Carl Wilson Appreciation

“When is a Beach Boys album not a Beach Boys album? When it’s a solo effort from Beach Boys Carl Wilson, entitled simply Carl Wilson. Carl’s earnest tenor has been a mainstay of the group’s sound for 20 years, but here it gets new and beguiling support from a fine harmonizer named Myrna Smith. Some of the pieces they wrote together have the air of newly-minted Beach Boys classics — the joyful surrender of ‘Hold Me,’ the simple bounce of ‘Bright Lights,’ the longing ache of the ballad ‘Hurry Love’ and the throat-catching reverie of ‘Seems So Long Ago.’ […] This year it looks like the spirit of endless summer is residing with brother Carl and friend Myrna.” - review by Dale Anderson, The Buffalo News (April 10, 1981)

“And so, with some of their old music and some of their new music (all performed July 3 in concert in Anaheim), The Beach Boys will try to reach that massive TV audience. They’ve waited a long time to do their own TV show, and they think that ‘Saturday Night’ producer Lorne Michaels has the right approach. Carl Wilson is responsible for bringing together The Beach Boys and Michaels (along with other ‘Saturday Night’ staffers director Gary Weis, and writers Alan Zweibel, Danny Aykroyd and John Belushi). During the long flights between concert dates, Carl showed tapes of his favorite TV show, ‘Saturday Night.’ The musical group liked the spontaneity and humor in the show and decided Michaels was their man. Carl Wilson pointed out that during their heyday The Beach Boys appeared on television with Ed Sullivan, Red Skelton, Jack Benny and Bob Hope, among others, and the shows just weren’t set up to transmit rock groups. There was another problem, too. ‘We were young, and they had trouble relating to us,’ Carl said of the hosts of those TV shows. That problem doesn’t exist with Michaels and the other youthful members of the production team for this special.” - News and Record (August 1, 1976) More about Carl and Dan Aykroyd in an older post.

"We wanted the Beach Boys. We were getting very friendly with Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys, and I said to Carl, 'I want you to play the Sloop John B guitar in the second verse of the song.' He said he'd do it, we were in New York and he came over to the studio - The Record Plant on 44th Street. Carl comes over and says, 'Bruce [Johnston]'s going to come over.' So he comes over. I'd been told by their agent that if you try to get all the Beach Boys, they will not be in the same room together, they don't even make their records in the studio together. So now we've got two of them, then their tour manager calls me in the studio and says, 'Mike [Love] is feeling left out, he's wondering why you didn't invite him.' I told him the story, that I heard if I invite all of them, nobody will come. So the next thing I know, all the Beach Boys are showing up. We worked on it and Bruce [Johnston] goes, 'We're going to show you how to make a Beach Boys record.' They were putting those beautiful 'oohs' on. I was managing Darlene Love, who never mentioned that she helped arrange 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love,' she sang on 'Fun, Fun, Fun,' sang on all those great Beach Boys records during their heyday, because she was one of Phil Spector's voices and she would sing in Brian's pool. So now I have Joan, Carl, Bruce [Johnston] and Darlene Love, and the four of them together sound like the Beach Boys, because there were always females on the Beach Boys records, but people didn't know that - like one girl and all those high voices. They're doing this and I hear, 'Hey, do I have to take a number to get on your record,' and it's Mike Love and he sings the low part. Eventually Al Jardine came and said, 'What are you doing, you're stealing our sound.' We finally called everybody down and made the record ['Good Music‘]. It had all these beautiful Beach Boys parts with Darlene Love." - Kenny Laguna, Songfacts

