Carl Wilson ✝

Influenced by the guitar playing of Chuck Berry and the Ventures, Wilson\'s initial role in the group was that of lead guitarist and backing vocals, but he performed lead vocals on several of their later hits, including "God Only Knows" (1966), "Good Vibrations" (1966), and "Kokomo" (1988). Unlike other members of the band, he often played alongside the studio musicians employed during the group\'s critical and commercial peak in the mid 1960s. After Brian\'s reduced involvement with the group, Carl produced the bulk of their albums between Wild Honey (1967) and Holland (1973), where the production was nominally credited to "the Beach Boys". Concurrently, he spent several years challenging his draft status as a conscientious objector.\n', ' During the 1980s, Wilson attempted to launch a solo career, releasing the albums Carl Wilson (1981) and Young Blood (1983). In the 1990s, he recorded material with Gerry Beckley and Robert Lamm, later released for the posthumous album Like a Brother (2000). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys in 1988. Wilson was also a member of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, a religious corporation. He died, aged 51, of lung cancer in 1998.\n', ' Carl Dean Wilson was born in Hawthorne, California, the youngest son of Audree Neva (née Korthof) and Murry Gage Wilson. From his pre-teens he practiced harmony vocals under the guidance of his brother Brian, who often sang in the family music room with his mother and brothers.[citation needed] Inspired by country star Spade Cooley, at the age of 12, Carl asked his parents to buy him a guitar, for which he took some lessons. In 1982, Carl remembered from this time: "The kid across the street, David Marks, was taking guitar lessons from John Maus, so I started, too. David and I were about 12 and John was only three years older, but we thought he was a shit-hot guitarist. John and his sister Judy did fraternity gigs together as a duo. Later John moved to England and became one of the Walker Brothers. ... He showed me some fingerpicking techniques and strumming stuff that I still use. When I play a solo, he\'s still there." While Brian perfected the band\'s vocal style and keyboard base, Carl\'s Chuck Berry-esque guitar became an early Beach Boys trademark.[citation needed] While in high school, Carl also studied saxophone.\n', '