 Wilson in 2006 | |
| Born | December 4, 1944 Inglewood, California, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Died | May 10, 2008 (aged 63) Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Years active | 1961–1970 |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, musician, songwriter |
| Genre | Rock, pop, surf, soft rock, blues |
| Instruments | Vocals, drums, guitar, harmonica |
| Spouse | Carole E. Unrot (m. 1965-1968) Barbara Charren (m. 1970-1974) |
| Associated acts |
|
Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – May 10, 2008), was an American singer, musician and songwriter who was best known as one of the co-founders of the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. Dennis was the only true surfer in the Beach Boys, and his personal life exemplified the "California Myth" that the band's early songs often celebrated. He was also known for his association with musician and author Charles Manson. Dennis, who suffered with mental health struggles throughout his life, left the music industry in 1970, a year after his brother Brian's passing, retired from public life and strictly guarded his privacy until his death in May of 2008 from a brain aneurysm in Newport, Rhode Island, where the former Beach Boys member had lived a private life since 1972. Prior to his retirement from the music scene, Dennis would record his only solo album Down the Line from mid 1969 to early 1970.
Wilson would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 alongside his Beach Boys bandmates, a ceremony that he did not attend for his own safety.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Dennis Carl Wilson was born on December 4, 1944, the second child of Audree Neva (née Korthof) and Murry Gage Wilson. He spent his family years with his brothers Brian and Carl and their parents in Hawthorne, California. Dennis' role in the family dynamic, which he himself acknowledged, was that of the black sheep. According to neighborhood friend David Marks, Dennis' "raucous behavior" inspired other kids to nickname him "Dennis the Menace". Out of the three Wilson brothers, Dennis was the most likely to get beaten by their father and suffer the worst treatment. In 1976, he acknowledged, "We had a shitty childhood ... my dad was a tyrant. He used to whale on us, physically beat the crap out of us. I don't know kids who got it like we did."
Possessed with an abundance of physical energy and a combative nature, Dennis often refused to participate in family singalongs, and likewise avoided vocalizing on the early recordings that Brian made on a portable tape recorder. Dennis later described Brian as a "freak" who would "stay in his room all day listening to records rather than playing baseball. If you could get me to sing a song, yeah, I'd get into it. But I'd much rather play doctor with the girl next door or muck around with cars." However, Dennis would sing with his brothers late at night in their shared bedroom, a song Brian later recalled as "our special one we'd sing", titled "Come Down, Come Down from the Ivory Tower". Brian said of the late night brotherly three-part harmonies: "We developed a little blend which aided us when we started to get into the Beach Boys stuff."
Dennis noted of himself, "If my dad hadn't given me a BB gun when I was nine years old, my life would have been completely different. With that gun I had something I could take my anger out on. Hunting, fishing, racing have been my preoccupations ever since." Brian told Melody Maker in 1966: "Dennis had to keep moving all the time. If you wanted him to sit still for one second, he's yelling and screaming and ranting and raving. He's the most messed-up person I know." Around the time he was 14, Dennis began playing piano and learned to play boogie-woogie styles. He remembered attending church gatherings with the rest of his family "because there was this outasight chick there ... [and] I used to try and play boogie woogie on the church piano on Friday nights when all the kids went there to play volleyball."
Career: 1961-1970[]
The Wilsons' mother, Audree, forced Brian to include Dennis in the original lineup of the Beach Boys. In 1960, Dennis began taking drum lessons at Hawthorne High School. Teacher Fred Morgan later said that Dennis had been "a beater, not a drummer" and "a fast learner when he wanted to learn." According to Brian, "We kind of developed into a group sort of through the wishes of Dennis. He said that ... the kids at school knew I was musical because I had done some singing for assemblies and so on." Recalling their first group rehearsals, Dennis said that he was initially "going to play bass, and then I decided to play drums. ... Drums seemed to be more exciting. I could always play bass if I wanted to."
The Beach Boys officially formed in late 1961, with Murry taking over as manager, and had a local hit with their debut record "Surfin'", a song that Brian wrote at Dennis' urging. Dennis recalled, "We got so excited ... I ran down the street screaming, 'Listen, we're on the radio!' It was really funky. That started it, the minute you're on the radio." Though the Beach Boys developed their image based on the California surfing culture, Dennis was the only actual surfer in the band. Carl supported, "Dennis was the only one who could really surf. We all tried, even Brian, but we were terrible. We just wanted to have a good time and play music."
In early 1963, Dennis teamed with Brian's collaborator Gary Usher. Calling themselves the Four Speeds, they released the single "RPM" backed with "My Stingray". In March 1964, Dennis moved out of the Wilson family home and took residence at an address in Hollywood. In the sleeve notes of the band's July 1964 album All Summer Long, Dennis wrote: "They say I live a fast life. Maybe I just like a fast life. I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. It won't last forever, either. But the memories will." In December, Murry told a reporter that Dennis had been "a little too generous" with money and "cried when he learned about how much he had wasted. ... Where the other boys invested or saved their money, Dennis spent $94,000. He spent $25,000 on a home but the rest just went. Dennis [is] like that: he picks up the tab wherever he goes."
In January 1965, Brian declared to his bandmates that he would no longer tour with the group for the foreseeable future. He later said that Dennis was so devastated by the news that his immediate reaction was to pick up "a big ashtray and told some people to get out of there or he'd hit them on the head with it. He kind of blew it." Photographer Ed Roach, a close friend of Dennis's, stated that Brian was deterred from the stage due to jealousy over the adulation Dennis received from the audience. Brian remembered that the attention Dennis received was "hard to handle". The girls would be going 'Dennis, Dennis' and run right past us to get to him." Dennis later said of his brother, "Brian Wilson is the Beach Boys. He is the band. We're his fucking messengers. He is all of it. Period. We're nothing. He's everything."
