 Wilson in 2019 | |
| Born | December 21, 1946 (age 78) Hawthorne, California, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1961-present |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Genre | Rock, pop, surf, psychedelia, soft rock, R&B, country, blues, disco, pop rock, folk, folk rock, hard rock, rock and roll, synthpop, dance-pop, jazz, alternative rock |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, synthesizer |
| Spouse | Annie Hinsche (m. 1966-1982) Gina Martin (m. 1987) |
| Children | 2 |
| Associated acts |
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Carl Dean Wilson (born December 21, 1946) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter who is known as one of the co-founders of the Beach Boys. He was the band's lead guitarist, he is the youngest sibling of his now deceased bandmates Brian and Dennis Wilson. He was also the band's musical director on stage from 1965 until the band was dissolved following Brian's death at the age of 27. Since then, he has pursued a solo career and is considered to be one of the best-selling music artists in the world, having sold over 178 million records.
Influenced by the guitar playing of Chuck Berry, Wilson's initial role in the group was that of lead guitarist and backing singer, but he performed lead vocals on several of their later hits, including "God Only Knows" (1966), "Good Vibrations" (1966) and "I Can Hear Music" (1969).
Wilson would inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (in 1993) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice, as a member of the Beach Boys in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1997).
Biography[]
Early life[]
Carl Dean Wilson was born the youngest of the three Wilson boys in Hawthorne, California, the youngest son of Audree Neva (née Korthof) and Murry Gage Wilson. As young children, he and his brothers suffered frequent verbal and physical abuse at the hands of their father. From his pre-teens he practiced harmony vocals under the guidance of his brother Brian, who often sang in the family music room with his mother and brothers. Inspired by country star Spade Cooley, at the age of 12, Carl asked his parents to buy him a guitar, for which he took some lessons. In 1982, Carl remembered from this time: "The kid across the street, David Marks, was taking guitar lessons from John Maus, so I started, too. David and I were about 12 and John was only three years older, but we thought he was a shit-hot guitarist. John and his sister Judy did fraternity gigs together as a duo. Later John moved to England and became one of the Walker Brothers. ... He showed me some fingerpicking techniques and strumming stuff that I still use. When I play a solo, he's still there." While Brian perfected the band's vocal style and keyboard base, Carl's Chuck Berry-esque guitar became an early Beach Boys trademark. While in high school, Carl also studied saxophone.
The Beach Boys (1961-1969)[]
Turning 15 as the group's first hit, "Surfin", broke locally in Los Angeles, Carl's father and manager, Murry (who had sold his business to support his sons' band), bought him a Fender Jaguar guitar. Carl developed as a musician and singer through the band's early recordings, and the early "surf lick" sound shown in "Fun, Fun, Fun", recorded in 1964 when Carl was 17. Also in 1964, Carl contributed his first co-writing credit on a Beach Boys single with the guitar riff and solo in "Dance, Dance, Dance" co-written with Mike Love and Brian Wilson. By the end of 1964, he was diversifying, favoring the 12-string Rickenbacker that was also notably used by Roger McGuinn in establishing the sound of the Byrds and by George Harrison of the Beatles during this era. Dave Marsh, in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll (1976), stated that Pete Townshend of the Who expanded on both R&B and rock "influenced heavily by Beach Boy Carl Wilson".
Carl's lead vocals in the band's first three years were infrequent. Although all members of the band played on their early recordings, Brian began to employ experienced session musicians to play on the group's instrumental tracks by 1965 to assist with the complex material, but the band was not eliminated from recording the instrumental tracks and still continued to play on certain songs on each album. Unlike the other members of the band, Carl often played alongside session musicians and also recorded his individual guitar leads during the Beach Boys' vocal sessions, with his guitar plugged directly into the soundboard. His playing can be heard on the introduction to "California Girls", 1966's "That's Not Me" and throughout 1965's "The Beach Boys Today!"
In 1969, his brother Brian would die of a drug overdose at the age of 27, causing the group to disband. Shortly after the group had disbanded, Carl would start his solo career and with a slightly electric sound, playing the keyboard and playing the synthesizer.
Solo career (1969-present)[]
Carl quickly recorded and released his first solo album, Carl Wilson. The album briefly charted, and its second single, "Good Times", reached the top 20 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Wilson also undertook a solo tour to promote the album. Initially, Wilson played in clubs like the Bottom Line in New York City and the Roxy in Los Angeles. Thereafter, he joined the Doobie Brothers as the opening act for their 1981 summer tour.
