The last instance of Brian's "classic" vocals

[Aegir]

Lady Lynda was a big hit. It may not sound good to some modern ears, but it was a hit at the time.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Lady Lynda was a big hit. It may not sound good to some modern ears, but it was a hit at the time.

Yes, and it also went over well in concert. The live "Lady Lynda" rocked a little, and was a good showcase for Al. It was his "Disney Girls" for awhile....

[Andrew G. Doe]

Lady Lynda was a big hit. It may not sound good to some modern ears, but it was a hit at the time.

Big hit - everywhere except the US.

[the captain]

Lady Lynda was a big hit. It may not sound good to some modern ears, but it was a hit at the time.

Big hit - everywhere except the US.

Occasionally the good ol' U.S. of A. gets it right. 

[TonyW]

Lady Lynda was a big hit. It may not sound good to some modern ears, but it was a hit at the time.

Big hit - everywhere except the US.

... and Australia ... it was dead in the water on launch.

[Exapno Mapcase]

They didn't include it because it was a hit.

[grillo]

My ears are hardly modern, but LL really really bites it, and hard. No appeal whatsoever.

[lance]

Its cheesy, but I have grown to like it.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I think it's a good song; I think it's well produced and sung. With the possible exception of "California" or "PT Cruiser" , it might be the best song Al ever wrote. And, as I mentioned above, it was received well in concerts.

Check out the 1979 Midnight Special performance - it's great!

[TonyW]

With the possible exception of "California" or "PT Cruiser" , it might be the best song Al ever wrote.......

 ... cough, cough ...

[John]

My ears are hardly modern, but LL really really bites it, and hard. No appeal whatsoever.

The ending is great, and so are the backing vocals.

[Jay]

Thanks to variable2 and Andrew for the info on That Special Feeling. His falsetto sounds pretty decent on it in my opinion. Better than You've Lost That Loving Feeling, for example.

I've always liked the MIU and LA Light albums. They don't deserve all of the harsh reviews they get.  Although, I think that the best of each album could have just been made into one album. Or a few changes to the song lineup could have been made. They could have gotten rid of Full Sail, the disco HCTN, and Goin' South could have been traded for Country Pie, Looking Down The Coast, and(here's an odd idea....) Wild Situation. Or Under The Moonlight.

[Smilin Ed H]

Lynda's better than Santa Ana Winds, Lookin' Down the Coast, Lookin at Tomorrow? How much of All This is That did he write? Probably not the lion's share or he would put it on the new album 

[Sound of Free]

The could have left Sumahama and Shortenin' Break on L.A. and still had a great album. Just replace the 11 minutes of Here Comes the Night with California Feeling, San Miguel and Soulful Old Man Sunshine (someone tell him, "Look, Carl, it's a great song, just redo the one park where you said 'Shunshine'")

Of course, they could have done that on 15 Big Ones as well, just take off three of the covers except for Rock and Roll Music (I don't love it, but it was the hit they thought it would be) and Just Once in My Life.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

So, let me get back to the original point of this thread, if I may. I don't have the Badman book at my side right now, but you guys are now saying the "In The Back of My Mind" re-recording is actually from early '75 now? And also has 50/50 Brians "new and old" vocal stylings? Or am I wrong?  Or was it actually from the next year, and he just pulled out a better than usual vocal performance?

Or should we just leave it with "California Feeling" as his last "classic" vocal performance?

CF is the last one that is 100% his old voice, from everything I've heard over the years...haven't heard the track myself, so I can't really say. "Back Home" is the first track where it's 100% his "new" voice, or at least the first track recorded where Brian is actually audible or the tape speed hasn't been altered.

[Loaf]

I put on 15 Big Ones for a few spins recently. Although i would prefer Brian's voice not to have changed so drastically, I do like his voice on Back Home. It's rough but clear, and I wish the damage stopped at that point. I would love to hear BW88, TLOS, Smile 04, and Orange Crate Art with this voice.

[jiggityjars]

Maybe not a "classic" vocal, but I am still impressed with Brian's vocal on the piano demo version of "Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel" from back in the 80's. I found it on youtube under "Brian Wilson Montage". I always wondered if that was really Brian singing or someone else. If it's really Brian, it's a pretty darn good vocal.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That was me who posted that.

Yes it is Brian, although it is slightly sped up like many of the unreleased Landy-era recordings. In my remix, I isolated both the piano and the vocal, and set both to the correct speed as much as possible.

[Ganz Allein]

Maybe not a "classic" vocal, but I am still impressed with Brian's vocal on the piano demo version of "Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel" from back in the 80's. I found it on youtube under "Brian Wilson Montage". I always wondered if that was really Brian singing or someone else. If it's really Brian, it's a pretty darn good vocal.

Wow.  I've never seen the pics from 0:21 to 1:14 in that video.  They look like they could be from the late '73 to late '74 time frame.  Anyone have specifics?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

They date from 1970-1974. The very first ones from the 38 second mark onwards are from 1973; bearded Brian with the Wolfman fingernails is from 1974. You can see in his face what coke was doing to him. I'll still never understood how a man who did as much coke as Brian still had an appetite to get as big as he did.

[variable2]

I wanted to bump this up.  I know it's old, sorry!

so, is it agreed that Hard Times is the last pre-gruff Brian vocal that is in reasonable circulation?  I'd love to hear more about the In The Back Of My Mind re-recording from anyone who's heard it.. also, did we ever pinpoint when You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling was recorded by Brian?  Thank you much,

[Andrew G. Doe]

did we ever pinpoint when You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling was recorded by Brian?  Thank you much,

Fall 1976.

[MBE]

I wanted to bump this up.  I know it's old, sorry!

so, is it agreed that Hard Times is the last pre-gruff Brian vocal that is in reasonable circulation?  I'd love to hear more about the In The Back Of My Mind re-recording from anyone who's heard it.. also, did we ever pinpoint when You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling was recorded by Brian?  Thank you much,

Yes Hard Times is the last one going around semi freely.

[runnersdialzero]

Whoa, this was my first thread/post here and I was just searching for it today. Odd that it'd get bumped a couple hours afterward.

I was considering bumping it as I had some question about something, but now I'm struggling to remember what that was.

[The Heartical Don]

Don't know how this fits in the thread, I do have two favourite 'late Brians':

'Getting In Over My Head' (Paley Sessions/Slightly American Music)
'The Warmth Of The Son' and 'Wonderful' (Don Was/IJWMFTT) - these mean a lot to me. They do not sound forced, strained, and TWOTS (silly acronym, that...) has a very, very deep feeling ('the love of my life, she left me one day').

My two Eurocents.