"Some people never do things right... Um... it really feels wonderful to hear the screaming and all the happiness. But my daddy once told me, God bless him, 'Son, don't let it go to your head, because, um, everybody goes to the bathroom.' I know that doesn't make sense, but... it's my way of saying, 'Thank you so very much.'"
—Dennis Wilson, introducing 'You Are So Beautiful to Me'
That is a beautiful title for a book and, apparently, Brian's nickname for middle brother and drummer, Dennis.
According to the book, ‘Dumb Angel’ was also the original title for the Pet Sounds follow-up Smile. This is considered by some to be the Holy Grail of ‘lost pop music’ and occurred when Brian, the band’s creative leader, was suffering from heavy pressure and mental health struggles. Dennis, it seems, was the most dedicated of the band in looking after his brother first and foremost, staunchly loyal, but Dennis was also… well, he was Dennis: he was the embodiment of The Beach Boys. Unlike the other kinda chubby or bald or charisma-lacking dudes, he was a handsome sex symbol who drag raced on the streets, made women swoon, and split some dude’s scrotum with a single kick like this is some weird Paul Bunyan bar story.
Point being: Dennis was a wild child, often surfing at the beach, thus the 'Real Beach Boy' title of the BBC Documentary about him. He would go to the beach to escape from his tyrannical father and the band's manager (dumped in 1964), Murry Wilson.
The above makes him sound like a charming rebel and leaves out much spottier events in his life: marrying of his cousin’s underage and disowned love child as a “fuck you” to him (but also having a child with her, which is pretty fuckin' weird), and, as time went on, the troubles with drugs and alcohol* that would give him a shot-through gravelly voice in his thirties (though borrowing from Conan, as he and Will Arnett remind us, there certainly are worse things than pack-a-day smoker’s voice).
Professionally, his substance abuse also began to impact him. He was only in his thirties, but it's discussed in Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy that he'd lost some of his vocal range and it points to the Bambu sessions, meant to be the follow up to Pacific Ocean Blue and included on the rerelease. On these, younger brother Carl had to step in and help him fill in for notes his broken voice could no longer reach. This is also evident in live recordings from the time, where he struggles to hit notes.
By the end of his life, he was more or less a homeless drifter after losing the recording studio the Beach Boys used (Fleetwood Mac was actually interested in it for a time), his yacht, and essentially everything he cared about that kept him tethered to life.
Though Dennis had bent over backwards to help Brian when he struggled, there was no one who was able or capable of supporting him until he could stand on his own again and so he continued to spiral. According to the BBC documentary, there were times he was spotted watching surfers on the beach and it's hinted he might have been reminiscing on his own youthful years, when he would run away from the stresses of home life (once he and father Murry had to be pulled apart "like dogs" during a physical altercation) to get some freedom and peace of mind.
Of course, the most notorious tidbit about Dennis is his connection to Charles Manson. Apparently, Manson had a dream of being a singer and hoped to use Dennis' help to get there. Dennis liked having more easy women around (at least till the STDs).
Manson wrote a track he called 'Cease to Exist' and it was retooled and transformed into the Beach Boys' 'Never Learn No To Love' (yes, that is The Beach Boys playing a song Charles Manson co-wrote on live television. That was a thing that happened).
Manson had a conniption over Dennis changing around the lyrics and he ended up bailing on his then-house, which the Manson family had evidently taken over. According to one account, Manson made an implied threat against Dennis' family and Dennis beat the piss out of him; according to the above-mentioned documentary, he went out with Manson and came back terrified, having given him all his cash and, I believe, his car; according to the above-linked article, he left a bullet on his bed.
Who knows? Maybe I'm conflating different events, but precisely what happened seems a pinch muddled here.
Either way, it was a brief 'friendship' Dennis would come to rue and refuse to talk about. I believe he said "for the rest of [his] life," though I imagine when he said that, he imagined he had more than a handful of years left.
Wilson was unpredictable and erratic, and even when he had good intentions, you’re looking at a minimum 60% chance he’s gonna botch the execution—like when he tried to set up a romantic dinner for Christine McVie when the pair dated and accidentally burned down her pool house instead. Or ordering extravagant landscaping as a romantic gesture to Christine (and charging the bill to her card).
‘Dumb Angel’ is a very fitting nickname for his brother to have given him.
Oh, yeah, that's another fun tidbit: he dated Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac, for some reason I want to say around the time of theTusk sessions. Haven't dug much into it, but have yet to come across any anecdotes about his time around the band, which is a shame. I know Lindsey Buckingham in particular's a pretty big Beach Boys fan who would later work with Brian, but given Dennis' more chaotic nature I could see them not hitting it off too well in the studio. (Though the track 'DW Suite' from Go Insane is a tribute to Dennis).**
—If memory serves, Christine McVie's response to Dennis accidentally burning down her pool house trying to set up the romantic, candle-lit dinner.