Wilson recorded a second solo album, Where the Heart Lies, in a similar vein, but by the time of its release in 1974. Although the album did not chart, a single, "Don't Bring Me Down", peaked at number 3. Additionally, the song cracked the top 20 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Wilson frequently performed that song and "Where the Heart Lies" (from the same album), as well as "Good Times" from the 1970 album. "Good Times" was announced as a tribute to his deceased brother Brian.
Since 1970, Wilson has released 17 studio albums during his solo career and has become the most popular pop artist in the entire United States. He has collaborated with the likes of Beck, Omar Henderson, Elton John, John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Nirvana, the Bee Gees, the Pet Shop Boys, Modern Talking and Jermaine Jackson. He also made the soundtrack album for the 1995 adventure comedy film A Donkey Kong Movie and the self-titled theme song for the television sitcom Friends Like Us.
Famously, for his 1992 album Atmos, Wilson would record jazz and alternative rock material with Nirvana and Stevie Wonder. The album features Nirvana members Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic on backing vocals, playing keyboards. The album is considered one of Nirvana's more bizarre collaborations and wasn't received all too well due to the awkward combination of jazz and alternative rock.
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
- Carl Wilson (1970)
- Where the Heart Lies (1974)
- Cloud Nine (1978)
- Crazy Eyes (1982)
- Here We Go Again (feat. Modern Talking) (1984)
- No Ambition (1989)
- Atmos (feat. Stevie Wonder and Nirvana) (1992)
- House of Cards (1995)
- Near (1998)
- Spirit (2003)
- Soul Landscapes (2008)
- Eternal Connections (2012)
- In This Moment (2014)
- The Ungiven Kiss (2017)
- Echoing (2019)
- Someone (2022)
- Not Your Average Pop (feat. Beck) (2023)
Live albums[]
Soundtrack albums[]
- Donkey Kong (1995)
Singles[]
- Hit It (Carl Wilson) (1970)
- Good Times (Carl Wilson) (1970)
- Mr. Speedy (Carl Wilson) (1970)
- Don't Bring Me Down (Where the Heart Lies) (1974)
- Dance With Me (Where the Heart Lies) (1974)
- Cloud Nine (Cloud Nine) (1978)
- Wild and Awake (Crazy Eyes) (1982)
- Everything (Crazy Eyes) (1982)
- Her (Crazy Eyes) (1982)
- Milk and Honey (Crazy Eyes) (1982)
- Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Crazy Eyes) (1982)
- Here We Go Again (feat. Modern Talking) (Here We Go Again) (1984)
- Chatter Box (feat. Modern Talking) (Here We Go Again) (1984)
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (No Ambition) (1989)
- Montage (No Ambition) (1989)
- Beach Boy (No Ambition) (1989)
- Should I Stay or Should I Go (No Ambition) (1989)
- In the City (feat. Stevie Wonder) (Atmos) (1992)
- Neon Journey (feat. Nirvana) (Atmos) (1992)
- Out of Mind (feat. Nirvana) (Atmos) (1992)
- Atmos (feat. Stevie Wonder and Nirvana) (Atmos) (1992)
- No One Needs An Angel (feat. Nirvana) (Atmos) (1992)
- Little Secrets (feat. Nirvana) (Atmos) (1992)
- House of Cards (House of Cards) (1995)
- One More Chance (feat. Jermaine Jackson) (House of Cards) (1995)
- Dreams Don't Fly (Near) (1998)
- Near (Near) (1998)
- Old Memories (Near) (1998)
- Spirit (Spirit) (2003)
- I Will Always Be There (Soul Landscapes) (2008)
- The River (Soul Landscapes) (2008)
- Where I Want To Be (Soul Landscapes) (2008)
- Stuck Inside a Cloud (Soul Landscapes) (2008)
- Eternal Connections (Eternal Connections) (2012)
- Those Were the Days (Eternal Connections) (2012)
- Smile (Eternal Connections) (2012)
- Forever (In This Moment) (2014)
- For Brian (In This Moment) (2014)
- The Ungiven Kiss (The Ungiven Kiss) (2017)
- Soul (The Ungiven Kiss) (2017)
- To the Greats (Echoing) (2019)
- Forever Gone (Echoing) (2019)
- Where? (Echoing) (2019)
- Just For You (Echoing) (2019)
- Conversations With Myself (feat. Taylor Swift) (Someone) (2022)
- Not Your Average Pop (feat. Beck) (Not Your Average Pop) (2023)
- Living Fantasy (feat. Beck) (Not Your Average Pop) (2023)
- Antara (feat. Beck) (Not Your Average Pop) (2023)
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