It was 58 years ago today (October 5th, 1963) that Beach Boys guitarist and co-founder David Marks played his final concert as a full member of the band. Marks, who grew up across the street from future Beach Boys' Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, was only 15 at the time of his final show, which took place at San Diego's Balboa Park Bowl.
Marks, who began making music with the Wilsons as a pre-teen, was a member of the Beach Boys from 1961 to 1963 and one of the five names on the band's original contract to Capitol Records. He performed on the group's first five albums, including the hits “Surfer Girl,” “409,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” “Surfin' Safari,” “Shut Down,” “In My Room,” “Little Saint Nick,” “Catch A Wave,” “Be True To Your School,” and “Surfin' U.S.A.” Marks, who was part of the Beach Boys' 2012 50th anniversary tour, toured in 2013 with Brian Wilson as part of his joint trek with Jeff Beck. Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine and '70s-era Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin were also on board. Marks has also joined up several times with Mike Love's touring version of the band for a string of overseas dates.
David Marks quit the Beach Boys in 1963 due to his frustration at not having his own music incorporated into the act, and over frictions with the Beach Boys' manager, the Wilson brothers' father Murry Wilson. Marks, who's now a sober, happily married family man and world renowned for his guitar work, told us that it's only in recent years that he's able to look back clearly at his exit from the group back in '63: “I let those guys down when I quit the band. I did. I never really thought of how it affected them, but looking back, it had a profound effect on Brian, for one, because he was forced to come back on the road — which was his worst nightmare — and bummed him out, because he wanted to stay home and write and produce records.”