The Smiley Smile Message Board

Not sure I saw this here, but I saw that Rocky Pamplin passed away in December.
https://www.echovita.com/us/obituaries/ca/orange/rushton-pamplin-15653661

Very sad news.  Emily and I in particular gave Rocky a rough ride in here a few years ago, but sad to lose a member of the extended “family” of The Beach Boys. Rest in peace, Rocky…

I just noticed he had a Wikipedia article which hadn't been updated with his death. So I fixed it.

RIP. :(

RIP to Rocky though I must admit I was not a big fan, especially with his flip-flopping on his "story."

To be honest though, I kinda thought his take on "California Feelin'" was pretty good.


Lastly, ain't it crazy that Brian is still alive and kickin' while so many other players in the story have come and gone?

The hero outlasted most of the villains, for lack of a better way to put it

Something in me wishes that there was some independent confirmation of his death, other than from Echovita. It uses boiler plate language and does not list survivors, funeral services or a funeral home or crematory. Even if the famiily wanted to keep it private, there is usually some statement to that effect in the obituary. I did a search and found no newspaper obit, no articles in newspapers, magazine or online sources, nothing on his personal Facebook page. There was apparently a post on an alumni Facebook page for his high school, but I suspect it may have used the Echovita posting as a source. I don't know that for a fact, however, as it is a private page.

Anyone out there have independent, reliable confirmation of Rocky's passing?

I will always wonder if the beating Rocky and SL inflicted on Dennis caused him so much pain that he self medicated himself in excess which contributed to his early demise. Obviously he was already in bad shape from years of substance abuse.

It certainly didn’t help. And yeah I do think it made it worse

It seems obvious, too, that this beating was one particularly dreadful moment in a really toxic sort of family dynamic within the band in the 70s, and really it was the same dynamic that made things much harder for Brian, too, now directed at Dennis as well, which was a "tough love" approach to really admittedly scary substance abuse problems that was only ever going to make things worse (even though I think Mike but really the entire band had trouble imagining what other approach they could take), combined with a huge amount of resentment that meant the idea of Brian or Dennis being successful outside the context of the Beach Boys really rankled Mike in particular, but again I think everyone to some extent.

I think that combination of "tough love" and resentment was just poisonous.

This raised red flags for me, too. I find this all highly suspicious.

Agreed, there aren't enough sources for confirmation so far, imo. None that would be considered reliable....

I have wondered if the balance issue Carl was having in Perth in 1978 could have been from Rocky knocking him out in Melbourne a few days earlier. Granted, there is no doubt Carl was doing a lot of stuff that could potentially have caused that. Also, there were a few concerts between Melbourne and Perth, and I am curious as to how they went. In any case, I've read that Carl spent the rest of that tour avoiding Rocky.

I did an extensive Google search and, although there were numerous web hits on him, your Wikipedia entry was the only one to mention his death.

I did a search as well, before the Wikipedia page had been changed, and came up with nothing other than the Echovita site shown at the top of this thread. I think the Wikipedia page should be changed back to the way it was until his death can be confirmed by a more reliable source. I would edit it myself, but I don't have a Wikipedia account.

I find this all very weird and morbid.  The Echovita site does list the obituary. I can’t imagine that this could be fake.

No, it doesn't show an obituary. That is not an obituary. Other than the name, the location of his residence and the supposed date of death, the listing shows boiler plate language that is used for many people on the site. It contains no information as to survivors, funeral home or crematory or funeral arrangements. Even if the funeral arrangements are private, an obituary will say that they are private. And a Google search mentions no newspaper obituary and no other articles mentioning Rocky's death.  There is a Reddit thread, but it lists the Echovita site as its only source. Rocky had a Facebook page. If there is any information as to his death there, it is not public. Same for his high school alumni Facebook page.

I always check items posted on the internet, whatever the subject, for specific information, and reliable and varied sources. This one doesn't pass those tests.

The guy that co-wrote/re-wrote his book was posting here for a while some time back. Is anyone able to contact him?

I would think that if he was still alive, he would have been hearing rumors about his death, then he or somebody related or close to him would somehow have come out by now and said, somewhere, "Hey, no he's not dead!" The fact there's been nothing like that (that we've heard) would seem to indicate to me it's true. Maybe.

Just tell Ron Hamady that I’m gonna post another review of the book on Amazon! That should elicit a response!

Post deleted, used wrong thread

I can't fathom how someone who caused such physical and mental pain for the Wilsons was not paid back in full. And then there's that "book."  Family? WTF?

FWIW, BBFC got confirmation that Rocky is no longer with us, so the report is true.

No sympathy from me, given what he did to Dennis Wilson with Stan Love

Or what he did to Carl in Australia, knocking him out with one punch.