What if Dennis had lived?

[CarCrazyCutie]

I've always thought it was no wonder Dennis never stuck with rehab after seeing how Landy was doing with his brother. That's enough to make anyone say no way. I also heard his then wife (Shawn) refused to let him see his son whenever he tried to commit to it.

[pixletwin]

Plus, he was smoking alot too. That definitely didn't help the matter in the whole scheme of it.

I think Barbara Wilson's comment in Endless Harmony nailed it...when she said she felt Dennis actually died a couple of years before his body did. His life force seemed to be fading ....

I need to learn more about Dennis. What happened? Was it just the drugs that did this or was there an event that started a downward spiral? It really is sad that we lost such a good guy in such a  bad way.

Pixel, you have to get Jon Stebbins book "Dennis Wilson-The Real Beach Boy".  It will be hard to find now and if you do, it will be expensive. He is working on an updated version due out (I hope) later this year. He is THE man with the answers about Dennis. His book is a must read for anything Dennis Wilson.

Thanks. I found a copy at my local library and I am going to pick it up today. 

[donald]

Jon's book is, in my opinion, among the very best Beachboys related books ever published.  Dumb Angel by Adam Webb is another book about Dennis that, while not as well known, and , IMO, not as good as Jon's book, is a must read for the serious Dennis Wilson or Beach Boys fan.

[Amy B.]

I remember reading or hearing an interview with Dennis from the mid-60s where he mentions that he doesn't drink, which I thought was kind of odd, considering what ended up happening. I assume he was taking drugs that early (as Brian was), but I wonder when the drinking started. It occurred to me that he might be lying to the reporter with the fans in mind, but then, Dennis seemed to be incapable of BS, much like Brian.

What energy he had in the 60s.

[donald]

In one of the bio films Dennis said something to the effect of "some people are addicted to alcohol, I'm addicted to performing and hearing the crowd"

I always thought that was a bit of projection or denial.......

[Jon Stebbins]

I remember reading or hearing an interview with Dennis from the mid-60s where he mentions that he doesn't drink, which I thought was kind of odd, considering what ended up happening. I assume he was taking drugs that early (as Brian was), but I wonder when the drinking started. It occurred to me that he might be lying to the reporter with the fans in mind, but then, Dennis seemed to be incapable of BS, much like Brian.

What energy he had in the 60s.

Dennis started drinking in his early teens, but there were also periods where he was totally clean. It seems he drank a lot of alcohol starting in the early '60's and also dabbled with weed and pills back then, but by '65 he was a non-drinker and vocal anti-drug type. After that he'd be on and off...he started smoking weed regularly in late '66 or '67 and got into LSD briefly in '67 - '68. After the Manson thing he stayed pretty straight when he first found Barbara, didn't even smoke much weed...but then '73 found him drinking hard and constantly...and again in '74 - '75 he found some time to be relatively clean again, and also fell off the wagon really hard a few times during those years with Quaaludes and coke. But overall in 1975 Dennis was really healthy. Starting in '76 it was pretty much party full time, the list is too long, he tried everything. But up until then he would go six months or even a year at a time trying to be healthy. I think the cigarette habit followed him from high school and throughout his life, although there were even a couple of periods where he put those down.

[MBE]

Very good post Jon. He seemed pretty together when the It's Ok special was filmed, was that kind of the last hurrah as far as being sober was concerned.