Beach Boys Reconcile for Photo Session

Feel the love: The three surviving Beach Boys posed for pictures on the rooftop of the Capitol Records building yesterday alongside David Marks (who played in the group from 1962-63) and Bruce Johnson (who has played with the group since 1965) to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Pet Sounds. This marked the first time they had appeared together in a decade: the three original Beach Boys (Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine) all tour with their own bands these days. Jardine and Love spent much of the last few years engaged in a bitter lawsuit over the right to tour under the Beach Boys name. In the early Nineties Mike Love sued his cousin Brian Wilson over songwriting royalties stemming from the bands classic Sixties hits. He also filed suit against Wilson last November stating he "hamelessly misappropriated" his image while promoting the Smile album. When asked if the hatchet had been buried Love pointed to his back and quipped, "The hatchets are right here." Brian, ever the dreamy optimist, said there was a slim chance they all might perform together one day.

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

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