Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist, harmony vocalist, and occasional lead singer on singles such as "Help Me, Rhonda" (1965) and "Then I Kissed Her" (1965).
Jardine originally performed in a folk group while a student at Hawthorne High School, where he befriended Brian Wilson. After both enrolled at El Camino College, Jardine invited Wilson to record at a professional studio and together formed the Beach Boys with Brian's brothers Carl and Dennis and their cousin Mike Love. Jardine left the group in early 1962 and returned in late 1963. From the late 1960s to 1970s, he contributed as a co-writer or co-producer on singles such as the originals "California Saga/California" (1973) and "Lady Lynda" (1979, a UK top-10 hit), and cover versions of "Cottonfields" (1970) and "Come Go with Me" (1979).
Jardine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys in 1988. Following Carl's death in 1998, he stopped touring with the band and has since performed as a solo artist. He has released one solo studio album, A Postcard from California (2010), and EP, Islands in the Sun (2025). In 2011, he briefly rejoined the band for their 50th anniversary tour and subsequently toured alongside Brian until 2022. Since 2025, Jardine has performed with the Pet Sounds Band, a reformed version of Wilson's supporting band.
Early life Alan Charles Jardine was born at Lima Memorial Hospital in Lima, Ohio, the younger of two children to Virginia and Donald Jardine. After spending his first years of childhood in Lima, he moved with his family to Rochester, New York, where his father worked for Eastman Kodak and taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His family later moved to San Francisco and then to Hawthorne, California, where he and his older brother Neal spent the remainder of their youth.
At Hawthorne High School, he was a fullback on the football team, soon befriending backup quarterback Brian Wilson. Jardine also watched Brian and brother Carl Wilson singing at a school assembly. After attending Ferris State University during the 1960–61 academic year, Jardine registered as a student at El Camino College in 1961. There, he was reunited with Brian and first presented 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, he first tried to push the band toward folk but was overruled in favor of rock and roll.
A versatile string instrumentalist, Jardine played stand-up bass on the Beach Boys' first recording, the song "Surfin'" (1961). He 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 a disagreement with the band's manager, Murry Wilson.
Career
1960s–1980s
Jardine played double bass on the Beach Boys' first (and only) record for Candix Records, "Surfin', but quit the band a few months later, in February 1962. A common misconception from this time states that Jardine left to focus on dental school, but he did not apply to dental school until 1964; he left due to creative differences and his belief that the newly-formed group would not be a commercial success. Jardine was replaced by David Marks on rhythm guitar. Jardine returned in spring 1963 as bassist so Brian could make fewer touring appearances. Issues between Marks, his parents, and manager/the Wilsons' father Murry led Marks to quit in October 1963. Jardine became the Beach Boys' rhythm guitarist following Marks' departure.
Jardine first sang lead on "Christmas Day", on 1964's The Beach Boys' Christmas Album and followed with the Number 1 hit "Help Me, Rhonda". It was at Jardine's suggestion that the Beach Boys recorded a version of the folk standard "Sloop John B", which Brian Wilson arranged and produced for their Pet Sounds album in 1966.
After Brian Wilson discontinued touring in late 1964, Jardine took on a more prominent role as a lead vocalist during live performances with the group. Beginning with his contributions to the Friends album, Jardine also became a songwriter and wrote or co-wrote a number of songs for the Beach Boys. "California Saga: California" from the Holland album, charted in early 1973. Jardine's song for his first wife, "Lady Lynda" (1978), scored a Top Ten chart entry in the UK. Increasingly from the time of the Surf's Up album, Al became involved alongside Carl Wilson in production duties for the Beach Boys. He shared production credits with Ron Altbach on M.I.U. Album (1978) and was a significant architect (with Mike Love) of the album's concept and content. As with "Lady Lynda" and his 1969 rewrite of Lead Belly's "Cotton Fields," "Come Go with Me" and "Peggy Sue" on M.I.U. Album were Jardine productions, the first being a measurable hit in the UK.
Jardine instigated the Beach Boys' recording of a remake of the Mamas and the Papas' song "California Dreamin'" (featuring Roger McGuinn), reaching No. 8 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart in 1986. The associated music video featured in heavy rotation on MTV and secured extensive international airplay. The video featured all the surviving Beach Boys and two of the three surviving members of the Mamas and the Papas, John Phillips and Michelle Phillips (Denny Doherty was on the East coast and declined), along with former Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn.
Jardine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys in 1988.
