Murry Wilson

Murry Gage Wilson (born July 2, 1917 in Hutchinson , Kansas , † June 4, 1973 in Whittier , California ; also known under his pseudonym Reggie Dunbar ) was an American musician , composer , music manager and record producer . He became known because he was the manager of the band The Beach Boys from 1961 to 1964 and was the father of band members Brian Wilson , Dennis Wilson , Carl Wilson and the uncle of Mike Love .

Life

Murry Wilson worked as a young man in a Goodyear factory where he lost his left eye in an industrial accident. He later went into business for himself and started his own company, which he called ABLE. He sold technical accessories for the aviation industry through this company.

In his free time he tried to establish himself as a composer and lyricist. He wrote a few lyrics to songs that mediocre artists published as B-sides. The first Murry Wilson composition to find publication was Two Steps Side Step , which The Bachelors interpreted in 1952. Lawrence Welk also interpreted this song and made it interesting for radio stations. Other songs that found an artist were Hide My Tears and His Little Darlin . Murry did not have any success with his work as a composer, but it did give him contacts in the music business. Especially to the Morgan couple, who had their own recording studio.

Murry gave his children music lessons himself and it was he who rented the studio of his friend Hite Morgan for the recording of the first Beach Boys demo tape and produced this demo tape together with Brian Wilson. Here, however, there were already differences of opinion with the band, because Murry wanted them to record songs he had composed. The band did not comply with that. After the small record label Candix Records had released the song "Surfin", Murry was presented with further demo recordings at larger record companies, but unsuccessfully. Only Nick Venet from Capitol Records gave him a hearing.

Murry had a very authoritarian style as a manager, which soon no longer suited the band. In 1964 he was relieved of his duties while recording in Brian's studio after they once again stumbled upon musical differences.

Although Wilson was fired from the band in 1964, he continued to take care of some band matters. For a long time he took care of the rights of the Beach Boys music. He founded the music publishing company Sea of ​​Tunes together with Brian , which was replaced in 1967 by the Brother Records company founded by the Beach Boys . Asked and unsolicited, he also gave advice on various band matters. In 1969 Murry sold the rights to the Beach Boys songs with a forged signature from Brian Wilson to the American label A&M Records for only $ 700,000 .

Mike Love soon found out that Murry had named only Brian as the author of many songs that Mike Love was involved in. Love was involved in many of the songs as a lyricist. This fact led to a lawsuit between Mike Love and Brian Wilson in the early 1990s, Wilson in turn sued A&M Records for damages.

Murry Wilson worked on the Beach Boys single Break Away in 1969 under the pseudonym "Reggie Dunbar" as co-composer and co-producer. “Break Away” reached # 63 in the US and # 6 in the UK.

He continued to try to establish himself in the music business. So he took on the band The Sunrays , which he supported as a manager and producer. The band was a copy of the Beach Boys and tried to imitate their sound. Murry managed to get the band a contract with Capitol Records, but they soon realized that Murry hadn't been the genius behind the Beach Boys. The band only managed to get two singles into the charts. He also took care of the band The Honeys , in which Marilyn Wilson, Brian Wilson's wife, and Diane Rovell, her sister, sang.

In 1967 Murry released his first and only solo album entitled "The Many Moods of Murry Wilson". It consisted only of instrumental pieces, most of which were cover versions. The album also features his version of the Beach Boys song "The warmth of the sun". A second cover version with Beach Boys reference is the song "Italia". The name Alan Jardine is noted in the credit, which served as a placeholder for a Brian Wilson composition.

Murry Wilson died of a heart attack on June 4, 1973 at the age of 55. Murry was married to Audree Wilson and divorced from her in the mid-1960s.

Discography

• The many moods of Murry Wilson (1967, Capitol Records)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ingeborg Schober : Pop tragedies: the most spectacular cases from the Beach Boys to Nirvana . Ueberreuter, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3800070049