“‘When the Beach Boys tour,’ says founding member Carl Wilson, ‘all you do is show up. It will be interesting to see how it works when I’m an opening act.’ Wilson, who opens for the Doobie Brothers Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Red Rocks, professes to be starting over. He remembers how hard it was down the years for all those bands who opened Beach Boys concerts and ended up in oblivion. He’d been out on the road for a month or so, playing in 200-seat clubs, he said in a telephone interview earlier this week. Tuesday was to be his first moment of truth. He would be opening for the Doobie Brothers in a 20,000-seat hall in Salt Lake City. Red Rocks will be another moment of truth. […] ‘They just released “Heaven” as the first single from the album a week ago,’ Wilson said. ‘We play in Salt Lake City tonight, and then I go home for a couple of days before we play Red Rocks on the weekend. How’s the weather? I love to get home for a couple of days.’ […] Wilson appears on the cover in monochrome sepia, like a playboy in an old Sunday society page. As one writer observed about this kind of musical product, it is as much like old rock and roll jeans as a new pair of denims with a designer label. But Wilson doesn’t see it that way. He’s nervous, he says. ‘The Beach Boys only tour when they feel like it, and they aren’t real into recording. They just like to do the shows. It will be interesting to see how it works when it’s just me in front of a lot of people.’” - The Rocky Mountain News (June 18, 1981)

"Carl Wilson was the best friend I ever had. I remember the first time we met — it was at the Hollywood Bowl on the afternoon of July 2, 1965, during a soundcheck for the 'Summer Spectacular' (scheduled for the following night) headlining Carl's band, the Beach Boys, arguably the biggest group in the world. My group, Dino, Desi & Billy, was one of the opening acts that included the Byrds, the Kinks, Sonny & Cher, and the Righteous Brothers. [...] Since that time, for the better part of 30 years, Carl was never more than a few feet away from me onstage, not only during my tenure with the Beach Boys but also during his solo tours. He was also my brother-in-law and we remained extremely close until the very end." - Billy Hinsche, Guitar One (2001) "[Carl] had a keen sense of humor and loved a good joke. I often went to great lengths to make him laugh, even if it was at my own expense. I was willing to risk everything just to see him crack up and to hear his wonderful laughter." - Billy Hinsche, Beach Boys Fan Club website "[Billy] is probably the funniest man in the world.” - Carl Wilson, The Beach Boys Today: A 30th Anniversary Special "Carl was a sweetheart of a guy. Soft spoken. He’d look you right in the eye and cared about what you were saying. I was just a fourteen-year-old kid, but he still gave me the respect as if I were a much older person. He was a generous person. There were so many positive things about Carl. There was no one else like him." - Billy Hinsche, Endless Summer Quarterly (2021) "Carl Wilson was a blessing in my life. No one has ever meant so much to me and no one has ever done so much for me, both personally and professionally. He was my best friend, bandmate, employer, confidant, mentor and the brother I never had. Carl was my trusted counselor. I could always go to him when I had a personal problem that I needed advice on. He was wise and would gently guide me in the right direction. Carl was my champion. He would go to bat for me and stand up for me when others turned their backs." - Billy Hinsche, Beach Boys Fan Club website “Met Carl and Billy Hinsche in 1976 in Boston—two angels.” - Susan Crimmins, Facebook comment on the Caribou Ranch Recording Studio page

“The three actual stars of The Beach Boys [eponymous] LP are: (1) the harmonies […]; (2) the digital recording technology […]; Carl Wilson’s singing. The exquisitely ominous ‘It’s Gettin’ Late,’ with its churchy, swelling harmonies, is a superb vehicle for an entreating performance that’s redolent of his fine vocals on Holland. But there’s such an embarrassment of vocal riches from his quarter on ‘Maybe I Don’t Know,’ ‘She Believes In Love Again,’ ‘Passing Friend,’ ‘Where I Belong’ and ‘I Do Love You’ that it’s wrong to lionize any one selection. ‘I wrote the basic part of “It’s Gettin’ Late” last year with Bob Johnson, who’s in a group in Nashville called RPM,’ says Carl Wilson. ‘I met Bob through Jerry Schilling and he came to stay with me for a few days at my home in Colorado, a place about tweety miles outside of Boulder. We started playing that chord progression one evening, around nine or ten o’clock, and adding the little “Midnight Hour” bassline, the mood of the night coming on just took over the music, and we started singing, “It’s gettin’ late, it’s gettin’ late,” and suddenly we had this pretty little core of a tune. The words got polished up with Myrna Smith Schilling, my songwriting partner. ‘I love working with new people — Beach Boys albums have always involved interesting collaborations, and I think the new album reflects that in ways that are both dramatic and subtle. The Boy George song was this surprise gift from George and Roy Hay of Culture Club. They came down to the Red Bus Studio in London where we were working and did a scratch vocal to get me oriented, and then I jumped in. Frankly, my vocal on that track is almost me doing George. The Stevie Wonder song was also an unbelievable present from out of the blue, and we all figured, “This is one tune we can't screw up, it plays and sings itself.” ‘I think there is a feeling with this album that we’ve crossed over into a new realm of well-being after a terribly trying and rocky time. And people are up to hear us.’” - Musician Magazine (August 1985)

