30 years ago today.

[Andrew G. Doe]

And yet, it still seems like yesterday somehow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tokxcbu_Uo

[bluesno1fann]

Damn. I was just about to post that!


Out of all the Beach Boys, Dennis has had the biggest influence on me, even though I'm not a drummer lol.
His songs are just superb, and he is the definition of cool IMO.
I only wish I was around during his lifetime.

R.I.P. 1944-1983

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY6MZfvu_sE

[The Shift]

Aye, remember hearing the news. Had been in the Lake District and returned a few days after the accident to be met by my girlfriend who, innocently, told me Brian had died. No Internet then of course but checked the local paper and learned the truth. I was 19, not yet seven full years into my fandom, but by chance had owned POB, found in a bargain bin, for a couple of years, and appreciated that the band's remaining potential creative force was gone (unless Brian could ever pull it out if the bag…). Trust winter to snuff out the light…

[Jay]

Man, that footage of him on the stretcher....there are no words for it.  Dennis had been gone for a little over a year when I was born, but I miss him like he was a good friend. Dennis, I hope wherever you are, you're at peace. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enpW2NLY6q8

[Mr. Wilson]

I went to breakfast that morning at BOB"s big boy and bought a LA times and DW was on the front page.. I was in a daze for the rest of the day..

[retrokid67]

  this is a sad day...I was reading the 1978 chapter of the book and got sad, and as I read on I got sadder and sadder.  The BB are over for me after 1983 with the exception of the 50th anniversary.  I said to myself that "my goal is to get up to 1983, after that, we'll see) I am gonna eventually finish it though don't worry.  Denny is the reason why I became a BB fan.  He's so fun to watch on stage, I wish I was alive back then to see him in action    . r.i.p. Denny, we all miss you.  And guys, keep Brian, Mike, Al, Dave, and Bruce in your prayers, especially Brian. thanks 

[Pretty Funky]

Dennis is sad enough. But what the f*** happened to the last 30 years?

[retrokid67]

this is a sad day...I was reading the 1978 chapter of the book and got sad, and as I read on I got sadder and sadder.  The BB are over for me after 1983 with the exception of the 50th anniversary.  I said to myself that "my goal is to get up to 1983, after that, we'll see) I am gonna eventually finish it though don't worry.  Denny is the reason why I became a BB fan.  He's so fun to watch on stage, I wish I was alive back then to see him in action    . r.i.p. Denny, we all miss you.  And guys, keep Brian, Mike, Al, Dave, and Bruce in your prayers, especially Brian. thanks 

I hope the writers of "The Drummer" will take this opportunity to change the script, starting from the beginning of his life instead of 1977 and I can't wait for the reissue of Mr. Stebbin's "The Real Beach Boy" book to come out.  I love finding out more him and can't wait to read about the stories that don't involve him being drunk on stage or sleeping with another guy's wife.  There was much more to him than that  He was a rebel with a huge heart  .  I love the story about when Dave Marks broke his arm from falling out of a tree and then Denny went and chopped it down, and about the time where Dave and Carl were being bullied by some people at school and Denny pulled up in his car and broke it up  he was just too cool 

[Pretty Funky]

From the Brit site.


 
In loving memory
Posted on December 28, 2013 at 06:21:08 AM by Billy Hinsche

I had a friend who was very good to me / now he's gone out on the rollin' sea / he took me places that I'd never been / I guess you could say he was my very best friend / he was one in a million - he was Dennis Wilson.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

RIP Dennis.

Most people would be daunted by being in a band alongside the greatest pop/rock songwriter of all time, in particular if he was also your own big brother, but not Dennis... He followed his own path and created some of the greatest (and most unique) songs in the group's entire catalogue - occasionally even besting big bro (come on, Celebrate The News is so much more exciting than Breakaway) - and he also wrote some of the most beautiful ballads in music history. Nothing affects me quite like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0C58BUmOE

[retrokid67]

RIP Dennis.

Most people would be daunted by being in a band alongside the greatest pop/rock songwriter of all time, in particular if he was also your own big brother, but not Dennis... He followed his own path and created some of the greatest (and most unique) songs in the group's entire catalogue - occasionally even besting big bro (come on, Celebrate The News is so much more exciting than Breakaway) - and he also wrote some of the most beautiful ballads in music history. Nothing affects me quite like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0C58BUmOE

Yes, I recently have been....well obsessed  with the live version of CTN on the Mike Douglas Show.  he sounds so good on it  .  one  thing that upset me was when Mike interviewed them and Denny didn't say anything but 2 or 3 words, and Bruce was doin most of the talking, he talks more than Mike Love 

[Howie Edelson]

http://www.wmmr.com/music/news/story.aspx?ID=2102144

[Ed Roach]

http://www.wmmr.com/music/news/story.aspx?ID=2102144

Once again, thanks so much Howie.

