The Voice of The Beach Boys ?

[Andrew G. Doe]

The website for Guilfest bills Brian as "the voice of The Beach Boys", which claim has excited a degree of debate on A. N. Other MB of an azure hue. True ? Not true ?  Well, it's all a matter of preference... or is it ? A quantative assessment is possible, if one takes into account the lead vocals on those songs that Joe Q. Public considers representative of the band's canon, the Top 40 singles.

There were 33 Top 40 charting titles (including 5 B sides and two Xmas chart hits that would most certainly have charted Top 40 were Billboard not so picky back then), and the statistical breakdown is as follows;

Mike - 57.8%
Carl - 19.4%
Brian - 11.3%
Alan - 7.3%
Dennis - 4.2%

All of which confirms what we all knew anyway, of course. 

[A Million Units In Jan!]

I'd say Mike was the voice of The Beach Boys, and Brian was the creative genius behind them. At least, he was the creative brians when  they were hot stuff in the early days, and even when they had their 'Endless Summer' revival, which was basically the early days, revisited.
I think that if a casual fan heard Mike's voice on something else non-BB's, they'd say 'Hey, isn't that the guy from the Beach Boys singing?', because he does have that distinct voice.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Mike Love IS the Beach Boys. Everyone else are his messengers.

[tpesky]

I think the variety of people singing Top 40 Beach Boy hits is what makes them special.  The simple answer to the question is Mike Love, but I wonder how many bands have had 4 different members sing lead or part lead on their number 1 hits. How many bands have had all 5 core members sing multiple leads on their Top 40 hits? I think one of the things that makes the Beach Boys so cool is that they had 4 guys who could have been primary vocalists in a band.
I think you have to take into account into the harmonies too which people associate with them, so maybe all of the Beach Boys are the voice.
I would probably still answer Mike Love as the simple answer, but its an interesting question.

[grillo]

I'm just happy to see a new thread started by one of our experts, instead of the usual; us hoping to find anyone with an answer to some obscure point.
I don't see how it can be argued any other way. Mike IS the voice of the BB. Brian WAS the songwriter. The brothers ARE gone, and AL is still waiting for that frickin' bus.

[Jon Stebbins]

I think its a misinformed statement to say that Brian Wilson is the voice of the Beach Boys...and i think that was Andrew's point. Someone who wrote that copy wasn't thinking it through. However, its also off base to say Mike Love is the voice of the BB's. There wasn't a BB's hit with Mike singing lead that didn't feature most or all of the other guys too, Brian's voice is always a standout in those tunes. The group "leads" take huge chunks of many of the hit songs, In My Room, Surfer Girl, Good Vibes, and on and on and on. At other times Mike's "leads" are almost like cameos on some BB's songs where he is credited as lead vocalist because there is so much group singing(I Get Around). I would say that it is a close call between Mike and Brian as to who has the "signature" BB's voice...with Mike probably inching it out...but many people who don't know much would point to "that high voice" as the signature BB's voice and not Mike's. As to who had the best voice, i think it was Carl...and in the future he will be thought more and more as an equal "voice" of the BB's because two of the songs he sang lead on, Good Vibes, God Only Knows are evolving into a major part of the definitive reference point as to what is the BB's. Those songs will be whipped out as THE example of Beach Boys music...and Mike didn't sing lead on them. However, I have written it in the past...and i still believe it...that Mike's voice gave the BB's a distinct and easily identifiable sound in the early days and that was a giant part of their success. If they had quit in '64 then yes Mike would be the "voice" of the Beach Boys.

[Wirestone]

Spot on, Jon.

[Amy B.]

By billing Brian as "the voice," I don't think they were thinking about accuracy; they were thinking about marketing. It wasn't the smartest, best-informed way to go, but I think they were purely thinking about attracting more attention from casual fans.

[TonyW]

While agree that its erroneous to claim "just" Brian as "the voice of the Beach Boys" its equally as wrong to claim Mike as "the voice ...". Ask 99.9% of casual fans and they couldn't tell you the difference between a Brian falsetto and Mike "bom bom". Casual fans think Beach Boys / think harmonies / think of that soring falsetto ...

How many people on this board started out loving the music but had no idea who sang what until they really got involved with the music?

Hands up all who thought the bald guy out front sang the falsetto?

That big tall guy on bass had the high voice?

NO WAY!

Go onto any file sharing music website and see how many times The Lion Sleeps Tonight gets mistakenly listed as the Beach Boys ... but I'm still yet to see Duke of Earl mistakenly listed as the Beach Boys.

 

[Wilsonista]

Along the same lines, when I was a kid, I thought "Sherry" and "Big Girls Dont  Cry" were BB songs.

