Biography Al Jardine

Alan Charles "Al" Jardine (born September 3, 1942 in Lima, Ohio) is a founding member of The Beach Boys, their occasional lead vocalist, and one of their guitarists.

Jardine moved from Ohio to Hawthorne, California, to attend high school. During that time, he encountered a fellow student, Brian Wilson, and played stand up bass on The Beach Boys' first recording, the 1961 song "Surfin'." He quit soon after its release to attend college. He was replaced by David Marks. Jardine returned to the band in 1963, first as a touring replacement for Wilson and as a session bassist, and later as a full-fledged member when Marks quit the band later that year.

Jardine sang lead on songs such as "Help Me, Rhonda," "Vegetables," "Then I Kissed Her," and "Transcendental Meditation," and shared the lead with other members of the band on tracks including "Break Away" and "I Know There's an Answer." Despite being the only non-family original band member, Jardine's falsetto was similar to Brian Wilson's and his voice was often substituted for Brian's in the studio and in concert.

Beginning with the Friends LP 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", a rewrite of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", was one of the band's biggest hits outside the USA. 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 "Cottonfields," which sold successfully in the UK but only reached #103 in the US.

Jardine left the touring version of the Beach Boys in 1998 after Carl Wilson died of lung cancer. Jardine remains a member of the Beach Boys corporation Brother Records and tours with his Endless Summer Band containing many of the stage musicians that toured with The Beach Boys, including Billy Hinsche of Dino, Desi and Billy, Ed Carter and Jardine's son Matt Jardine, who sang with the Beach Boys during much of their latter career.

In the fall of 2006, Jardine joined Brian Wilson's band for a short tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds.

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