And it is worth remembering that this was the last day of his life.  The tragedy didn't happen until the sun was almost set, so for the day, it's worth celebrating his life with his music...

[c-man]

http://www.wmmr.com/music/news/story.aspx?ID=2102144

Once again, thanks so much Howie.

And it is worth remembering that this was the last day of his life.  The tragedy didn't happen until the sun was almost set, so for the day, it's worth celebrating his life with his music...

Good point, Ed. Thanks for reminding us.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

Another version of "Holy Man" is awaiting release?  I hope we get to hear that sometime soon.

[Shady]

  RIP

[Mikie]

I thought Mr. Roach was going to come out with some kinda book on Dennis. You know, containing pictures he took of Dennis all those years and the band and stuff. Was that wishful thinking, or is it still on the backburner to come to fruition one day.

Anyway, looking forward to Jon's update.

[guitarfool2002]

Hal Blaine talking about that day from this interview: http://willybrauch.de/In_Their_Own_Words/halblaine2000_1.htm


SE:   Did you think that Dennis was a pretty competent drummer?

HB:   Dennis was a fine drummer.  He was the perfect “Beach Boy” drummer on  stage, shaking his head...  He came along as one the first kids shaking his head, real long hair, beatin’ the sh*t out of drums . . . He broke more drum heads and more sticks . . . it was amazing!

SE:   He was an animal.

HB:   Yeah! People used to say to me, “Doesn’t it bother him that you’re making the  records?” No, he loved it, because he was out doing what he was doing.  He was always on a forty-five degree angle, always in a cast somewhere, always going off a motorcycle, car crashes, it was just amazing, it was almost a death wish, I don't know, He had his boat very close to mine, and the day that that happened, we saw the cops, but we didn’t know what it was.  When you’re on your boat, you're always monitoring Channel 9 or 13, the Emergency Channel, and all of a sudden we hear this call go out for Harbor Patrol and Medics for a man overboard.  You rarely hear that in the marina.  You learn never to dive off of your boat in the marina; only divers go down, wearing the proper breathing apparatus.  You’re not supposed to go diving in the marina [because of all of the “sh*t” that  gets dumped in the water], but I guess [Dennis] dove off his boat and when he came back up, he hit one of the floats, and it knocked him unconscious.  There were all these people up there waiting for him, but he didn’t come back up.  So, then, they finally started to realize that something was wrong, and began looking around and when they didn’t see him, they started screaming for Harbor Patrol on a 911-type call.   And all we hear is “man overboard.”  That was it!  Then it  went like wildfire, “Dennis Wilson, one of the Beach Boys drowned!” Jesus, God help me!  I couldn’t believe it!

[Andrew G. Doe]

Hal's credibility takes a hit... 

[alf wiedersehen]

Hal's credibility takes a hit... 

How so?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Dennis lost Harmony over two years before he died: he was diving from Bill Oster's Emerald.

[drbeachboy]

Dennis lost Harmony over two years before he died: he was diving from Bill Oster's Emerald.

He is an old man. Memories can get a bit cloudy. It doesn't mean that he didn't hear the calls or that his boat was docked at the same marina.

[guitarfool2002]

Yeah, I don't see how Hal's credibility takes a hit either when Oster's "Emerald" was docked in the slip next to where "Harmony" had been anchored, in the same marina where Hal kept his boat nearby and heard the calls, but here's the whole story from a 1984 magazine report:



"A few days before Christmas he (Dennis) checked into the detox unit at St. John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica. Dr. Joe Takamine, who runs the 21-day detox program, said a blood test taken on admittance showed a.28 alcohol level and traces of cocaine. "He told me he was drinking about a fifth of vodka a day and doing a little coke," Dr. Takamine adds. "I put him on 100 mg. of Librium every two hours so he could come down slowly and maybe start the program in five days." On Christmas, however, he suddenly left. He spent that day drinking with a friend. At 3:30 a.m. Dec. 26, he reportedly checked into the Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital but walked out the next day and later met with Shawn. Then he took off again.

His last night alive was spent aboard the 52-foot yawl Emerald, owned by his friend Bill Oster. Dennis was with a friend named Colleen McGovern. The marina once had been home-before he was forced to sell his beloved 62footer, Harmony, in 1980 to satisfy back bills and bank loans. He reportedly awoke by 9 a.m. and began hitting on vodka. "We went rowing in the morning, got some cigarettes, had lunch on the boat-turkey sandwiches," remembers Oster. "Dennis was in a good mood, happy. We were plotting how to buy his boat back." (Wilson's business manager, Robert Levine, had offered to repurchase the boat for him if he went 30 days without drinking.)