“[Carol Deck and Eden (Nikki Wine's pen name), KRLA Beat reporters] proceeded to go to a recording studio down the way where Eden had to ask Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys about something. […] After what seemed like hours Eden found out whatever it was she wanted from Brian and I clued her in that I was going to collapse from pure unadulterated hunger any minute. Well, Eden’s not too bright at times either and she ignored me. However, Beach Boy Carl Wilson took pity on me and took both unsympathetic Eden and starving me out to dinner (never let it be said that these Wilsons aren’t generous people — that was one of the best steaks I’ve ever tasted.) After bidding farewell to Carl, my faithful companion and I dropped over to a local folk type night club where Eden had to set up [another] interview.” - Carol Deck, KRLA Beat (April 9, 1966) The photo included with the article was caption, “Carl Wilson — Thanks for the very delicious steak dinners.”

“‘Nineteen [years]? Sounds impossible, doesn’t it,’ said lead guitarist Carl Wilson, telephoning between workouts at the Century West Health Club in Los Angeles. […] ‘We’re still going on. In fact, ‘Goin’ On’ is our new single.’ […] How come people haven’t tired of that ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ and ‘California Girls’ surging sound? ‘They need it. Look at the news stories. They don’t need heavy music all the time. People need to relax. They really need some simple clear and “up” music,’ said [Carl] Wilson. […] ‘Well, it’s like the old cliche. The more you change, the more you stay the same. Some of our songs on our new “Keepin’ the Summer Alive” album have that old ‘60s sound,’ Wilson said. ‘I guess we kind of have a knack of renewing ourselves.’ […] Love and Jardine have turned to transcendental meditation to help with the pressures of the rock business. ‘And I’m into [MSIA]. That’s the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness,’ said Wilson. ‘It’s a church. It helps you to relax. I was recently involved in insight training. It was a powerful, incredible experience. Even my ex-wife, Annie, took it.’ Wilson is being divorced but says that his life has been full of harmony since meeting Gina, a California girl.” - article by Jane Scott, The Plain Dealer (February 25, 1980)

“[The Beach Boys] appeared in the matching blue and white striped shirts and white pants for which they are famous. They did 13 numbers, which included most of their hits. Some of the numbers were ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’ ‘Fun Fun Fun,’ ‘Shutdown,’ ‘You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,’ for which Denny came down from the drums to sing, ‘California Girls,’ ‘Help Me Rhonda’ and many others. The Beach Boys Summer Spectacular was one of the most exciting events of the year.” - Linda Reithman (16 years old), The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet (July 15, 1966) “[Says Carl,] ‘We’d been traveling around the world and having our experiences open up for us. So we were kind of humored at that time because people were saying, “You guys are wearing striped shirts and white pants.” And we were going, “Yeah, that’s right. That ain’t us, because the thing we were and are is the experience we create.” We were getting whomped on for wearing a particular kind of clothing, but we still experienced ourselves as valid musically.’” - article by Neal Gabler, New Times (1976)

