The Definitive Vocal Credits Thread...

[adamghost]

Re:  "I Do Love You" -- I've often maintained that this is one of Al's finest vocals.  Yes, I know Carl sings the bulk of it, but he fairly channels Stevie on the choruses and there's some amazing Stevie-like bits on the fade out ("baby..."  "uurrrghhh...").  But the last time I listened, I found myself listening to the stuff on the fade and I wondered if that wasn't Stevie himself.  It's certainly some remarkable soul singing from Al if not (and it may well have been just copying what was on the demo) but it could just be stuff from the demo they left in.  Something similar happened on "On and On", an Elton-Gladys Knight duet from his uneven DUETS album.  Stevie produced the track and he has some scatting at the end.  He's done that on other stuff he's done for other artists, too.

Everyone give the fade out a listen...it's possible Stevie deserves a cameo lead vocal credit if it's him and not Al on the fade out.  If it's Al, I think he deserves major kudos.  I love the vocals on this song.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Re:  "I Do Love You" -- I've often maintained that this is one of Al's finest vocals.  Yes, I know Carl sings the bulk of it, but he fairly channels Stevie on the choruses and there's some amazing Stevie-like bits on the fade out ("baby..."  "uurrrghhh...").  But the last time I listened, I found myself listening to the stuff on the fade and I wondered if that wasn't Stevie himself.  It's certainly some remarkable soul singing from Al if not (and it may well have been just copying what was on the demo) but it could just be stuff from the demo they left in.  Something similar happened on "On and On", an Elton-Gladys Knight duet from his uneven DUETS album.  Stevie produced the track and he has some scatting at the end.  He's done that on other stuff he's done for other artists, too.

Everyone give the fade out a listen...it's possible Stevie deserves a cameo lead vocal credit if it's him and not Al on the fade out.  If it's Al, I think he deserves major kudos.  I love the vocals on this song.

That's Stevie. 

[MBE]

I noticed Stevie myself the first time I played it in 88 or 89. Sounds much more like a Wonder record then a Beach Boys one. Whereas I Was Made To Love Her sounds like the Beach Boys fresh take of a Wonder song.

[c-man]

Oh yeah, Stevie for sure, noticed it right away, even though he was only credited with instrumentation. 

On the subject, I remember hearing a radio special on this album back in '85...Carl said he pretty much copied Stevie's vocal delivery from the demo. 

[adamghost]

Stevie it is then!  I didn't listen that closely, obviously.  So shall we add him then?

Regardless, kudos to Carl and Al for that one, IMHO.

[John]

Added him, unless anyone thinks he deserves a "with..." credit in the main body of the post. At the moment, he's a footnote.

[signum]

It's a very small part, so I would vote for just a mention for Stevie rather than "with".

There's also Carl on "Male ego". What about a prominent backround or even more?

[No. Fourteen]

Isn't Brian in the chorus echoing the "California Callin'" refrain on that track?  Worth an asterisk?

As in...

California callin'   (Brian: California calling!)
I'll be there right away    (Brian: California calling!)
There's some beautiful women....(etc.)

[RONDEMON]

I Do Love You is by far the best song on 85, and probably Stevie's best song of the 80's (where, IMO he lost some of his talent).
Lots of really lush chords, and that complete departure from the verse where Al sings the the chorus.
Great, great song, but so underrated.

[Andrew G. Doe]

[koff] "Where I Belong" [koff]

[signum]

Isn't Brian in the chorus echoing the "California Callin'" refrain on that track?  Worth an asterisk?

As in...

California callin'   (Brian: California calling!)
I'll be there right away    (Brian: California calling!)
There's some beautiful women....(etc.)

Definitely Brian. I agree.

[signum]

I hope it's OK to talk about the Smiley Smile and Wild Honey albums, because there seem to be some unfinished and difficult credits there. I've come up with the following for "Let the wind blow" (by listening to the "Hawthorne, CA" version since it's clearer):

Mike: Let the wind blow
Bruce: (higher part) and Carl (lower part): (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)
Alan: Let the grass grow
Bruce and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)
Brian: But don’t let her go
Bruce and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)

Brian (+Alan): Don’t take her out of my life
Don’t take her out of my life

Carl: (No-oh-oh)

Mike: Let the moon glow
Carl: (Let the moon glow oh-oh-oh)
Mike: On the fallen snow
Carl: (Let the moon glow on the fallen snow)
Brian: But I just got to know
Carl: (Let me please know oh-oh-oh)

Brian: Know she’ll be a part of my life
Know she’ll be a part of my life forever

Bruce and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)

Carl and Alan: Let the bees make honey
Let the poor find money
Take away their sorrows
Give them sunshine tomorrow

Brian: But don’t take her out of my life
Carl (lower part) and Brian (higher part): Don’t take her out of my life
Bruce: What would I do without her tell me now?

