Born in 1918 in Hutchinson, Kansas, Murray Wilson was the son of a plumber. In 1921 his mother and her five children arrived in southern California, settling in Hawthorne, a suburb of Los Angeles. There, they met up with his father, who had gone on before. To his mother's consternation, the entire family was initially obliged to live in a surplus army tent. Like many other middle and working class people, Wilson's father, Buddy, achieved some degree of economic stability, without ever realizing the dreams that had lured him out to California in the first place. He spent much of his life an angry, bitter man, abusive to his wife and family. His son, Murray, seems to have been infected with similar anger and bitterness, almost from birth.

When he grew up, Murray Wilson worked in a lower management capacity for a number of employers, including aircraft and tire manufacturers. Murray was also an aspiring songwriter (his "Two Step Side Step" was once played by Lawrence Welk's band on a national radio show), and he imbued his children with a love for music.

Brian Wilson 1942 and his two brothers (Dennis, born in 1944, and Carl, 1946) grew up in a less than ideal atmosphere. Their father, by all accounts, was something of a monster, verbally and physically abusive. In the 1950's, post-World War II life afforded younger people freedom to pursue more leisure in life. Things like pop music, cars, surfing, and fast food restaurants were in abundance for Murray’s children. Something Murray, who was brought up in the Depression, may have envied. Looking to his sons to help furnish his displaced dream of becoming a songwriter, Murray put pressure on the boys to excel in his favourite pastime: music. Murray Wilson was the Beach Boys' first manager, in which capacity he continued his abuse until Brian was forced to fire him in 1964. When the senior Wilson died at age 55, on June 4, 1973, neither of his two eldest sons attended the funeral.