Carl

[CarlTheVoice]

The above video makes me feel quite sad. Carl was still so talented and able to put his soul into the music. He added his touch and it sounded great. He lived for the music (not the fame) as much as Brian ever did. I do feel that out of everyone if you told them how much you loved their music now, he would be the one to truly appreciate your opinion and would be thankful. I may be wrong, but it's just the way he comes across.

[DonnyL]

Reading this makes me feel so sorry for Carl, it seems he had the world on his shoulders and took it very seriously. It's also sad to hear how he seemed to change around 96 - it must have been such a painful time for him. I'm gutted that I will never hear his voice live.

He always took his work seriously, whether it was a bad song or a song he had written. He always put his heart and soul into every performance and that is what will make his voice special forever. He channeled every tear, smile, fear, hope into his singing and that's what really draws me in to his music. For me, Carl is the Beach Boys. 

That '96 show I mentioned was the last Beach Boys show I attended.

[MBE]

I think he was the most particular about Brian's post 1974 vocals and material and perhaps he just didn't think Brian could pull it off. Honesty as Carl never did an extensive post early eighties interview it is really hard to say with 100 confidence.

I remember reading this in Carlin's book - Brian apparently wanted back in the touring group (and to play Pet Sounds in it's entirety, natch!) but Carl was against this, and I think it was for vocal reasons. Melinda is the source of this, though, and I know some of you have views. 

Well I don't take it on her word alone. It just seems that Carl wasn't into what Brian was doing in the ninties.

[Wirestone]

I think he was the most particular about Brian's post 1974 vocals and material and perhaps he just didn't think Brian could pull it off. Honesty as Carl never did an extensive post early eighties interview it is really hard to say with 100 confidence.

I remember reading this in Carlin's book - Brian apparently wanted back in the touring group (and to play Pet Sounds in it's entirety, natch!) but Carl was against this, and I think it was for vocal reasons. Melinda is the source of this, though, and I know some of you have views. 

Well I don't take it on her word alone. It just seems that Carl wasn't into what Brian was doing in the ninties.

Carl = No taste.

[MBE]

I think he was the most particular about Brian's post 1974 vocals and material and perhaps he just didn't think Brian could pull it off. Honesty as Carl never did an extensive post early eighties interview it is really hard to say with 100 confidence.

I remember reading this in Carlin's book - Brian apparently wanted back in the touring group (and to play Pet Sounds in it's entirety, natch!) but Carl was against this, and I think it was for vocal reasons. Melinda is the source of this, though, and I know some of you have views. 

Well I don't take it on her word alone. It just seems that Carl wasn't into what Brian was doing in the ninties.

Carl = No taste.

It's funny but he seemed to have great taste in the sixties and early seventies. Then he went really MOR. Despite this I think he was a good man and the very little contact I had was very nice.

[hypehat]

RE: a backlog of Carl material from the early 70's, I asked about this not so long ago and was told that after Holland there is pretty much nothing in the vaults written by him apart from an early version of Angel Come Home. But I can't find the thread.

[Wirestone]

I think he was the most particular about Brian's post 1974 vocals and material and perhaps he just didn't think Brian could pull it off. Honesty as Carl never did an extensive post early eighties interview it is really hard to say with 100 confidence.

I remember reading this in Carlin's book - Brian apparently wanted back in the touring group (and to play Pet Sounds in it's entirety, natch!) but Carl was against this, and I think it was for vocal reasons. Melinda is the source of this, though, and I know some of you have views.  

Well I don't take it on her word alone. It just seems that Carl wasn't into what Brian was doing in the ninties.

Carl = No taste.

It's funny but he seemed to have great taste in the sixties and early seventies. Then he went really MOR. Despite this I think he was a good man and the very little contact I had was very nice.