Mike: Let the birds sing
Bruce and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)
Mike: With the coming spring
Bruce and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)
Brian: Let the church bells ring
Bruce and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)

Bruce (higher part) and Alan (lower part): Let the rain fall
Carl: Let the grass grow
Brian: Let the moon glow
Carl: On the fallen snow

Brian: But don’t take her out of my life
Bruce and Carl: Please keep her a part of my life
Bruce and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)

What do people think? I'm not absolutely sure about Al's presence, but "Let the grass grow" sounds more like him than Brian or Carl. Likewise I'm not sure if Bruce really sings those falsetto "Ooh"s, or Carl on the lower ones, but the whole thing makes a kind of sense the way I've suggested. I put a (+Alan) where he seems to be in the background. The "bees make honey" bit sounds like Carl and Alan to me, with Alan more audible at the beginning of lines and Carl at the end of lines.

[smile-holland]

[koff] "Where I Belong" [koff]

totally agree with that, absolutely no doubt that this is my favorite BB85 track!

[MBE]

I'm partial to Getcha Back myself.

Bruce didn't have a prominent part on Let The Wind Blow I don't think. The "What Would I Do Without Her" line is Brian and the high parts are probably him too. I do think the "Bees Make Honey" line could be Carl and Al like you suggested, but Brian is in there too. Why I knmow is the issolated vocal played during the otherwise dredfull 2000 TV movie.

[signum]

I'm partial to Getcha Back myself.

Bruce didn't have a prominent part on Let The Wind Blow I don't think. The "What Would I Do Without Her" line is Brian and the high parts are probably him too. I do think the "Bees Make Honey" line could be Carl and Al like you suggested, but Brian is in there too. Why I knmow is the issolated vocal played during the otherwise dredfull 2000 TV movie.

Thanks, MBE. Do you mean you know only that the "Bees make honey" section includes Brian from the TV movie, or do you also know the "What would I do without her" is Brian from the same source? What exactly does the source reveal?

In any case I can hear now that you're right about the "What would I do without her" line: it definitely includes Brian, but I still think it may be Bruce as well. Overall it seems an unusual timbre and accent for a Brian vocal, and the left channel sounds more like Bruce whereas the right sounds more like Brian to me now.

I can't really hear Brian in the "Bees" section except possibly on  the "to-" of "to-morrow". The "Please keep her a part of my life" is definitely Carl and someone else, and that someone sounds more like Bruce to me but I don't know: it could be Brian.

[MBE]

I know the what would I do without her from my own ears but the TV movie mixed the song in such a way where only Brian's voice could be heard (as he is playing it alone) and he is on this mix clearly singing those lines.

[Andrew G. Doe]

FWIW, here's my take - essentially, I've changed all the Bruce's to Brian's and a couple of Brian's to Carl's... oh and an Alan to a Mike:

Mike: Let the wind blow
Brian: (higher part) and Carl (lower part): (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)
Mike: Let the grass grow
Brian and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)
Brian: But don’t let her go
Brian and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)

Carl (+Alan): Don’t take her out of my life
Don’t take her out of my life

Carl: (No-oh-oh)

Mike: Let the moon glow
Carl: (Let the moon glow oh-oh-oh)
Mike: On the fallen snow
Carl: (Let the moon glow on the fallen snow)
Brian: But I just got to know
Carl: (Let me please know oh-oh-oh)

Carl: Know she’ll be a part of my life
Know she’ll be a part of my life forever

Brian and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)

Carl and Alan: Let the bees make honey
Let the poor find money
Take away their sorrows
Give them sunshine tomorrow

Brian: But don’t take her out of my life
Carl (lower part) and Brian (higher part): Don’t take her out of my life
Brian: What would I do without her tell me now?

Mike: Let the birds sing
Brian and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)
Mike: With the coming spring
Brian and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)
Brian: Let the church bells ring
Brian and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)

Brian (higher part) and Alan (lower part): Let the rain fall
Carl: Let the grass grow
Brian: Let the moon glow
Carl: On the fallen snow

Brian: But don’t take her out of my life
Brian and Carl: Please keep her a part of my life
Brian and Carl: (Ooh-Ooh-Ooh)

[signum]

Thanks very much, AGD.

