9, 1965 after Glen Campbell (who was substituting on stage for the group's chief song writer Brian Wilson) decided to embark on a solo career. Johnston's first vocal recording with the Beach Boys was "California Girls."

Biography[link]

As a child Johnston was adopted by William and Irene Johnston of Chicago, and grew up on the West side of Los Angeles in Brentwood and Bel-Air. His adoptive father was president of the Owl Rexall Drug Company in Los Angeles after moving from Walgreens in Chicago. Johnston attended private school Bel-Air Town And Country School (later renamed John Thomas Dye School) in Los Angeles and also studied classical piano in his early years. In high school, Johnston switched to contemporary music. He performed in a few "beginning" bands during this time and then moved on to working with young musicians such as Sandy Nelson, Kim Fowley and Phil Spector. Soon Johnston began backing people such as Ritchie Valens, the Everly Brothers, and even Eddie Cochran. In 1959 while still in high school, Johnston arranged and played on his first hit record called "Teenbeat" by Sandy Nelson. The single record reached the Billboard Top Ten. The same year Johnston made his first single under his own name, "Take This Pearl" on Arwin Records (a record label owned by Doris Day) as part of the Bruce & Terry duo.

In 1960, Johnston started his record production career at Del-Fi Records, producing five singles and an album – Love You So – by Ron Holden (for good measure, all but two of the album's eleven tracks were written or co-written by him^[ambiguous]). In 1962 and 1963 Johnston resurrected his recording career with a series of surfin' singles (vocal & instrumental) and an album, Surfin' 'Round The World, credited to Bruce Johnston and another "live" album, The Bruce Johnston Surfin' Band's Surfer's Pajama Party. In 1963 came the first collaboration with his friend Terry Melcher, a mostly instrumental covers album credited to The Hot Doggers. The first artist the pair produced was a group called The Rip Chords. Johnston and Melcher were now working as staff producers at Columbia Records, Hollywood and by the time they were producing the million selling "Hey Little Cobra," a knock-off of the Beach Boys car song vocal style, they also wound up singing every layered vocal part for the recording using an Ampex three track recording machine (without sel-sync!). The two of them made a few recordings as Bruce & Terry, or The Rogues (band), but Terry Melcher began to focus more on his production career (The Byrds, Paul Revere and The Raiders). On April 9, 1965, Johnston joined the Beach Boys, replacing Glen Campbell who was playing bass on the road and singing Brian Wilson's vocal parts. Johnston did not start playing bass until his first tenure with the Beach Boys, and the very first vocal recording Johnston made as one of the Beach Boys was "California Girls". In 1967, he sang on "My World Fell Down," a minor hit for the Gary Usher-led studio group Sagittarius. On his Columbia Records 1977 solo album Going Public (album) he scored a hit on the disco charts with a dance-oriented remake of the Chantays' hit "Pipeline." Also in 1977 he vocal arranged and sang back-up vocals on Eric Carmen's LP, Boats Against the Current, and can be clearly heard on the hit single, "She Did It" which he also vocal arranged.

Johnston is frequently credited^{[by whom?]} as one of the original greatest supporters of the Beach Boys' 1966 signature album Pet Sounds. He flew to London in May 1966 and played the album for John Lennon and Paul McCartney. He wrote several Beach Boys songs, notably 1971's "Disney Girls (1957)," which was covered by Cass Elliot, Captain & Tennille, Art Garfunkel, Jack Jones, and Doris Day.

He wrote the Billboard number one, Barry Manilow hit "I Write the Songs" for which he won a Grammy. "I Write The Songs" has been recorded by over two hundred artists (including Frank Sinatra) and it currently has a cumulative singles/albums worldwide sales figure of twenty-five million copies. In addition, Johnston wrote backing vocal arrangements and also sang on the recordings for Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and Pink Floyd's album The Wall.

Johnston left the Beach Boys in 1972, returning to the fold in 1978 at Brian Wilson's request to appear on (and co-produce) the album L.A. (Light Album). The following year he was credited as sole producer on the follow-up LP, Keepin' The Summer Alive. On December 16, 2011 it was announced that Johnston, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and David Marks would reunite for a new album and 50th anniversary tour in 2012.^[2] Despite his long involvement with the band he no longer has a full membership in Brother Records having traded his shares (but not his artist royalties) in 1972. Johnston still retains his equal ownership of the band's ASCAP publishing company, Wilojarston, and is the only member of the band to have earned a Song of the Year Grammy.