“Keepin’ The Summer Alive is a song that came up while Randy Bachman and I went up to Caribou Ranch the summer of ’79. Randy and his group Ironhorse was on the road with The Beach Boys, were on the road with The Beach Boys, and we just decided to take a couple days and see if we could write some songs together. He came into the dressing room one night and said something like, ‘You know, I’m a really great writer of half-songs.’ And I said, you know, ‘There’s a lot of things I’m working on, and they’re also incomplete.’ So we went up to Jimmy’s, and we wrote five songs in two days. And Keepin’ The Summer Alive I think was the second song that we did. And I had this music, this R&B bass line and a chord pattern, it was kind of funky, sort of like Gary Wright in melody; sounds like a bunch of things, you know. And Randy had these lyrics: ‘When it’s ice cream weather, get the gang back together.’” - Carl Wilson, Keepin’ The Summer Alive documentary (1980) “[Carl Wilson's] ‘Keepin’ the Summer Alive’ and ‘Livin’ with a Heartache’ (both co-written by Randy Bachman, of all people) are by far the best cuts here. The title song, with its piano accompaniment and r&b feel, is almost a new ‘Wild Honey.’ Carl should make a solo album.” - review by Jim Bohen, Daily Record (April 24, 1980) “Carl’s contributions to the LP were written with Randy Bachman, former co-leader of The Guess Who. ‘His new band toured with us last year, and we’re shooting the breeze in the dressing room one night, and he says, “You know, I’m really good at writing half of a song.” And I said, “Hey, I know the problem.” So, we sat down, and it was like we were writing a song an hour, it just worked out great.’” - Ventura County Star (April 25, 1980) "I miss Carl a lot. He was a wonderful person and like my brother." - Randy Bachman, Facebook (2022)

“'Jerry [Schilling] said, "You need to get with Carl. You guys would really connect." So at a Beach Boys show in Nashville [pictured backstage above], I met Carl,' said Johnson. 'We just immediately connected. There was just this thing. I felt like he was family. He said, "Let’s work out some time to write together." So over the next couple of years, he would come here [to Nashville] and we would work at a studio. I had a studio that RPM had recorded some recent demos called The Castle – it literally looked like a castle — in Franklin, Tennessee. Beautiful facility, world class. They just let Carl and I go crazy.' Johnson said that the first time he sang backgrounds with Carl, it was life-changing. 'He had such power and strength in his voice. And I was like, "Man, I gotta step up to the plate." He encouraged me and we had fun doing it. It was one of those moments in your life where a light goes on and you go, "OK, I get it,"' said Johnson." - interviewed by Mike Morsch for The Vinyl Dialogues Blog (March 20, 2020) “I think the thing – outside of what an amazing human being Carl Wilson was – was his artistry, his music. Every note mattered to him when we wrote. When we would work on a song, he wanted to make sure that everything was right, all the little nuances, the melody and the phrasing. […] He was one of the most lovely humans to ever walk the Earth. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. And the fact that he was that way with all that he’d been through, with all the fame that he had experienced, there was always this humility. He was kind to everybody. And I don’t think Carl ever got the accolades that he deserved for his musical contributions, instincts and abilities. If it hadn’t been for him, the Beach Boys would have died a long time ago. He kept it together, he kept it going. He was the heartbeat, he kept it real, vocally and artistically. He was a true inspiration to me, even with his regard to his humanity. It doesn’t take me much to get teary-eyed thinking about him. I was honored to be his friend.” - Robert White Johnson, interviewed by Mike Morsch for The Vinyl Dialogues Blog (March 20, 2020) [read more from Robert White Johnson about Carl in an older post]

