SAN DIEGO — Al Jardine’s endless summer officially began when he was 18 and co-founded the Beach Boys in 1961. It hasn’t stopped yet.

“I’m still enjoying this too much to think of quitting,” said the 1988 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. He is now embarked on the debut “Al Jardine and The Pet Sounds Band — Tribute to Brian Wilson” tour, which will go to Australia and Japan next year after the current U.S. leg.

For Jardine, the tour is a welcome salute to the classic songs of Beach Boys’ mastermind Wilson, who died June 11 at the age of 82. Jardine was a featured member of Wilson’s solo band from 2012 until ill health forced Wilson to retire from performing in 2022.

Wilson was subsequently diagnosed with what was described in a court filing as a “major neurocognitive disorder (such as dementia).” He had previously struggled for decades with schizoaffective disorder, which caused him to hallucinate and hear voices in his head.

For much of Wilson’s life, music provided him — and his devoted listeners — with a welcome sense of solace, acceptance and beauty. He was a quintessentially troubled genius whose happiest moments came through the creation and meticulous honing of songs that were indelibly his own.

“Brian’s passing has been a real shock to all of us and we all miss him greatly — not just the band, but the world of music appreciators,” Jardine said. “Because he invented the language not just of the Beach Boys, but of a culture, his own musical culture.

“He just had a way with music and had skills that go beyond the average human being. So, we are bringing that to (concertgoers), the unusual and magical quality of his music.”

Last two standing

Wilson’s death leaves only two surviving members of the original Beach Boys’ lineup: Jardine, 83, and Mike Love, 84. There is almost no communication between Jardine and Love, who is the only original member of the Beach Boys who still performs with the band, which Love leads.

“I’m not sure what’s going on with him,” Jardine said of Love. “I saw him at the memorial service for Brian, but he was kind of in his own world.”

Jardine is the tireless common denominator between the Beach Boys, his own Endless Summer Band, the Brian Wilson Band and, now, the Pet Sounds Band. Named in honor of the Beach Boys’ most celebrated album, the Pet Sounds Band features musicians Wilson handpicked to bring his music to life when he began touring as a solo artist in 1999.

Jardine was a member of that band for a decade. Before Wilson died, did Jardine share his plans to tour with the group?

“Yeah, I told him I was taking the band out again and he was quite happy with that,” Jardine replied.

“Why not? I mean, these are his hand-picked guys and gals, and it’s a great way to celebrate his life. And it’s a lot of fun. I mean, we should all be having fun doing this music. It’s music of joy, as Carl (Wilson) used to say. And there’s a whole lot of stuff there that folks haven’t heard (in concert) before. I think you’re going to get a real kick out of it, not just the hits — although of course, we’re doing those, too — but the deep tracks are the ones that we’re most proud of.”

True to his word, Jardine’s tour with The Pet Sounds Band offers a wealth of familiar and rarely heard songs from the Beach Boys’ extensive repertoire.

The first half of the concert includes such classics by the pioneering Southern California band as “California Girls,” “I Get Around,” “Don’t Worry Baby” and “In My Room.” Jardine and the band also sprinkle in such lesser-heard songs as “She’s Got Rhythm” and “Susie Cincinnati.”

But it is the second half that will take audiences on a deep, deep dive. It features 11 of the 14 songs from the 1977 album, “The Beach Boys Love You,” which — despite being a commercial failure when it was released — received generally strong reviews.

“Love You” has since gone on to be hailed as one of Brian Wilson’s strongest albums with the Beach Boys. It is also one of the most unusual, thanks to his fascination at the time with synthesizers and his songwriting inspirations. They are captured in such song titles as “Johnny Carson,” “Airplane,” “Roller Skating Girl” and “Solar System,” which includes the memorable couplet: “If Mars had life on it, I might find my wife on it.”

Jardine proposed years ago that The Beach Boys do a tour showcasing “Love You,” but he was overruled by the band’s other members. His fondness for the album is shared by Darian Sahanaja, the multi-instrumentalist and singer who was Wilson’s music director for more than 20 years and is the co-founder of the Los Angeles band the Wondermints.

“The criteria for this tour was to learn and perform ‘The Beach Boys Love You’ album,” Jardine said. “Because Darian and I have been flirting with it for quite a long time, but it never came to pass.”

“So, this is an opportunity to focus on that particular era, the late 1970s, and I think we succeeded… People are screaming their heads off because they’ve been waiting to hear this stuff, the hardcore fans, right?”

Jardine spoke with the San Diego Union-Tribune recently from his home in Northern California. He discussed a variety of topics, including the possibility of reuniting with Love (don’t hold your breath), why the Beach Boys temporarily relocated to Holland in the early 1970s, his abiding love for the music of the Kingston Trio, jamming with the Grateful Dead at the Fillmore East, and getting Brian Wilson’s blessings to tour with The Pet Sounds Band.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: You spent years touring as a key member of Brian’s band. How easy or difficult has it been for you to transition from band member to band leader?

A: My son, Matt, and I do most of the heavy lifting… Darian, who’s the musical director for The Pet Sounds Band, is also carrying quite a bit of the load, as he did before with Brian. And all the members are highly skilled and talented. We lost a couple of the members since we last toured (with Brian), but we filled those vacancies well, I think. And it’s a pretty exciting show.

Q: With songs like “Roller Skating Child” and “Solar System,” which the Beach Boys recorded but never performed live, did you immediately remember them through muscle memory? Or did you have to relearn them altogether?

A: It takes a lot of muscle memory, particularly when the vocals are so rich. Instrumentally, it’s primarily keyboard-heavy. I’m not a keyboardist, so it didn’t weigh that much on me.

