Band of the Free: The Beach Boys as an American National Interest

TY - JOUR

T1 - Band of the Free

T2 - The Beach Boys as an American National Interest

AU - Carter, Dale

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - For over fifty years The Beach Boys have been musically synonymous with the United States. Addressing such associations in musical, thematic, social, cultural, political and ideological terms, this article argues that the group’s Americanisms have changed over time, as have the forms they have taken and the contexts within which they have gained and lost traction. While professional ambition, corporate interest, public belief and established myth have all helped underwrite their Americanist associations, The Beach Boys have retained an enduring national interest in part by accommodating the paradoxes and tensions that have marked both the group and their homeland.

AB - For over fifty years The Beach Boys have been musically synonymous with the United States. Addressing such associations in musical, thematic, social, cultural, political and ideological terms, this article argues that the group’s Americanisms have changed over time, as have the forms they have taken and the contexts within which they have gained and lost traction. While professional ambition, corporate interest, public belief and established myth have all helped underwrite their Americanist associations, The Beach Boys have retained an enduring national interest in part by accommodating the paradoxes and tensions that have marked both the group and their homeland.

KW - popular music

KW - Beach Boys

KW - Americanism

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137321475&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/19401159.2021.1983985

DO - 10.1080/19401159.2021.1983985

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1940-1167

VL - 8

SP - 187

EP - 204

JO - Rock Music Studies

JF - Rock Music Studies

IS - 3

ER -