David Marks

David Lee Marks (born August 22, 1948) is an American guitarist who was an early and latter-era member of the Beach Boys. While growing up in Hawthorne, California, Marks was a neighborhood friend of the original band members and was a frequent participant at their family get-togethers. Following his departure from the group, Marks fronted the Marksmen and performed and recorded as a session musician. Marks is Jewish. Marks played music with the Wilson brothers from before the band started performing publicly, including the first demo recording for "Surfin'" (recorded as The Pendletones), but he was in school – and his 12-year-old voice was deemed unnecessary – on the October 1961 afternoon the group held the final recording session for the single, released in November 1961 with the new name Beach Boys on the single's label. Marks continued with the group, moving to rhythm guitar when Al Jardine left the group in February 1962, recording as a Beach Boy from the band's second single, "Surfin' Safari", which earned the band a long-term contract. He was a Beach Boy for their first four albums: Surfin' Safari (1962), Surfin' U.S.A. (1963), Surfer Girl (1963), and Little Deuce Coupe (1963). Despite participating with the group from before they became "the Beach Boys", and being in the band through their initial success (except for the recording session of their pre-success first single), historians have discounted him as a true founding member of the group. In August 1963, he left the band due to personal problems with manager Murry Wilson. Afterward, Marks worked with acts including Casey Kasem's Band Without a Name, the Moon, Delaney & Bonnie, Colours, and Warren Zevon, and studied jazz and classical guitar at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory. From 1997 to 1999, Marks returned to the Beach Boys for their live performances. In 2007, he released an autobiography, entitled The Lost Beach Boy. He reunited with the group for their fiftieth-anniversary tour and the 2012 album That's Why God Made the Radio.