No doubt he was a wonderful guy. None at all. And an amazing singer. But it is so strange when you consider that Brian -- for all of his issues and challenges over the years -- still seems to have some artistic drive. And if you average out the music from his solo career, it's clear he still has a desire and the ability to create BW-sounding music. And Carl, who learned at Brian's knee (so to speak), and figured out how to produce records that sounded nearly identical to Brian's, who could write entrancing (if meandering) original tunes, somehow just totally abandoned a self-directed artistic path. I mean, what was Carl's bag? What did he really like to play and sing? I suppose it's the solo albums, but even those don't quite ring true to me.

Something about Carl's journey -- such a young kid when drafted into the band, the quiet mediator in an abuse-filled home -- meant that while he had so much of the artistic potential of Brian and Dennis, he largely kept it bottled up. And by the time he had the space and opportunity to express it more widely, the muse had mostly left him. It's really rather sad, when you think about it. For as tragic as Dennis's story was, he made at least one great (if flawed) solo record, and contributed a half-dozen or so sterling songs to the BBs in the 70s. Carl never quite got there as a creator. He largely served as the custodian for his brothers' vision.

[MBE]

It's funny if you listen to Flame and then Beached (the LP Carl did with Ricci Martin) you can hear that from 1970 to 1977 his tastes had really altered. Beached is still better then Carl's solo stuff though...which tellingly came later.

[southbay]

I think he was the most particular about Brian's post 1974 vocals and material and perhaps he just didn't think Brian could pull it off. Honesty as Carl never did an extensive post early eighties interview it is really hard to say with 100 confidence.

I remember reading this in Carlin's book - Brian apparently wanted back in the touring group (and to play Pet Sounds in it's entirety, natch!) but Carl was against this, and I think it was for vocal reasons. Melinda is the source of this, though, and I know some of you have views. 

Well I don't take it on her word alone. It just seems that Carl wasn't into what Brian was doing in the ninties.

Carl = No taste.

It's funny but he seemed to have great taste in the sixties and early seventies. Then he went really MOR. Despite this I think he was a good man and the very little contact I had was very nice.

No doubt he was a wonderful guy. None at all. And an amazing singer. But it is so strange when you consider that Brian -- for all of his issues and challenges over the years -- still seems to have some artistic drive. And if you average out the music from his solo career, it's clear he still has a desire and the ability to create BW-sounding music. And Carl, who learned at Brian's knee (so to speak), and figured out how to produce records that sounded nearly identical to Brian's, who could write entrancing (if meandering) original tunes, somehow just totally abandoned a self-directed artistic path. I mean, what was Carl's bag? What did he really like to play and sing? I suppose it's the solo albums, but even those don't quite ring true to me.

Something about Carl's journey -- such a young kid when drafted into the band, the quiet mediator in an abuse-filled home -- meant that while he had so much of the artistic potential of Brian and Dennis, he largely kept it bottled up. And by the time he had the space and opportunity to express it more widely, the muse had mostly left him. It's really rather sad, when you think about it. For as tragic as Dennis's story was, he made at least one great (if flawed) solo record, and contributed a half-dozen or so sterling songs to the BBs in the 70s. Carl never quite got there as a creator. He largely served as the custodian for his brothers' vision.

Your last line, being a custodian for his brothers' vision.  I think that is almost right on.  I do think that is a lot of what Carl saw his role as, the custodian of Brian's music to the world, especially in the later years (80's-until his death) and he did what he could to keep things from becoming a complete circus. For a great deal of that time, he was the last Wilson standing in the group.  He was indeed (as another poster pointed out) a surrogate father to Dennis' kids, to a lesser extent Brian's kids, of course his own kids, he had Audree to take care of and there was a cache of ex-wives (not his own) that Carl somehat looked after as well. And then there was the group infighting andf the battles with Brian/Landy.  While this may have led Brian and/or Dennis to create, it may just have easily sucked all of the creative juices out of Carl.  The truth is that none of us will ever know what was going on in his world during those last turbulent years.

[feelflows]

I think he was the most particular about Brian's post 1974 vocals and material and perhaps he just didn't think Brian could pull it off. Honesty as Carl never did an extensive post early eighties interview it is really hard to say with 100 confidence.

