The Beach Boys sang from waves, surfing and eternal summer – and yet Dennis Wilson was the only one in the group that could actually surf.
Dennis Wilson was also the outlier at the Beach Boys. He was often underestimated, also within the band. He lived the life of which the band often sang – a life that came to an abrupt end early.
Childhood and the establishment of the Beach Boys
Dennis Carl Wilson was born on December 4, 1944 in Inglewood, California. He was the middle of three children of his parents, Murry and Audree Wilson. His father was a musician himself and was benevolent when it came to the musical talents of his sons – but as a father of the family, he was tyrannic.
The three Wilson brothers could not have been more different. There was Brian, the musical genius. Carl, rather quiet and shy. And then Dennis: extroverted, adventurous and emotional, but also with a lot of internal demons. At the age of 14 he learned to play Boogie-Piano.
The beginnings of the Beach Boys: First album and first successes
In 1961 Dennis, Brian and Carl Wilson founded the Beach Boys together with their cousin Mike Love and her school friend Al Jardine. The fact that Brian and Carl asked their brother Dennis happened at the mother’s pressure, which insisted on integrating him. Wilson had started playing the drums a year earlier – and took over the post on the drums in the band.
Brian Wilson later remembered: “We somehow developed through Dennis’ wishes into a group. He said that … the children at school knew that I was musical because I had sung at meetings and so on, ”he became in the book“The Beach Boys and the California Myth“Quoted.
Dennis described the beginnings in 1976 in an interview with the Circus magazine: “It must have started on a Friday evening. We picked up my father from work and he took us to dinner. At that time everyone often wrote songs – the family was always musically active and sang together. We three sang three -part harmonies every Friday evening. I think the band started. As far as the professional singing of the beach Boys is concerned, one day the idea came up to sing about surfing. My father said he knew someone with a garage in which we could record it. We accepted it there, released it – and so everything started. Very improvised. There was no real concept behind the Beach Boys, just a few boys who sang about what they loved … “
Surf, surf, surf
The first song was about surfing – and was called “Surfin ‘”. It was created spontaneously and improvised, but became a surprise hit in California. The group signed at Capitol Records and published the debut “Surfin ‘Safari” in 1962. The following year, the surf music continued: “Surfin ‘USA” helped the band to the final breakthrough. They became icons and figureheads of surf culture and pop music.
Dennis Wilson himself once said: “We wrote music about our life – cars, surfing – that’s exactly how it was. I think cars were a phase when you were 17 or 18 when you had your driver’s license and enough money for petrol. Then it was about who had the fastest car. Then they discovered that cars have rear seats. ” But while the Beach Boys delivered the sunny soundtrack to the California dream, Dennis fought behind the scenes with his inside.
Dennis Wilson’s psychological problems
Dennis Wilson was the charismatic beach Boy – but also the most problem with the problem. It started in childhood: the father was violent, often beat his children. In interviews, Dennis later spoke openly: “We had a shitty childhood … my father was a tyrant. He beat us, beat us up properly. I don’t know any children who had it as bad as we do. “
All three brothers had different ways to cope with it – Dennis was looking for compensation in the adventure. He lived wildly, excessive. Wilson spent a lot of money, more than he had-and he definitely had little during his beach boy’s high blossom. The musician took too many drugs, celebrated. His drug use overhanded in the late 1960s. He took cocaine, LSD, drank alcohol.
Wilson’s role in the band
He fought with his own role in the band and did not feel sufficiently valued musically. While Brian was considered a genius, Dennis was sold somewhat under value at the time. He was the drummer, but he was often replaced on studio recordings by professionals. About Hal Blaine, a legendary drummer. Nevertheless, Dennis played the drums on several early hits, including “I get around”, “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Don’t worry baby”.
Dennis Wilson also appeared as a songwriter and singer and contributed to the repertoire of the Beach Boys with several compositions. His first posts were “Little Bird” (1968) and “Be still”, which he wrote with Stephen Kalinich. With “Forever” (1970), together with Gregg Jakobson, he created one of the band’s best -known ballads.
Dennis Wilson and contact with Charles Manson
In 1968 Dennis Wilson learned – in retrospect it sounds like a horror story – through two hitchhikers Charles Manson. Manson was an unsuccessful musician who later mutated into a cult leader. Wilson fell into Manson’s charm and wanted to promote his musical talent. He took him to his studio, introduced him to the music industry.
For weeks, Manson and his “family” lived with Dennis, used his money, his cars and his house. Wilson was convinced of Manson’s musical ideas and even recorded one of his songs with the Beach Boys. Originally known under the title “Cease to Exist”, he was revised and published as “Never Learn Not to Love” – but without naming Manson as a songwriter.
Dennis Wilson: his crash and his death
Wilson’s behavior in the band became more and more erratic. Drug use made everything worse. He argued violently with his bandmates – and due to his alcohol problems, appearances were often no longer possible. He could no longer speak, not to mention singing.
On December 28, 1983, Dennis Wilson drowned in Marina Del Rey, California at the age of 39.