But, as time would go on, he would come to be an unexpected musical genius.
And while I could run through his (phenomenal) Pacific Ocean Blue or incredible tracks with the band from ‘You Are So Beautiful’ (Betcha never knew Joe Cocker was a cover, huh?), the Manson-aided ‘Never Learn Not To Love,’ and his outstanding, ‘Forever.’
But upon Pacific Ocean Blues’ rerelease, there were other tracks. All incredibly beautiful and unique—I find myself partial in particular to ‘Piano Variations,’ ‘Mexico,’ ‘Holy Man,’ and ‘Constant Companion.’***
Despite the track’s mellow, almost tropical sound, a shifting refrain throughout lingers: “I am your constant companion…” This titular companion, “never drifting from your side,” and “always laughing as you wonder,” reminding us “we have traveled here before,” is teasingly aware of “who you are, what you are, and what you are here for" and makes the song into a sort of tropical riddle.
Oh, boy, this guy seems pretty clever; tackle those three (who, what you are and here for) and you’ve got most of your own philosophy built up!
On an interesting, but tragic ending note: Wilson passed away, per the BBC documentary, while intoxicated and hanging out with friends, throwing things off his yacht, and diving to bring them back up. He likely cracked his his head coming up, fell to the bottom, and per the same source, was found curled up in the fetal position, peaceful.
Reagan, president at the time, granted him a burial at sea, which was(is?) apparently rare. So I guess Reagan wasn't always a buffoonish asshole.
—
*By the end of his life, as one friend recounts in 'The Real Beach Boy': "The alcohol really numbed the pain for him... he got to the point where he would carry a jug. It was two different things that he drank. He either drank rum and orange juice or vodka and grapefruit juice... Got to the point where he would pour half of it out on the curb of the liquor store and fill the other half of the juice bottle up and he'd just carry this thing around with him all day, constantly staying numb... it was sad to see him in so much pain."
As an aside, since I couldn't slot this in anywhere, the John Cusack-led Love & Mercy is about Brian and his struggles with both mental illness and a manipulative doctor. Can't say I recall the character of Dennis playing a major role, and I'd also add that, like any Hollywood Based on a True Story, you gotta take it with a huge shaker of salt. Don't be like my family and write off history books because you saw a highly fictionalized movie from Netflix. (Hyde Park on Hudson is not a documentary, and I'm fairly sure a good chunk of the movie isn't sex scenes, so I don't know what kind of FDR-inspired Who's Nailin' Paylin? porno knockoff they watched...)
**
"For about six weeks after the drowning of Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, Buckingham holed up in his LED sanctuary and created a tribute not only to the band's drummer, but to what many contemporary American musicians regard as California's greatest natural resource.
"Dennis wasn't really a friend," Buckingham explains, "but he dated Christine for about three years so I knew him fairly well. He created for me a window into the inner workings of the Beach Boys. Of course, Brian Wilson had always been such a big influence on me that when Dennis died, it got me thinking about the Beach Boys and the rough time that they've had all around, really, and the fact that Brian went from a very commercial format into a far more experimental vein and how he suffered for it. That plus the things I'm trying to do were all sort of floating around...Basically I wanted to remember him on vinyl.""
Huh. I seem to remember reading he was a pretty big Dennis fan, but he's also got a thing for understatement; maybe I'm just wrong.
***This last one I find interesting in a variety of ways, given my interest in odd, obscure things. Socrates had his daemon; Mani had his Divine Twin; Jung had Philemon; Jungian psychology has the Ideal Self seen as a sort of God Image at times; in AA we discuss tapping into "your higher power" at times (as well as a "fearless moral inventory" being a central tenant, which is often what these historical/philosophical "inner voices" aid with). Given the above description of Dennis Wilson’s life, I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that he wasn’t known for being a big academic, but still, I find the unintentional overlap with some intriguing ideas fun to chew on.
Maybe I've spent too much time reading up on tropes, reading in general, and seeing patterns—after all, there have been those I knew who might, say, have an outburst in court and say I'm unable to differentiate reality from fiction because I read too much history. Dunno what else to expect from someone who told me everything from donating extra supplies to class to "my teacher said to remind you it's election day" to "we learned about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire today" as "liberal indoctrination." This person also believes that Evergreen has classes on how to use dildos with live demonstrations.
Now, I like to mock Evergreen grads, but I don't think they have a class like that; might've considered attending there instead of UW if sex shows were included in tuition. I think that ludicrous claim came from the late Dori Monson.
PS: When we're on a walk and Charlie looks just a little too pleased with himself, I will reference the opening quote and say, "Don't let it go to your head, pal, everybody goes to the bathroom and I have to pick up yours."
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