The Reason Glen Campbell Rejected Joining The Beach Boys

Glen Campbell nearly became a permanent member of The Beach Boys in 1964. With his amazing guitar and vocal abilities, Campbell, who was already a session guitarist for the group and filled in for Brian Wilson during a nervous breakdown, blended in perfectly with the band’s style. However, Campbell’s solo career was only getting started, and he wasn’t happy with the terms The Beach Boys offered him, even if there was a chance for a long-term collaboration. What could have been a fantastic music collaboration never materialized.

Brian Wilson’s First Nervous Breakdown

The Beach Boys reached the peak of their fame in the mid-1960s, especially after scoring their first No. 1 single, “I Get Around,” in May 1964. But with the explosion of Beatlemania taking over, the pressure was on. The band had to keep pushing, constantly writing, recording, and touring to stay competitive with The Beatles.

The stress of it all proved overwhelming for Brian Wilson. While on a two-week tour from December 23, 1964, to January 7, 1965, Wilson suffered his first nervous breakdown. He was already dealing with personal struggles in his marriage to Marilyn, and the emotional toll became too much. During a flight to Houston, Wilson lost control. “The plane had been in the air only five minutes when I told Al Jardine I was going to crack up at any minute. He told me to cool it. Then, I started crying. I put a pillow over my face and began screaming and yelling,” Wilson recalled.

Al Jardine later described the moment, saying, “We were really scared for him. We were concerned for him because he was so upset. He obviously had a breakdown. None of us had ever witnessed something like that.” This incident marked a turning point for Wilson, signaling that the intense pressure and personal struggles were beginning to take their toll on his mental health.

Why Glen Campbell Turned Down The Beach Boys

After Brian Wilson’s breakdown in Houston, he couldn’t continue the tour. The next day, he flew back to Los Angeles, telling the band he needed a break. Although Wilson had taken time off before, this felt more serious, and the band needed someone to keep the tour going.

The Beach Boys turned to session guitarist Glen Campbell to fill in. “Mike [Love] and Carl [Wilson] called me on a Wednesday and said, ‘Glen, can you be here tomorrow? You gotta play bass and do Brian’s part.’ I said, ‘Sure.’” Campbell had already played with them during recording sessions, so stepping in wasn’t too hard—except for learning the lyrics. “I didn’t know all the words to the songs. They’d be singing ‘Pasadena,’ and I would sing something else. But the screams were so loud from the girls, you couldn’t hear a thing anyway.”

After the tour, the Beach Boys invited Campbell to join the band permanently. But Campbell had a condition: if he became a full-time member, he wanted an equal share of the royalties. Unfortunately, the band couldn’t agree to that. “It wasn’t a term I was willing to compromise on,” Campbell said. And so, despite the offer, the permanent collaboration never happened.