Happy Birthday Dennis & Carl Wilson

There are some things that never leave your brain. Being a long time Beach Boys fan I always think about Dennis Wilson on Dec 4 and Carl Wilson on Dec 21, their birthdays. Carl is my favorite singer. I had a chance to meet him as he checked into the Rhiga Royal Hotel when suddenly I became too shy to follow through. That is the only time that has happened. I now regret it because he passed away in 1998 at age 51. I read that Carl had perfect pitch. He sang my favorite song “God Only Knows” (It’s killing me that it’s being inappropriately used in a TV commercial). He had soul, was an underrated guitarist and sang like an angel. Dennis was I guess you could say the yin to Carl’s yang. He had sex appeal, females went crazy when he sang “You Are So Beautiful” in concert and he was the first Beach Boy to release a solo album: the wonderful Pacific Ocean Blue. I have it on vinyl and haven’t heard it in awhile, but it might be time to hook up the turntable and give it a spin. His voice was darker, somehow sadder. Dennis also died way too young at 39. He was the surfer who drowned; he was buried at sea. On a morbid note, there is a website dedicated to dead musicians. You can search by means of death. Dennis has company in Jeff Buckley and Brian Jones, whose first name wasn’t even Brian-I didn’t know that. I’ll probably never forget it now though.