Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was an American songwriter, talent manager, record producer, and music publisher, best known as the father of the Beach Boys' Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. After the band's formation in 1961, Murry became their first manager, and in 1962, he founded their publishing company, Sea of Tunes, with Brian. Later in his life, Wilson was accused of physically and verbally abusing his children, charges which he denied.
Raised in Los Angeles, Wilson grew up in a hostile family environment due to his own father's violent nature. After his children were born, he founded a machining business, A.B.L.E. (Always Better Lasting Equipment) but maintained an active interest in music, which he passed along to his sons. Wilson authored or co-authored at least 50 compositions in his lifetime, albeit with little commercial success. His most popular songs were "Two-Step, Side-Step", recorded by Johnnie Lee Wills and Bonnie Lou in the 1950s, and "Break Away", released as a Beach Boys single in 1969. Wilson is also credited as producer for some of the band's early records, including the 1962 singles "409" and "Surfin' Safari".
The Beach Boys dismissed Wilson as their manager in early 1964 due to his overbearing and disruptive presence at the group's concerts and recording sessions. Following this, he produced the sound-alike group the Sunrays, and recorded an easy listening album, The Many Moods of Murry Wilson (1967). Wilson controlled the Beach Boys' publishing until 1969, when he sold Sea of Tunes to Irving Almo Music in exchange for $700,000 (equivalent to $ in ). In 1973, he died, aged 55, of a heart attack. His management of the group's publishing became the subject of numerous lawsuits decades later.
Background
Murry Gage Wilson was born on July 2, 1917, in Hutchinson, Kansas, as the third child and second son of Edith Sophia (née Sthole) and William Coral "Buddy" Wilson, a plumber. His father was of English, Irish, and Scottish descent, while his mother was of Swedish heritage. The middle name Gage was taken from the doctors who delivered him as a baby. One of Murry's eight siblings died in infancy. In 1921, the family moved west to Los Angeles, and were initially so impoverished that they camped for two months in a tent on the beach when they arrived. In 1929, the family settled at a home on 605 West 99th Street near Inglewood, and one year later, rented a nearby farmhouse at 9722 South Figueroa.
Buddy, who struggled with alcoholism, was often physically and verbally abusive to his family. In one incident, after Buddy's glasses were broken by Murry's younger brother Charlie, Buddy beat the boy so savagely that the rest of the family temporarily forced him out of the home. According to biographer Peter Ames Carlin, Murry increasingly "found himself thrust into the role of his mother's protector, raising his own fists against the father he loved but who seemed unable to love him or anyone else in the family."
Murry was interested in music from a young age and aspired to be a pop songwriter since he was a teenager. Of his musicianship, Carlin states that Murry was self-taught on guitar and received piano lessons from his sister, but biographer Timothy White writes that Murry could not play an instrument. In 1931, Wilson enrolled at Washington High School. There, he met Audree Neva Korthof, who, in addition to playing piano, sang at school functions and community events with her classmates. They graduated in June 1935 and were married on March 26, 1938.
Following graduation, Murry worked as a clerk at Southern California Gas Company, until the birth of their first child, Brian, in 1942. After Brian's birth Murry took a job as a junior administrator at the Los Angeles Goodyear Tire & Rubber factory, located at 6701 South Central Avenue, where he lost his left eye in an industrial accident. Wilson reflected, "When I was twenty-five I thought the world owed me a living. When I lost my eye, I tried harder, drove harder, and did the work of two men and got more raises." He had two more children with Audree, Dennis (born 1944) and Carl (born 1946). After Dennis's birth, the family purchased a two-bedroom house at West 119th Street in Hawthorne, California.
After his injury, Wilson returned to Goodyear, but soon left the factory for a job at Garrett AiResearch, where he worked from 1945 to 1950. He then did a four-year stint at Admiral Machinery Company, a heavy machinery leasing business, where he was employed by his younger brother Douglas. In March 1955, Murry obtained a loan of $20,000 (equivalent to $ in ) to finance the start of his own machining business, A.B.L.E. Machinery Company (Always Better Lasting Equipment).
Treatment of his children
Wilson maintained an active interest in music, which he passed along to his sons, encouraging them to learn to sing and play instruments. Murry reflected, "I've been writing songs for as long as I can remember. My family has always had a great appreciation for the value of music. Many an evening my wife and I used to gather our sons and sing around our organ. Those were pretty lean days for us. We couldn't afford to go to a show, so we entertained ourselves with music." According to White, Murry was often forceful in this field.
The Wilson brothers did not publicly discuss their problematic relationship with their father until they were adults. Many stories of physical and verbal abuse surfaced, including a supposed incident where Murry hit Brian in the head with a 2×4, resulting in 90% hearing loss in his right ear, and another occasion in which he "disciplined" Brian by forcing him to defecate on a plate. Murry denied such reports when approached by Rolling Stone in 1971. According to biographer David Leaf, Murry later "telephoned Brian and angrily demanded that he retract the stories. Reportedly, Brian laughingly told his dad, 'I'll tell you what. Let's tell them that I shit in your ear, and you hit me in the head with a plate."
