cigarette smoking in the beach boys

[halblaineisgood]

I believe this has been covered to a degree in the beach boys drug use thread. but in the nature of completism and obsession, and the effects smoking can have on a fellas voice. Im interested to know exactly which of the beach boys smoked and for how long. i seem to remmeber brian saying he smoked for 10 years and the same or so for carl. What about mike, bruce and al?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Well, given that all the band (Bruce excepted) have tried at least one hit of maryjane, I'm guessing they've all smoked at one stage or another.

I'm guessing Dennis smoked from, roughly, 1959 to 12/28/83. Brian, for more than 10 years (think he gave up in about 1983). Mike... I'm not so sure. I recall reading (jeez, does this make me look like a geek or what ?) that when he first fell for Suzanne in 1965, he bought her a carton of cigs, then later, whenh they were married, gave her a hard time for smoking. Alan, I've never seen any hard evidence one way or another. In fact, the only photo of any of the BB I've seen with cigs is Carl (koff, in my own book) circa 1965. Brian, of course, smoked like a chimney during the gigs of the early 80s.

Further contributions welcomed.

[Rocker]

There are stories where Brian smoked in the early 90s. His voice clearly sounds like that on IJWMFTT. But I guess he didn't smoke during the Landy-years.

Mike said that Carl was a heavy smoker and you can see him having a cig on outtakes of the "Summer days..."-cover.

Don't know about Al, I always thought he was the only one who didn't do drugs at any time....

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I remember reading somewhere that Carl was actually a heavier smoker than Brian or Dennis, and since Brian smoked 4 packs a day (probably due to the coke, which from my past experience tends to make one smoke more) Carl must've...yikes.

Brian quit smoking for good in 1994.

[JScott]

Carl's cigarette consumption sure didn't seem to trash his voice like some other singers.

[Jonas]

Carl's cigarette consumption sure didn't seem to trash his voice like some other singers.

Yeah, thats why I find it hard to believe he smoked more than Brian or Dennis.

[grillo]

I really think it was the blow that trashed Brian and Denny's voices. Booze and smokes didn't help, of course.

[NHC]

Carl reportedly started in grade school, behind the proverbial building.  That's mentioned in a couple of "the books".  He's seen puffing away while riding a bicycle in one of the American Band documentary scenes.  A few other pictures show up here and there.  Seems like Brian is reported to have sneaked a few when he could into the late 80's/early 90's.  Carl's voice started sounding a bit strained, if not exactly rough, in some of the documentary clips, like him with Brian and his mom at the piano.  But then so does mine at this late age and I've never smoked anything even once.  Age.  Darn.  Didn't he quit several years before he died?  Timothy White wrote about Dennis complaining about people smoking around Brian in the 1976 Crawdaddy interview. Ironic given his own onging cigarete habit, but also an indication of how much he cared for Brian. 

[XY]

Looking at 60's pics and videos...also 70's, Carl & Dennis often had a ciggie between their fingers. I once read that Carl had the habit to smoke while eating.
But the questions is not how much you smoke - 2 packs, 5 packs... - it's more how you smoke.
The oldest man on earth, who died last week at age 115, stopped smoking when he was 90.
I've never seen a single pic of Brian with cigarette from the 60's. But listening to 'bedroom-years' interviews, he smoked like a pig. I don't think it was the nicotin in the first place that destroyed his voice. It was smoking the stuff that had an effect on many musicians voices - David, Dennis, Harry, Bobby ...

[Emdeeh]

Carl reportedly started in grade school, behind the proverbial building. [...] Didn't he quit several years before he died?

Carl started smoking in his early teens, along with David Marks, and quit smoking in the early '80s -- so it was 12-14 years between the time he quit and his passing.

Al may have tried "maryjane," but he was always pretty vocal about being a non-smoker, so we can safely rule out tobacco use for him. Mike smoked until the mid-60s. There are photos and film footage of him puffing on a large pipe during the Pet Sounds era.

[Shady]

Carl reportedly started in grade school, behind the proverbial building. [...] Didn't he quit several years before he died?