Johnston self-identifies as a Republican.^[3]

See also[link]

• The Beach Boys

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bruce Johnston at the Internet Movie Database
• Bruce Johnston solo discography (very basic)
• Beach Boys Band – current touring band

Al Jardine
Al Jardine performing and singing with his Endless Summer Band at the Quick Chek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning Reddington, New Jersey on July 24, 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Alan Charles Jardine
Born	(1942-09-03) September 3, 1942 (age 69)
Origin	Lima, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	Rock and roll
Occupations	Singer, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, double bass, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, drums, saxophone, percussion
Years active	1961–present
Labels	Capitol, Warner-Reprise, Columbia
Associated acts	The Beach Boys
Website	www.aljardine.com
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster Vintage Fender Telecaster

Alan Charles "Al" Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys, a guitarist and occasional lead vocalist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Early life[link]

Jardine was born in Lima, Ohio. 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.

With The Beach Boys[link]

Jardine was the band's rhythm guitarist and harmony vocalist, and sang lead on songs such as the number one hit "Help Me, Rhonda," 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 1986, reaching #8 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart and featured a music video resulting in airplay on MTV. The video featured two of the three surviving members of The Mamas And The Papas, John Phillips, Michelle Phillips (Denny Doherty was on the East coast and declined), along with former Byrds Roger McGuinn in cameo roles.

In late 2010 reports began to circulate that the surviving members of the Beach Boys would reunite for a 50th Anniversary tour and album. Despite some uncertainty^[1] and initial denials,^[2] on December 16, 2011 it was announced that Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks would reunite for a new album and 50th anniversary tour in 2012.^[3]

Solo career[link]

Jardine left the touring version of the Beach Boys in 1998 after Carl Wilson 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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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 Glen Campbell, Neil Young, Steve Miller, Scott Mathews, Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell (members of America), Alec Baldwin and Flea.^[5]

The album was released digitally on June 29, 2010. The tracks are:

1. A Postcard From California – 4:59
2. California Feelin' – 2:03
3. Looking Down The Coast – 3
4. Don't Fight The Sea – 3:23
5. Tide Pool Interlude – 1:38
6. Campfire Scene – 0:44
7. A California Saga – 2:52
8. Help Me Rhonda – 3:47
9. San Simeon – 2:48
10. Drivin' – 3:12
11. Honkin' Down The Highway – 2:34
12. And I Always Will – 4:19

References[link]

External links[link]

• Al Jardine's official site

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Paul Rooney
Paul promo shot (2007) Paul promo shot (2007)
Background information
Birth name	Paul Rooney
Origin	Dewsbury, England
Genres	Punk, Rock, Heavy Metal
Occupations	Guitarist and Music producer
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1999-present
Labels	EMI records / SOS records
Associated acts	Vice Squad Ligotage The Bombshells
Website	http://www.vicesquad.co.uk

Paul Rooney was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. He started playing guitar at age 17 and was initially a self-taught musician influenced by punk rock. Early bands included Lenz from his native town of Morley and Brik Marine formed by record producer / bassist Nev Barker. Influenced by glam rock, Rooney formed Leeds band "Virgin", also taking influences from American rock. Moving to London in the mid-1980s, he joined forces with ex-Vice Squad vocalist Beki Bondage and together they formed The Bombshells. Rooney studied guitar at Guitar Academy of Music in London and continued to write and expand his music production skills throughout the 1990s. In 1997, Beki and Paul re-formed Vice Squad playing at Holidays In The Sun punk festival.^[1] They have continued to perform and have recorded several albums including Rich and Famous (2005) released on EMI records. The most recent Vice Squad album Defiant (2007) was produced, engineered, and mixed by Paul Rooney.

Defiant has received positive critical acclaim and has been dubbed by many critics as the best Vice Squad album to date.^{[citation needed]}

Currently, he composes music for T.V. and film, and has recently worked with director Gary Johnstone on The Secret Science of Killing for Channel 4.

Rooney also teaches guitar in South London and offers production and songwriting services.

References[link]