Alan Charles “Al” Jardine (born September 3, 1942; Lima, Ohio, United States) is a founding member of top-selling American music group The Beach Boys, their occasional lead vocalist, and one of their guitarists. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Jardine’s family moved from Ohio to San Francisco, California, and later to Hawthorne, California. In high school, he met a fellow student, Brian Wilson, and played stand up bass on the Beach Boys’ first recording, the 1961 song “Surfin’.” It was long assumed that he quit soon after its release to attend college (pre-dental), but recent research has established that he attended college at Ferris State University in 1960/61, prior to the formation of The Beach Boys Following his leaving the band in early 1962, he worked in the air industry in Los Angeles. He was replaced by David Marks. The long-held belief that Jardine returned to the band as a full-fledged member when Marks quit the band in 1963 is also inaccurate. He rejoined the band in summer 1963 at the request of Brian Wilson and until October, he toured with and worked in the studio with David, until the latter left the band.
Jardine, a member of the band for over 35 years, was the band’s rhythm guitarist and harmony vocalist, and sang lead on songs such as the number one hit “Help Me, Rhonda,” as well as “California Saga: California,” “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 album, 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 “Cotton Fields,” 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 who toured with The Beach Boys, including Billy Hinsche of Dino, Desi and Billy, Ed Carter, Bobby Figueroa, and Jardine’s son Matt Jardine, who sang with the Beach Boys during much of their later career.
In the fall of 2006, Jardine joined the band of Brian Wilson for a short tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds.
Recently Jardine has been putting finishing touches to what will be his first full-length solo studio album, with contributions from fellow Beach Boys Brian Wilson, David Marks, and Mike Love – along with guest appearances from Steve Miller, and Gerry Beckley & Dewey Bunnell (members of America) It will also feature a cover of “Honkin’ Down the Highway” from the 1977 album The Beach Boys Love You.
