Mike Love

Background

Michael Edward Love, the first of six children, was born in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on March 15, 1941. Love's mother, Emily "Glee" Wilson (1919–1979), was the sister of Murry Wilson, a resident of Los Angeles since the early 1920s. Glee married Edward Milton Love (1918–2013), the son of the founder of the Love Sheet Metal Company, in 1938. After Love's birth, the family moved to the View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood. As a child, Love wrote his first song, "The Old Soldier", which Murry Wilson described as a "song in hymn form" in a 1971 interview. Murry reworked the song as "By His Side (When Jesus Calls His Soldiers)" with new lyrics, and Love's cousin Brian Wilson performed both songs at a concert held in Love's house. "By His Side" was copyrighted in September 1951. Love attended Dorsey High School and graduated in 1959. He attended two semesters at Los Angeles City College, where he ran track and played basketball. Unsure of a career direction, Love joined his father's company, Love Sheet Metal, whose fortunes had begun to dramatically decline in the late 1950s. Later, Love also worked as a gas station attendant to help support himself and his first wife. Both Milt and Glee Love were active in sports, and Love's younger brother Stan Love later played in the National Basketball Association. Glee had a distinct interest in painting and the arts. Like her brother, Murry, however, she was also strong-willed and, according to her husband, a dominant personality. The family was close-knit and regularly socialized with Murry and his family. Murry was a part-time songwriter.

Love often sang at family get-togethers at his cousins, the Wilsons' home in nearby Hawthorne, especially at Christmas. During this time, the Beach Boys sound was established, predominantly influenced by Brian's devotion to the Four Freshmen's arrangements. Musical accompaniment during this formative phase was solely Brian's self-taught piano, but this was quickly expanded by the guitar contributions of Brian's college friend Al Jardine (whose fundamental interest was folk music) and Carl Wilson (whose idol was Chuck Berry). With the failure of Love Sheet Metal, the family was forced to move to a modest two-bedroom house in Inglewood, closer to the Wilsons.

Early career

Love played rudimentary saxophone in the first years of the fledgling garage band that evolved from the Pendletones to the Beach Boys. He also established himself, along with neighbor Gary Usher, local DJ Roger Christian, and others, as a collaborator with Brian Wilson in the band's original compositions. To help write many of the Beach Boys songs, Love drew inspiration from the lyrics of Chuck Berry along with Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who wrote many of the Everly Brothers' songs including "Devoted to You" and "All I Have to Do is Dream". He explained, "They were both the fun, descriptive pictorial vignettes as well as the more sweet, romantic and devotional lyrics. ... Even before that and more fundamental than that, I was always into poetry."

Carl Wilson commented that, "It's not widely known, but Michael had a hand in a lot of the arrangements. He would bring out the funkier approaches, whether to go shoo-boo-bop or bom-bom-did-di-did-did. It makes a big difference, because it can change the whole rhythm, the whole color and tone of it." He also credited Love, an avid fan of doo-wop combos, with influencing Brian to listen to black R&B records. Writer Geoffrey Himes claimed that without "Mike's R&B influence ... Brian couldn't have possibly become 'Brian Wilson.'"

In early 1964, Brian Wilson shifted the Beach Boys away from beach-themed music. That November, Love told a Melody Maker reporter that he and his bandmates wanted to look beyond surf music and avoid living in the past or resting on the band's laurels. He is also credited with naming their album Pet Sounds (1966). Asked for his favorite Beach Boys album in a 1994 interview, Love responded, "I guess Pet Sounds ... because of the orchestrations and arrangement. Because it's not just about cars or girls or school, but it's about feelings." Love stated in the 1970 series Pop Chronicles that the planned follow-up, Smile, was "good stuff" and "a fantastically-produced album", adding that "it'll come out, eventually."

Many reports conversely suggest that Love had resisted the group's new direction. In the description of music journalist Erik Hedegaard, Love gathered a reputation as "one of the biggest assholes in the history of rock & roll" due to such characterizations. Love commented in a 2007 interview, "I'm perfectly happy to own up to what I said and what I didn't like, but it's a bunch of crap to say that I didn't like the Pet Sounds album. It's fantastically crafted. ... that whole thing about me not liking the album is absolute trash. It's completely false." He similarly dismissed most of the reported claims concerning Smile : "I never said anything bad about any of the tracks." In a 1971 Rolling Stone article, business associate David Anderle originated the phrase "don't fuck with the formula" , a quote often attributed to Love and later repeated in myriad books, articles, websites, and blogs.

