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Murry Gage Wilson (1917 - 1973) was a musician and record producer, best remembered as father to Brian and Dennis Wilson and manager of their band The Beach Boys.
Wilson had a blue-collar background; as a young man he worked at a Goodyear factory (where he lost an eye in an industrial accident) while unsuccessfully writing songs. He later founded his own machining business, but maintained an active interest in music which he passed along to his sons, encouraging them to learn to sing and play instruments, and becoming their business manager and producer in the early part of their career as The Beach Boys. On the heels of the band's early successes, Wilson devoted himself to music full-time, producing and managing groups including The Sunrays and The Honeys in addition to the Beach Boys, and releasing one album of his own, The Many Moods of Murry Wilson, in 1967.
The Wilson brothers had a legendarily complex relationship with their father. Known as a domineering and manipulative man, Murry Wilson was a tough negotiator on behalf of the boys, winning them a plum contract with Capitol Records; however, his constant obsession over every detail of the group's appearance and sound as well as diverging musical opinions (Murry was a traditionalist while Brian wanted to move in more groundbreaking directions) as well as lingering resentment over his sometimes-abusive behavior towards his sons soon led to estrangement. Even after The Beach Boys ended their formal business relationships with their father, however, he continued to take an active interest in their careers and continued to give them advice, both solicited and unsolicited, until his death in 1973.
In a 2004 interview with the UK Independent, Brian Wilson recalled his father:
- "He was the one who got us going. He didn't make us better artists or musicians, but he gave us ambition. I'm pleased he pushed us, because it was such a relief to know there was someone as strong as my dad to keep things going. He used to spank us, and it hurt too, but I loved him because he was a great musician."
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