He was a singer-songwriter born in Hawthorne, California and was the brother of Brian and Dennis Wilson. He is a founder member of The Beach boys and was known for being heavily influenced by Chuck Berry in his early performances with the band and when they started to be replaced by session musicians in the mid-60s recordings he recorded his guitar leads in the vocal sessions by plugging his guitar directly into the soundboard.
By the mid-60s his vocal abilities had grown and he sang the lead on hits such as “God Only Knows” and “Good Vibrations”. After Brian retired from the group in 1965 he took over as the lead where contracts for promoters had to read “Carl Wilson plus four other musicians”. He also produced many of their albums.
In the 1960s he was known as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. He wrote the instrumentation to “Long Promised Road” and “Feel Flows” for the Surfs Up! album. He produced albums for Dean Martin’s son Ricci and also the South African group The Flames. He did the background vocals for other artists such as David Lee Roth’s cover of “California Girls”. He also sang the backing vocals on Elton John’s hit “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” with Al Jardine who was also a band member.
He was married to Anne Hinsche who was the sister of Bill Hinsche who was a touring member of the group. They had two sons, Justyn and Jonah. He then married again to Gina Martin (Dean Martin’s daughter). They divorced in 1970.
He left the band in 1981 but rejoined in 1983. He released solo albums in 1981 and 1983 and posthumously there has been an album released of the group he formed with Gerry Beckley of America and Robert Lamm of Chicago.
He died in on 6th February 1998 from lung cancer aged 51.
Beach Boy Recordings
Livin’ With a Heartache (Carl Wilson/Randy Bachman)
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