Carl Wilson

Carl Dean Wilson (* 21st December 1946 in Hawthorne , California , † 6. February 1998 in Los Angeles , California) was an American lead guitarist and singer of the band The Beach Boys .

Life

Carl Wilson joined the band when he was 14 and still in high school. In the first albums from 1961 to 1965 he was active as lead guitarist and in harmony singing. He sang the main voice for the first time in 1964 in the song Pom Pom Play Girl . Since the 1966 album Pet Sounds and the single Good Vibrations , he sang more often. At the beginning of his Beach Boys career, Carl Wilson was overshadowed by his brothers Brian and Dennis Wilson . From 1968 to 1973 he composed numerous pieces for the band, and he also worked as a producer on many songs and albums . After Brian Wilson returned actively to the band in 1976, Carl Wilson moved back into the second member. When Brian Wilson retired a year later, bandmates Mike Love and Alan Jardine were firmly in control and Carl Wilson's role continued to shrink. Carl Wilson was barely noticeable on the MIU album produced by Jardine , the album was a fiasco for the group both commercially and musically. Eventually, Carl Wilson managed to regain weight, and on the next two albums LA (Light Album) and Keepin 'the Summer Alive he again took a more active role.

Carl Wilson wanted to release new material in the 1980s, while his bandmates were content to go on tour and play the old hits. So he got out of the Beach Boys in 1981 and released two R&B solo albums. Both albums sold only moderately, however. After his debut album Carl Wilson was only able to place in the back top 100 of the US Billboard charts, his record company requested at least one single for his second album, which was represented in the charts. What You Do to Me reached number 72, but the album did not sell better.

After Dennis Wilson's death, Carl Wilson gave up his solo career and returned to the band. On the 1985 album The Beach Boys , he appeared again as a composer for the Beach Boys. In the same year he appeared with his brother Brian and the rest of the Beach Boys on Live Aid .

In addition to his work with the Beach Boys, Carl Wilson was active as a singer for many artists. He also produced an album for the South African group The Flame in 1970 , which was released on the Brother Records label. In 1977 he took on the singing career of Ricci Martin, for whom he produced and composed the album Beached .

In 1997 it became known that Carl Wilson, who had been a heavy chain smoker since he was 14, had lung cancer . Nevertheless, he made the group's 97 world tour for the most part. Wilson, weakened by chemotherapy, had to hold the concerts sitting down and needed oxygen after almost every song. He only sang God Only Knows standing.

In 1993, Wilson and his friends Robert Lamm ( Chicago ) and Gerry Beckley ( America ) began working on a joint album. Due to tour commitments of the three groups, the recordings were repeatedly postponed. After Wilson's death, Lamm and Beckley finished it alone. The album was released under the title Like a Brother in 2000 and sold very poorly. Carl Wilson is featured on the album with five tracks, including I Wish for You , his last song written for his sons. He dedicated the theme song Like a Brother to his two brothers. 1997 Brian Wilson asked his brother to take part on his solo album Imagination , but it never came back.

Wilson's grave in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery

Carl Wilson succumbed to lung cancer and a brain tumor on February 6, 1998 at the age of 51 . After Dennis Wilson's death in 1983 and Brian Wilson's final exit in 1988, there was no longer any Wilson with the Beach Boys.

In 2004 Brian Wilson released his solo album Gettin in Over My Head , on which the title Soul Searchin ' can be found. This was the last Beach Boys song that Carl Wilson recorded the lead voice for in 1996.

Carl Wilson was married twice. In 1966 he married Annie Hinsche. The sons Jonah and Justyn Wilson come from this marriage. In 1987 he married Gina Martin, the daughter of Dean Martin .

Carl Wilson Foundation - Walk against Cancer

After his death, the Carl Wilson Foundation was established. This organizes benefit concerts and other events under the title “Walk against Cancer”. In addition to Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson's sons, their band In Bloom , Eric Clapton , Heart , Neil Diamond and other well-known and unknown artists also performed at the benefit concerts . The aim of the foundation is to raise money for cancer research and to provide financial support to people who are affected by cancer. Carl Wilson's sons Jonah and Justyn Wilson are responsible for managing and organizing the foundation.

Discography (solo)

• Carl Wilson (1981)
• Youngblood (1983)
• Like a Brother (2000) (with Gerry Beckley and Robert Lamm )

Other projects (selection)

• Tom Petty - Wildflowers (1994 / vocals), She's the One (1996 / Gut String Guitar)
• America - View from the Ground (1982 / vocals)
• Elton John - Greatest Hits (1976 / vocals), Caribou (1996 / vocals)
• Warren Zevon - I'll Sleep When I Am Dead (1996 / vocals), Warren Zevon (1976 / vocals)
• Olivia Newton-John - Soul Kiss (1985 / vocals)
• David Lee Roth - Crazy from the Heat (1985 / vocals)
• David Cassidy - The Higher They Climb (1975 / vocals)
• Joan Jett - Good Music (1986 / vocals)
• Timothy B. Schmit - Playin 'It Cool (1984 / vocals)
• Christopher Cross - Another Page (1983 / vocals)
• The Flame (1970 / producer / keyboard)
• Chicago - VII , VIII , IX , X , XI (1974–1978 / vocals)
• Robert Lamm - In My Head (1999 / vocals)
• Lake - Lake II (1978 / vocals)
• Cass Elliot - Cass Elliot (1971 / vocals)
• Ricci Martin - Beached (1977 / vocals, producer, songwriter)

Web links

• Carl Wilson Foundation, Walk against Cancer

Individual evidence

1. ^ Pierre Perrone: Obituary: Carl Wilson. In: The Independent . February 10, 1998 (English).