The Smiley Smile Message Board

Recently it's occurred to me that Carl and George have some things in common.  For instance:

They're the youngest members of their bands (except for David Marks for a short time).
They're both soft-spoken and spiritually-minded.
Carl fought to get conscientious-objector status during the Vietnam war (1967), and George put together the Concert for Bangla Desh (1971).
They were both overshadowed by others in their bands (Brian & Mike, and John & Paul).
They both died younger than they should have.

Wasn't Carl also frustrated with the direction the band was going in too, like the types of songs they were putting on their albums and stuff? I remember how he said he only wanted to play 'inspired' music or something, and he did end up making 2 solo albums. It's sorta reminiscent of how George was frustrated and wanted to go solo. I mean, not exactly the same and I know there were other reasons, but still.

Yes, I've always thought this. Also, much more in common than say oh I don't know...his so called "Pisces Brother" Mike Love. If Mike and George were alike, Mike wouldn't have written that piling of dog doo about it.

both died of lung cancer, too, of course. although, i think carl technically died of brain cancer after it spread

Also, totally agree I'll bet if George was still alive and Mike had written Picese brother he would've been like "wtf? i dont even like you"

Although Carl didn't write GOKs, the fact he sang it so well and surprising many, has always reminded me of George writing and singing 'Here Comes The Sun'. More of a 'Who knew?' moment.

In  my concert Pisces Brother was played just after God Only Knows.

Another thing in common is the both are lead guitar and uses fireglo rickenbacker

Yes, they both have a soft-spoken image, and both are said to have very sly senses of humour. Also, they are both the most attractive member of their respective bands, in my humble view.

I don't think this adds an awful lot to the above but here it is anyway:

http://friarparksoulclub.tumblr.com/post/122071556529/carl-wilson-the-george-harrison-of-the-beach

While Carl may not have written it, his signature BB moment is singing the love song, God Only Knows.

George's signature BB moment is "Something."

They also were both religious. George Harrison was obviously very interested in the Hindu religion and meditation, and I've heard that Carl and Brian would pray together for sessions in the 60's.

I think Carl was also frustrated with the setlist leaning more on oldies than in the early 70s. 

I see some vague connection between the two but I find them to be very different from each other. While Carl was quiet, he really took on a leadership position in the band - both in terms of their live appearances and their studio work. I don't think George was ever particularly interested in being a leader like that.

And while George was considered "the quiet one," I think he mostly gave that impression because he was in a band with three very gregarious people and he wasn't quite as gregarious as them. He was, however, very outgoing and probably the most social of the four (maybe Ringo was as social). And while quiet, he would often share his somewhat cynical and cutting opinions. I couldn't imagine Carl ever going on TV and saying that maybe Brian is singing cover songs because he's run out of good ones of his own, as George said about Paul.

Both Carl and George were originally non-writing lead guitarists who then had brief creative flare-ups, George 1968-72, Carl 1970-72.

For a moment there, it looked like George would have the most important post-Beatles solo career, and also for a moment it seemed that Carl was ready to step into Brian's shoes as chief creative force of the Beach Boys.

I actually think George's solo material is the best / most consistent of the four Beatles. 

I think a strong argument can be made for that, although I think a lot of that has to do with Harrison producing far less material over the span of his career. He released two albums between 1983 and 2001/02 (plus of course his part on the Wilburys albums and his live album). I think "Cloud Nine" and "Brainwashed" are not only two of his best albums, but two of the best solo Beatles albums from any of them. But I'd say if you gathered McCartney's best material on par with those albums from all his albums between 1983 and 2001, you'd have more than two album's worth of good material that stands up to Harrison's best.

Back to Carl, I don't really think there's a strong link between Carl and George that warrants a detailed comparison. Other than in some very general areas, they aren't terribly similar or have much in common.

However, one thing that is similar about their careers is that both of their estates seem to be rather stingy about releasing archival material. Obviously, we don't actually know what's in the "Carl archives", and Carl's estate has certainly signed off on BB archival releases. But as I've been saying recently, having seen that raw 1986 video interview with Carl on YouTube, it sounds like he wrote a bunch of stuff post-BB'85 with Robert White Johnson that has to be lying around somewhere at least in "home demo" form or something.

With Harrison, while there have been some archival releases, they haven't even skimmed the surface of what's in Harrison's vaults. They've been especially stingy with bonus tracks on album reissues, with many CD reissues sporting literally ONE bonus track, sometimes two or three but rarely more. "Early Takes Vol. 1" was a great hodge podge, but there are probably 5 or more discs of that sort of material waiting to be released.

Agreed. While George was a fantastic musician and songwriter, he wasn't quite skilled enough to produce good to great albums of original material every year in the same way that John and Paul could.

Both had drug problems that led to some embarrassing live performances.

I'd agree with that.  But many people give the title of "best solo Beatle" to John with a small catalog (granted over a smaller period of time).

A another link I'd like to draw between Carl and George isn't even a real link, but a pointless "coulda shoulda" item: Carl could have and/or should have been cutting a solo album in the late 80s that sounded like "Cloud Nine."