I remember reading this in Carlin's book - Brian apparently wanted back in the touring group (and to play Pet Sounds in it's entirety, natch!) but Carl was against this, and I think it was for vocal reasons. Melinda is the source of this, though, and I know some of you have views.  

Well I don't take it on her word alone. It just seems that Carl wasn't into what Brian was doing in the ninties.

Carl = No taste.

It's funny but he seemed to have great taste in the sixties and early seventies. Then he went really MOR. Despite this I think he was a good man and the very little contact I had was very nice.

No doubt he was a wonderful guy. None at all. And an amazing singer. But it is so strange when you consider that Brian -- for all of his issues and challenges over the years -- still seems to have some artistic drive. And if you average out the music from his solo career, it's clear he still has a desire and the ability to create BW-sounding music. And Carl, who learned at Brian's knee (so to speak), and figured out how to produce records that sounded nearly identical to Brian's, who could write entrancing (if meandering) original tunes, somehow just totally abandoned a self-directed artistic path. I mean, what was Carl's bag? What did he really like to play and sing? I suppose it's the solo albums, but even those don't quite ring true to me.

Something about Carl's journey -- such a young kid when drafted into the band, the quiet mediator in an abuse-filled home -- meant that while he had so much of the artistic potential of Brian and Dennis, he largely kept it bottled up. And by the time he had the space and opportunity to express it more widely, the muse had mostly left him. It's really rather sad, when you think about it. For as tragic as Dennis's story was, he made at least one great (if flawed) solo record, and contributed a half-dozen or so sterling songs to the BBs in the 70s. Carl never quite got there as a creator. He largely served as the custodian for his brothers' vision.

I can only guess at how it all happened, but I think it can be taken as a sign of Carl's mental and emotional health.  Happy, stable people are able to shift their goals according to their circumstances.  Having lost two brothers, both strong creative forces in the band, he knew he couldn't beat down the Al faction.  
My guess is that Carl didn't want to fight or to be in a band filled with animosity.  He let go of some of those creative aspirations, and found happiness in putting on the best show he could and in being present for his family.

[Emdeeh]

Having lost two brothers, both strong creative forces in the band, he knew he couldn't beat down the Al faction.

Huh? By the '80s, Al was much more closely aligned with Carl. They went to dinner together on the road, their wives were friends, they shared a dressing room. Al was the guy pushing for more adventurous material in the setlist.

[drbeachboy]

Having lost two brothers, both strong creative forces in the band, he knew he couldn't beat down the Al faction.

Huh? By the '80s, Al was much more closely aligned with Carl. They went to dinner together on the road, their wives were friends, they shared a dressing room. Al was the guy pushing for more adventurous material in the setlist.

I am always amazed at the amount of misinformation out there and even on this board. Though this is as good a place as there is to get the facts straightened out.

[SMiLE Brian]

Having lost two brothers, both strong creative forces in the band, he knew he couldn't beat down the Al faction.

Huh? By the '80s, Al was much more closely aligned with Carl. They went to dinner together on the road, their wives were friends, they shared a dressing room. Al was the guy pushing for more adventurous material in the setlist.

What were the reasons for Al breaking away from Mike and becoming closer to Carl in the 1980s?

[feelflows]

Having lost two brothers, both strong creative forces in the band, he knew he couldn't beat down the Al faction.

Huh? By the '80s, Al was much more closely aligned with Carl. They went to dinner together on the road, their wives were friends, they shared a dressing room. Al was the guy pushing for more adventurous material in the setlist.

This is embarrassing: I meant to say Mike, not Al!  I've barely been sleeping.  Sorry, folks.

[Tony S]

I would love to hear more about the Boys rlelationships with each other into the 80's and 90's. Never knew that Al and Carl had gotten close, wonder what Carl's relationships were with Mike and Bruce. Al's with Bruce? Maybe Emdeeh can shed some light on this often overlooked topic.

[DonnyL]

I would love to hear more about the Boys rlelationships with each other into the 80's and 90's. Never knew that Al and Carl had gotten close, wonder what Carl's relationships were with Mike and Bruce. Al's with Bruce? Maybe Emdeeh can shed some light on this often overlooked topic.

