Huntington Beach to honor Beach Boys maestro Brian Wilson with paddle out

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif,. (CNS) -- A recent lunch with Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean fame led to talk about how to pay tribute to Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, who died last week, the president and CEO of Huntington Beach's marketing organization recalled.

"I was having lunch with Dean Torrence ... and he was very close to the Wilson family," Kelly Miller of Visit Huntington Beach said Friday. "One of our staff members, just before we went to lunch -- we call him Cool Kevin, he's a big surfer -- and he said we should do something for Brian like a paddle out, so Dean and I were chatting some more, and we decided we should do this."

Coincidentally, Saturday is International Surfing Day, and Friday was the anniversary of Wilson's birthday.

"So, it's kind of like the Beach Boys and the Jan and Dean stars were aligning," Miller said.

The plans crested quickly, Miller said -- and the paddle out is set to take place at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Huntington Beach Pier north side.

P.T. Townend, the 1976 world champion surfer, will play emcee with Beach Boys music "blasting from the speakers," Miller said.

"Dean will talk at the very end and tell some great stories about Brian and the boys," Miller said. "And we can sing Happy Birthday' belatedly to him."

Some former wives of the Wilson brothers may attend the paddle out, Miller said.

Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys' visionary and fragile leader whose genius for melody, arrangements and wide-eyed self-expression inspired "Good Vibrations" and "California Girls," has died.

Miller recalled growing up in Alaska and hearing the Beach Boys for the first time.

"I was just a kid in the third or second grade, and I couldn't believe it," Miller said. "My dad had a party, put the Beach Boys on and I was just transported. I'd never heard music like that before."

Miller also recalled the synergy between Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys, and what they meant to surfing culture in Huntington Beach. Wilson wrote Jan and Dean's biggest hit, "Surf City," and handed it over to his friends, Miller said.

"He gave it to Jan and Dean because they were his buddies," Miller said.

When the Beach Boys' manager heard the song on the radio, "He was so upset because it wasn't the Beach Boys, but it should have been," Miller said. "So, he calls Brian and says, What the hell? That's a hit,' and he said, Hey, buddy, Jan and Dean are my good friends."'

There's no charge to attend the paddle out, but Miller suggested participants bring a beach chair or a surfboard.