Carl Wilson | |
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 Wilson in 1979 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Carl Dean Wilson (1946-12-21)December 21, 1946 Hawthorne, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 6, 1998(1998-02-06) (aged 51) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1961–1998 |
| Formerly of |
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| Website | carlwilsonfoundation |
Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-foundedthe Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmatesBrian andDennis, and the group'sde facto leader in the early to mid-1970s. He was also the band's musical director on stage from 1965 until his death.
Influenced by the guitar playing ofChuck Berry andthe Ventures,[1] 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), "Wild Honey" (1967), "Darlin'" (1967), "I Can Hear Music" (1969) and co-lead vocals with his brother Brian on "Surf's Up" (1971) which failed to chart as a single but is often regarded as one of the band's best songs.[2][3] More often than other members of the band, he frequently played alongside thesession musicians employed during the group's critical and commercial peak in the mid-1960s. After Brian's reduced involvement with the group, Carl produced the bulk of their recordings from20/20 (1969) throughHolland (1973). Concurrently, he spent several years challenging hisdraft status as aconscientious objector.
During the 1980s, Wilson launched a solo career, releasing the albumsCarl Wilson (1981) andYoungblood (1983). In the 1990s, he recorded material withGerry Beckley andRobert Lamm, later released for the posthumous albumLike a Brother (2000). He was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys in 1988. Wilson was also a member of theMovement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, areligious corporation. He died on February 6, 1998, at the age of 51, oflung cancer.[4]
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Carl Dean Wilson was born the youngest of the three Wilson boys inHawthorne, California, the youngest son of Audree Neva (née Korthof) andMurry Gage Wilson. As young children, he and his brothers suffered frequent verbal and physical abuse at the hands of their father.[5] 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 starSpade Cooley, at the age of 12, Carl asked his parents to buy him a guitar, for which he took some lessons.[6] In 1982, Carl remembered from this time: "The kid across the street,David Marks, was taking guitar lessons fromJohn 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 ofthe Walker Brothers. ... He showed me some fingerpicking techniques and strumming stuff that I still use. When I play a solo, he's still there."[7] While Brian perfected the band's vocal style and keyboard base, Carl'sChuck Berry-esque guitar became an early Beach Boys trademark. While in high school, Carl also studied saxophone.[6]
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 aFender Jaguar guitar. Carl developed as a musician and singer through the band's early recordings, and the early "surf lick" sound heard in "Fun, Fun, Fun" was 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 byRoger McGuinn in establishing the sound ofthe Byrds and byGeorge Harrison ofThe Beatles during this era. Dave Marsh, inThe Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll (1976), stated thatPete Townshend ofThe Who expanded on both R&B and rock "influenced heavily by Beach Boy Carl Wilson".[8]
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 experiencedsession 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.[9] 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 thesoundboard. His playing can be heard on the introduction to "California Girls", throughout the 1965 albumThe Beach Boys Today! and on "That's Not Me" fromPet Sounds.
After Brian's retirement from touring in 1965, Carl became the musical director of the band onstage.[6] Contracts at that time stipulated that promoters hire "Carl Wilson plus four other musicians". Following his lead vocal performance on "God Only Knows" in 1966, Carl was increasingly lead vocalist for the band, a role previously dominated byMike Love and Brian. He sang leads on the singles "Good Vibrations", "Darlin'", and "Wild Honey".[6] Starting with the albumWild Honey, Brian requested that Carl become more involved in the Beach Boys' records.[10]
In 1969, the Beach Boys' rendition of "I Can Hear Music" was the first track produced solely by Carl Wilson. By then, he had effectively become the band's in-studio leader, producing the bulk of the albums during the early 1970s.[6] Though Carl had written surf instrumentals for the band in the early days,[6] he was not featured as a songwriter until the 1971 albumSurf's Up, for which he composed "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows", with lyrics by the band's then-managerJack Rieley. Carl considered "Long Promised Road" his first real song. After producing the majority ofCarl and the Passions – "So Tough" (1972) andHolland (1973),[6] Carl's leadership role diminished somewhat, due to Brian's brief public reemergence and because of Carl's own substance abuse problems.
