Brian's voice--1990s

[TdHabib]

Okay, so I've always had a distinct feeling about this but never an answer to this question. Let's see if anyone can fill me in; as far as I'm concerned it went through three periods:

ERA 1 1990-1992ish: The last of the Landy vocals. He still shouts a lot, but seems to be regaining some ground. A recording of Caroline, No and Surfer Girl from a 1991 Private Party and it's very strong in terms of falsetto and hitting the notes dead on. I'm known for loving "Don't Let Her Know" from SI, the second version. To me, that was the clearest, most dinstinct vocal Brian cut since 1974 up until that time, and in fact it has a bit of a Sunflower feel (the vocal, not the horrible track)

ERA 2 1993-1996: Okay, so this is where it becomes real interesting. He's regained a lot of vocal ground in terms of range, but is as nasal as hell on most tracks, singing right through his nose. Also note he rarely if ever double tracks himself during this era, letting the cracks in his voice tell their own story. The lows of this are things like "Must Be a Miracle" and "Darlin'" from that 1995 show w/the Wondermints. The last documented time he sang with such a feel as this was "Everything I Need," specifically the earlier version that wasn't released, but even the Wilsons cut had some of this feel. Still, he had some good days and "Gettin' In Out of My Head" was a truly excellent day, he hits the notes with ease and even regains some of his 60s vocal personality in the way he's singing without force and in a higher tone, easily one of his best post-74 vocals.  But this a definitely weird feel vocally.

ERA 2 1997-1999: Now he's completely different in character. "Your Imagination" is a good vocal, but he's much less forceful and sounds, basically, like a very old Brian. Same thing with a number of the faster cuts on Roxy. Not to say he was horrible, but it's a completely different dynamic from ERA 2.

So does anybody know completely what happened from ERA 2 to ERA 3? It's puzzled me for ages.

Also, which ERA of these three do you prefer as far as his vocals go? Don't be afraid to be frank.

[Cal]

Personally I believe his voice is just about where it should naturally be at his age. I really do believe it recovered nicely and sounds like "Brian". My ONE problem with his current day vocals or singing is I believe their is no more emotion in his voice when he sings. It's devoid of emotion in almost any way. Go back and listen to his original vocals on "Surf's Up" and then anything from the last few years. Emotion is gone. Yes, it SOUNDS like a modern day Brian's voice should--Just the vocals ring cold to my ears.

Regards,
Cal aka "Beatle Bob"

[Fall Breaks]

I also wondered about this. And don't forget the difference between IJWMFTT and Orange Crate Art which are from the same year. The former has an ERA 2 sound to it while the latter is more like a precursor to ERA 3.

My favorite era is 1969-1972(ish), with the "Awake" demo and the "Forever" fade as good ambassadors.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Personally I believe his voice is just about where it should naturally be at his age. I really do believe it recovered nicely and sounds like "Brian". My ONE problem with his current day vocals or singing is I believe their is no more emotion in his voice when he sings. It's devoid of emotion in almost any way. Go back and listen to his original vocals on "Surf's Up" and then anything from the last few years. Emotion is gone. Yes, it SOUNDS like a modern day Brian's voice should--Just the vocals ring cold to my ears.

Regards,
Cal aka "Beatle Bob"

I personally disagree. I think he's singing with more emotion now in 2009 (well, in 2008) than he has since the Paley Sessions. Only problem is his vocal range has deteriorated to the point where he has about as much range as Dennis did on POB (range-wise, not timbre!).

[Shane]

I believe part of the change is due to the fact that Brian quit smoking sometime in the 1990s... I forgot the exact year though.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

1994,via the patch.

[MBE]

Hm I didn't know he did the patch.
Anyhow I hate Era 1. Just about the worst he ever sounded. So whiney. The party vocals are ok at times but off pitch on the whole.
Era 2 has some great stuff along side some of the least interesting vocals of his career. I think he sounds so bland on OCA
Era 3 which I think extends to now more or less is much better consistency wise, usually on key, but yes lacking some emotional connection. I do notice he sang LOS with a lot more feeling then the oldies when I saw him live a few months ago.

I think the last time he really sang with a lot emotion was the cocaine sessions. Not being sarcastic here
Oh Lord and City Blues are very passionate. I take that back the GIOMH from 1994-95 is also very nuanced.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Hm I didn't know he did the patch.

Yeah, he mentioned it in an interview promoting IJWMFTT.

[MBE]

Glad it worked for him, I went cold turky myself in 2001.

[TdHabib]

Okay, I know that Brian's voice changed when he quit smoking around 94, but was he nasal after the patch? I'm just a little confused...

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

I've wondered about this too. I like the vocals on Imagination ok, but can't take the earlier nasal sound at all.

In 2008, Brian sounds like he's singing while not remembering if he's getting the words right. Very confused sounding, it makes me feel sorry for him.

[the captain]

I like the vocals on Imagination ok,

I'd wager the vocals on Imagination are pretty heavily processed.

