HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DENNIS WILSON! Born Dennis Carl Wilson on December 4th 1944 in Inglewood, California. He died by drowning on December 28th 1983. He was a drummer,keyboardists, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band The Beach Boys, alongside his brothers, Brian and Carl, cousin, Mike Love, and Al Jardine. Wilson was a member of the band from its formation until his death in 1983, recording twenty-four studio albums. In 1977, he released a solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, to widespread critical acclaim. Dennis was the middle brother of fellow Beach Boys members Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson. Dennis Wilson was also the only regular surfer of the group, and his personal life exemplified the beach lifestyle that the groups early songs often celebrated. His prominence in the group as a writer and lead vocalist increased as their careers went on into the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1968, Dennis Wilson was driving through Malibu when he noticed two female hitchhikers, Patricia Krenwinkel and Ella Jo Bailey. He picked them up and he took them to his home at 14400 Sunset Boulevard near Will Rogers Park. Wilson then went to a recording session. When he returned at around 3 a.m., he was met in his driveway by a stranger, Charles Manson. When Wilson walked into his home, about a dozen people were occupying the premises, most of them female. Wilson became fascinated by Manson and his followers; the Manson Family lived with Wilson for a period of time afterwards at his expense. Initially impressed by Mansons songwriting talent, Wilson introduced him to a few friends in the music business, including Terry Melcher (the son of Doris Day), whose home at 10050 Cielo Drive would later be rented by director Roman Polanski and his wife, actress Sharon Tate. Manson held recording sessions at the home studio of Dennis brother, Brian Wilson. Those recordings, if they exist, have never been released. The Beach Boys released a Manson song, originally titled Cease To Exist but reworked as Never Learn Not to Love, as a single B-side and on the album 20/20. As Dennis Wilson became increasingly aware of Mansons volatile nature and growing tendency to violence, he finally made a break from the friendship by simply moving out of the house and leaving Manson there. Wilson starred alongside James Taylor and Warren Oates in the critically acclaimed 1970 film Two-Lane Blacktop. Wilson and brother Brian also recorded together apart from the Beach Boys in 1980 and 1981. These sessions remain unreleased though widely bootlegged as The Cocaine Sessions. On December 28, 1983, shortly after his 39th birthday, Wilson drowned at Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles, after drinking all day and diving in the afternoon to recover items he had thrown overboard at the marina from his yacht three years prior. Dennis Wilsons body was buried at sea off the California coast. His song Farewell My Friend was played at the funeral. Here is that song, Farewell My Friend (which I had never heard until now, unfortunately. A beautiful song)..... Enjoy!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 18:50:07 +0000
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