ForL.A. (Light Album) (1979), Carl contributed four songs, among them "Good Timin'", co-written with Brian five years earlier, which became a Top 40 American hit. Carl's main writing partner in the late 1970s was Geoffrey Cushing-Murray, but forKeepin' the Summer Alive (1980) he wrote withRandy Bachman of the bandBachman-Turner Overdrive. Carl toldMichael Feeney Callan, writer-director of theRTÉ 1993 documentaryThe Beach Boys Today (a celebration of the Beach Boys' 30th anniversary), that Bachman was his favorite writing partner, accordingly: "Basically because he rocked, and I love to rock".
As a producer and vocalist, Carl's work was not confined to the Beach Boys. During the 1970s, he also produced records for other artists, such asRicci Martin (son ofDean Martin) and South African groupthe Flames, two members of which later temporarily joined the Beach Boys' line-up. He lent backing vocals to many works, includingChicago's hits "Baby, What a Big Surprise" and "Wishing You Were Here" (withAl Jardine and brother Dennis),Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (withBruce Johnston),David Lee Roth's hit cover of "California Girls",Warren Zevon's "Desperados Under the Eaves", and the Carnie/Wendy Wilson holiday track "Hey Santa!" Carl also recorded a duet with Olivia Newton-John, titled "You Were Great, How Was I?", for her studio album, "Soul Kiss" (1985). It was not released as a single.
By the early 1980s, the Beach Boys were in disarray; the band had split into camps. Frustrated with the band's sluggishness to record new material and reluctance to rehearse, Wilson took a leave of absence in 1981. He quickly recorded and released a solo album,Carl Wilson, composed largely of rock n' roll songs co-written with Myrna Smith-Schilling, a former backing vocalist forElvis Presley andAretha Franklin, and wife of Wilson's then-managerJerry Schilling. The album briefly charted, and its second single, "Heaven", reached the top 20 onBillboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Wilson also undertook a solo tour to promote the album, becoming the first member of the Beach Boys to break ranks. Initially, Wilson and his band played clubs like The Bottom Line in New York City and the Roxy in Los Angeles. Thereafter, he joined theDoobie Brothers as the opening act for their 1981 summer tour.
Wilson recorded a second solo album,Youngblood, in a similar vein, but by the time of its release in 1983 he had rejoined the Beach Boys. AlthoughYoungblood did not chart, a single, theJohn Hall-penned "What You Do To Me", peaked at number 72, making Wilson the second Beach Boy to land a solo single on theBillboard Hot 100. Additionally, the song cracked the top 20 onBillboard's Adult Contemporary chart.[11] Wilson frequently performed that song and "Rockin' All Over the World" (from the same album), as well as "Heaven" from the 1981 album, at Beach Boys' concerts in the 1980s. "Heaven" was always announced as a tribute to brotherDennis, who drowned in December 1983.
The Beach Boys'1985 eponymous album prominently featured Wilson's lead vocals and songwriting, including on recordings such as "It's Gettin' Late" and "Where I Belong".[12] In 1988, the Beach Boys scored their biggest chart success in more than 20 years with the US Number 1 song "Kokomo", co-written byMike Love,John Phillips,Scott McKenzie, andTerry Melcher, on which Carl sang lead in the chorus. After this, Love increasingly dominated the band's recorded output and became the driving force behind the albumSummer in Paradise (1992), the first and only Beach Boys album with no input from Brian in any form. In 1992, Carl toldMichael Feeney Callan his hope was to record new material by Brian. "Speaking for myself", he told Callan, "I only want to record inspired music".
Carl continued recording through the 1990s and participated in theDon Was-led recordings of Brian's "Soul Searchin'" and "You're Still a Mystery", songs conceived as the basis of acanceled Brian Wilson/Beach Boys album. He also recorded the albumLike a Brother withRobert Lamm andGerry Beckley, while continuing to tour with the Beach Boys until the last months of his life.
