Facts II

*The Wilsons are brothers. Mike Love is their cousin and Al Jardine was Brian Wilson's classmate.

*Brian Wilson was the creative force. He was tormented by drug problems and a difficult childhood. He lost most of the hearing in his right ear when his father hit him with a wooden plank. By 1965, he stopped touring with the band and focused on writing and producing their songs. He was replaced on tour by Glen Campbell, who played on their Pet Sounds album as well as "Good Vibrations."

*In 1968, Dennis Wilson became friends with Charles Manson, who thought of himself as a songwriter. Wilson let Manson and his followers stay at his place and paid most of their expenses. When it became clear Manson was not of sound mind, Dennis was afraid to evict him, so he just let the lease end on the house and never came back to it. Manson and his "family" went on a notorious murder spree in 1969. Before he killed anyone, the Beach Boys recorded one of Manson's songs - "Learn Not To Love."

*Dennis Wilson died in 1983 when he drowned while swimming near his boat in California. US president Ronald Reagan gave special permission so his body could be buried at sea.

*They became the first major American rock group to play in a Communist country when they performed in Czechoslovakia in 1968.

*Along with Chynna Phillips, Brian Wilson's daughters Wendie and Carnie formed the popular early '90s group Wilson Phillips. Brian and Carnie were estranged for many years, but reconciled in 1995.

*Carl Wilson died of lung cancer in 1998.

*At one point when he was depressed, Brian Wilson weighed over 300 pounds.

*Brian Wilson stopped touring with the band because he hated performing, but he also hated to fly. Much of the travel on their early tours was by bus.

*Mike Love also surfed somewhat, but basically it was just Dennis that surfed. Brian Wilson, ironically, had a pathological fear of the ocean. There was a famous sketch on SNL in which John Belushi and Dan Akroyd play policemen who arrest and force Brian him to go surfing. They go to a real beach, and Brian does indeed go in the water, about knee deep. He had to have his therapist on site to keep re-assuring him he would be okay.

And some videos....
Brian Wilson on SNL



The Beach Boys(Dennis Wilson) & Charles Manson



From the TV miniseries; The Beach Boys, An American Family