Brian wrote that he had felt that Dennis "never really had a chance to sing very much", and so he gave him more leads on their March 1965 album The Beach Boys Today!. Dennis sang "Do You Wanna Dance?" and "In the Back of My Mind". The former became the first song with a Dennis lead that was issued as an A-sided single, peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Journalist Peter Doggett later said that Dennis' performance on the latter song "showed for the first time an awareness that his voice could be a blunt emotional instrument. ... his erratic croon cut straight to the heart, with an urgency that his more precise brothers could never have matched." Released in July, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) contained Dennis's favorite song by Brian, "Let Him Run Wild".
By 1966, Dennis had begun using LSD. His drumming contributions on Pet Sounds (1966) were limited to the track "That's Not Me". Carl said, "Brian liked to use [session drummer] Hal [Blaine] because he was so much more reliable than Dennis, but whenever Dennis got the chance to play he always did a great job. He played drums on more of our records than most people realize. I think because he didn't play on Pet Sounds everybody assumes he never played at all, and that's just not the case."
During the Smile sessions, Dennis played on "Vega-Tables", "Holidays", and "Good Vibrations". It is rumored that the album's working title, Dumb Angel, referred to Dennis himself. Van Dyke Parks, the project's lyricist, credited Wilson with inspiring the name of the would-be album track "Surf's Up". Dennis said that the group ultimately scrapped Smile because they became "very paranoid about the possibility of losing our public. ... Drugs played a great role in our evolution but as a result we were frightened that people would no longer understand us, musically."
In the latter part of the 1960s, Dennis started writing songs for the Beach Boys. Dennis's collaborator Gregg Jakobson commented, "He started taking his piano playing more seriously. He'd ask Brian to show him stuff until he got a pretty good grasp of chords." In January 1967, Dennis recorded the original composition "I Don't Know", but it was left unreleased. Music historian Keith Badman states that whether the piece was intended for Smile is not definitively known. In December, Wilson recorded a piece called "Tune #1" that was intended for a solo project to be released on Brother Records, but it was also shelved.
During the Smile sessions, Dennis played on "Vega-Tables", "Holidays", and "Good Vibrations". It is rumored that the album's working title, Dumb Angel, referred to Dennis himself. Van Dyke Parks, the project's lyricist, credited Wilson with inspiring the name of the would-be album track "Surf's Up". Dennis said that the group ultimately scrapped Smile because they became "very paranoid about the possibility of losing our public. ... Drugs played a great role in our evolution but as a result we were frightened that people would no longer understand us, musically."
In the latter part of the 1960s, Dennis started writing songs for the Beach Boys. Dennis's collaborator Gregg Jakobson commented, "He started taking his piano playing more seriously. He'd ask Brian to show him stuff until he got a pretty good grasp of chords." In January 1967, Dennis recorded the original composition "I Don't Know", but it was left unreleased. Music historian Keith Badman states that whether the piece was intended for Smile is not definitively known. In December, Wilson recorded a piece called "Tune #1" that was intended for a solo project to be released on Brother Records, but it was also shelved.
Wilson's first major released composition was "Little Bird", issued in April 1968 as the B-side of the "Friends" single. "Little Bird" and another song, "Be Still", were co-written with poet Stephen Kalinich and featured on the album Friends (June 1968). The group's next album, 20/20 (February 1969), marked the emergence of Dennis as a producer, including his original songs "Be with Me" and "All I Want to Do". Dennis's "Celebrate the News" was released as the B-side to the standalone single "Break Away".
Shortly after the passing of his brother Brian Wilson in June of 1969, the Beach Boys broke up and Dennis went quiet for nearly a year before releasing his only solo project Down the Line in September of 1970.
Withdrawal to Newport: 1972[]
In 1972, when Wilson became overly concerned about his privacy after a few instances where he was stalked, he moved to a small house in Newport, Rhode Island. He returned to live in California for a week in 1974, but soon returned to Newport permanently. Until his death, he received royalties from his work with the Beach Boys; Carl said: "I made sure the money got to him." In 1988, Dennis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys. He did not attend the ceremony.
According to former Beach Boy Mike Love, Wilson continued to live in his Newport home, and began writing personal diaries. He was also an avid gardener. He was reclusive, and his physical health declined, as he suffered a few aneurysms throughout his life, dying in May of 2008 of an aneurysm. He also gained weight.
Later years and death: 1987-2008[]
Although Wilson had not appeared or spoken in public since the late 1970s, reporters and fans travelled to Newport seeking him, despite public appeals from his family to stop in 1987. Apparently, Wilson did not like being reminded about his musical career or the passing of his brother, and the other members of the Beach Boys had no direct contact with him. However, he did visit Mike Love's house in November 1997 to watch the Fox Down the Line TV biopic made about him. He enjoyed seeing Carl Wilson (played by Jared Leto), calling him a "great friend", and enjoyed hearing "Surf City".
Dennis made a final public acknowledgement of his musical past in 2000, his first since the 1970s, when he autographed 200 copies of the album Down the Line. In 1978, the DuMont Television Network conducted Dennis' final interview before his retirement from public life entirely.
Wilson died at home in Newport on May 10, 2008 at the age of 63 from a third aneurysm from years of health complications. He was later cremated on May 18 in a private memorial ceremony.
| ||||||||||||||||||
