Looks awesome! Thanks!

At least Carl was strong enough to get off whatever he was on in Australia. I sure wish Dennis had followed his example.

As I understand it, Dennis kicked heroin, which reportedly was one of the things all three Wilson brothers were doing in Australia. Kicking "horse" is very difficult, but they did it. Unfortunately Dennis couldn't kick his other demons.

Carl's guitar intro for Fun, Fun, Fun. I mean, nothing clever there but it rocks!

It sure does!

I suspect there's a reason "Summer in Paradise" has been more or less quietly "retired", not even making it into album artwork collages on the 50th anniversary tour.

I can think of twelve.

Did it happen? Please give us an update when you can. And pictures, if you've got 'em.

I saw Brian and band live in concert in October of 2021. His voice sounded good. He seemed engaged, and, in fact, introduced just about every song. I haven't seen much of the Chicago shows on YouTube, but there is a marked difference in the most recent shows and what I saw live last October. That being said, I agree with many of the commenters here. Whether or not Brian continues to tour is none of our business. I have not seen the Reddit thread, but many of the comments on Facebook and on YouTube have raised my ire, particularly those that say something to the effect of "Oh, he had to use a walker and assistants to get on and off stage! He shouldn't be touring anymore." I'm paraphrasing, of course, but anyone who has followed Brian and band in the last few years knows that this is nothing new. Brian entered and exited the stage the same way when I saw him in 2019. And what has that to do with his being able to tour? Nothing. What it does show is that some fans are uncomfortable with seeing that, which strikes me as somewhat ableist.

Sorry if this comment is all over the map. It's late and I need to get some sleep. I was just reading this thread and had to put in my two cents. Goodnight.

My favorite track changes constantly. This week it's "Hawaiian Dream." Last week it was the a cappella "Marcella." But I promise you...I PROMISE you...my favorite track will NEVER be "Seasons in the Sun." Bleaeacacchghhghg...

While Seasons in the Sun will also never be my favorite track, I do find the Rod McKuen reworking of the original Jacques Brel lyrics MUCH darker and more interesting than the later written Terry Jacks lyrics.

What I find puzzling about Carl and this organization; if he was so big into it, why wasn't he prosletizing for the group? There was no mention of them in the liner notes of his solo albums; and I'm only aware of one interview where he talked about them. Now how many times have we seen Mike Love talk about the benefits of TM?
I suspect it was a way and a life that he felt was beneficial to him, but he didn't have any desire to push it on anyone else.

It probably speaks for Carl that he didn't do this. The TM stuff was quirky enough (even though it had its charms whenever Brian chose to write a song about it) but that was enough for one band I guess, it would've been very odd if Carl had pushed his personal beliefs into their music and public appearances in the same way that Mike did.

It's not just Carl, though. MSIA members, even ministers, are instructed to not evangelize/proselytize, and to only be of service.

What I find puzzling about Carl and this organization; if he was so big into it, why wasn't he prosletizing for the group? There was no mention of them in the liner notes of his solo albums; and I'm only aware of one interview where he talked about them. Now how many times have we seen Mike Love talk about the benefits of TM?
I suspect it was a way and a life that he felt was beneficial to him, but he didn't have any desire to push it on anyone else.

From the Wikipedia page for Movement for Spiritual Inner Awareness:  "MSIA considers itself a church in very few traditional senses of the word. A deeply ambivalent attitude towards traditional "religiosity" characterizes the "Movement." While it is legally incorporated as a church and provides tools and techniques for Soul transcendence for those who are looking for them, it prohibits members from evangelizing; it spreads primarily by word of mouth. MSIA has no program of building churches or other buildings, giving it similarities with other 'churches without walls.' It ordains ministers, but ordains no one to preach or teach, only to be of service. Service choices are determined entirely individually. MSIA has only vague and wide guidelines here."

Was MSIA the same organization he wrote "Where I Belong" for?

Although John-Roger, founder of MSIA, claimed that Carl wrote "Where I Belong" for them, I think you'd have to talk to Robert White Johnson about that. He wrote the lyrics for that song, and Carl wrote the music.

This was NOT the organ Dennis used on "All I Want To Do".

Slightly off topic, but it sounds like a lovely version of “I Wish For You” playing in the background. Is it just Carl performing live for this organisation (i.e. the audio from the short shots of Carl with guitar in the video)?

It appears so.

Carl briefly mentions John-Roger and MSIA in this 1983 interview. https://youtu.be/vpG7AL2UF4E

thank you

I forgot to mention that the John-Roger reference comes at about 12:45 in the video.

Carl briefly mentions John-Roger and MSIA in this 1983 interview. https://youtu.be/vpG7AL2UF4E

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think if one were to feel uneasy about Carl's connection to this group, it wouldn't only be for fear of Carl being exploited or something of that nature, but also Carl simply being connected to a group that clearly some people and organizations took issue with.

I think the fact that this group only had a seemingly relatively short stint in the larger public eye and stayed relatively more low key than other organizations of a similar nature (I think we can all name the obvious ones), coupled with Carl's private nature, is what dictated that there was never a huge swath of Beach Boys fans expressing deep concern for Carl's links to the group. Carl died during the *relatively* early era of the internet, so there was less chance for more discussion to hatch concerning the group or Carl's links to it.

