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Brian Wilson founded the Beach Boys in 1961 and was the bands leader, main composer and producer. The other founding members were: Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine. In early 1962, Al Jardine left the Beach Boys and was replaced by David Marks. Al Jardine returned to the band in August 1963 and David Marks left around the same time. In late 1964, Brian Wilson quit touring and after a short touring stint by Glen Campbell, Bruce Johnston joined the band and would stay until 1972 when he quit. In 1971 The Beach Boys was augmented with the addition of Blondie Chaplin and Rick Fataar. Chaplin left The Beach Boys in 1973 and this was soon followed by the departure of Ricky Fataar in the spring of 1975. 1978 saw the return of Bruce Johnston for the completion of the L.A.(Light album) and in 1983, Dennis Wilson tragically drowned.
In 1988 Brian Wilson released his first solo album, and was effectively no longer a member of the band. In 1998 Carl Wilson died of cancer. In 1997, David Marks made a brief return as a member of The Beach Boys touring band, but left again in 1999. Today, the surviving members of the founding Beach Boys are doing there own thing: Brian Wilson (with his band) has pursued a successful solo career since 1998. Al Jardine tours and performs with his son and Brian Wilson’s daughters and has recently toured with Brian Wilson, while Mike Love still tours extensively with The Beach Boys touring band (along with Bruce Johnston)

Profile:

When his parents moved from Pennsylvania to California, David Marks found himself living close to the Wilson boys in Hawthorne. He became friends with Dennis Wilson who was a kindred spirit, and they shared many childhood adventures together. As he grew older and started to learn to play the guitar, David and Carl Wilson shared the same guitar tutor (John Maus who achieved success later as part of the Walker Brothers). The Wilson brothers had sung together for years but David brought a very contemporary style of guitar playing to the informal ensemble.
David Marks became a formal Beach Boy when Al Jardine decided to temporarily leave to concentrate on his studies in 1962. He played rhythm guitar in live performances and on the first four Beach Boys album recordings. It is acknowledged that David’s playing style brought a contemporary ‘edge’ to the guitar sound on these records. David possessed a fiery spirit and often came up against the domineering force of Father/Manager Murry Wilson who fined him for transgressions. In an outburst of hubris one day on a long road trip, David announced he was ‘quitting’ the group. Murry seized upon this opportunity to rid himself of the rebellious David Marks and also retain more of the rewards the Beach Boys were steadily receiving ‘within the family’.
David set about building a new career and led another aspiring band to become Dave and the Marksmen the first rock band signed to the A&M record label. They were later signed to Warner Bros., but never achieved the success David expected. The band folded and David worked with a number of artists including Casey Kasem and also the band Moon, which had two albums released. David undertook courses in jazz and classical guitar at the Berklee School of Music and the New England Conservatory.
David returned to the touring Beach Boys in 1997 when Carl Wilson was too ill to play, but was forced to leave again due to his own health issues. In June 2006 he released a CD of new material entitled I Think About You Often, which included a song written with the poet/songwriter Stephen Kalinich - a long time Beach Boy collaborator. He continues to record and perform with a wide range of musicians such as former Beach Boy sidemen Jeffrey Foskett and Billy Hinsche and promotes the health benefits of testing and treating sufferers of the Hepatitis C virus.

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