seen from Libya
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Libya
seen from France
seen from Netherlands
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Mexico
seen from Portugal
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
“Carl Wilson understands Brian making people laugh from when they were children. ‘We all slept in the same room,’ he said, ‘and after we went to bed, Brian would sit there trying to make us laugh. ‘First, my mother would come in and warn us. If our father came in, then it was curtains. So we tried not to laugh, covering our mouths, hiding under the sheets, and Brian would keep cracking us up.’” - San Francisco Chronicle (June 17, 1976)
Photos © Michael Ochs Archives.
“We knew that Pet Sounds was a very special record, and to us, it was more than a record. It was a new place, it was popular music coming to a new level. And it was magnificent to hear ‘Sloop John B’ come out of the speakers with that brilliant arrangement; there was just something so thrilling about it.” - Carl Wilson, The History of Rock ’n’ Roll (1994)
Photos © Curt Gunther.
“Carl is the sit-back-and-observe man. He relaxes everybody.” - Bruce Johnston, Disc & Music Echo (May 28, 1966)
Backstage and onstage at Eastern Kentucky University on April 20, 1967. Photos © Eastern Kentucky University Special Collection.
“Promoters created our surfer image. We were told how to dress in the striped shirts and white pants. We were built up as big hot rodders and the number one surf band when we really would rather have been ourselves.” - Carl Wilson, Fort Lauderdale News (March 28, 1975)
More photos from the photo session in Glasgow on December 10, 1968; all photos by Wolfgang Heilemann.
If you were wondering about those recently posted photos of Carl from 1968, I did some additional research and found more information about the photo session. It was for the German magazine BRAVO, and the photographer — Wolfgang Heilemann — sought to symbolize what each of the guys contributes to The Beach Boys’ output, at least, as far as BRAVO was concerned in an article in 1969. Here is the translated gist of it: Carl was responsible for the music (calling the tune, which, in German, is “die erste Geige spielen”… Geige being violin), for selecting the setlist and arrangements for concerts, and "the others know: he has the best ear for music"; Dennis was the wildest, who loves women and who's the ladies' favorite; Al was the balancing member; Bruce was responsible for the financial side; and Mike was the most determined and sharp-tongued.
Footage from the Pet Sounds cover photo session at San Diego Zoo in February 1966, courtesy of CBS.
Revisiting this, posted earlier this year alongside photos from the day: “[At the zoo] we discovered that nearly everyone there knew of our arrival, and had their pens and albums ready to be autographed by any one of the five Beach Boys. Once inside the zoo, we headed for the children’s zoo where we were led into a huge pen which contained various odd species of lambs, goats, llamas, and a few other animals which defied any sort of description! We spent quite a bit of time inside the cage feeding the animals while the photographers click-clicked away, capturing some of the most unusual pictures of The Beach Boys and friends ever to be seen. Then, we left that area and began to explore the other areas of the vast zoo. We stopped at nearly every cage to examine its occupants, and The Beach Boys stopped at nearly every hot dog stand to buy some of its occupants! You probably wouldn’t believe the quantity of food which was eaten by the Aquatic Five that day! Several million pictures and some very tired feet later, we found ourselves in the general vicinity of a baby elephant, who just happened to be wandering around near the kitchen in the Children’s Zoo. So deeply engrossed in petting the little darling were we, that we didn’t immediately notice the torrential wind which sprang up from the North (or wherever it is from which those things spring up!). Within seconds from the moment when we first noticed that all of the trees were bent in half and our hands were blue with frost bite, it began to pour huge drops of rain all over us. Granted, the boys do call themselves The ‘Beach Boys,’ but this much at home they didn’t have to make us feel! One might think that under such wet conditions, the obvious thing to do south be to run for cover, wouldn’t one? Forget it! The head photographer-type took one look a the overflowing skies, then in his loudest tones yelled out for us to follow him to the uppermost level of the zoo for some more pix! Holy woodies, surfer-buddies — there’s just nothing quite like a photographic session in the rain! Somehow or another, 5:30 that evening found all fifteen of us at the airport in San Diego awaiting the plane which would return us to our happy homes. It was an especially crowded flight and we had a long delay before take-off. Finally air-borne, we soon began to wish we weren’t!! It turned out to be a very rough and rugged flight home, and there was more than one queasy tum-tum as we set down for a landing on the darkened field, lit by several thousand sparkling colored lights. It had been a wild and wonderful day. A day which found Dennis sharing a hot dog and Fritos with a llama; a day which saw Brian in his first face-to-face encounter with a curious giraffe; a day which watched Mike eat every hot dog in the entire zoo; a day of Beach Boys, and a day which won’t soon be forgotten.” - article by Eden (Nikki Wine’s pen name), KRLA Beat (1966)
The Beach Boys in Paris, June 1980. Photos by Tony Frank.
“‘Nineteen [years]? Sounds impossible, doesn’t it,’ said lead guitarist Carl Wilson, telephoning between workouts at the Century West Health Club in Los Angeles. […] ‘We’re still going on. In fact, ‘Goin’ On’ is our new single.’ […] How come people haven’t tired of that ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ and ‘California Girls’ surging sound? ‘They need it. Look at the news stories. They don’t need heavy music all the time. People need to relax. They really need some simple clear and “up” music,’ said [Carl] Wilson. […] ‘Well, it’s like the old cliche. The more you change, the more you stay the same. Some of our songs on our new “Keepin’ the Summer Alive” album have that old ‘60s sound,’ Wilson said. ‘I guess we kind of have a knack of renewing ourselves.’ […] Love and Jardine have turned to transcendental meditation to help with the pressures of the rock business. ‘And I’m into [MSIA]. That’s the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness,’ said Wilson. ‘It’s a church. It helps you to relax. I was recently involved in insight training. It was a powerful, incredible experience. Even my ex-wife, Annie, took it.’ Wilson is being divorced but says that his life has been full of harmony since meeting Gina, a California girl.” - article by Jane Scott, The Plain Dealer (February 25, 1980)
In 1969, the New Musical Express accompanied The Beach Boys on their UK tour for 72 hours; these images are from that undertaking. Photos by Stuart Richman.
“At the hotel later, Dennis, Carl and I had breakfast of huge and expensive omelettes and Carl told me: ‘My two month old son, Jonah, already weighs fifteen pounds,’ to which Dennis quipped: ‘He’s gonna be like his dad.’ Carl said that his father, Murray [sic], helped produce ‘Break Away’ and buried half the studio in matches in the process. It seems he is the world champion non pipe smoker, never managing to keep it alight. […] Dennis was off taking a river trip, having taken Carl and I into Hyde Park to sunbathe.” - from an article by Richard Green, New Musical Express (June 7, 1969)