When guys like Sloan and Barri were doing BB knockoffs, they imitated both Mike's nasal swagger and Brian's pure falsetto as did the other 60's imitators. I would credit them both for being the Voice of the Classic BB.

[CarCrazyCutie]

I think you have to take into account into the harmonies too which people associate with them, so maybe all of the Beach Boys are the voice.

I totally agree about the harmonies, I've always thought one of their key attributes was the totally unique "voice" they got when all five vocal parts became one sound. And they're the only five who could ever do it, imo. So if there is just one definitive voice of the Beach Boys, to me it's the harmonies.

I think one of the things that makes the Beach Boys so cool is that they had 4 guys who could have been primary vocalists in a band.

Definitely agree again, except I always thought all FIVE were very capable of killer leads.


But maybe whoever billed it like that was thinking in terms of who's feelings and ideas were being expressed through the songs, making it Brian's "voice", and not necessarily who was best known for delivering the vocals. Not really how my brain would generally think about it, but it kinda works. Just a thought

[Bicyclerider]

I think the "voice" of the Beach Boys is the voice that took the majority of the songs played live over the most years.  Mike dominates the early hit singles, but that was a very brief time (62-65) over the life of the band.  It would be interesting to take a typical live set list for each year the band has toured and see, over the entire band's live sets (until Carl died and the band splintered), who sang the most songs.  Al's percentage would go up, as he usually sang Brian's parts, and of course Carl's would go up as well.  Mike's would go down I would think.

[KokoMoses]

I think Jon was spot on!

To me, the early days of the Beach Boys were equal to The Beatles where you had Paul and John switching off or combining on leads with George joining in on harmonies. This is pretty much the same with The Beach Boys where you had mainly Mike leads on the versus with Brian coming in for the chorus with the rest of the boys on harmony. This was what the Beach Boys established themselves as, so, I'd say it's equal parts Mike/Brian as the voice of the Beach Boys.

To me, Carl had the best voice, but when you think about it, Carl really sort of stepped in as Brian pulled back and pretty much replaced Brian as the standard sweet/high/soulful lead voice. I don't mean this as across the board, but generally speaking.

Though, when we really step back, the VOICE of the Beach Boys was/is THE BEACH BOYS! That singlular insturment that was created when those guys all joined in together. There has been nothing quite like it in the world.

[the captain]

[T]he VOICE of the Beach Boys was/is THE BEACH BOYS! That singlular insturment that was created when those guys all joined in together.

I agree completely.

[Pretty Funky]

Spot on. As long as those voices were in the mix, any lead was secondary.

[SG7]

I think all of them as a whole were the voices

[PrayForSurf]

Yeah (no reference meant to the Beatles ...) ,

Brian was unique in his producing abilities to select the right voice for the right lead or line or even phrase (As when he takes over for Carl in Good Vibrations for all of "I hear the sound of a ..."). Most casual fans probably have no idea if Mike or Carl or Brian is singing - which is why the current band touring as the Beach Boys gets away with impersonating The Beach Boys. It is precisely their ability to produce a harmonic sound that makes them unique among rock bands of that (or any?) era.

[KokoMoses]

"Yeah (no reference meant to the Beatles ...)"


?

[sofonanm]

It's difficult to give one name. They were a group.

If someone thinks of California Girls when they think of the band, then Mike might be seen as the "Voice".
If someone thinks of Help Me, Rhonda, then Al might be seen as the "Voice".
Surfer Girl... Brian.
God Only Knows... Carl.

That is not to say that the average person (a non-obsessive fan) even knows their names beyond Wilson brothers.

If "Voice" means leader then anyone vaguely familiar with their history will probably think of Brian. If not him then a nameless "I don't really think of them as having a leader... they're the Beach Boys!"

[Shady]

I think all of them as a whole were the voices

Yeah this.

They all brought something to the table. Carl having the best voice IMO. and Dennis or Mike having the most accessible

[Alex]

I think Bruce was the voice of the band...no, wait, it was Dave Marks...no, it was Blondie...or maybe it was Ricky...or could it possibly be Glen Campbell? Nah, it was DENNIS!!

[KokoMoses]

Interesting point about Dennis having the most accesible voice!

I thought about it and it's damm near true.

I can really see Dennis on Soul Train, or Midnight Special doing Constant Companion or River Song and racing up the charts!

But it wasn't to be 

[Emdeeh]

I agree with other posters that you can't just pick out one voice as the definitive lead. They all bring something to the dance. However, for me, the voice that embodies what I think of as the Beach Boys' sound is Carl's, right smack dab in the middle of the harmonies, enriching and anchoring them.

[cablegeddon]

Mike love is the frontman of Beach boys and the principal lead singer of the band....Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson are the secondary voices of the band

[Aegir]

when I opened this thread and saw that the first post was from 2009, my first thought was "oh, I bet RangeRoverA1 responded to this".