Wilson declared himself aconscientious objector and refused the draft to join the American military during theVietnam War. By 1988, Wilson had become an ordained minister in theMovement of Spiritual Inner Awareness.[13]
Wilson was married twice: first to Annie Hinsche, sister of frequent Beach Boys sidemanBilly Hinsche, then in 1987 toDean Martin's daughter Gina (born December 20, 1956).[14] With Annie, he had two sons. It was during the breakup of his and Annie's marriage that Carl wrote "Angel Come Home", which, according to co-writer Geoffrey Cushing-Murray, was about Wilson's grief over separating from his wife due to the Beach Boys' incessant touring. Gina accompanied him during all subsequent tours and the marriage lasted until his death.
Wilson had anIrish Setter named Shannon, whose death inspired the emotional 1976 hit song "Shannon" byHenry Gross.[15]
Wilson became ill at his vacation home in Hawaii in early 1997. He was diagnosed withlung cancer, and was started on chemotherapy. He had been smoking cigarettes since his early teens.[16] Despite his illness and treatments, he continued to play and sing with the Beach Boys throughout their entire summer tour until its completion in the autumn of 1997.
Wilson died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family, on February 6, 1998.[17][18] His death occurred just two months after the death of his mother, Audree Wilson. He was interred atWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
The Beckley–Lamm–Wilson album,Like a Brother, was finally released in 2000, and Carl's late recordings continue to appear. Brian's albumGettin' in Over My Head (2004) features Carl's vocal from the unreleased Beach Boys song "Soul Searchin'", with new backing vocals recorded by Brian. The original Beach Boys version, sourced from a canceled attempt at a new Beach Boys album in late 1995, was eventually released in theMade in California (2013) box set, along with another 1995 track titled "You're Still a Mystery", which features Carl in the vocal blend. In 2010, bandmateAl Jardine released his first solo album,A Postcard From California, which includes a similarly reconstructed track, "Don't Fight The Sea". Carl can also be heard on the continual stream of Beach Boys archival releases, most notably as a central voice in the November 2011 release ofThe Smile Sessions.
It was announced that Wilson's voice would be on a track from the reunited Beach Boys, on the albumThat's Why God Made the Radio (2012), but this never materialized. Instead, the scheduled song, "Waves of Love", featured on the 2012 re-release of Jardine'sA Postcard from California. It features one of the last vocals Carl recorded before his death. DuringThe Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour, a segment of the show was dedicated to the memories of Dennis and Carl. The band harmonized with isolated vocal tracks of Carl performing "God Only Knows" and of Dennis singing "Forever", as the band's crew projected images of the individual Wilson brothers on a large screen behind the band onstage.
Information perJon Stebbins.[19]
Guitars
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| Year | Album details | Chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| US | ||
| 1981 | Carl Wilson
| 185 |
| 1983 | Youngblood
| — |
| 2000 | Like a Brother (with Gerry Beckley and Robert Lamm)
| — |
| 2010 | A Postcard from California (withAl Jardine. Wilson appears posthumously, via archival recordings, on two songs)
| — |
| Date | Title | Album | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | AUS[20] | |||
| March 1981 | "Hold Me" / "Hurry Love" | Carl Wilson | — | - |
| June 1981 | "Heaven" / "Hurry Love" | 107 | - | |
| March 1983 | "What You Do To Me" / "Time" | Youngblood | 72 | 98 |
| July 1983 | "Givin' You Up" / "It's Too Early to Tell" | — | - | |
| September 2015 | "This Is Elvis" | non album song | — | - |
Wilson family (the Beach Boys) | |
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| Brian Wilson (1942–2025) |
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| Dennis Wilson (1944–1983) |
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| Carl Wilson (1946–1998) |
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| Relatives to the Wilson brothers |
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| National | |
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