I'm amazed. Listening to it again I see you're right that it is Carl rather than Brian on the early "Don't take her out of my life" and "Know she'll be a part of my life" sections. Now I know why I always thought it was Brian rather than Carl on the "Bees" section until recently: because the sections were both by the same person. I also notice that the first "Don't take her" section is not "Carl (+Alan)", it is "Carl and Alan"-they are both prominent.

However, "Let the grass grow" is not Mike (though it makes sense for Mike to sing it). It could just about be Brian, but going by a (nearly) infallible rule (which is illustrated neatly with that Carl sung "Don't take her" section), Brian always sounds clearly like Brian. Therefore it is Al... I think!

OK, the Bruce bits could all be Brian, I don't know. Perhaps the Bruce-type sound on "What would I do wihout her" comes from double-tracking, but I still hear him in there somewhere. Also, if he is not in there, I wonder if the last line of the song might be Al and Carl. Al would have sung a good falsetto there I reckon.

I know the what would I do without her from my own ears but the TV movie mixed the song in such a way where only Brian's voice could be heard (as he is playing it alone) and he is on this mix clearly singing those lines.

Thanks. I can't hear him though on the "Bees" section. I wonder if the master tape has Brian vocals and perhaps other vocals that were left out of the released version but might have been played in the movie?

[MBE]

It sounded less processed in the movie, so you could hear who was singing easier. The singing style he used matches his lead on Here Comes The Night. I would go as far as to say that's Carl and Brian with the Carl part mixed out. Somebody please post it to youtube

[signum]

These are some attempts at Smiley Smile and Wild Honey tracks:

"A thing or two": Bruce sings "I'm gonna tell that little girl a thing or two". I have no doubt that  this is a Bruce vocal (unlike in "Let the wind blow").

"She's goin' bald": Carl sings the first line.

"Country air": Mike does the humming on the verses. The falsetto bits I think are Brian but I can't easily tell.

"Wind chimes": "Close your eyes and lean back, listen to wind chimes" is Bruce I think, although it does sound in part similar to Dennis.

[MBE]

I think you are correct on this stuff.

[c-man]

These are some attempts at Smiley Smile and Wild Honey tracks:

"A thing or two": Bruce sings "I'm gonna tell that little girl a thing or two". I have no doubt that  this is a Bruce vocal (unlike in "Let the wind blow").

"She's goin' bald": Carl sings the first line.

"Country air": Mike does the humming on the verses. The falsetto bits I think are Brian but I can't easily tell.

"Wind chimes": "Close your eyes and lean back, listen to wind chimes" is Bruce I think, although it does sound in part similar to Dennis.

I don't thiknk Bruce is on the Smiley version of "Wind Chimes".  From memory, the line you're talking about is Brian (or maybe Mike...I'd have to listen again), while Dennis sings a very recognizable line or two.

[smile-holland]

Reading this it got me thinking about Bruce's role in the whole SMiLE / Smiley Smile project, which as far as I know was near zero to nothing at all. Was he present at all during those sessions? I mean, we know he is on Summer Days (for instance Calif.Girls) / Party / Pet Sounds (God Only Knows particularly). So what caused this him clearly being absent suddenly. Was it the drugs-thing? Or simply not really being part of the "family"? Or both? Just curious...

[Roger Ryan]

Reading this it got me thinking about Bruce's role in the whole SMiLE / Smiley Smile project, which as far as I know was near zero to nothing at all. Was he present at all during those sessions? I mean, we know he is on Summer Days (for instance Calif.Girls) / Party / Pet Sounds (God Only Knows particularly). So what caused this him clearly being absent suddenly. Was it the drugs-thing? Or simply not really being part of the "family"? Or both? Just curious...

Was it because Bruce was heavily involved in the Saggitarius album at the time? Among the many things that freaked Brian out during this period was the idea that Usher/Boettcher were ripping off his SMiLE experiments; maybe he thought Bruce was a spy and kept him out of the sessions!

[John]

"Wind chimes": "Close your eyes and lean back, listen to wind chimes" is Bruce I think, although it does sound in part similar to Dennis.

Sorry, but I don't see it. It is Dennis, before his voice became too raspy. The others I'll have to go back and recheck. We did go over them quite painstakingly though.