The Beach Boys first burst onto the music scene in November 1961 with their release of the single "Surfin'". The single was moderately successful, hitting #75 in the United States. The band released their first album Surfin' Safari in 1962. The album included hits such as "Surfin' Safari", "409" and of course "Surfin'". The album reached #32 in the United States, a reasonable performance for the band's debut album.
The band's first top ten single was "Surfin' USA" which peaked at #3 in the United States. It was also the band's first single to chart in the United Kingdom reaching #34 on the UK charts. The follow up album to Surfin' Safari was Surfin' USA, released five months after their first album in 1963. The album was the band's first top ten album in the United States reaching #2. It was also their first album to chart in the United Kingdom peaking at #17. The band's third studio album Surfer Girl, which was released in 1963, hit #7 in the United States and #13 in the United Kingdom. The album included such classic songs as "Surfer Girl", "Little Deuce Coupe" and "In My Room". Only a month later, the Beach Boys released their fourth studio album, called Little Deuce Coupe.
The following year saw the Beach Boys release three studio albums, Shut Down Volume 2, All Summer Long and The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, and one live album, Beach Boys Concert. The Beach Boys Concert album surprisingly provided The Beach Boys with their first and only chart topping album as it reached #1 in the United States. That year also provided the band's first ever US #1 single with "I Get Around" from their All Summer Long album.
In 1965, the Beach Boys released another three albums The Beach Boys Today!, Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) and Beach Boys' Party!. The Beach Boys Today! album was the band's first ever top ten album in the United Kingdom, peaking at #6. The album also proved successful in the US, reaching #4. The follow-up album Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) reached #2 in the US and #4 in the UK and the album included such classic songs as "Help Me, Rhonda" and "California Girls". "Help Me, Rhonda" was the band's second #1 single in the United States.
In 1966 the band released what many people consider their best album, Pet Sounds. The album featured some of their most recognisable songs including "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Sloop John B" and "God Only Knows". On its release, the album did not perform as well as Brian Wilson hoped it would, only peaking at #10 in the US. In the UK, however, the album reached #2, the best chart position for any Beach Boys album in that country. The follow-up to Pet Sounds was Smiley Smile which was released in 1967. The album hit #41 in the United States but reached an impressive #9 in the United Kingdom. The album featured the UK top ten song "Heroes and Villains" and it also featured the band's third US #1 hit and their first #1 UK hit in "Good Vibrations". It was the first and only time that a Beach Boys single hit #1 in both the US and UK. The band also released their 13th studio album Wild Honey that year which peaked at #24 in the US and #7 in the UK. The album featured the single "Darlin'" which peaked at #19 in the US and #11 in the UK.
In 1968, the band released just one album: Friends. The album sold poorly in the US, reaching only #126, but it managed to reach #13 in the UK. The following year, 1969, saw the release of the band's 15th and final studio album with Capitol Records, 20/20. The album featured the Beach Boys' second UK #1 hit, "Do It Again" with the B-side being "Wake the World".
1976 saw the return of Brian Wilson as producer of a Beach Boys album - 15 Big Ones. The album peaked at #8 in the US and #31 in the UK and featured the band's Chuck Berry cover "Rock And Roll Music" which peaked at #5 in the US and #36 in the UK.
Overall, the Beach Boys released a total of 28 studio albums between 1962 and 1996. They also released four live albums from 1964 to 2002.
Listed below are the Beach Boys' official studio albums, live albums and singles released in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
With the exception of Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, and the three albums since 1989, all the Beach Boys albums are available in a two-LP-on-one-CD "twofer" format. The reissues of the 1960s albums also include bonus tracks.
Pet Sounds is available on both CD and DVD-Audio. A four-disc box set including numerous outtakes and alternate versions is also available. One CD release has both the stereo and mono mixes of the classic album as well as an alternate session outtake entitled Hang On to Your Ego (an early version of I Know There's an Answer).
The Beach Boys' Christmas Album is available both on its own and as part of the Ultimate Christmas album, which includes tracks from an aborted 1977 Christmas album.
Still Cruisin', Summer in Paradise, and Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 are currently out of print, but can be found used on CD. Rarities is out of print but can be found as an import CD. Still Cruisin' can be downloaded online via Apple's iTunes service.
The 1993 box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys presents a comprehensive review of the group's career plus a number of rare tracks, including some from the legendary Smile sessions.
Four albums have been released since the group's split.
Endless Harmony Soundtrack is a compilation of otherwise unreleased tracks together with remixes of better-known tracks; a good introduction to the band, containing no duplications of earlier releases except the title track. Includes a stereo mix of California Girls, which had previsously been available only in mono.
Hawthorne, CA is a two-CD set along the same lines. Dance, Dance, Dance and Heroes and Villains, previously only in mono, is presented in stereo here.
