“Sad day for me. I literally grew up with those guys. Dennis (drummer) and I used to surf at Hermosa Beach. Dennis is also gone.”
The rap on him that he was only good enough for live shows. The Beach Boys brought in excellent session drummers for their records. That Dennis was a big drinker, and this is how he drowned. Am I right?
I can’t remember how Dennis died, but he was cool while we talked waiting for the next set at Hermosa Pier.
You are correct, sir. After Dennis fell headlong into alcoholism and became a down and out street bum alcoholic, and after they took the only love of his life (his yacht) away and after he went diving in the empty slip looking for the stuff he’d thrown overboard during the high times, he was resurfacing from a dive and was knocked unconscious when he hit his head on a dock piece and floated back down to the bottom where he lay dead in a fetal position. He’d once made the mistake of pulling over to pick up some hitch hiking hippie chicks who followed him home and moved into his house only later to invite their leader, one Charles Mansion, who also moved in. Dennis tried to throw them out. Manson showed Dennis a bullet and said, “this has your name on it”. Dennis was never quite the same and a downward spiral ensued.