We still seem to know relatively little of Carl's connection to the group or his beliefs at any point, including near the end of his life. I can't claim I've ever felt *positive* about Carl's connection to that John Roger group, and certainly those couple of minutes of documentary footage showing Carl working events for the group don't make me feel any better about it. I don't think it's inappropriate to say it evokes in the minds of many a number of similar groups of distant and recent past. Again, we can name some of the obvious ones. And indeed, I recall reading, coincidentally back in the Usenet days of the mid-late 90s on the Beach Boys groups, that Carl at some point (presumably in the 70s and 80s) had allegedly "looked into" a number of groups/movements including Scientology.

It also may well be that *if* we knew more about his feelings and beliefs in general and specifically in regards to the John Roger group, that might speak to how he interacted with the band/organization over the years.

I don't look at Carl's connection to this group as "meh, no big deal." He was obviously entitled to his beliefs and to choose his associations. But it feels a bit more icky to me than "meh, no big deal"; that's just my personal feeling of course on it. But I also think we have far, far too little information about Carl to draw any particularly judgmental conclusions about Carl in regards to this organization. I'm certainly not willing to make any hugely negative assumptions or judgments. I think even looking at that footage, I could offer commentary as any of us could about what it seems/feels like, and as I mentioned, I don't ever get a *good* feeling from it. But until or if we get more info about Carl's life (you gotta commend not only Carl but also his tight relationships with others in that nobody seems to want to tell much about him), I'm not sure how much more we can say. Perhaps if we were to delve deep into that John Roger organization, enough troubling things would lead to a justified *attempt* to question his family about Carl's feelings about and connections to the group. Asking those questions wouldn't necessarily be out of line; and they in turn would absolutely have the right to not answer those questions.

Well said, Hey Jude. I suppose my radar is up right now, because I've just finished binge watching Leah Remini's expose on Scientology. I feel that somehow all three of the Wilsons and Mike Love, perhaps because of their upbringing, were/are vulnerable to people with narcissistic personalities. This fits right in with that tendency. I include Mike in this, as he suffered some emotional abuse by his mother, Murry Wilson's sister Glee. Murry and Glee both suffered at the hands of their father, Buddy Wilson. Mike certainly didn't fall under the spell of Murry, Landy, Manson or John-Roger, but he was entranced by the Maharishi.

After seeing the financial and emotional damage that certain groups with cultish tendencies can inflict on their members and their members' families, I would be interested to know the details of Carl's involvement in MSIA and its effect on his family. Particularly on Gina and his sons, of course, but also on his relationship with Brian.

Was Carl's involvement in MSIA common knowledge among fans during his lifetime? Appreciate this new piece of the puzzle, Patsy6.

I don't know what constitutes "common knowledge," but back in the early to mid-90s, I do remember a tiny bit of online chatter about Carl's involvement with the "John Roger" religious group (even that Carl was a sort of minister within the organization).  This chatter was on what constituted the online BB discussion of the era (e.g., Usenet, email lists, compuserve, whatever).  As I recall, the general gist of the chatter was that "John Roger" was a sketchy sort of character who was generating a fair amount of controversy, BUT Carl had the right to whatever religious views he wanted to have, and those view didn't have anything to do with the music or the band (i.e., this wasn't another "Maharishi tour" situation), so who cares?

Obviously not you. Some fans are interested, though.

Hmmm... I wonder how Gina, Jonah and Justyn felt/feel about MSIA. Are or were they ever members? Did they feel that it helped Carl? As no one in his family seems to be amenable to an official biography, I guess we'll never know.

This was posted on YouTube today by Elora. Thoughts?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhgaX1-0SiA

Can't access Instagram. Which granddaughter is she?

Carnie's daughter, Lola Bonfiglio

I just did a Google search and couldn't find it. Geez, there has to be some story behind that photo, though!

I'm just smiling thinking of Mike at age 8, Brian, Bruce and Al at age 7, Dennis at age 5, Carl at age 3 and David at age 1.

Dennis Wilson fan Taylor Hawkins has passed away. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/foo-fighters-drummer-taylor-hawkins-obituary-1327112/?fbclid=IwAR0GGVVBeWUx82yuKIdq0VmGQXurK42bVpvGFlZEYPTm7FIqw1zYw10oCsc

I've seen several references to the fact that a Rolling Stone reporter witnessed the incident on the tarmac at the Newark airport on 9/3/1977, but I haven't seen any Rolling Stone article about it. Is there one? If so, can anyone provide a link to it?

Never mind. I found it at http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,6867.msg110359.html#msg110359. Then I couldn't figure out how to delete my post.

I've seen several references to the fact that a Rolling Stone reporter witnessed the incident on the tarmac at the Newark airport on 9/3/1977, but I haven't seen any Rolling Stone article about it. Is there one? If so, can anyone provide a link to it?

I'll add my two cents, even though I'm in agreement with most of you. I think it is not fair of us fans to say that Brian should quit. Frankly, it's none of our business, and it's not our call. Nothing is being forced on us. If we don't want to see one of Brian's shows we can choose not to buy a ticket. If we don't want to hear new music from him we can choose not to listen. Touring in the 21st century has probably been a good outlet for him. From the things he has said and the videos I have seen, I think he genuinely likes everyone in his current touring group, and they genuinely like him and each other. That is something that couldn't be said for the Beach Boys from the 1960s throught the 1990s. At any given time during those years there was tension in the ranks.