EP includes Rare Brian Wilson material as recorded by unknown midwestern act Snow
Murry Wilson is best known as the father of Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, professionally known as The Beach Boys. Born in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1917, Wilson and his family moved west to Los Angeles when he was just five. He came from a relatively poor background but music was always a driving force in his family and while he made his living with jobs at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Factory and his own A.B.L.E. Machinery Company, Murry was, at heart, a music man. As a youngster, he began writing songs with his biggest success coming when Lawrence Welk recorded his dance tune, “Two-Step Side Step” on his radio program in 1952.
Though Wilson had his own machinery business, he encouraged his sons to become musical and ultimately became The Beach Boys manager, negotiating and signing the group to their first major record deal at Capitol Records in 1962. His combative personality caused much turmoil within the group and he was ultimately dismissed from his managerial duties in 1964. No longer involved as the group’s manager, Murry continued to run The Beach Boys’ music publishing company, Sea Of Tunes, and in addition, he became an artist and a record producer.
Wilson’s The Many Moods Of Murry Wilson was released by Capitol in 1967. As a producer, Wilson founded the Southern California group, The Sunrays, led by Rick Henn. Wilson produced three Top 100 chart hits for the group in 1965–66.
In 1969, Rick Henn brought a vocal group of interest to Murry Wilson. Purportedly from somewhere in the Midwest (Nebraska? Oklahoma?), not much is known about this four member singing group called Snow.
Omnivore Recordings is proud to announce the digital only release of The Break Away EP. Four previously unissued tracks recently discovered in The Beach Boys archives. Murry Wilson and Rick Henn co-produced the EP which includes the title track, penned by Brian Wilson and Murry (under the pseudonym Reggie Dunbar). The song also became a mid-chart hit for The Beach Boys in 1969. Also included on the EP are “We’re Together Again” another Brian Wilson/Beach Boys outtake and two other tracks, “Wilderness” and “Bless Me”. Unfortunately, not much is known about these last two tunes.
So, take a listen to another page of Beach Boys history, previously unknown to the newbie and the aficionado… Murry Wilson & Snow!
Break Away We’re Together Again Wilderness Bless Me