Imagine Carl's great voice with some great Jeff Lynne backing and production, and liberated a bit from the cheesy synths of BB'85, and without the AC/MOR boring elements of the later "Beckley/Lamm/Wilson" stuff.

Interesting as well that in that 1989 translated interview with Carl posted here a few years back, Carl was asked about Brian's '88 album, and Carl singled out the Lynne co-penned/produced "Let It Shine" as a standout track.

Let It Shine is one of my favorite tracks off BW88. 

I think it's a shame that's the only collaboration between Jeff and one of the Beach Boys. 

Maybe Al should give him a call should he get the urge to put out a 2nd solo album.

I don't think they had much in common.  These kind of threads are goofy.

Like, Al Jardine and John Lennon:  things they have in common

Both are/were short.

Both played rhythm guitar.

Al wrote a song about Japan and John married a woman from Japan.

This off the top of my head and of course, it all signifies a big, fat NOTHING....

These threads are weird and mostly nonsense.  Nevertheless, I am surprised nobody has mentioned that these two guys are probably 2 of the 3.... or at least 5..... most notable electric 12 string shredders in pop music.

This is true, but so are message boards about bands, for the most part. Sure, some of the threads are "serious"--or as serious as discussing pop music can be--but huge numbers are just counterfactual stuff, speculation, fanboy/fangirl stuff, and all that. It's mostly harmless. People post what they post.

Al is *significantly* shorter than John Lennon, who was arguably more or less "average" height.

I'm also struggling to ID a song Al wrote "about Japan."

Carl and George both had a short lived fixation with Crazy Legs Crane from The All New Pink Panther Show.

Both Carl and Geoerge at one time entertained the idea of becoming helicopter pilots.

They both married women.

Interestingly, both their beards were made of the same substance, keratin!

Not that far off in Carl's case. He had an avid interest in flying and even had a subscription to Aviation Week.

I've never heard or read anything about embarrassing concerts from George because of drugs or alcohol. Could you give an example/source?

George didn't do many concerts after the Beatles. And I find it annoying how those 1978 Australian shows are always brought up - probably the only time in Carl's entire career that he gave a bad performance. Carl was the rock of the group, he was dependable, always came ready to play, respected the music and expected the other musicians to show the same respect.

Let's not forget a key example:

When The Beatles gave themselves stage names in 1960, George changed his name to Carl.

Carl never changed his name to George but if he had, his name would have been George Wilson, which also happens to be the name of the irritated neighbour in the comic strip Dennis the Menace, which itself was the nickname for who? None other than Dennis Wilson!

At this point the coincidences are impossible to ignore and someone needs to inform the authorities about this immediately.

His voice was sh*t as the 74 tour wore on. I've always read/understood that to be a consequence of his heavy cocaine use.

In his case it also translated to his studio work. I was listening to a few tracks from Dark Horse and I swear I thought George must've been joking or something. His voice sounded so good just a few years earlier, too. Shame.

George said he wore his voice out rehearsing for the tour.

He didn't say "I did a sh*t-ton of coke and it f***ed my voice"? Weird. Didn't carl also give some pretty lame excuse for his awful performance at the time?

I don't know for certain, I was just naming a similarity based on what is audibly available and published explanations. And frankly I don't care either way. But I wouldn't trust the people involved too fully. They would obviously have their pride, reputations and business interests in mind to shade their statements.

IIRC, Carl said he took a couple pills for his back before having a couple drinks the day of the show. I'm sure that wasn't all he took. He was apparently hooked on heroin around this time, thank God he was able to clean up his act before it was too late.

My point exactly.

George is a very common English name; so is Carl.

Wilson is a common English surname, so is Wilson.

Golly I guess Carl is damned near a Beatle; or is it Harrison is danged-near a Beach Boy?  Such seems to be the intent of this thread....

I think the intent is, wowie, the sweet-quiet-spiritual archetype ones are so similar. And up next, we'll talk about the cute ones. Then maybe the rebellious ones. SmileyTigerBeatSmile.com.

So Mike Love and Paul McCartney?

Hmm. Both seem very commercial minded.

And rebellious ones? Aha!

Bruce and John. Hmm. Their hair seems almost alike. Not really.

Both Carl and George were not only the youngest members of their bands, they were also the youngest children in their families.

Too bad Carl never sang any George songs. With his beautiful voice, he could have done great versions of My Sweet Lord or Give Me Love; and I can imagine him rockin' really good on What is Life.
And some Harrison slide would have been nice on those 80's BB's records instead of the sax.

I've said it before; Carl didn't need to be in the Wilburys, but rather if you listen to something like Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" (which Carl guests on), *that's* the sort of thing Carl should have been doing both in terms of musical style as well as production style (Rick Rubin indeed would have been a good pick). Imagine those great 90s Tom Petty-type tracks, but with even more layered harmonies, etc.

How is it possible that no one has mentioned Ricky Fataar in this thread?  Someone thought that he was the Beach Boy with the greatest similarity to George... 

Stig!!!