Remember, Carl was the mediator; he was able to transend these separate sects in the band and bring people together.  Hence the subsequent disconnect after his departure.

[BillA]

I can only guess at how it all happened, but I think it can be taken as a sign of Carl's mental and emotional health.  Happy, stable people are able to shift their goals according to their circumstances.  Having lost two brothers, both strong creative forces in the band, he knew he couldn't beat down the Al faction. 
My guess is that Carl didn't want to fight, or to to be in a band filled with animosity.  He let go of some of those creative aspirations, and found happiness in putting on the best show he could, and being present for his family.

A very reasonable trade-off.

If true than Carl really understood the big picture.

[Autotune]

Having lost two brothers, both strong creative forces in the band, he knew he couldn't beat down the Al faction.

Huh? By the '80s, Al was much more closely aligned with Carl. They went to dinner together on the road, their wives were friends, they shared a dressing room. Al was the guy pushing for more adventurous material in the setlist.

What were the reasons for Al breaking away from Mike and becoming closer to Carl in the 1980s?

But who voted Al out of the band for a while in the early 90s then? Mike on his own could not force the others to do so.

[Lonely Summer]

Minority view here, but I love Carl's solo stuff. The stripped down sound of the debut, the harder rocking followup, and his songs on Like A Brother. Used to surprise me to see so many negative comments about his solo stuff on BB's forums, kinda used to it now.

[Andrew G. Doe]

But who voted Al out of the band for a while in the early 90s then? Mike on his own could not force the others to do so.

Everyone.

[Jay]

What exactly was the situation with Al in the 1990's? Is it something that can't be talked about "openly"? I've always wondered exactly what happened to make Al get pushed out from the band.

[Tony S]

I seem to recall one of the issues was Al sufferring from Tinitis in his ears. Not sure if that had anything to do with anything though.

[Jay]

But who voted Al out of the band for a while in the early 90s then? Mike on his own could not force the others to do so.

Everyone.

Even Carl?

[Mike's Beard]

It does seem a bit strange to me that for a band who's infighting has never been made secret, it's still somewhat unclear just what drove Mike and Al so far apart in the early 90's. I know Al hated the whole cheerleaders on stage thing and this may have been an indicator that like Carl had quite some time before, he was finally beginning to question the groups image as a good time 'travelling jukebox', but was this really enough to destroy a near 30 year friendship?

[Autotune]

Mike Love in Goldmine Sep. 1992:

... And I told Al... we had a rough time the last couple of years communicating. He's definitely been on a bummer for many years based on some things that have happened to him historically. Different than what happened to me with Brian with respect to the writing but a similar effect on him emotionally. And me, I ignore it and go straight ahead and I think more of the future. Al has this thing where he'll obsess on something that happened 20 years ago. It's hard for him to let go.

So we've actually been having group meetings between Carl, myself and Al with the psychiatrist Howard Bloomfield, who's a good friend of mine and a board member of the Love Foundation, and we've done a lot of healing kind of things, airing grievances and working things out. It's been very therapeutic for all of us individually and collectively. I think we've gotten to understand each other and see the other's point of view and experience and it's made the group better and stronger.

That confirms a report i heard a little while back that Al Jardine had left the Beach Boys.

We got to the point where we didn't want to be in the same room or on stage with him because he was so negative about things. He was negative about certain things and once we were able to get into a forum, an area where he was able to unload some of that, we could empathize with some of it, not all of it, and air our points of view and it resolved all that stuff.

Are you getting along better now?

A lot better. But the point is he wasn't even on the album until a couple of months ago when we finally resolved all the stuff. Then he came in and I told Al he made a good song great. It's not that we couldn't do an album and do it well without Al Jardine around. Or the same goes for anybody. You're talking the Beach Boys, you're going to get someone to listen anyway. But on several songs it went from good to great. And Carl, God, he's a monster on the album. I think he sounds phenomenal, the most commercial he's ever sounded.