By noon a yacht manager, Skip Lahti, 26, who had known Wilson for a couple of years, says, "He was staggering around pretty good." Wilson napped for an hour or so, awoke, then visited Lathiel Morris, a retired friend living in a houseboat near the Emerald's slip. He seemed excited rather than drunk to Morris. "He said, 'I'm getting my boat back,' " Morris recalls. Wilson eyed Morris' 16-year-old granddaughter. Then he complained about his impending divorce. "How many does that make?" Morris asked. "The sixth, I think," Wilson answered. "I'm lonesome. I'm lonesome all the time." Morris adds, "I saw he was with this beautiful brunette [Colleen] and said, 'Ahhh, baloney.' He said, 'We've only been going out a couple of weeks.' "

Morris next saw Wilson around 3 p.m. He had begun diving into the water next to the Emerald's slip, retrieving from the soft bay floor sea-corroded junk that he had thrown off the Harmony when it was anchored there: a rope, some chains, a steel box and, eerily, a silver frame that once held a photo of an ex-wife, model/actress Karen Lamm. "He was in and out of the water, getting a kick out of all the stuff he was finding," recalls Lahti. After diving for about 20 minutes he came out of the water shivering badly, warmed up and ate another sandwich. About 4 p.m. he went back in. "He thought he found a box. He called it a chestful of gold," says Oster. "It was probably a toolbox. He was just being Dennis, entertaining everybody, being his lovable self, goofing around."

About 4:15 p.m. he came up for the last time. "He didn't indicate any problem," says Oster. "I saw him at one end of the slip. He blew a few bubbles and swam to the dinghy very quietly. It was like he was trying to hide. I thought he was clowning. I jumped on the dock to flush him out and then we would all laugh." When Wilson couldn't be found, Oster flagged a passing harbor patrol boat. Meanwhile, Oster, Morris and Lahti frantically searched the deserted docks and nearby bars for Wilson. Lahti, who knew Dennis to be a practical joker, volunteered to dive in, but Oster thought it was a typical "crazy-Dennis" stunt. "I told Bill we'd have surely found him after 20 minutes," Lahti recalls. "Bill said, 'No, he's still joking. He's known to do this sort of thing.' As divers plunged in and probed the bay in the dark, Oster still hoped that Dennis would surface somewhere.

It was about 5:30 when they found Wilson. Four divers had been searching for him and had rigged a long pole to probe the bottom. That was where they found him, directly below the empty slip. Coroner reports called it an accidental drowning" but a fuller toxicological report will be made. "He did drink a lot and had a lot of wild parties," says a shaken Morris, 57. "But he was one swell guy, thoughtful, considerate, even when drinking. I just can't figure out why they let him dive down there. I know it's hindsight now, but he lost his life for nothing."

[Ed Roach]

I thought Mr. Roach was going to come out with some kinda book on Dennis. You know, containing pictures he took of Dennis all those years and the band and stuff. Was that wishful thinking, or is it still on the backburner to come to fruition one day.

Anyway, looking forward to Jon's update.

Thanks for asking; ironically, I just posted something about this, on a Facebook tribute page we'd started on his birthday:  https://www.facebook.com/roachclips68 

There are many of us that have started and/or written books about him, only to not follow through on publishing.  (God bless ya, Jon, for "The Real Beach Boy"!)  For myself, it got very difficult to continue writing once the really painful years began.  However, I do have about 350 pages tucked away, (and that's without photos, which I know is what everyone is really clamoring for me to release).  Every milestone event makes me yearn to complete this, so I've decided to put up a sample chapter sometime after the first of the year, to get everyone's feedback.  I'll be sure to give a link to it here

[retrokid67]

I thought Mr. Roach was going to come out with some kinda book on Dennis. You know, containing pictures he took of Dennis all those years and the band and stuff. Was that wishful thinking, or is it still on the backburner to come to fruition one day.

Anyway, looking forward to Jon's update.

Thanks for asking; ironically, I just posted something about this, on a Facebook tribute page we'd started on his birthday:  https://www.facebook.com/roachclips68 

There are many of us that have started and/or written books about him, only to not follow through on publishing.  (God bless ya, Jon, for "The Real Beach Boy"!)  For myself, it got very difficult to continue writing once the really painful years began.  However, I do have about 350 pages tucked away, (and that's without photos, which I know is what everyone is really clamoring for me to release).  Every milestone event makes me yearn to complete this, so I've decided to put up a sample chapter sometime after the first of the year, to get everyone's feedback.  I'll be sure to give a link to it here

Oh that's awesome news Mr. Roach I can't wait for it! ;DQ!  does anyone have any update on the rerelease of Mr. Stebbin's book?