His song " Lady Lynda " was also a UK top 10 hit for the group in Following the death of fellow band member Carl Wilson in , Jardine left the Beach Boys touring band and has since performed as a solo artist, rejoining the band only for their 50th anniversary tour in Since , Jardine has toured alongside fellow Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson and his band; Jardine has also made solo appearances, increasing the amount of these especially since He has released one solo studio album, A Postcard from California At Hawthorne High School, he was a fullback on the football team, soon befriending backup quarterback Brian Wilson.
Jardine's primary musical interest was folk and he learned banjo and guitar specifically to play folk music. When the Beach Boys formed at Wilson's home, he first tried to push the band toward folk but was overruled in favor of rock 'n' roll. A versatile string instrumentalist, Jardine played stand-up bass on the Beach Boys' first recording, the song " Surfin' " He fully rejoined the Beach Boys in the summer of at Brian Wilson's request and worked alongside guitarist David Marks with the band until October , when Marks quit the Beach Boys after a disagreement with the band's manager, Murry Wilson.
Jardine played double bass on the Beach Boys' first and only record for Candix Records , " Surfin' ", but quit the band a few months later, in February A common misconception from this time states that Jardine left to focus on dental school , but he did not apply to dental school until ; he then left due to creative differences and his belief that the newly-formed group would not be a commercial success.
After Brian Wilson discontinued touring in late , Jardine took on a more prominent role as a lead vocalist during live performances with the group. Beginning with his contributions to the Friends album, Jardine also became a songwriter and wrote or co-wrote a number of songs for the Beach Boys.
He shared production credits with Ron Altbach on M. Album and was a significant architect with Mike Love of the album's concept and content.