Q: Let me play devil’s advocate. If someone says: “The Beach Boys played in San Diego this summer and out on tour this fall, so why do we need them and The Pet Sounds Band?” What would you tell them?

A: Well, if you really want to enjoy the music, come out and see both bands. There’s no reason not to. I think our band is a little bit sharper, to be honest with you. We have all the integrity that we had with Brian’s band, and that is the direction I sway towards.

Q: If someone had told you in 1969 you would still be touring and recording in 2025, would that have been even remotely imaginable to you?

A: That would have been a reach, to say the least! But the neat thing about our music is that it’s so enjoyable, not only for the audience, but for the performers. So, it doesn’t get tiresome. It doesn’t get old. It’s new all over again when you hear these songs, and a lot of people’s memories are all tied up in these songs. So, with each generation, we find new fans all over again. And it’s cool to have such a deep catalog and experience music that hasn’t been heard before, in terms of these rarities we are playing now.

Q: That must make it difficult to come up with setlists for your concerts.

A: It is hard to make a setlist. That’s the real challenge, because I have my own music, too. I recently released an EP called ‘Islands in the Sun,’ that I love. At the most recent show we did, we performed the song ‘Islands in the Sun’ in between ‘Good Vibrations’ and ‘Help Me, Rhonda,’ and people loved it. I mean, it’s like: “Where do you start the setlist? Where does it end?” We could do a 10-hour concert!

Q: In 1972, the Beach Boys uprooted from Los Angeles and moved for several months to the Netherlands, where the band recorded its great album, “Holland.” What drew you to the Netherlands, specifically, as opposed to another European country?

A: Our manager at the time had a relation in Holland, so that’s why we ended up in that particular area. My preference was to go to the south of France and record using the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio. But I got out-voted.

Q: What do you recall about the Beach Boys playing a few songs with Frank Zappa at the Fillmore East in New York with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in the early 1970s?

A: It wasn’t Frank Zappa. It was the Grateful Dead!

Q: My mistake. What was that like, given that the Beach Boys and the Dead could have come from different musical worlds?

A: They were playing one of the last shows at the Fillmore East in 1971 before it closed, and we joined them on stage. We sang “Help Me, Rhonda” and a couple of other things, probably “Surfin’ USA” and “Fun Fun Fun,” and that was it. Frankly, we didn’t do more than a couple of songs.

Q: How did it sound to you?

A: It sounded pretty good. But we didn’t have a chance to rehearse. I didn’t hear the Grateful Dead’s music very much. They had their own sound, but I honestly can’t remember.

Q: By the late 1960s, after the success of the Beach Boys’ groundbreaking “Pet Sounds” album, you were considered a safe, middle-of-the-road band. Then, you had a creative rebirth with the 1970 album “Sunflower,” moved to the Netherlands in 1971 and your next album, “Holland,” inspired a reappraisal by people who had dismissed the Beach Boys as safe and predictable. Did you have any sense that with those albums that there was a reevaluation and that the band was suddenly being considered in a different light?

A: Oh, yeah, for sure. We were trying to adjust to the realities of new bands coming on board. A new cultural phenomena was going on all around us, so we had to adapt. And I thought we were going in a pretty good direction. We added a couple of fellas to the group, Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar, who gave us a volume and point of view that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. We were trying different things out exactly during that time (in the early 1970s). You adjust to the times, and I thought we did a good job.

Q: If you don’t mind asking, do you have much, or any, contact these days with Mike Love?

A: Absolutely not. He’s been quiet for a while. I don’t know. I’m not sure what’s going on with him. I saw him at the memorial service for Brian, but he was kind of in his own world.

Q: The surviving original members of the Beach Boys reunited for the band’s 50th anniversary tour, including you and Brian. Is it possible that, at some point, you guys would come together again under the Beach Boys banner?

A: Well, Mike owns the name. That is, he has a license to the Beach Boys’ name, I should say. We all own the name, collectively. But (reuniting) is not something he has ever expressed to me. So, it’s really a decision he would have to make.

Q: Would you be up for it?

A: Not really. I’m enjoying The Pet Sounds Band so much. But I could do a cameo once in a while with the Beach Boys, maybe just for fun, for a charitable event. That would be nice. If Brian were still here, it would be perfect, but it’s not a perfect world anymore. So, who knows? But if we could do something that counts, then yeah, I would do it for sure.

Q: Given that you just put out your EP, Is there an Al Jardine solo album in the works?

A: I’d like to do a folk album. I’d actually like to do a Kingston Trio album.

Q: When you say a Kingston Trio album, do you mean songs that they popularized?

A Oh, yeah! I enjoy their vocal harmonies so much, I can’t get them out of my head. I keep singing this stuff to myself all the time. There’s a (1959) song of theirs called “The Merry Minuet” that is hilarious. It’s a political satire, very dark, and I was thinking of going down and recording it tomorrow. Because it’s so timely now with Trump and his crazy warlike positions all over the world and how he’s making enemies all over. I’d love to do that. I’m thinking of that stuff all the time. “The Merry Minuet” is my protest song for the month!

Q: Two of The Kingston Trio’s members, Nick Reynolds and John Stewart, were from San Diego. Did you know them?

A: Yeah. I also knew Bob (Shane), who lived in Phoenix, and I visited Nick down there in Coronado. And at a Brian Wilson concert in San Diego, I invited Nick backstage. And I saluted him on stage and dedicated a song to him. I loved Nick. I loved Bob. I mean, they just had a special, special tone. It’s all about the vocals. As Brian would have said: “Listen to the vocals.” Their music is so joyous and powerful that we borrowed from them. And the striped shirts the Beach Boys wore were because of the Kingston Trio’s influence on me, not just musically, but style-wise.

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