Untitled

Mike: Never mind that, just pose for the picture.

“[Carl] is the lead singer on their latest release, ‘God Only Knows.’ ‘Originally Brian wanted to release it as a single under my name,’ the round, always cheerful Carl began. ‘Then “Good Vibrations” which should have been our next single, didn’t turn out the way Brian wanted. We had to have another release and so… ‘It’s not the first time I’ve sung lead. I start “Sloop John B” and then Mike Love takes over on the second verse. ‘Brian says he wrote this specially for me. He says it fits my “beautiful spirit,”’ he blushed slightly, but kept a straight face and then defended his reaction—‘I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed by a compliment, but for so many years there was little communication between us three brothers, because we were brothers all near the same age and we were young and we were thrown into an adult world rather suddenly. ‘Just recently we’ve been able to really talk to each other and appreciate the virtues rather than just complain about the faults.’ So far, no one has found Carl’s faults. Labeled the ‘peacemaker,’ he lives up to his title. At the outset of any disagreement, he immediately begins to smooth, soothe, calm everyone down. He’s never angry. […] He must watch for signs of restlessness in Dennis, an extra-sharpness in Mike’s voice, the stubborn set of Al Jardine’s jaw, the wild look in Brian’s eyes. God only knows where they’d be without Carl.” - article by Derek Taylor, Disc and Music Echo (July 30, 1966) “I gave the song ['God Only Knows‘] to Carl because I was looking for a tenderness and a sweetness which I knew Carl had in himself as well as in his voice. He brought dignity to the song and the words, through him, became not a lyric, but real words.” - Brian Wilson, Record Mirror (1966)

Star Scoops! Tiger Beat September 1966

🐱

“Back in those days, when you signed a union contract, the leader would sign it. So [it read], ‘Carl Wilson and four musicians known as the Beach Boys.’ The union would have the leader sign it and the promoter sign it and the agent sign it. So, my guess is that the Steel Pier gave the contract to some secretary who was probably new on the job and told her to order posters like you always do for this act. So, I can just imagine the Beach Boys getting to the Steel Pier for the gig and Michael getting out of the car and just dying when he saw the poster! Because in huge letters it said ‘Carl Wilson’ and in smaller letters ‘and the Beach Boys.’ Love must have been having a hemorrhage when he saw that!” - Fred Vail, Beach Boys Gigs “We were friends for thirty-five years, during which time [Carl] was the most unchanged of ‘the boys,’ the on stage leader, and, perhaps his biggest contribution, the ‘peacekeeper.’” - Fred Vail, Facebook (2026)

(also uhhh... that title... it's giving "i've seen people from near and far / they couldn't get to heaven in their car" like okayyyyy brian "never listened to pacific ocean blue" wilson who also basically interpolated "river song" in "rio grande"... okay...)

The Beach Boys Answer 50 Far-Out Questions! 16 October 1964

(Also making fun of various publications mixing up the BBs is my career so I am contractually obligated to point out: three out of five boys may have been misidentified in the second-page photo! Which ones depends on whether you go clockwise or counter-clockwise. The grasp on directions seems to be shaky in general however)

this is how he describes the way he grieved his father’s death

“Carl Wilson seemed to have the time of his life, his superb talents exercised to the full in God Only Knows and Wouldn’t It Be Nice, the standout song to the evening.” - review (of the Birmingham, England concert) by Robin Jones, Birmingham Evening Mail (May 25, 1991)

The Beach Boys quite possibly predating The Beatles’ rooftop concert.

“A simple shake of the head by drummer Dennis brought wild screams of delight from the audience. Carl, Dennis and Brian’s baby brother, a cherubic little guy, was probably the most talented of all.” - from a review by Bonnie C. Side, Broken Arrow Ledger (July 29, 1965) “Carl Wilson is another teen-age star who was in the WAPE show. He’s one of the Beach Boys—the cause of Saturday night’s traffic jam in East Jacksonville. Carl is 18 and the youngest of the group. […] Carl was delegated to do the talking for the group and chose a bench in the shower for the interview because it was quiet and away from all the guitar-tuning. That is, it was quiet until Dennis stuck his head in and sang, ‘Ahhhhhhhhhh.’ It’s not noticeable in a lot of the Beach Boys’ arrangements, but it seems Brian is a rabid Four Freshmen fan. ‘Brian was influenced by them quite a bit,’ Carl said. ‘Like ever since he was, say, 12 or 13, he’d been writing arrangements on them and copying the arrangements. When he got to be like 16, he’d make up his own, but they were along their lines and like that. We love harmony, you know, like that.’” - article by Ray Knight, Jacksonville Journal (July 28, 1965)

Interviewed by two fans for WIST Radio in Charlotte on July 14, 1965.

“To two 14-year-old Charlotte girls, Susie Simmons and Vickie Grubb, red-faced Carl Wilson was, well, as Vickie said, ‘Carl looked beautiful.’ Susie chimed in, ‘Al looked good, but Carl looked better. Carl’s only 18. Al’s 22.’ […] [The two girls] had conducted their interview in a guarded back room upstairs at WIST. They had made a discovery: People are people, and that includes Beach Boys. ‘When I talked to them, they just kept on talking,’ said Vickie. ‘They were so casual. Carl kept on explaining. I could have stood there and talked to them all night.  ‘They were so relaxed they made me feel relaxed!’ One of the big things that came out of the interview was the revelation that the school colors back at Hawthorne High School were scarlet and blue. Susan mused about that as if it were a Shakespearean sonnet. Carl told the girls the new album has something of a new sound, mostly instrumental, a little bit more ‘intellectual,’ a little older. A highlight of the Boys’ European tour was a visit to Rome. […] Susan and Vickie were able to describe microscopically the appearance of the two Beach Boys: Al was barefooted with olive-green swimming trunks under a blue and white-striped blazer zipped halfway up the front with a ring zipper. His feet got hot when he walked across the graveled, sun-warmed parking lot outside the motel. Carl was wearing a light blue shirt and tight-fitting ‘brownish-goldish-green’ trousers without a belt. ‘Carl kept tucking his shirttail in.’” - The Charlotte Observer (July 15, 1965)

(As soon as the weather gets cold enough)

Although actually the shirt is kind of giving more Monkees than anything lol, but I got it for free so who's complaining