Out of the three Wilson brothers, Dennis was the most likely to get spanked by their father. Audree recalled, "Dennis had it the hardest; he got some very hard spankings. [Murry] was tough; I used to think he was too tough." Dennis later described his father as "a tyrant ... I don't know kids who got it like we did." Carl declined to comment on the accusations against his father. Brian's 2016 memoir states, "Lots of things have been written about my dad and the way he treated me and my brothers. Lots of them are true. Some of them are dirty lies. But even the things that are true aren't always what they seem." Leaf wrote, "Some people loved Murry, others insist he was a 'sick man,' but few will deny that he physically and verbally abused his children. ... In private, many people confirm that the Wilson brothers had it very hard."
Although he was a strict parent, Murry frequently surprised his children with gifts, such as a BB gun and a go-kart for Dennis. For Dennis's tenth birthday, Murry hosted a children's party that converted the family home into a jungle gym for Dennis and his friends to play in. One of Dennis's classmates, Don Allen, remembered Murry as "being outgoing, friendly, jovial, enthusiastic, and quite in the spirit of being a ten-year-old boy." Wilson's nephew Mike Love said that his uncle often applied a "Vulcan nerve pinch" to boys in the neighborhood. "He never truly hurt anyone, but he inspired plenty of fear."
Early songwriting career and the Beach Boys
By 1950, Murry had written several songs. In 1952, he befriended songwriters Hite and Dorinda Morgan, a married couple who jointly operated Guild Music Company, their music publishing firm. Late in the year, Hite offered to publish two of Wilson's songs, the dance number "Two Step, Side Step" and the ballad "I'll Hide My Tears", and have them recorded with help from Hite's connections in the Los Angeles music industry. In exchange for signing with the Morgans, Murry received $50 as an advance on future royalties the songs may yield.
In early 1953, the couple arranged to have "Two Side, Side Step" recorded by Palace Records act the Bachelors. To promote the forthcoming record, member Jimmie Haskell arranged to have the song performed by the Lawrence Welk Orchestra on Welk's nationally broadcast On the Air from the Aragon radio show in May 1953. Also arranged by Hite, renditions of Wilson's "Painting with Teardrops (of Blue)" and "Two Step, Side Step" were recorded by country singer Johnny Hall and released as a single on the Recorded in Hollywood label. In 1954, "I'll Hide My Tears" was recorded by the Jets (a reconfiguration of the Hollywood Flames), and "Two Step, Side Step" was recorded by early rock 'n' roll singer Bonnie Lou. Billboard reviewed Lou's rendition as a "cute bouncy tune" that would likely become a popular jukebox pick.
After the Beach Boys' formation, Murry became the group's business manager, co-producer, and publisher in the early part of their career. Murry was a tough negotiator on the band's behalf, organizing a contract signing with Capitol Records. Around June 1962, Murry and Brian established the music publishing company Sea of Tunes to safeguard Brian's compositions. The Beach Boys' first few records credited Capitol A&R director Nick Venet as producer. After April 1963, Capitol allowed Brian to produce their records himself, following Murry's insistence. Murry also introduced Brian to Roger Christian, who became Brian's writing partner for the band's car songs.
Dismissal as the Beach Boys' manager
Murry accompanied the group on their first Australasian tour in January 1964, and requested that the band not fraternize with women, use profanity, or drink alcoholic beverages. During his early years, Wilson charged the group $100 for violating these requests, but for this tour, he increased the fine to $1,000, which he would subtract from the touring proceeds. At the time, Wilson's influence on the Beach Boys ignited tensions within the group.
Upon the tour's completion, the band members held a vote in which they unanimously agreed to relieve Murry from his managerial duties. According to Love, "Brian and I drove to his parents' house, and Brian told him straight out: 'Look, we can't deal with you anymore. We've got to get a new manager. In Carl's recollection, "I remember having a conversation with my dad in his bedroom at home. I said, 'They really don't want you to manage the group anymore.' When I think about it, that must have really crushed him. After all, he gave up his home and business for us. He was kind of crackers over us." Audree said that the dismissal "destroyed" her husband and that he refused to leave his bed for weeks.
Another report suggests that Wilson was fired in early April 1964, following incidents involving the recording sessions of the singles "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "I Get Around". According to Mike Love, by then, Murry had already stopped managing the band for a "couple months", although he did disrupt a studio session in April. "Brian had a hard time standing up to his father, but this time he did. ... Then he shoved his dad, who went sprawling backward. That was the only time I ever saw Brian defy him physically, and Murry, defeated, left the studio." In 1966, Brian reflected, "We love the family thing – y'know: three brothers, a cousin and a friend is a really beautiful way to have a group – but the extra generation can become a hang-up."
Aftermath and the Sunrays