LOS ANGELES (Beach Boys Fans Website) - Original Beach Boy Al Jardine is no longer able to tour with the
Beach Boys name after a US court ruling.
Jardine's former bandmate Mike Love, who also tours with the
Beach Boys name, complained his use of the name was confusing fans. US appeal court judges upheld Love's complaint about Jardine's group, the
Beach Boys Family and Friends.
"Show organisers sometimes were confused about what exactly they were getting when they booked Jardine's band," a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said.
Touring group
The Beach Boys formed in 1961 and became one of the biggest groups in the world in the 1960s, with hits like Surfin' USA, Good Vibrations and God Only Knows.
Love, a cousin of Jardine's fellow founding members Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, negotiated the rights to the use of the Beach Boys name for his touring band in 1998.
Jardine, however, continued using the Beach Boys Family and Friends name for his own touring group. In 2000 a judge placed a temporary banning order stopping Mr Jardine from using the name for his group. The band's name was held by the Beach Boys' original label, Brother Records, which had licensed it to Mike Love's group.
Fans confused
In 1999 more than 1,700 Florida fans demanded their money back after they turned up to a concert to find Al Jardine's group playing, rather than the original Beach Boys.
Brian Wilson, the band's main songwriter, also tours, but as a solo artist. The only surviving member of the three brothers, he recreated the band's epic 1966 album Pet Sounds at London's Royal Festival Hall with backing band The Wondermints.
Dennis Wilson, who had long battles with drugs and alcohol, drowned off Marina Del Ray, California, in 1983.
Carl Wilson, who was perceived as the band's peacemaker, lost his battle against brain cancer in 1998. His death prompted the other members to split.