by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 18 February 1966
THE FIVE Californian Beach Boys – Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine – began their music career with little intention of becoming as famous as they have. They merely played in their own homes with not one live appearance to their credit. Carl’s father, associated with a music publishing company, backed them on their first record ‘Surfin’ and the legend began.
They were soon appearing at Southern California dances, did some local television work, moved to national television, followed their first release with hit after hit and haven’t let-up to date.
As I talked with Carl Wilson, the youngest member of the group, in the dressing rooms of the Andy Williams Show, his fellow Beach Boys wandered in and out adding bits and pieces to our conversation.
He explained that all the Beach Boys’ material had been written by Brian Wilson. With such a remarkable string of successes, do they still worry about their next single becoming a hit?
PANICSVILLE
Before Carl could answer, his mother, Mrs. Wilson, who had been listening quietly in one corner, said: “If I may comment, Brian goes through panicsville every time a new record is released.”
Carl continued, saying: “For about two weeks after a song is out, Brian will say ‘This one’s a bomb.* I just know it’ and worry like crazy. Then when he sees it enter the charts, he stops worrying – until the next one comes out.”
Mike Love strolled into the mirrored room muttering: “I have to cut it off.”
“What?” Carl questioned. As he rubbed his furry chin he answered, “My beard! They said it wouldn’t look good on TV. Have you ever seen a golden beard? I probably have the only one in the world and they’re making me cut it off!”. He looked sadly into the mirror as he switched on the electric razor.
As Mike’s clipper buzzed in one corner, Carl described what he felt was the Beach Boys’ basic appeal: “I guess we kinda represent young California in both our music and our physical image. While it isn’t essential here in California, it makes a tremendous impact in the Eastern States and in foreign countries.”
By now, three of the boys had entered the dressing room and were busily chomping away on their fried chicken dinners. Carl commented: “We’re all great sleepers, except Alan. He loves mornings and we hate them. That’s the hardest thing about touring – getting up in the morning.”
Has success changed the personal values of the Beach Boys? “I don’t think so,” Carl claimed. “When you’re five years old you like carrots. Then when you’re seven you like turnips. You don’t lose your taste for carrots, but your tastes are widened. “But one thing has changed. When you’re in a group, it’s great to be alone. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, you really appreciate it!”
“Did you know?” interrupted Dennis, the tanned drummer, “I won the National Speed Record last week in my Cobra. Pretty groovy, huh?” “Dennis digs cars,” Carl explained. “He has his friends drive the Stingray pulling the boat home when they go water skiing. He drives his E-type Jaguar himself!”
IMAGE
I asked Carl if all the boys made their homes in Hollywood. “Dennis, Brian and I live in Beverly Hills,” he started, when Mike broke in, joking: “You bought in Beverly Hills to show off! I live in Manhattan Beach to keep up the image!”
Carl told me: “It’s great to see an audience get excited. You can tell the difference between an audience that just screams and one where the kids really get excited and appreciate your music.”
As I left the boys, finishing their hurried dinner in peace, Carl handed me an album they had all autographed. “I’d like you to have this,” he said. “It’s the new one, with ‘The Little Girl I Once Knew’ on it. I sure hope you like it.”
Typical, I thought, of the polite and generous young men they are!
* Bomb in America means “a flop.” In Britain, it’s the opposite.
© Ann Moses, 1966
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