1990s–2000s
In 1991, Jardine had allegedly been "suspended" by Love from the band prior to the recording of the album Summer in Paradise, supposedly because of a dispute about content; however, he returned during the sessions to sing lead vocals on two of the album's songs and contributed to the partial re-recording of tracks for the UK release of the album.
Early in 1997, Carl Wilson was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer after years of heavy smoking. Despite his terminal condition, Carl continued to perform with the band on its 1997 summer tour (a double-bill with the band Chicago) while undergoing chemotherapy. During performances, he sat on a stool and needed oxygen after every song. David Marks rejoined the group in Carl's absence, touring with Love, Jardine, and Johnston. Carl died on February 6, 1998, at the age of 51, two months after the death of the Wilsons' mother, Audree.
After Carl's death in 1998, Jardine left the Beach Boys, leaving Love as the only original member in the group playing live concerts; Love retained David Marks (until Marks himself left in 1999) and Bruce Johnston in his group. Jardine continued to tour and recorded with his band, "Beach Boys Family and Friends", with a rotating lineup that utilized many former longtime Beach Boys touring members, including Billy Hinsche (originally from Dino, Desi and Billy before working with The Beach Boys), Ed Carter, Bobby Figueroa, and Daryl Dragon (better known as “The Captain” from Captain and Tennille after leaving The Beach Boys), alongside Jardine's sons Matt (who himself had worked as an assistant stage manager for The Beach Boys from 1986 until 1988 and then as a member of the backing band, contributing percussion and vocals, from 1988 until 1998) and Adam, Brian Wilson's daughters Carnie and Wendy (who had worked as a trio in Wilson Phillips and as a duo as The Wilsons), and Owen Elliot (the daughter of Cass Elliot of The Mamas and the Papas). (Jardine and his band were also promoted or billed under the banners "Al Jardine, Beach Boy" and "Al Jardine of the Beach Boys" during this time.)
Jardine began to perform regularly with his band, "Beach Boys Family and Friends", until he ran into legal issues for using the name without a license from the band's corporate holdings company (and occasional record label), BRI (Brother Records). (Love had already received a license from BRI after Carl's death.) BRI and Love initiated legal action against Jardine after a 1999 show where promoters had incorrectly billed Jardine's band as "The Beach Boys". Meanwhile, Jardine sued Love, claiming that he had been excluded from their concerts, and BRI, through its longtime attorney, Ed McPherson, sued Jardine in Federal Court. Jardine, in turn, counter-claimed against BRI for wrongful termination. The courts later ruled in favor of BRI and Love, in the dispute over the Beach Boys' name and that of Jardine's band, "Beach Boys' Family and Friends", denying Jardine the use of the Beach Boys name in any fashion. Jardine proceeded to appeal this decision in addition to seeking $4 million in damages. The California Court of Appeal ruled that Love acted wrongfully in freezing Jardine out of touring under the Beach Boys name, allowing Jardine to continue with his lawsuit. The case ended up being settled outside of court with the terms not disclosed.
In 2002, Jardine and his band released their first solo live album, Live in Las Vegas (see discography section below for track listing). The number of the band's live appearances dwindled after the lawsuit, partially since Jardine had little name recognition compared to the Beach Boys touring band led by Mike Love or to Brian Wilson's solo performances. In late 2006, Jardine joined Wilson and his band for a short tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds.
In 2009, Jardine's lead vocal on "Big Sur Christmas" was released on MP3 download, produced by longtime Red Barn Studios engineer Stevie Heger under Heger's band's name, Hey Stevie. The track also was released on the Hey Stevie album, Eloquence.
2010s 2010–2015
Jardine released A Postcard from California, his solo debut, in June 2010 (re-released with two extra tracks on April 3, 2012). The album features contributions from Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson (posthumously), Bruce Johnston, David Marks, and Mike Love. There are also guest appearances from Glen Campbell (who had frequently worked with The Beach Boys as a touring musician and session guitarist in the mid-1960s), David Crosby, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Steve Miller, Scott Mathews, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (members of America) and Flea. A spoken intermission written by Stephen Kalinich, called "Tidepool Interlude", features actor Alec Baldwin. Also in 2010, Brian Wilson and Jardine sang on "We Are the World 25: for Haiti", a new recording of "We Are the World" (with partially revised lyrics), which was released as a charity single to benefit the population of Haiti. Jardine made his first appearance with the Beach Boys touring band in more than 10 years in 2011 at a tribute concert for Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday; at this concert, he sang lead on "Help Me, Rhonda" and "Sloop John B". He made a handful of other appearances with Love and Johnston's touring band in preparation for a reunion.