Like heat from a blast furnace: The sheer raw force of Beach Boy Dennis Wilson

Four Beach Boys experts investigate coolest band member Dennis Wilson’s troubled childhood, most gut-wrenching composition, whether jealousy clouded the abandonment of “Pacific Ocean Blue’s” intended follow-up “Bambu,” final birthday, soundly put the myth to bed that the multi-instrumentalist did not play on sessions, and fondly recall two serendipitous summits with the emotionally intense songwriter. Seen above at a Beach Boys gig in 1979, the self-taught, open-handed drummer sports a vintage 1976 Venice red T-shirt and faded blue jeans behind a Remo Gold Crown drum kit. Image Credit: Beach Boys Legacy Twitter / Brother Records

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Beach Boys heart and soul Dennis Wilson emerged as their most undervalued songwriter, producer, and vocalist by 1970’s Sunflower. Born on December 4, 1944, to Murry and Audree Wilson in sunny Hawthorne, California, the primal, self-taught, open-handed drummer tragically passed away at age 39 after repeatedly diving while inebriated for family heirlooms in the chilly Marina Del Rey on December 28, 1983. The slip where Dennis accidentally drowned was adjacent to where the rocker’s prized sailboat The Harmony had been moored before being repossessed just over two years earlier. The mementos Dennis had been diving for had been heaved overboard during tempestuous arguments with former wife and Pacific Ocean Blue contributing lyricist Karen Lamm. Incredulously, 30 years later to the exact day, Dennis’s son Michael welcomed a new baby into the world. Guess who he was named after.

In a special commemorative profile, Beach Boy experts Andrew G. Doe, Craig Slowinski, Jon Stebbins, and Mike Eder examine the dichotomy of the tender-hearted, rabble-rousing musician.

Stebbins penned the first, ultimately definitive biography of Dennis, 2000’s out-of-print The Real Beach Boy, as well as…