Why Do Carl and Dennis Always Wear Beach Boys T-shirts?

[oursolution]

Hallo, friends. I've seen so many photos of both Carl and Dennis (and sometimes Brian) in the late 70s/early 80s period wearing Beach Boys merch t-shirts. Do you think there's a reason for this?

[Jim V.]

My guess is simple. Because they were there to be had. Especially Brian and Denny. I doubt they put tons of thought into their outfits, yet both still had this odd kinda style.

[RubberSoul13]

I can't cite a source or the validity of this notion, but I've always heard it purported that in that era, Dennis would often not have a shirt at all and would literally just grab one from that evening's merch.

[CenturyDeprived]

What was the situation with the Beach boys having a merch stand back in the 1970s and early 1980s?

I wonder if anybody has any stories about what it was like back then.

How does it compare to the modern era? And when was the very first time the band had mech for sale at their gigs?

[juggler]

It's an interesting topic.  Mike and Bruce wear a fair amount of Beach Boys swag, caps in particular.  I don't recall Carl and Al wearing a ton of that stuff in the '90s. 

As in most everything, Brian is a wildcard.  He wore a fair amount of BB merchandise from roughly 1976 into the '80s but likely wouldn't be caught dead in it now.   Following the Melinda marriage, BW seems to have settled into a preppy-casual dad/grandpa wardrobe heavy on Ralph Lauren, long-sleeve oxford cloth shirts, knit polos, etc.  When I saw him at David Leaf's UCLA event a couple years ago, he was sporting Gucci tennis shoes.

[c-man]

Can't really recall seeing a pic of Carl sporting a Beach Boys tee...just one that said WILSON in big capital letters.

[southbay]

Can't recall ever seeing Carl wear anything Beach Boys related except their short live HOBO line at the 86 Super Bowl and during the 25th anniversary broadcast