LOS ANGELES – The surviving founders of the Beach Boys — Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine — made their first public appearance together in 10 years Tuesday, standing atop the historic Capitol Records building in Hollywood.
The trio gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landmark "Pet Sounds" album and the recent double-platinum certification of 2003's "Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of the Beach Boys." The trio was joined by veteran band member Bruce Johnston and former Beach Boy David Marks.
"It's always good to do this while we're living," Jardine quipped to reporters before the event, in which band members were presented with framed plaques each containing two platinum vinyl records.
Plaques also were issued posthumously to Wilson's brothers, Carl and Dennis — both original Beach Boys members.
The reunion of the Beach Boys came after decades of animosity between Love and Wilson, who are cousins.
Love sued Wilson in November, saying Wilson "shamelessly misappropriated (Love's) songs, likeness and the Beach Boys trademark, as well as the `Smile' album itself" when Wilson was promoting 2004's "Smile." Love previously sued his cousin in the mid-1990s, seeking more songwriting credit on the band's back catalog.
The two shared a friendly rapport Tuesday, standing side by side and patting each other on the back. In thanking his bandmates, Love lauded "my cousin Brian Wilson, for his incredible abilities that gave us all this amazing life."
When asked if all hatchets have been buried, Love pointed to his back.
"The hatchets are right here," he said with a laugh.
Loved added that between the band members "there's issues that arise, and you resolve them over time."
Of the reunion, he said: "We've been together, just in different configurations and different situations. But this is a great one because everybody's in a celebratory mood, everybody's on their good behavior and everybody's enjoying the fact that our records have been recognized even 40 years after we first put (them) out."
A second greatest-hits compilation, called "The Warmth of the Sun," is planned for release next spring, Love and Wilson said.
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