Over fifty years since it was first heard publicly, the voice of Beach Boys co-founding member Al Jardine remains a force of nature. What he stood for defines him and the best of his generation.
Apart from singing and playing on countless Beach Boys classics – including taking the lead on the band’s chart-topping “Help Me, Rhonda” and inspiring Brian Wilson to record the group’s timeless rendition of the folk classic, “Sloop John. B.” – Al Jardine has been the steady calm in the most tumultuous group in popular music.
Jardine averted all the pitfalls of the 1960s, by making a simple decision to study and actively practice Transcendental Meditation. 
The steadying force of meditation
In December 1967, at age 25, Al Jardine became a lifelong Transcendental Meditation practitioner when John Lennon and George Harrison introduced him and his bandmates to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who taught them in Paris.
Jardine became a certified TM teacher in 1972 after studying directly under the Maharishi, and he is still studying; earlier this year he learned an advanced Transcendental Meditation technique, which Jardine jokingly referred to as his “Continuing Ed.”
He meditates every day – once in the morning and once in the evening.
His music, his family, his life in Big Sur – and protecting the land and seas surrounding his home – are what drive him.
He is the first to admit that it’s Transcendental Meditation that grounds him.
A benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation
In 2010, Jardine became the final original Beach Boy to release a solo album, with the critically acclaimed A Postcard From California. At the moment, he is wrapping up a sold-out tour with Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck and is busy working on new material – some of which will undoubtedly touch upon his love and devotion to Transcendental Meditation.
Al Jardine will give one of the first concerts in 2014 at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. The gig on February 7, titled Transcendental Music, is to benefit both the Rubin Museum and the David Lynch Foundation.
More information about the concert: The Rubin Museum of Art
Article by Howie Edelson
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