Al Jardine will be the first to tell you he didn’t play much guitar for the Beach Boys in the ’60s. Early Beach Boys albums – like Surfin’ Safari (1962) and Surfin’ U.S.A. (1963) – feature plenty of nifty vocals and a ton of great songwriting but little to zero Jardine-related six-string action.
Later records – including Pet Sounds (1966) and Wild Honey (1968) – did little to change that narrative. Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys’ brilliant yet deeply eccentric and erratic bandleader, had a vision manifested via sounds in his head, and he relied on a revolving group of L.A. session musicians called the Wrecking Crew, rather than Beach Boys guitarists Jardine and Carl Wilson, to bring it to life.
“In the ’60s, when the Wrecking Crew came along, it was Glen Campbell and Tommy Tedesco,” Jardine says. “Back then, there were so many of them that we really didn’t do too much compared to the second generation of our music. Before then, we used a lot of the best players in the business. Our primary focus was doing vocals.”
Things began to change in the ’70s after the Beach Boys fell into the shadow of jam bands and riff rock. The result was a string of cult records featuring more guitar from Jardine than all of their ’60s records (probably) combined.
Surf’s Up (1971) and Holland (1973), in particular, have long left fans of the Beach Boys’ sugary pop ’60s offerings scratching their heads. The dark, socially conscious lyrics mixed with experimental and psychedelic tones make these records memorable, as did Jardine’s coming to the forefront with a 12-string Gibson ES-335 – and a banjo – in hand.
Jardine, who refers to himself as a “crappy guitar player,” is quick to push aside his efforts. “Carl was our primary guitar player then,” he says. “Because we were on the road so much, by then, in the ’70s, we were basically rehashing the hits. So, for me, as a rhythm player, I was pretty much happy just playing on some of the best songs ever written.”
Jardine is credited as playing guitar on several cuts on Surf’s Up, including Don’t Go Near the Water, which he co-wrote with Mike Love. “Toothpaste and soap will make the ocean a bubble bath,” Jardine says. “That’s what it was! It was about avoiding an ecological aftermath. How about that?”
Two years later, while recording Holland, Jardine’s push to the forefront continued. He played guitar on the entire three-part California Saga, including California Saga/The Beaks of Eagles. Along with adding plenty of 12-string sunshine, Jardine played a 1938 Gretsch Broadkaster banjo on California Saga/California.
Looking back on Surf’s Up and Holland, it’s easy to associate them with Brian Wilson’s degrading mental state and the slow breakdown of the Beach Boys as a unit. But time has been kind to these records.
They might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but at the very least, they’re snapshots of a moment in time when, for the first time, the Beach Boys were a full-tilt band rather than vocalists pretending to be one.
If you were to ask Jardine about it, he’d probably shrug off the whole thing. In fact, he does, instead choosing to remind us that he’s always been a “songwriter, producer and arranger first.”
“With the advent of pedals and all these great guitar players… all those guys could play circles around me,” he says. “The primary way the instrument was looked at changed, and its sound changed over time with all these new developments. I was never a pedal player; I just stuck to the old way of just playing some good chords back then.”
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These days, Jardine is about as active you’d expect an 82-year-old musician to be. He’s still playing shows, though not on a grand scale. As for new music, he’s just released a new four-song EP called Islands in the Sun.
“The song Islands in the Sun is a pretty valid and really nice piece,” Jardine says. “It’s modeled a bit – not that it’s the same melody of anything – after the Beach Boys’ Kokomo. It doesn’t sound like Kokomo, but it does have that Caribbean swing and feel. Once you get it in your head, you can’t get it out of your head. I sing it all the time around the house; I think it’s gonna be a winner.”
Jardine dialed in with GW to dig into the approach, tones and gear that defined the polarizing, bewildering, yet retrospectively respected Surf’s Up and Holland.
Going into recording Surf’s Up and Holland, what were the biggest lessons you’d learned as a guitarist?
“Play with better guitar players than yourself. You always learn from someone else. Any little thing you can pick up along the way, it makes you better. And don’t be afraid to ask questions. I remember one time Steve Miller and I were goofing around, and he said, ‘Let me show you a couple of my main blues licks.’ It was that kind of thing, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get it.
“For some reason – and I don’t know why – I couldn’t. Maybe it was because he was watching me, you know? You know the pressure you feel when someone tries to show you something? That’s how it was. And, of course, he’s the master of that kind of music, and if you practice it, it becomes perfect. But I couldn’t even get to first base. I don’t know what happened… that was my big failure. I’m still embarrassed about it.”
What were the most significant differences in how you approached guitar in the ’60s versus the ’70s?
“To be honest, my forte is not really as a lead guitarist. I’m a rhythm player, so frankly, I could play just about anything in that regard. As long as I approached it with the proper chords and in the proper setting… I mean, nothing really changed for me.”
The credits for Surf’s Up say you played electric and acoustic guitar – and even some bass guitar.
“You’re probably right. I even played banjo on that album. But those [parts], you know, are simple, little things, like more of an effect. It was playing a little part here and there. What’s the term? Not really solo, but… I was trying to do something tasteful as a producer of music.
“If you don’t have your guitar player around to do something for you, you do it yourself, you know? But I look at myself as a songwriter, producer and arranger. I’m really a crappy guitar player, to be honest. You probably shouldn’t be talking to me. [Laughs]”
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You’re too hard on yourself. You got some great sounds on Surf’s Up, Holland and other albums from that period. What gear did you use?
