If you are hunting for a gift for Beach Boys fans, this is my Beach Boys discography map art print, and it shows something a photograph of five lads on a beach never can. Every credited musician on the band's first ten studio albums is drawn as their own named tube line, calling only at the records they actually played on. Ten stations, from Surfin' Safari in 1962 through to Beach Boys' Party! in 1965.
I research and design these maps myself in East Sussex, working through album credits line by line rather than through the legend. When I finished this one I had five things in my notes that I had not expected to find, and each of them is a reason the print keeps a fan standing in front of it.
The founding member whose line has a hole in it
Al Jardine is one of the five original names, and he is there on Surfin' Safari in 1962, credited with double bass and backing vocals on "Surfin'". Then his line simply stops.
He carries no credit on Surfin' U.S.A., Surfer Girl or Little Deuce Coupe, all three of which came out in 1963. He rejoins at Shut Down Volume 2 in 1964 and never leaves again.
Jardine had walked away in 1962 to study dentistry. The map does not editorialise about that, it just draws the gap, and a three album hole in a founding member's line is the first thing most people put a finger on.
David Marks runs four stations and then stops dead
David Marks took Jardine's seat. He is credited on rhythm guitar and backing vocals across the first four albums, and shares the lead vocal on "Summertime Blues".
After Little Deuce Coupe in 1963 his line ends. On this print he never comes back.
He does return, but not until That's Why God Made the Radio in 2012, which lands on the third map in the series. Forty-nine years between credits is the sort of thing that only becomes obvious when you draw it.
The first four albums have no session players at all
This one genuinely stopped me. Albums one to four carry nothing but the band's own lines. Not a single outside musician is credited.
Then Shut Down Volume 2 arrives in 1964 and eleven session names join at once: Hal Blaine, Steve Douglas, Plas Johnson, Jay Migliori, Ray Pohlman, Tommy Tedesco, Bill Pitman, Jimmy Bond, Frank Capp, Al de Lory and Leon Russell.
That is the exact station where the map stops being five lines and becomes a network. For anyone who loves the Wrecking Crew end of the story, it is the point on the print worth framing at A1 so the names stay readable.
An entire orchestra that calls once and goes nowhere else
The Beach Boys' Christmas Album in 1964 brings in an orchestra, conducted by Dick Reynolds with Benjamin Barrett as orchestra master. George "Red" Callender is on tuba, George Roberts on trombones, Arthur Briegleb on French horns, Jimmy Rowles on grand piano and Al Viola on guitar.
Hardly any of them appear anywhere else on the map. Hal Blaine, who plays on five of these ten albums, sits this record out completely, and Jack Sparling takes the drum credit instead.
It is the oddest passage of the whole print: a thick bundle of branch lines arriving at one station and terminating there.
The Beach Boys Today! and the names that appear exactly once
Today! in 1965 is where the credits turn wonderfully specific. It is the album that gave me the strangest single credit I have drawn on any map, and it is not the only one on that record.
| Musician | Album on this map | Credited for |
|---|---|---|
| Russ Titelman | The Beach Boys Today! (1965) | Percussion, a microphone boom hit with a screwdriver |
| Louie (surname unknown) | The Beach Boys Today! (1965) | Castanets |
| Peter Christ | The Beach Boys Today! (1965) | Cor anglais |
| Marilyn Wilson | The Beach Boys Today! (1965) | Harmony and backing vocals, spoken word |
| Jimmy Rowles | The Beach Boys' Christmas Album (1964) | Grand piano |
| Howard Roberts | Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) (1965) | Guitar |
Every one of those is a branch line: it opens, serves a single station and closes. A fan who thinks they know these records will not have known that somebody called Louie played the castanets, or that Russ Titelman was hitting a microphone boom with a screwdriver.
Bruce Johnston opens his line two stations before the end
Bruce Johnston does not appear until Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) in 1965, credited with harmony and backing vocals, acoustic grand piano, Hammond organ, celeste and handclaps. He is there again on Beach Boys' Party! and then keeps running through the second and third maps.
He is the last line to open on this print, and the only one that opens late and never stops. If you are buying for someone who came to the band through the later records, Johnston is the thread that ties their era back to this one.
"Brilliant idea... really like what you've done, Mike."
Billy Bragg, on my discography maps
Sizes, paper and price: choosing the right gift for Beach Boys fans
Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium fine art paper with a textured matte finish, archival and acid-free, so the colours hold. Both sizes are landscape, unframed or supplied in a black wooden frame.
| Size | UK | US, Canada, Australia | Orientation |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 | 594 x 420 mm (23 x 16 in) | 24 x 18 in | Landscape |
| A1 | 841 x 594 mm (33 x 23 in) | 36 x 24 in | Landscape |
Prices start from £42. My honest advice on sizing: A2 suits the fan who wants the shape of the thing on a hallway wall, A1 suits the one who will stand and read the session credits on the Christmas Album. If the gift is for a milestone, go A1 and framed.
The Beach Boys Discography Map Art Print, Part One
Ten studio albums, 1962 to 1965, every credited musician drawn as a named line. Giclée on 230gsm matte fine art paper. A2 or A1, unframed or black wood frame, from £42.
Related music maps
If the Wrecking Crew names are the draw, the Byrds Discography Map Art Print is the natural companion, since the same Los Angeles session players turn up on those records in the same years. For a fan who is really there for the harmony writing rather than the surf, the ABBA Discography Map Art Print works the same way with a much tighter cast. The full range sits in the Music Wall Art Prints collection.
Questions I get asked about this map
How many albums are on the Beach Boys map?
Ten studio albums, running from Surfin' Safari in 1962 to Beach Boys' Party! in 1965.
Does it include Pet Sounds?
Not this one. This is Part One, covering the surf and hot-rod years. Pet Sounds and everything after it are covered on the later maps in the series.
Which Wrecking Crew names actually appear?
Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Glen Campbell, Barney Kessel, Billy Strange, Steve Douglas, Plas Johnson, Ray Pohlman, Tommy Tedesco and others, each credited album by album from 1964 onward rather than lumped together.
Do producers get a line on the map?
Only if they are also credited playing something. A production credit on its own does not open a line, which is why the map stays a record of who played rather than who was in the room.
Is it a good gift for someone who only knows the singles?
Yes, and that is often who it works best for. The stations are chronological, so it reads as a route through the early records whether or not you can name the session players.
What if I am not sure which map they would want?
Then a gift card is the safer call, and I will not pretend otherwise.
Give the map, or let them choose
Ten albums, every credited musician, drawn by hand and printed as a Giclée in East Sussex. From £42.
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