Later career

Other work, "Kokomo", and credits lawsuit

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Love wrote the words and music of several Beach Boys songs, including "Big Sur" (1973), "Everyone's in Love with You" (1976) and "Sumahama" (1978). In 1978, he co-founded the band Celebration, which achieved the U.S. Top 30 hit single "Almost Summer" (co-written with Brian Wilson and Jardine). Besides his work with Celebration, he also recorded two solo albums in October and November 1978. First Love was produced by Love's Celebration collaborator Paul Fauerso and featured original songs by Love and vocals from cousin and Beach Boys bandmate Carl Wilson. Country Love was a country album produced by Al Perkins (a pedal steel guitarist formerly of The Flying Burrito Brothers and Manassas) and mostly featured original songs written by Love. Both albums were not released but were later bootlegged; Love revisited and re-recorded several songs from First Love later in his solo career and with The Beach Boys. The First Love version of "Brian's Back", written about the fairly recent return of Love's cousin and Beach Boys bandmate to recording and touring with the group, was later released on the Beach Boys' 1998 compilation album Endless Harmony Soundtrack. In 1981, he released his first solo album (third to be recorded, but first to be released), Looking Back with Love (1981), with production by Curt Boettcher.

In 1988, the Beach Boys had a U.S. number 1 hit with "Kokomo", the only number 1 the band achieved without Brian's involvement. Love (along with "Kokomo" co-writers Scott McKenzie, Terry Melcher, and John Phillips) was nominated for a Golden Globe Award (1988) in the Original Song category, and was nominated for a Grammy Award, for "Kokomo". Also in 1988, Love was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the other founding members of the Beach Boys. At the induction ceremony Love delivered a hostile speech, criticizing McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and Mick Jagger. When asked in 2016 if he regretted anything about the night, Love said, "Yeah, I regret that I didn't meditate [earlier that day]."

In 1992, Love, along with Jardine and several Wilson family members, sued Brian for defamation regarding claims made in his 1991 memoir Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story. The case was settled out of court by publisher HarperCollins, who awarded Love $1.5 million. It was the first of numerous lawsuits that Love would file against Brian. Two years later, Love won a legal proceeding to establish what he considered to be proper authorship credit for many of the Beach Boys songs he co-wrote. Love successfully argued that Murry Wilson avoided crediting him with his early lyrical contributions to Brian's songs, denying Love accrued royalties. He later called it "almost certainly the largest case of fraud in music history". Brian Wilson agreed to pay Love $5 million and split future royalties on 35 songs.

Personal life

Marriages and family

Love has been married 6 times and has 8 children. Love met his first wife, Francis Emily St. Martin, in high school. During their relationship, Martin conceived a child, but she and Love both felt they weren't ready to become parents at the time, and went to an abortion clinic. The couple decided to marry after Martin became pregnant again several months later, and wed on January 4, 1961. They had two daughters, Melinda (born 1961) and Teresa (born 1962). Martin divorced Love in 1963, citing "extreme cruelty". She alleged Love had "struck her on the arm and ripped her clothes" and had also threatened her "on other ocassions". Martin received custody of their two children. The divorce became final on May 22, 1964.

In September 1965, Love met his second wife, Suzanne Belcher, at a recording session for Beach Boys' Party!. The couple married "after dating for about two weeks" in Las Vegas on October 15, 1965. They had two children, Hayleigh (born 1966) and Christian (born 1968). The couple separated three years later. In court documents, both parties accused each other of adultery. Love alleged that Belcher had an affair with Dennis Wilson, which she denied. Belcher additionally cited "cruelty", while Love alleged Belcher was "[involved] with 'hippies' and people associated with drugs" and had religious hallunications. The couple's divorce was granted on February 3, 1970. Love received custody of their two children.

In July 1971, Love met his third wife, Tamara Fitch, a college student. The couple married six weeks later at the home of Charles Lloyd, then a touring member of the Beach Boys. The couple had a daughter, Summer (born 1972), but separated after a year. The couple officially divorced in 1977. Later that year, Love married his fourth wife, Sue Oliver, which ended in annulment after six months.

On September 17, 1981, Mike Love married his fifth wife, Catherine Linda Martinez at his home in Santa Barbara in a ceremony officiated by Wolfman Jack. The wedding was attended by all then-current members of the Beach Boys. Love and Martinez raised a son, Mike Love Jr. (born 1982). The couple divorced in 1984.

