Whether pretending to be surfers and getting slapped with fines from the manager for swearing or cavorting with transcendental meditation and falling out with one another, The Beach Boys were never quite what people thought they were. They were often at each other’s throats, relationships were fraught a lot of the time, members of the band seemed to withdraw from the group and return whenever the mood suited them and that’s before we even mention Brian Wilson’s sometimes extreme battle with mental health. The story of the Beach Boys is weirder, sadder and madder than you could have ever imagined.

We spent a lot of last week talking about that aspect of their career. The lore is so thick, in fact, that we had to stop only half way through their career because these guys have said and done a lot in the last 61 years. So this week, we pick up ...