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Matt O'Casey

Legends: Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Music: Classic Pop & Rock

Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy

26/02/2010

BBC Four - Legends, Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy

Profile of Dennis Wilson, the drummer in the Beach Boys, who drowned aged just 39.

Profile of Dennis Wilson, the drummer in the Beach Boys and the only one who surfed, the one who drove hot rod cars in competition and the one who got all the girls.

Dennis Wilson was the drummer in the Beach Boys. And he was the real Beach Boy. In a band of geeks who sang about surfing, cars and girls, Dennis was the only one who surfed, the one who drove hot rod cars in competition and the one who got all the girls.

He was married five times, shared a house with Charles Manson (with whom he wrote songs, including one recorded by the Beach Boys) but died, ironically by drowning, at the age of 39. He was also the first Beach Boy to release a solo album, the stunning Pacific Ocean Blue, which after years of being out of print and fetching hundreds on Ebay, was re-released in 2008 to widespread acclaim, being voted No 1 Reissue of the Year by Mojo and Uncut magazines. 

This documentary tells the story of Dennis's life and music, with unseen archive footage and original interviews with Beach Boys Al Jardine and David Marks, his sons Michael and Carl and many friends and fellow musicians. These include Taylor Hawkins, drummer with the Foo Fighters who provided a vocal for the lost track on Pacific Ocean Blue, Holy Man, for which Dennis never laid down a vocal when he recorded the song in 1977.

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