Bruce Johnston
Bruce Arthur Johnston is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer best known as a member of the Beach Boys. In 1965, Johnston joined the band for live performances, filling in for the group's co-founder Brian Wilson, who had quit touring in order to spend more time in the studio. Johnston then became a contributing member on subsequent albums.
His songs for the Beach Boys include "Tears in the Morning", "Deirdre", and "Disney Girls ". He served as a producer for the Beach Boys albums L.A. and Keepin' the Summer Alive. Johnston is also known for his early 1960s collaborations with Terry Melcher as Bruce & Terry and with the surf band the Rip Chords, as well as composing the 1975 Barry Manilow hit, "I Write the Songs". He continues to tour as a member of the Beach Boys alongside band co-founder Mike Love.
Early life
As a child, Johnston was adopted by William and Irene Johnston of Chicago and grew up on the West side of Los Angeles in Brentwood and Bel-Air. His adoptive father was president of the Owl Rexall Drug Company in Los Angeles after moving from Walgreens in Chicago. Johnston attended the private Bel Air Town and Country School in Los Angeles and studied classical piano in his early years. Johnston trained at Interlochen Arts Camp as a youth.Career
1957–1965: Beginnings
In high school, Johnston switched to contemporary music. He performed in a few "beginning" bands during this time and then moved on to working with young musicians such as Sandy Nelson, Kim Fowley, and Phil Spector. Soon Johnston began backing people such as Ritchie Valens, the Everly Brothers, and Eddie Cochran. In 1959, while still in high school, Johnston arranged and played on his first hit record, "Teen Beat" by Sandy Nelson. The single reached the Billboard Top Ten. The same year, Johnston made his first single under his own name, "Take This Pearl" on Arwin Records as part of the Bruce & Jerry duo.In 1960, Johnston started his record production career at Del-Fi Records, producing five singles and an album – Love You So – by Ron Holden. In 1962 and 1963, Johnston continued his recording career with a series of surfin' singles and an album, Surfin' 'Round The World, credited to Bruce Johnston, and another "live" album, the Bruce Johnston Surfin' Band's Surfer's Pajama Party. In 1963 came the first collaboration with his friend Terry Melcher, a mostly instrumental covers album credited to the Hot Doggers. The first artist the pair produced was a group called the Rip Chords. Johnston and Melcher were now working as staff producers at Columbia Records, Hollywood, and by the time they were producing the million-selling "Hey Little Cobra", a knock-off of the Beach Boys car song vocal style, they also wound up singing every layered vocal part for the recording. The two of them made a few recordings as Bruce & Terry and the Rogues, but Melcher began to focus more on his production career.
1965–1972: The Beach Boys
On April 9, 1965, Johnston joined the Beach Boys in New Orleans, replacing Glen Campbell, who was playing bass on the road and singing Brian Wilson's vocal parts. Johnston did not start playing bass until his first tenure with the Beach Boys, and the very first vocal recording Johnston made as one of the Beach Boys was the "Summer Days & Summer Nights" album. Bruce recorded his voice on "California Girls" and that track became one of the most successful singles from the album. Johnston has been credited by the Library of Congress as one of the original greatest supporters of the Beach Boys' 1966 signature album Pet Sounds. He flew to London in May 1966 and played the album for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Keith Moon, who was a Beach Boys fan. Johnston wrote several Beach Boys songs: "The Nearest Faraway Place" and notably 1971's "Disney Girls ", which was subsequently recorded by Cass Elliot, Captain & Tennille, Art Garfunkel, Jack Jones, and Doris Day. Johnston also sang lead on three songs from the 1970 Beach Boys album Sunflower: "Tears in the Morning", "Deirdre", and "At My Window".1972–1977: Solo career
Johnston left the Beach Boys in 1972 to embark on a solo career, and wrote the Billboard number one, Barry Manilow hit "I Write the Songs", for which he won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. "I Write the Songs" has been recorded by over two hundred artists. Regarding the Grammy win Johnston stated "How did I win a Grammy for a song that I wrote in my car and Brian Wilson and Mike Love have not won a well deserved songwriting Grammy? Why is fate being so unfair to two of my pop music songwriting heroes?" Johnston also provided backing vocals on Eric Carmen's 1977 hit, "She Did It," inspired by the Beach Boys' song "Do It Again" because of the 'did-its'.1979–present: Return to the Beach Boys
Johnston returned to the fold in 1979 at Brian Wilson's request to appear on the album L.A. . The following year he was credited as sole producer on the follow-up LP, Keepin' the Summer Alive. Johnston has remained with the Beach Boys ever since and was the only member to continue touring with Mike Love as the Beach Boys after the death of Carl Wilson.In June 2012, Johnston, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and David Marks reunited for a new album and 50th anniversary tour. Johnston still retains his equal ownership of the band's ASCAP publishing company, Wilojarston, and is the only member of the band to have earned a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
Other work
In 1967, he sang on "My World Fell Down", a minor hit for the Gary Usher-led studio group Sagittarius. On his Columbia Records 1977 solo album Going Public, he scored a hit on the disco charts with a dance-oriented remake of the Chantays' hit "Pipeline". Also in 1977, he vocal arranged and sang back-up vocals on Eric Carmen's LP Boats Against the Current and can be heard on the hit single "She Did It", on which he also arranged the vocals. In addition, Johnston wrote backing vocal arrangements and also sang on the recordings for Elton John including "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and several songs on Pink Floyd's album The Wall.Personal life
Johnston was the subject of some controversy during the band's 50th Anniversary Tour when a fan video during a meet and greet caught him being critical of then president Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney.Discography
Solo
Albums| Year | Album details |
| June 1962 | Surfers' Pajama Party
|
| July 1963 | Surfin' Round the World |
| May 1977 | Going Public |
| Date of release | Title | Label | Chart positions |
| February 1962 | "Do the Surfer Stomp "/"Do the Surfer Stomp " | Donna | never charted |
| April, 1962 | "Soupy Shuffle Stomp"/"Moon Shot" | Donna | never charted |
| March, 1963 | "The Original Surfer Stomp"/"Pajama Party" | Del-Fi | never charted |
| August, 1977 | "Pipeline"/"Disney Girls" | CBS Records | #33 |
| September, 1977 | "Pipeline"/"Disney Girls" + "Pipeline"/"Deirdre" | Columbia Records | never charted |
| 1977 | "Rendezvous"/"I Write the Songs" | Columbia Records | never charted |
with the Beach Boys
- Summer Days
- Beach Boys' Party!
- Pet Sounds
- Smiley Smile
- Wild Honey
- Friends
- 20/20
- Sunflower
- Surf's Up
- L.A.
- Keepin' the Summer Alive
- The Beach Boys
- Still Cruisin'
- Summer in Paradise
- Stars and Stripes Vol. 1
- That's Why God Made the Radio
with Mike Love
- Unleash the Love
- Reason for the Season
- 12 Sides of Summer