Bruce Johnston and the murder!!

[mikeyj]

I don't know how true it is, but I remember reading somewhere that Bruce was witness to a murder or something along those lines. Does anyone have any info on this (if it did indeed happen), like what were the details around the murder.. like what exactly happened, where and when was it, who was the murderer and the victim etc..? Sorry if this is totally wrong, but it's just what I remember reading ages ago.

[c-man]

I don't know how true it is, but I remember reading somewhere that Bruce was witness to a murder or something along those lines. Does anyone have any info on this (if it did indeed happen), like what were the details around the murder.. like what exactly happened, where and when was it, who was the murderer and the victim etc..? Sorry if this is totally wrong, but it's just what I remember reading ages ago.

I'd have to dig out Brad Elliott's interview with Bruce from a 1981 Goldmine issue for the exact details, but yeah it's true.  Bruce was sitting outside the office of some music biz bigwig, waiting for a meeting, when another guy walked into the man's office and shot him dead.  This was prior to Bruce becoming a Beach Boy, maybe even late '50s or very early '60s.

[John]

I'm sure Bruce said it was his "first day in the business".

[Andrew G. Doe]

Details in Barney Hoskyn's Waiting For The Sun.

[Andrew G. Doe]

February 2nd, 1958 -  a fifteen-year-old Bruce & Sandy Nelson go to 'Big' John Dolphin's office on S. Berendo Ave. to play him a song of theirs. As they wait, one Percy Ivy, a songwriter, goes into Dolphin's office to collect his royalties (as well as owning Dolphin's of Hollywood record store on Central Ave., Dolphin also ran such labels as Cash, Money & Lucky) and, after a presumably unproductive discussion, shoots Dolphin dead (admittedly, after Dolphin had pulled a switchblade on him).

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Yikes.

[c-man]

Yikes.

Yeah...the music biz has been dangerous even decades before gangsta rap!

[Cam Mott]

Check "The Death of John Dolphin" at:

http://rockinsteve.wordpress.com/

[DJF]

Nelson recalled that when he returned with the police to Dolphin’s office, Johnston was making a deal with Ivy to have some songs recorded when he got released from prison.

I don't know why this part strikes me as absurdly funny, but it does.

[The Goat]

Nelson recalled that when he returned with the police to Dolphin’s office, Johnston was making a deal with Ivy to have some songs recorded when he got released from prison.

I don't know why this part strikes me as absurdly funny, but it does.

Good...I'm not the only one!  Just seems too bizarre to picture Bruce (or anyone) carrying on per schedule, oblivious to the rigor mortis behind the desk and the smoking gun! Almost Monty Pythonesque, no?

[endofposts]

Would the Rudy Ray Moore in the story be the artist also known as Dolomite?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Nelson recalled that when he returned with the police to Dolphin’s office, Johnston was making a deal with Ivy to have some songs recorded when he got released from prison.

I don't know why this part strikes me as absurdly funny, but it does.

Good...I'm not the only one!  Just seems too bizarre to picture Bruce (or anyone) carrying on per schedule, oblivious to the rigor mortis behind the desk and the smoking gun! Almost Monty Pythonesque, no?

I'd say... when you're in the same room as a guy who's just shot someone dead and is still holding a smoking gun, you'll say anything he might want to hear. 

[MBE]

Andrew that's a good point. I would of run the hell out myself.

[SurferDownUnder]

Has Bruce ever commented on witnessing John Dolphins murder? I know in Dominic Priore's book it mentions it but that book is dubious and has one of the worst fact checks ever! It says the singer Percy Mayfield killed Dolphin when it was really an employee of the store Percy Ivy!!

[Andrew G. Doe]

I asked him about it once, years ago, and his reply was along the lines of "when you're in a room with a guy holding a gun and there's a body on the floor, you'll agree to anything he says !"

[SurferDownUnder]

I asked him about it once, years ago, and his reply was along the lines of "when you're in a room with a guy holding a gun and there's a body on the floor, you'll agree to anything he says !"

Haha I can just picture this being Bruce's response 

[Alan Smith]

Bruce recalled the events, at least, to interviewer John Ingham in 1974, and then 16 years later when he appeared on Art Fein's Poker Place, so sayeth Stephen J McParland in The Beach Boys 1961 - 1963, Inception and Conception, From Hite Morgan to Nick Venet.

You can buy an e-copy (locked PDF) from his website.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Slightly OT, and I'm not on his payroll, but SJMcP has done sterling work in documenting the early musical surfin'/car/beach scene in SoCal: I recommend his books, with the caveat that the 1961-63  one mentioned below has, of course, been superseded  by Jim Murphy's outstanding new volume on those very same years (I'm not on his payroll either).

He's also Gary Usher's biographer and, I believe, executor, a fact that enabled me to confirm that a (former) friend had, as I suspected, been lying his balls off concerning his contact with Usher. There was no contact at all. My, but there's some lowlifes in the BB fan world...

[Alan Smith]

Slightly OT, and I'm not on his payroll, but SJMcP has done sterling work in documenting the early musical surfin'/car/beach scene in SoCal: I recommend his books, with the caveat that the 1961-63  one mentioned below has, of course, been superseded  by Jim Murphy's outstanding new volume on those very same years (I'm not on his payroll either).

He's also Gary Usher's biographer and, I believe, executor, a fact that enabled me to confirm that a (former) friend had, as I suspected, been lying his balls off concerning his contact with Usher. There was no contact at all. My, but there's some lowlifes in the BB fan world...

Thanks, Andrew - I've ordered Jim's book and am really looking forward to reading it.  As you say, Stephen's work is "sterling" + the prices Stephen is asking for the e-copies are a fuckin' bargain - A

[NateRuvin]

I'm very confused. I have never heard of this before. What happened?

[c-man]

Bruce also discussed this (he brought it up himself) in his interview with Brad Elliott for Goldmine in 1981.

[Rocker]

I'm very confused. I have never heard of this before. What happened?

Never heard about it either. here's some inof I just found on the net:

https://rockinsteve.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/the-death-of-john-dolphin/

[clack]

Bruce was 15, and from a sheltered background, but apparently took it all in stride -- even proposing a record deal with the killer while they chatted and waited for the police.

Bruce was there at the founding of the white LA rock n roll scene with Phil Spector, Kim Fowley, Sandy Nelson, Jan Berry. He'd have fascinating stories to tell if he'd ever join Mike and Brian in writing a memoir.

[RangeRoverA1]

How 'bout searching 1st before making another topic? All you do is just type "Bruce murder": http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,5260.0.html

Altho, this should of been posed in the Thread for insignificant questions (and many latest threads).

[bgas]

How 'bout searching 1st before making another topic? All you do is just type "Bruce murder": http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,5260.0.html

Altho, this should of been posed in the Thread for insignificant questions (and many latest threads).

Why do you think you should be the arbiter of where a thread is posted?  Last I checked you were just another nobody