Carl Wilson is the debut solo album of The Beach Boys' band member, Carl Wilson. The youngest of the three Wilson brothers in the band, Carl Wilson was reportedly at this time unhappy with the progress being made by The Beach Boys creatively. So Carl, just as his brother Dennis had a few years earlier, signed a solo contract with James William Guercio's CBS-distributed Caribou Records, which four years prior put out brother Dennis's album Pacific Ocean Blue, and was also the current label of The Beach Boys. The album was released on March 27, 1981 and peaked at number 185 on the Billboard 200. Of the eight tracks on the album, seven of them are written by Carl Wilson and Myrna Smith, who was the wife of Carl's then manager Jerry Schilling, with the remaining track being co-written by Carl, Myrna and Michael Sun.

Carl Wilson
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 27, 1981
StudioCaribou Ranch Studios, Nederland, Colorado
Length34:35
LabelCaribou
ProducerJames William Guercio
Carl Wilson chronology
Carl Wilson
(1981)
Youngblood
(1983)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Track listing edit

All music composed by Carl Wilson; all lyrics written by Myrna Smith except where indicated:

Side one edit

  1. "Hold Me" – 4:03
  2. "Bright Lights" – 3:47
  3. "What You Gonna Do About Me?" – 4:25
  4. "The Right Lane" – 5:13

Side two edit

  1. "Hurry Love" – 4:44
  2. "Heaven" (Myrna Smith, Michael Sun) – 4:23
  3. "The Grammy" – 3:04
  4. "Seems So Long Ago" – 4:56

Personnel edit

Credits taken from the original album liner notes

  • Carl Wilson – lead (all tracks) and backing vocals (all but 1), electric (all but 8) and acoustic guitars (6-8), synthesizer (3), organ (3), cowbell (1)
  • Myrna Smith – lead (1) and backing vocals (all but 1)
  • James William Guercio - bass guitar (1-3, 6-8), acoustic guitars (5, 7), percussion (2-6, 8); producer
  • John Daly – electric guitar (1, 4, 5), slide guitar (1), pedal steel guitar (6)
  • Gerald Johnson – bass guitar (4, 5)
  • James Stroud – drums (1-3, 6-8), cowbell (1), tambourine (7), shaker (7)
  • Randy McCormick – clavinet (7), Fender Rhodes electric piano (8)
  • Joel Peskin – saxophone (8)
  • Alan Krigger – drums (4, 5), tambourine (4), Syndrum (4)
  • Engineered by Wayne Tarnowski, assisted by David "Gino" Giorgini

Charts edit

Chart (1981) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 Albums[2] 185

References edit

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ "Carl Wilson". www.billboard.com. Retrieved 2023-04-11.