The Making Of Dennis Wilson’s PacificOcean Blue

Words by Ken Sharp, colour photography by Dean Torrence

Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson was the band’s only surfer, an unruly rebel and the group’s sex symbol. Where the other Beach Boys displayed a wholesome, freshly scrubbed appearance, Dennis was the group’s manic id, a pleasure seeking hedonist who grabbed fistfuls of life with unfettered abandon. Boyishly handsome, he epitomized icy cool with his cocksure attitude and a knowing, mischievous smirk that the girls (and their mothers) would understand. He was a man of extremes, his insatiable appetite for sex, drugs and rock’n’ roll meant he lived precipitously on the edge. Yet he was compassionate and generous, a sensitive man of emotional depth who also possessed a ton of talent.

On the surface, Dennis Wilson was one of those typical underachievers we all know – a wild, out of control non-conformist headed on a fasttrack to nowhere. Never completely fitting in with The Beach Boys, he was an outsider, the perennial square peg in a round hole.

“Dennis wasn’t even slated to be in the band,” reveals Beach Boy Al Jardine. “We asked him to leave because he was such a rebel. But because Audree (Wilson’s mother) broke down and couldn’t handle it, we said, “We can’t do this, it’ll ruin the family’s peace of mind …

by Ken Sharp
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