Love wrote that Martinez "was pregnant before we married [...] but I had no reason to believe the child wasn't mine." In 1993, Love discovered Mike Jr. was not his biological son. Love and Martinez went to paternity court, which resulted in Martinez being ordered to pay a fine for "fraud of paternity" and Love being forced to cease contact with Mike Jr., although Love wrote in his biography, "[T]he judge told me, through my lawyer, "Don't worry, someday he will seek you out."" Love reunited with Mike Jr. at a Beach Boys concert in 1999.

Political views

Love describes his politics as generally aligned with progressivism. However, a photographed handshake between him and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, and his longtime friendship with Donald Trump, has led many to label him as a conservative. Love responded that being friendly with someone does not imply endorsing all of that person's opinions. Notwithstanding the friendly relationship between the Beach Boys and George H. W. Bush for many years, in 1992 the band raised money for the Transcendental Meditation–backed Natural Law Party. At the time, Love announced he was switching his support from Bush to Natural Law Party candidate John Hagelin.

In 2018, Love praised Trump for his "support of music historically" and was present at the signing of the Music Modernization Act in October. After Trump's election, the Beach Boys were asked to perform in the festivities for 2017 Trump's inauguration, and Love initially responded positively, saying Trump had "been a friend for a long time. Does that mean I agree with everything he says? No. But... if we were asked [to play his inauguration], I'm sure that we would." Instead, during the evening of Trump's inauguration day, Love's Beach Boys performed at the Texas State Society's "Black Tie & Boots" Inaugural Ball.

In February 2020, Brian Wilson and Jardine's official social media pages encouraged fans to boycott the band's music on animal rights grounds, after it was announced that Love's Beach Boys would perform at a convention for the hunting advocacy group Safari Club International. The concert proceeded despite online protests; Love issued a statement that his group has always supported "freedom of thought and expression as a fundamental tenet of our rights as Americans."

In October 2020, Love's Beach Boys agreed to play as the headliner at an expensive fundraiser for Trump's reelection campaign in Newport Beach. In a press release, Wilson and Jardine disavowed the use of the Beach Boys' name and music at the event, stating "we have absolutely nothing to do with the Trump benefit today in Newport Beach. Zero." Love again played at Mar-a-Lago's New Year's Eve celebration that year, alongside other acts. In 2022, Love attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Charity

Love has been a longtime supporter of environmental causes and was among speakers at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Earth Day 2000 in Washington, DC. He was instrumental in forming StarServe ("Students Taking Action and Responsibility to Serve"), which enlisted high-profile celebrities to inspire America's youth to help serve their communities. He also created the Love Foundation, which supports national environmental and educational initiatives. Love personally donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina and helped the foundation raise an additional $250,000. He has served as a member of the board of directors of the Lake Tahoe School in Incline Village, Nevada, and was responsible for raising over $1 million to benefit the school.

In 2010, Love contributed to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's More Hope For The Holidays album with vocals on "Closing of the Year" as well as contributing his self-penned "Santa's Goin' To Kokomo". On the album he appears alongside Weezer, Brandi Carlile, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Proceeds benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He performed a benefit concert for the foundation for the Children of the Californias which raised one million dollars to support the expansion of three new surgical suites. During the 50th Reunion Tour, Love, alongside the Beach Boys, partnered with Operation Smile to raise funds for those in need of cleft lip and palate repair surgeries. In May 2013, he was recognized for his decades of investment in education and national service by being awarded City Year's "Seven Generations Award".

Awards and honors

2014: Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award.

Discography

Studio albums

1981: Looking Back with Love

2017: Unleash the Love: Billboard Independent Albums – #37

2018: Reason for the Season: Billboard's Holiday Album Chart – #4 and Independent Albums Chart – #6

2019: 12 Sides of Summer

2023: Mike Love, Not War (Free Digital Download, exclusive with purchase of Beach Boys tickets in 2023)

With Celebration

1978: Almost Summer: Music from the Original Motion Picture Score

1979: Celebration

1979: Disco Celebration

Other albums

1983: Rock 'N' Roll City (with Dean Torrence; credited as Mike & Dean)

1996: Catch a Wave (with Adrian Baker)

1998: Salute NASCAR (with Bruce Johnston, David Marks, and Adrian Baker)

2001: Summertime Cruisin (with Bruce Johnston and Adrian Baker)

2010: A Postcard from California (Al Jardine album featuring backing vocals from The Beach Boys on one song)

Unreleased (studio album, recorded 1978): First Love

Unreleased (studio album, recorded 1978): Country Love