We all grew up listening to music. Swing, jazz and big band dominated the 30s and 40s. Rock n roll evolved from various genres of music back in the 50s. My teenage years were the 60s. There will never be another decade like this again and no other decade need even dare to compare.

The 60s began with the British invasion. I attended concerts featuring The Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, The Who, The Kinks, The Hollies, The Animals, Peter and Gordon as well as Chad and Jeremy. Sadly The Beatles never made it to Winnipeg back then.

I also attended concerts featuring American artists such as Paul Revere and The Raiders, Simon and Garfunkel, Sonny and Cher, Blues Magoos and The Monkees. But by far my favorite group was The Beach Boys.

The first time I saw them in person was at the old Winnipeg Auditorium, a popular venue for concerts back in the day. The promotor was leery about the size of the crowd they might attract so this smaller facility was chosen rather than the larger Winnipeg Stadium. The group I saw back then had all the original members…Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine.

While Brian Wilson wrote several songs about the beach, (such as Surfin’ USA and Surfin’ Safari), in reality he was afraid of the water and spent little time by the ocean. Instead he surfed a different wave in the dangerous waters of drugs.

In the mid-80s, the Beach Boys returned to Winnipeg and I took my six-year-old son Kyle to the concert. People sitting near us marveled that Kyle knew all the words and happily sang along throughout the evening. Kyle was a big fan of this group. He grew up listening to their music as his mom constantly played their cassettes. (By then I had replaced the albums with the then new modern cassettes).

But the group we saw in the 80s was very different from the one in the 60s. Brian Wilson, co-founder and leader of the group, was not on stage. Plagued by mental health issues resulting from constant substance abuse, his ability to go on tour had been severely restricted.

This talented musician passed away on June 11^th of this year at the age of 82. He is gone; but his music is sure to live on in our hearts forever.