There are photos and film footage of him puffing on a large pipe during the Pet Sounds era.

Sloop John B Vid I belive.

[Andrew G. Doe]

FWIW, a BB friend of mine was driving through Holland on a holiday, when the town sign "Baambrugge" appeared on the side of the road, so he pulled into the nearest bar and asked if anyone recalled a pop group called The Beach Boys recording there in 1972. "Ah yes, Beach Boys - we remember them very well. Much drinking, many drugs." Apparently the local MJ dealers thought Christmas had come early. 

[halblaineisgood]

I swear I saw a photo once of al with cig in his mouth in the studio circa mid 60's.....must've been a pen or something....

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Sure it was a cig?

[dude ll doo]

A close examination of the big picture of Brian on the "Love You" inner sleeve reveals a blacked out pack of Marlboros between his hands.

[Roger Ryan]

Brian definitely started smoking again after freeing himself from Landy, but publicly announced he had quit smoking using the "patch" around '96.

Carl's voice never got as bad as Brian's or Dennis' but there is a significant change in tone from vocals recorded in the mid-60s to leads heard on the "Surf's Up" album and beyond.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Most definitely. The point where it became real obvious was from 15BO onwards. The late 70s vox had a tendancy of sounding flat, or in some cases, like the tape was severely slowed down. Of course,  that was the time period where he was on smack. His voice got better once he cleaned up, and IMHO, his vocals on BB85 (regardless of how you feel about the production) were some of his best ever. Sadly, he never got quite that good again. His vocals for the rest of his life sounded thinner, most likely due to age as this was first noticeable *before* he got sick. Listen his vocals on Still Cruisin' and notice the huge difference (esp on the title track).Same with SIP.

[Loaf]

I read somewhere that Carl reckoned (near the end of his life) he had smoked a quarter of a million cigarettes in his lifetime.

That's approximately 20 a day for 35 years.

[halblaineisgood]

Huh, I guess Carl was the hardcore smoker of the group then. In the beatles, I believe ringo smoked more than everybody else. Speaking of those twol dig this theory. Ringo control's his beard, but Carl's beard controlled him. Forget that...

[halblaineisgood]

I realize that

[Ebb and Flow]

This is one of the few photos I've seen with Brian even near cigarettes.  It's pretty clear he was a Marlboro man.



It's pretty odd that there aren't any pictures of the four guys lighting up at all.  I guess Capitol's PR department was strict about that.

[Emdeeh]

I read somewhere that Carl reckoned (near the end of his life) he had smoked a quarter of a million cigarettes in his lifetime.

That's approximately 20 a day for 35 years.

Your math's off -- Carl quit smoking around (or by) 1984. Assuming he started when he was 12 (which is what I read somewhere), that would be closer to 25 years than 35.

[MBE]

In the common Brian and Roger Christain pic from 1964 Brian has cigs in his shirt pocket. Never saw him smoke one picture wise until 1976. Al talked about this once in an interview. He said Carl started before Dennis and that Brian and Al would get annoyed at him. David I have no idea except that he and Carl used to do it. Dennis probably from 1959-60 until he died. Mike probably a pipe at least through 1968. I heard he did pot until then so I guess when he gave up drugs he gave up cigs. Al probably never a smoker, Bruce either. Brian probably started in 62-3 got very bad around 75 quit in 83 started back in 1992 then quit again in 1996. Since 1996 his voice has improved a lot although where did that great vocal on the original Gettin In Over My Head come from?

[Fun Is In]

The Fabs were big smokers too.  But Capitol minimized exposure of that fact.
Capitol air-brushed Paul's ciggie out of a photo used for a US 45 picture sleeve and promo photos of them smoking were pretty darn rare in the US....just like for the Wilson clan.

Of course, there is the photo of Murray deep in thougth with pipe in mouth on the back cover of "The Many Moods of..."

[Rocky]

other than Brian being a Marlboro man, does anyone have any idea what brand(s) the others smoked?