The Beach Boys perform in Columbia Sunday. Here's what you should know about the band

The Beach Boys, the group that gave the world classic tunes such as “California Girls,” “Surfin’ USA” and “Good Vibrations,” will catch a wave to Columbia on Sunday, Jan. 29.

Since forming in the early ’60s, The Beach Boys’ music has served as a postcard from Southern California paradise. But as even casual fans know, there was a boatload of drama swirling underneath their sunny hits.

The Mike Love-led “50 Years of Good Vibrations” tour coming to the Koger Center does not include founding members Brian Wilson or Al Jardine. Still, those expecting Love’s band to roll out the group’s myriad hits won’t be disappointed.

Here’s what you should know before you go:

THE ORIGINAL GROUP

The Beach Boys formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The original members were brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine. “Surfin’” was their first single.

BRIAN WILSON

Brian Wilson is considered the musical genius behind the band. In many musical circles, Love is seen as a villain who curbed Wilson’s creativity. In 1965, Wilson stopped touring with the band indefinitely, choosing to focus on album production and exploring new studio sounds. That led to the critically acclaimed album “Pet Sounds.”

Over the years, Wilson suffered from depression, mental illness, drug abuse and manipulation by a psychologist named Eugene Landy.

Wilson is currently touring separately for the 50th anniversary of “Pet Sounds.”

COLUMBIA PERFORMANCES

▪ The Beach Boys were part of the 1996 Farm Aid lineup at Williams-Brice Stadium. The daylong event included Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Hootie & the Blowfish, Jewel, Martina McBride and John Conlee. Tickets were $27.

▪ The group played the closing show at the 2001 S.C. State Fair. By then, Mike Love was the only remaining original member of the group.

▪ The Beach Boys last performed at the Koger Center in 2003.

▪ Al Jardine came to Township Auditorium with the Surf City All-Stars for “The Legends of Surf Music” tour in 2007.

FOR MORE

Brian Wilson and Mike Love both released autobiographies in 2016. Wilson’s is “I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir,” and Love’s is “Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy.”

There’s also the Brian Wilson biopic “Love and Mercy,” featuring Paul Dano as the 20-something Beach Boy and John Cusack as the middle-aged Wilson, which came out in 2015.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 1:14 PM with the headline "The Beach Boys perform in Columbia Sunday. Here's what you should know about the band."