Carl Wilson singing "Wouldn't It Be Nice"

[Awesoman]

After checking out a few YouTube videos of Beach Boys concerts from the 80's and 90's, it was nice to see footage of Carl Wilson singing "Wouldn't It Be Nice".  He sang it live far better than Al Jardine ever did.  It is a bit of a bummer that a recording of one of these performances never made it (officially) onto CD.  That Hallmark CD of live tracks that came out last year would have been the perfect opportunity to feature this song (as would a live version of "Don't Worry Baby" featuring Carl and Jeff Foskett singing lead).  So for those involved with Beach Boys projects: is there any chance these performances could ever make it to CD?

[southbay]

Couldn't agree more.  Those two performances were always some of my favorites from later years. Al did some great lead vocals live, but could never pull off WIBN like Carl. Likewise, Don't Worry Baby lost some of it's soul to me when Carl gave it away.   As for other favorites, I would throw Al and Matt teaming up on "You're So Good To Me" in 96 and 97 in there as well

[tpesky]

I disagree...I thought Al sang WIBN better. He had better phrasings with it, Carl didn't have Brian's phrasings. He always had trouble with L's and R's.
Example: It sounds like Wouldn't It Be Nice if We Were Odah. I love Carl's voice, Carl put alot of enegy into it,  but Al's voice was more similar to Brian's and it worked better in my opinion.  It was so nice to great  Al take some of the lead on it again with Brian

[Eric Aniversario]

Overall, I like Carl's voice better, but on WIBN, I'd say Al is far superior.  His vocal was a lot more "crisp".

[pixletwin]

To be honest (and I am really embarassed to admit this) sometimes I can't tell the difference between Brian's voice and Al's. I used to get Brian and Carl mixed up but now thats a cinch. But there are some songs I could've sworn were Brian only to find out they were Al (Break Away, Vega-Tables [the SMiLE version, not Smiley-smile which I guess is Al as well] to name a few)... Is there any hope for me?

[Awesoman]

Interesting opinions we have here.  I always felt Al's take on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was always extremely dull.  His performance of the song never sounded right to me at all.  Carl sang it differently but included much needed soul to the song. 

[tpesky]

I wouldn't worry..I think there are plenty of experts still listening to songs trying to figure out whether its Brian or Al. For two people not related, its really amazing. I know voices have changed over the years, but in the concerts I saw in the fall, when they sang the first chorus of Sloop John B together like they used to, there were a couple of times when their notes were perfectly blended together so it actually did sound like 1 person...amazing after all these years

[Aegir]

I agree there should be some official release of Carl singing WIBN. But I think Al does it alot better.

And Al sang Breakaway? Wow. He just went up a few notches there in my book.

[John]

Al sings the chorus of Break Away.

[the captain]

To be honest (and I am really embarassed to admit this) sometimes I can't tell the difference between Brian's voice and Al's. I used to get Brian and Carl mixed up but now thats a cinch. But there are some songs I could've sworn were Brian only to find out they were Al (Break Away, Vega-Tables [the SMiLE version, not Smiley-smile which I guess is Al as well] to name a few)... Is there any hope for me?

No shame in that. Peruse these (and other BBs-related sites) and you'll find plenty of discussions, arguments, etc. in which "experts" debate them.

[mikeyj]

Interesting opinions we have here.  I always felt Al's take on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was always extremely dull.  His performance of the song never sounded right to me at all.  Carl sang it differently but included much needed soul to the song. 

I kind of have to agree that Wouldn't It Be Nice never sounded right but not because of Al just because the music when they played it live just always sounded a bit off to me. Compare that to songs like Good Vibrations and God Only Knows etc.. and those songs generally sounded really good to me in a live context.

[Aegir]

Al sings the chorus of Break Away.

Oh. Who sings the verse?

[John]

On the properly released version: Carl.

