Murry Wilson, American songwriter, producer, and manager (b. 1917)
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 the birth of his children, 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 was 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). In 1969, Wilson sold Sea of Tunes for the undervalued sum of $700,000 (equivalent to $4.94 million in 2020). 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.