Al Jardine

Alan Charles "Al" Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band The Beach Boys, of whom he was a member from 1961 until 1962, again in 1963 until 1998, and lastly in 2012. A core member of the band, Jardine recorded 25 studio albums with The Beach Boys and was the lead vocalist on a number of the band's songs, including, "Help Me, Rhonda," "Then I Kissed Her," "I Know There's an Answer," and "Lady Lynda." In 2010, Jardine released his debut solo studio album, A Postcard from California.

Early life

Alan Charles Jardine was born in Lima, Ohio. His family moved from Ohio to San Francisco, and later to Hawthorne, California. At Hawthorne High School, Jardine met fellow football player Brian Wilson, and watched Brian and Carl Wilson singing at a school assembly. Jardine attended El Camino College with Brian and there first posited the idea of forming a band as the two worked through harmony ideas together in the college's music room. Jardine's primary musical interest was folk, and he learned banjo and guitar specifically to play folk music. When the Beach Boys formed at Wilson's home, Jardine first tried to push the band toward folk, but was overruled in favor of rock 'n' roll. An all-rounder on string instruments, Jardine played stand-up bass on The Beach Boys' first recording, the song "Surfin'" (1961). Following his brief departure from the band in early 1962, he dabbled with a career in the air industry in Los Angeles. Jardine fully rejoined the Beach Boys in the summer of 1963 at Brian Wilson's request and worked alongside guitarist David Marks with the band until October 1963, when Marks quit the Beach Boys after an altercation with the band's manager, Murry Wilson.