To my ear:

Carl:

Time will not wait for me
Time is my destiny
Why change the part of me that has to be free
The love that passed me by
I found no reason why

But now each day is filled with the love
That very same love
That passed me by
And that is why

Alan:

I can breakaway from that lonely life
And I can do what I wanna do
And breakaway from that empty life
And my world is new

Carl:

When I layed down on my bed
I heard voices in my head
Telling me now "Hey it's only a dream"
The more I thought of it
I had been out of it
And here's the answer I found instead

Mike: (not the stuff in parenthesis, the other lines)

(Baby baby)
Found out it was in my head
(Baby baby)
(Baby baby)
Found out it was my head
(Baby baby)
(Baby baby)
Found out it was in my head
(Baby baby)

Alan:

And I can breakaway to the better life
Where the shackles never hold me down
I'm gonna make a way for each happy day
As my life turns around

Then it's the group on the tag with Mike on bass.

[c-man]

I always thought Al sounded great on the live version of "WIBN" until the early '80s.  At that point, for some reason, it sounds like he gave up trying, and couldn't hit the right notes anymore.  When Carl took it over, it was a welcome relief IMO.  But back in the late '60s and through the '70s, Al did great with it.

[shelter]

On the properly released version: Carl.

To my ear:

I'm pretty sure this part is Brian:

That very same love
That passed me by
And that is why

[LostArt]

I was just reading about "Break Away" on another board, and came upon this quote.  Here is what Stephen Desper has to say about the vocals.



The following information is Copyright © by Stephen W. Desper, 2005. Reproduction or use is by permission only.

 "The vocals are all straight forward recording with the group on a Neumann U67 and Mike on a RCA DX77 all singing together. Several layers of background parts are recorded. Carl’s verse and Brian’s chorus performance are all via a U67 with little limiting, mostly used riding gain manually to control dynamics – especially the fantastic punchy vocal that Brian can belt out when he wants to. Mike’s accent parts have a little more then usual reverb applied to help them to blend with the trombones. The reverb is from a room and not a plate device. None of the other voices have applied reverberation. Murry appeared at one vocal session much to the dread of the group. As soon as we heard he was on his way, the tensions went up and Brian froze – the session went on to give Murry the impression that the guys were working hard on “his” song when he arrived, but in reality all creation stopped. When Murry arrived the control room soon filled with pipe smoke. Murry know one thing about the equipment; where the talk-back button was located. He was constantly interrupting Brian’s chorus takes from the other side of the glass with suggestions as to how Brian could improve his performance."

[John]

On the properly released version: Carl.

To my ear:

I'm pretty sure this part is Brian:

That very same love
That passed me by
And that is why

I'll give it a listen...

[John]

After listening, yeah, it is Brian on that bit. The chorus on the released version is Al though, I'm sure of it, with all due respect to Mr. Desper.

[Eric Aniversario]

I always thought Al sounded great on the live version of "WIBN" until the early '80s.  At that point, for some reason, it sounds like he gave up trying, and couldn't hit the right notes anymore.  When Carl took it over, it was a welcome relief IMO.  But back in the late '60s and through the '70s, Al did great with it.

I completely agree with this assessment.

[pixletwin]

Well now I am even more confused about Breakaway. 

[shelter]

After listening, yeah, it is Brian on that bit. The chorus on the released version is Al though, I'm sure of it, with all due respect to Mr. Desper.

Yeah, the chorus definately sounds like Al to me too.

[MBE]

It's Brian. From Your'e So Good To Me to some of the material on Holland  he and Al sounded very close.

[pixletwin]

OK folks. I just listened to Break Away from WotS and I think I have the code cracked...

First verse is definately Brian

Chorus is Al

Second Verse is Carl

Chorus Al (again)

Outro is Al (Oh boy you'll jump for joy etc....) with everyone else.

Listen to it. I have no doubts.

[pixletwin]

Interesting... the 20/20 is Carl on the first verse with Al et al  basically them same voicings.

Hmmmmmm.

I definately like the WotS mix better.

[shelter]

First verse is definately Brian

I'm sure that up until "But now each day is filled with the love" it's Carl...