Beached boy

Desperation pervades Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue | Arsenio Orteza

Since 1962, the Beach Boys' music has epitomized life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No Beach Boy pursued happiness with more life or liberty—or, alas, futility—than Dennis Wilson, whose 1977 solo album Pacific Ocean Blue has just been reissued by Epic/Legacy in a deluxe, two-disc package.

When Pacific Ocean Blue first appeared, Wilson was already notorious for his erstwhile friendship with Charles Manson, his multiple marriages, and his drug and alcohol abuse. That he actually completed the project was interpreted by many, himself included, as the beginning of a new and positive chapter in his life.

Indeed, Pacific Ocean Blue and its intended follow-up Bambu (much of which is included in the new edition's bonus material) comprise the little available evidence that Wilson was actually capable of self-control. An untutored but gifted pianist, he could create songs in which the soaring sweetness of the melodies combined with the ravaged soulfulness of his voice to suggest a sensitivity and depth at stark odds with his image as the Beach Boys' wild-man drummer.