[Sam_BFC]

How so Luther? Be detailed I find this stuff interesting...also why did they not process the weaker GIOMH vocals accordingly?

Cheers

[the captain]

Who knows why? Some guesses: different engineers and producers, as well as different ideas as to where Brian would fit into the music world. Imagination is clearly aimed at adult contemporary, sounding like someone shooting for hits, albeit cheesy ones for the supermarket crowd. GIOMH is more a nostalgia thing.

[the captain]

A few things about Brian's voice on Imagination.

First, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's the product of a computer. But I think Wilson's vocal contributions to Imagination were carefully managed, both in traditional and modern ways. I don't hold any grudge about such a thing. A good arranger arranges for the performer and a good producer makes sure the artist sounds good. I'm just saying it wasn't some return to 60s form for Mr. Wilson.

One, the melodies are overwhelmingly in his now-comfortable register. Have you noticed that? The leads are very comfortable. And his voice is very relaxed throughout them, if multitracked like crazy. There is very little force anywhere.

Two, it's all reverb'd to hell. Again, not a criticism, just ... obvious. Reverb doesn't correct pitch, but it does "soften" things. And there's a LOT of it.

Three, the high parts are all backgrounds, and are multitracked even more ridiculously than the leads. Again, it isn't to say he isn't hitting the notes, but a group of 10 voices kind-of hitting a part comes through more impressively than one voice slightly missing.

Four, those higher parts especially sound to me to have been mixed with a certain caution. They fade in and out more than they begin and end with the singer, and even some of their attacks strike me as either a remarkably "with it" Brian or as a bunch of tracks digitally dragged to line up time-wise.

Last, there aren't the bum notes of his Roxy live performance (to be expected there) or GIOMH. That might be a heckuva lot more care on his part, or it may be studio correction.

None of the above really bothers me at all. People make their records sound as good as they can according to whatever standards they're using. I don't care if it's a series of takes to get it just so or digital pitch correction. Just thought I'd get into some of what I was talking about with these vocals.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I give Joe Thomas a lot of credit for helping to make Brian sound so good on Imagination. He did the same good work with the vocals/harmonies on Stars And Stripes. I know many aren't fans of Joe Thomas's instrumental production, but I thought Joe knew how to get Brian and The Beach Boys sounding great.

[the captain]

I thought Joe knew how to get Brian and The Beach Boys sounding great.

Find the knob called "Reverb" and turn to the right. Add a little delay. 

[TdHabib]

Three, the high parts are all backgrounds, and are multitracked even more ridiculously than the leads. Again, it isn't to say he isn't hitting the notes, but a group of 10 voices kind-of hitting a part comes through more impressively than one voice slightly missing.

I distincitly recall AGD saying a long time back that Brian's BVs for Imagination were doubled about 6 times (sorry if I don't remember this exactly AGD!), and as Brian does 4 or 5 part harmonies constantly, as well as doing inserts like crazy (stuff like "Runnin', runnin' runnin'" or "dit dits"), it really adds up. Someone posted on the vocals only mix of "Your Imagination" on Youtube that he's singing 72 different overdubs. While he didn't have a source credited, I can certainly believe it.

[the captain]

Absolutely believable. No question about it.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Three, the high parts are all backgrounds, and are multitracked even more ridiculously than the leads. Again, it isn't to say he isn't hitting the notes, but a group of 10 voices kind-of hitting a part comes through more impressively than one voice slightly missing.

I distincitly recall AGD saying a long time back that Brian's BVs for Imagination were doubled about 6 times (sorry if I don't remember this exactly AGD!), and as Brian does 4 or 5 part harmonies constantly, as well as doing inserts like crazy (stuff like "Runnin', runnin' runnin'" or "dit dits"), it really adds up. Someone posted on the vocals only mix of "Your Imagination" on Youtube that he's singing 72 different parts. While he didn't have a source credited, I can certainly believe it.

Not 72 different parts.. there's not enough harmonic variations for that.

[Jay]

Here is something that I've noticed and been confused about. From 1993-1996(somewhere around the Andy Paley years), when Brian sang he rarely slurred his voice. He slurred like crazy when he was just talking, but not so much when he sang. Now, even his singing voice is slurred. Has anybody else noticed that? Listen to "Midnight's Another Day", or "Forever She'll Be..." and you should be able to notice it. His voice has been like that ever since the Imagination album.

[Chris Brown]

Here is something that I've noticed and been confused about. From 1993-1996(somewhere around the Andy Paley years), when Brian sang he rarely slurred his voice. He slurred like crazy when he was just talking, but not so much when he sang. Now, even his singing voice is slurred. Has anybody else noticed that? Listen to "Midnight's Another Day", or "Forever She'll Be..." and you should be able to notice it. His voice has been like that ever since the Imagination album.

It's hard to know how much of that is age and how much is a residual effect from Landy's over-medication.  My guess is the former, although I could certainly be wrong.  Being that he's 66 years old, I think time has just taken it's toll and it has become more difficult for him to sing without the slur coming through.