Raised in Los Angeles, Wilson grew up in a hostile family environment due to his own father's violent nature.

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.

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.

Wilson controlled the Beach Boys' publishing until 1969, when he sold Sea of Tunes to Irving Almo Music in exchange for $700,000 (equivalent to $5.82 million in 2023).

There, he met Audree Neva Korthof, who, in addition to playing piano, sang at school functions and community events with her classmates.

After Brian's birth Murry took a job as a junior administrator at the Los Angeles Goodyear Tire & Rubber factory, located at 6701 South Central Avenue, where he lost his left eye in an industrial accident.

"[26] Leaf wrote, "Some people loved Murry, others insist he was a 'sick man,' but few will deny that he physically and verbally abused his children.

One of Dennis's classmates, Don Allen, remembered Murry as "being outgoing, friendly, jovial, enthusiastic, and quite in the spirit of being a ten-year-old boy.

[33] After the Beach Boys' formation, Murry became the group's business manager, co-producer, and publisher in the early part of their career.

[38] Murry accompanied the group on their first Australasian tour in January 1964, and requested that the band not fraternize with women, use profanity, or drink alcoholic beverages.

[39] Upon the tour's completion, the band members held a vote in which they unanimously agreed to relieve Murry from his managerial duties.

"[40] In 1966, Brian reflected, "We love the family thing – y'know: three brothers, a cousin and a friend is a really beautiful way to have a group – but the extra generation can become a hang-up.

"[43] Even after Murry's formal business relationship with the Beach Boys ended, he remained in close contact with the group, letting Brian know his thoughts about the band's decisions.

[44][nb 4] According to music historian Mark Dillon, it has been alleged that Wilson had one or more extramarital affairs, "but whether this was in the aftermath of his separation from Audree or was ultimately the cause is not known.

"[46] Biographer Peter Ames Carlin suggested that Brian's song "Let Him Run Wild" (1965) was inspired by Murry's affairs.

[44] During the mid-1960s, Murry produced and managed the Sunrays,[47] a group comprising five students who attended Hollywood Professional High School led by Rick Henn, a friend of Carl Wilson.

"[48] In February 1965, Wilson visited a Beach Boys recording session for "Help Me, Rhonda" and, to the group's annoyance, attempted to resume his role as the band's producer.

"[46] Dillon wrote that the letter "provides a wealth of insight into his conflicted personality, and it made headlines in 2009 after being posted online.

"[52] In July, he sent a letter to Brian requesting that he be officially granted sole ownership of Sea of Tunes, per a verbal agreement they had reached in 1962.

[53] According to historian Keith Badman, "Brian allowed Murry to take total control to stop his father's continual hassling on the matter.

[55] Murry later told Rolling Stone that he enjoyed the album and praised it as a "masterpiece of accomplishment for Brian", noting that it had become a ubiquitous influence on the music heard in product commercials.

[61] After Carl and Brian revealed that they were marijuana smokers to their parents, Murry forbade Audree from allowing her sons to visit her home until Christmas 1967.

"[63] " Leaves" was released in the United States as the album's (and Wilson's) only single in December 1967 with British demonstration records of "The Plumber's Tune" being produced by EMI for Capitol at the same time.

[65] In early 1969, he co-wrote the Beach Boys' song "Break Away" with Brian, and was credited under the pseudonym "Reggie Dunbar" on the record, which was released without much commercial success.

The tape begins with a spoken interlude in which Wilson suggests the Beach Boys should record these songs, as he "doesn't have long to live".

[74] On September 11, Disc & Music Echo reported that when Dennis had permanently left the Beach Boys was in the process of "setting up a production and publication company with his father".

"[90] Vail likened their father to "an Army drill sergeant" and said that he was "key" to the band's success, before adding, Murry wasn't in it for the money.

"[22] Conversely, in his 2016 memoir, Mike Love wrote that Murry was "a driving force in the Beach Boys’ early success, but his greed and vindictiveness deny him any tribute.

"[92] The Sunrays' 1996 retrospective compilation album For Collectors Only marked the first time Wilson's music had been officially released since his death over 20 years earlier, including a 1972 demo of "The Colonel's Song" which was envisioned as a commercial jingle for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

This included "For You and Me", a 1953 composition that was discovered in demo form on a set of acetate discs found at a Los Angeles-area thrift store.