Love collaborated on a lot of songs from 1962-1967 but never got any money or even credit . One reason for the suits .
“In 1992, Love, along with Jardine and several Wilson family members, sued Brian for defamation regarding claims made in his 1991 memoir Wouldn’t It Be Nice: My Own Story. The case was settled out of court by publisher HarperCollins, who awarded Love $1.5 million. “
Love always seemed like a grifter and he was just a singer and not one of the good ones. Watch them live back in the day, he just stands there with a tambourine like a dope.
You’re overstating things a bit. Mike Love’s names was left off the credits for some songs (California Girls, Help Me Rhonda et) but not all. There were many songs for which he was credited at the time. Mike’s early ‘90s suit, victory and settlement resulted in a payout to him and restoration of credits... even on songs like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” which Brian’s co-author Tony Asher testified that Mike contributed no music or lyrics, other than perhaps “scat vocals” (ba-ba-ba type stuff).
Mike also sued Brian for silly stuff like Brian’s “Smile” Tour in 2004, which Mike claimed co-opted Beach Boys’ intellectual property... which was rich because Mike didn’t even like Van Dyke Parks’ lyrics when the songs were new in 1966-67.