“By the time we got to that stage of our careers, we were working out of Brian [Wilson’s] living room, believe it or not. It was a living-room studio; I’ll call it the Bellagio. It was kind of a fancy way of doing studio recordings.
“But the gear there was our road gear. Carl and I would switch around with the Gibson ES-335s. We didn’t necessarily use our Fender equipment, but that was something Carl and I had. As we began to play a little better, the quality of our instruments went up. But that ES-335 was a terrific guitar.”
Did you pick out those guitars yourselves?
“Our road guys would try to help us out. They would go out and shop for guitars. Even on the road, they would come back with a variety of guitars for us to play. So we were kind of learning as we went along on some of the tours. Then we’d take them home with us, and we used those guitars on our different albums.”
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You both played 335s, but what made yours special?
“Carl preferred Epiphone, particularly the 335 shape. But my favorite guitar was a 12-string Gibson 335. I think it’s a ’60 or ’61. God, it looked like Stradivarius among 12-strings. I can’t even imagine not having it.
My favorite guitar was a 12-string Gibson 335. I think it’s a ’60 or ’61. God, it looked like Stradivarius among 12-strings
“An example of a later song I played it on is my song Lady Lynda [from 1979’s L.A. (Light Album)], which was big in Europe and basically everywhere except the States. I think it was a little too classical. But anyway, that guitar has that California Girls sound and feel to it. I really enjoy playing that instrument. It’s my favorite.”
Was that a guitar the Beach Boys’ road crew found?
“Yes, that would be another one that the road crew found. They would go and find these different instruments. Carl got the Epiphone and I got the Gibson. But yeah, what a guitar.”
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You co-wrote Take a Load Off Your Feet and Don’t Go Near the Water. What was your process like?
“Usually, I had someone to bounce ideas off of. It helps to have a group because you can bounce your ideas off somebody in the band that you trust. And then you also can develop a lyrical thing, like with Don’t Go Near the Water. With that song, at the time, there was a big uproar about phosphates in our drinking water.
“Time magazine actually interviewed me about that in particular and about some of the lines in that song. Phosphates were kind of a soap-based product, and they were getting into all the water systems, causing foam in the rivers and stuff. That’s why I was inspired to write that song.”
Was it mostly Carl that you bounced ideas off?
“Yeah. I’d start with an idea like that and then bounce it off somebody like Carl. And Carl would bounce ideas off Brian, and Brian would bounce his ideas off Carl and Mike [Love]. Even Mike and I had a relationship in that way, and Brian and I, too, for that matter.”
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With the knowledge that you consider yourself a songwriter first and guitarist second, how did the guitar play into that?
With guitar, it’s good to have songwriting buddies that are available to you. In order to complete a song, it really helps
“We did those albums at a home studio, so we were just sitting around with each other; it was an everyday thing. And pretty soon, you’re writing a song with friends, like Don’t Go Near the Water. So, with guitar, it’s good to have songwriting buddies that are available to you. In order to complete a song, it really helps. There are different approaches you can take to writing a song.”
As you mentioned, you played banjo on California Saga/California, one of your tracks on Holland.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve always really enjoyed that song. That banjo is from 1938, so it’s a real oldie. I got it in Chicago when I was in college when I had my group, the Islanders, so it’s been around forever. It’s a Gretsch Broadkaster. I thought it would be kind of a cool way to kick off the song.”
Banjo isn’t often associated with the Beach Boys.
“You know… it’s just whatever instrument fits. And it kind of fits that particular song because it’s more of a country-based, well… not country. I don’t know what you’d call it; maybe it’s a Beach Boys country song. [Laughs] It has more of an organic feel to it, and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m looking for,’ and I grabbed the Broadkaster.”
![The Beach Boys• “Little Deuce Coupe” • 1964 [Reelin' In The Years Archive] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3FKqpHdl_3o/maxresdefault.jpg "“I had to learn to play electric guitar when I formed the Beach Boys with the guys. I had to go electric. It was like Dylan”: These two Beach Boys classics might have been misunderstood, but with Al Jardine’s guitar work, they stand the test of time 12")
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Did the way you approached guitar impact the way you approached banjo?
There are so many styles with banjo, and they’re all amazing. The guitar is fundamentally different; it just fills all the holes in your recordings
“Oh, yeah, one’s a fingerpicking deal. Yeah, that’s a totally different style. The five-string banjo, you know, you just strum; it’s more of a strumming deal. But this bluegrass style is different. There are so many styles with banjo, and they’re all amazing. The guitar is fundamentally different; it just fills all the holes in your recordings. It gives you a nice, smooth, level backdrop for your lyrics.”
Even though you didn’t play much guitar in the ’60s with the Beach Boys, you contributed a lot to the ’70s. Are you proud of that?
“Oh, my – I don’t know how to answer that one. Basically, I’m more of an acoustic player. I like acoustic guitars. I like those kinds of songs. I like songs that are based around good melodies and harmonies. I’ve always loved Martin guitars and was an admirer, but I never quite found one with the tone I wanted. So acoustic over electric is really more my style.”
So why bother with electric guitar at all?
“To be honest, I had to learn to play electric guitar when I formed the Beach Boys with the guys. I had to go electric. It was like [Bob] Dylan. He had a choice, and he decided he was going to join the electric group [of players], even though people weren’t happy about it. I think he and I made the right choice.”