"When the late Carl Wilson wasn’t onstage [...] he was a dad like many others — enthusiastic and proud of whatever his two sons happened to be involved with. 'He thought everything we did was great,’ [said Jonah]. […] That changed, however, when Jonah’s younger brother, Justyn, decided to pursue a career in music, just before his graduation in 1995 from USC with a degree in communications. ‘Until that time, it was like we could do no wrong,’ [Justyn said]. ‘But when it came to music, he said it would be a disservice to me, and to my music, if he wasn’t anything but completely honest. I really appreciated him for that.’ […] Carl always coupled his blatant honesty with unwavering support and love, his sons say." - Los Angeles Times (October 12, 2001) "[Carl] was an incredible father. [...] They adored their father. That’s not surprising." - Annie Wilson Karges, Endless Summer Quarterly (2021)  "I ended up getting a Little League photo button that he pinned to his tote bag whenever he went on tour." - Justyn Wilson, ibid "[At the press conference] Carl was the first to loosen up, and that was with fatherly pride about his son, for he became a proud dad four months ago. ‘Man it’s just the greatest thing,’ he was saying." - The Hamilton Spectator (July 22, 1969)  "I’ve never met anybody like him and, of course, I’m going to be biased because he’s my father. Being his son, I got to see that in so many different ways. I saw it in the way he interacted with other people but I got to experience it for myself all the time. When someone’s your dad what they do isn’t that big of a deal as them being your father. I always knew what he did and appreciated it and understood it was a big deal." - Jonah Wilson, Carl Wilson Benefit Concert program (2001) "My dad was, by far, my greatest teacher. Not only did he constantly speak of love and understanding towards others, but more importantly, he was a living example of what he taught. For as long as I can remember, he always walked that walk." - Justyn, ibid "Well, first I would say that he was probably the kindest, you know, most loving man that I’ve ever known." - Jonah Wilson, Feel Flows: A Tribute To Carl Wilson (2003)  "He was like the king of hugs, you know, he was like Mr. Hug Me. Every morning when we’d go down, a big hug. […] Just proud to know him, before even being his son, which is an honor." - Justyn Wilson, ibid  "All the things that he taught me or all the things, all the messages that he told me over and over. Whether it's about understanding, compassion, love — love is a big one, and also, like, being open... I've already written... it's like, it's funny, I used to think, half of the songs are either about him or things that, that he taught me. I've written lyrics that are like, quasi-verbatim of what he would say to me over and over as a child, just trying to show me that the other perspective or to maybe have some more understanding." - Justyn Wilson, Music Ghost Stories (2024) "Like I said at his memorial service, he was I think by far my greatest teacher and truly my one and only hero in life." - Justyn Wilson, Carl Wilson — Here And Now

“What Brian’s given to me, given to us all, really… I could never repay. I love the guy, that’s really all I can say.” - Carl Wilson, Star Phoenix (April 23, 1980)

"The Brno band Syncopy 61 was one of the opening acts for the concert at the Za Lužánkami winter stadium [in Czechslovakia on June 19, 1969]. This is a band that was significantly influenced by the Beach Boys. One of the members of Syncopy, guitarist and singer Petr Směja, remembers the concert. 'At that time, we already had many Beach Boys songs in our repertoire, including the very difficult songs Good Vibrations and Vegetables. But it was embarrassing for us to include those songs as opening acts. Maybe we should have done it at the time, but it was a great satisfaction that the Beach Boys, who were standing under the podium, nodded in appreciation and, after the concert, slapped us on the back in the dressing room. That was something incredible for us, they were our role models,' says Směja." - brnenska.drbna.cz (2017)

From the article "Rock Stars Reveal Their Summer Music Classics": “Carl Wilson 1. Summertime Blues, Eddie Cochran (1958) 2. Hot Fun in the Summertime, Sly and the Family Stone (1969) 3. Summer in the City, Lovin’ Spoonful (1966) 4. Do It Again, Beach Boys (1968) 5. Saturday in the Park, Chicago (1972) 6. Honky Tonk Women, Rolling Stones (1969) 7. Dancing in the Street, Martha and the Vandellas (1964) 8. With a Little Help from My Friends, Beatles (1967) 9. Louie Louie, Kingsmen (1963) 10. Stickball, ‘60s party song” - The Sacramento Bee (July 10, 1983)