Before Jimmy Buffett blew out his first flip-flop, the Beach Boys were “loadin’ up our Woody with our boards inside” to go surfing in the California sunshine.
The original beach music band, which formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961, returned on Feb. 28 to Key West, where crowds packed the Coffee Butler Amphitheater to hear — and sing along with — timeless classics like “California Girls,” Surfin’ Safari,” “Kokomo,” “Surfin’ USA,” “Good Vibrations” and “Sloop John B.”
The Beach Boys, in town as part of their Endless Summer Gold tour, originally included the three teenaged Wilson brothers, Brian, Carl and Dennis; their cousin Mike Love; and school friend Al Jardine.
The current lineup still includes Love, along with longtime performer Bruce Johnson, musical director Brian Eichenberger, and Christian Love, Tim Bonhomme, Jon Bolton, Keith Hubacher, Randy Leago and John Wedemeyer.
