The Specific Beach Boys Musical Moment That Is Kicking Your Ass Right Now

[halblaineisgood]

Mike's bass vocal on it's about time.

[halblaineisgood]

His motivational chanting cut right through my cynicism at having to listen to sunflower through a boombox because my stereo is not set up .

[jiggy22]

The Smiley Smile version of "Wind Chimes". I'd still take the SMiLE version over it, but there's such a melancholic, haunting feel to this one. It's very atmospheric in a way. It represents the quick, quiet death of SMiLE to me. I remember watching a documentary on Brian (can't remember which one though), and this song was playing while they talked about the shelving of SMiLE and Brian's breakdown. It fit really well!

[Rick5150]

Slip On Through a cappella. Mike's part (?) is really cool and barely audible on Sunflower. Kind of a droning harmony but it sounds so cool.

[halblaineisgood]

Listening to 15 big ones. Never noticed how slammin the Blueberry Hill track was.. when it comes in after the first verse especially. Really could have been a good record. Mike's ability to sing the song really falls off sharply.precisely at the beginning of the bridge and Brian's groove kinda' runs out of steam. Though that could just be the phoned in the backing vocal arrangements/and performances. The whole group really messed up the singing.  But this track had potential. If they could have had a prime-era Brian doing the lead vocal on the bridge that might have been nice.
in his high voice. And if they would of done a seriously better job on the background vocals. And truncated it after the bridge,tsang just the one more verse, and ended iton a funky BW coda and then we would have world peace

[SufferingFools]

I guess a Brian Wilson solo musical moment could count for this, couldn't it? 

That falsetto note he hits in the second chorus of "Cry."  No one else's falsetto could give me that same chill up the spine.

[NateRuvin]

Baby Blue, when Dennis starts singing.

[RangeRoverA1]

"Lavender" is best a cappella. It's charming that way.
"Isn't it time", after Mike's vocs during harmonies in middle 8 there is bass emphasizing the beat; it's cool.
"Shut Down", the last 20 seconds where guitar does variations in contrast to the vocals repeating the same phrase.

[thorgil]

Marcella, after hearing it live in the "Brian Wilson & Friends" album. What a rocker!

[Kid Presentable]

Passing By is totally Kicking My Ass Right Now.  Specifically, the descending intro to the song.  I have always loved it, at face value.  Never cared why.  I listened to Stephen Desper's study video of Friends again tonight and became fixated on this part for a few minutes.  Now I understand why.  This little 5 seconds is an excellent Brianistic music creation.  I believe it is an A major (great melody, great pop) scale, but I am definitely not the best at figuring that stuff out. 

When I listen to it closely and try to count out the beat in my head, the rhythm of this intro doesn't really make sense.  Like it actually has a note or two that shouldn't be there.  The best I can relate it over the internet is that the count in my head is a very unnatural "1 2 3 4 5 6, 1 2 3", before going on to the A chord that starts the "verse".  Why would he have an intro part be like that?

The riff as a whole is an excellent descent into the 2 repeating "meat and potatoes" ahhh's of the song that most people recognize most from this song (these are also used as the outro tag to the song, though if I am not mistaken on the outro he starts flatting some of the notes).  The third line of ahhh's in each "verse" is a lot like the first two lines.  It is a mostly ascending melody that is a nice hook that reels the listener in after the first two repeating lines. 

However, this 3rd line mostly ascending "hook" differs in that it follows the same rhythm as the descending intro (and these are the only two parts of the song that have this cadence).  It reaches a 6th "high" note before descending and holding, whereas the first two lines go for 5 "high" notes before descending and not holding.  It excellently resolves the unique intro and makes things that don't totally make sense, absolutely make sense.  It is Brianistic and I feel like I can imagine him coming up with this ditty- first the main repeating melody of the 2 lines of ahhh's, then resolving a catchy third line of ahhh's to reel in us muskellunges, and later figuring out the descending intro as a close mirror image of the catchy third line.  Now I have a better understanding of why this little intro is totally Kicking My Ass Right Now.

[JK]

The many magical moments in the "Good Vibrations Sessions" on the SS/WH 2fer...

[RangeRoverA1]

"Soulful Old Man Sunshine" demo. Carol Kaye in Pet Sounds feature said that Brian got groove/good sense of rhythm which is right. Carl sings as if he tries to be cool. Brian is effortless. Should've sung it rather than give the lead to Carl.

[The Dumb Angel]

The yodeling on Wonderful.

[Adult Child]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygi4mOuuevU

Mike's vocal on 'I Do'. It's easy to forget (at least for me) how perfect his voice was and how it crystalizes (for someone who wasn't there) the optimism of the Beach Boys pre-seriousness/drugs/mental illness/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame speeches, back when everything must've been perfect (from the outside at least). All those banal (for me anyways) songs about cars and whatnot are all worth it for the fact that frequently they came up with a song that captured the innocence and beauty of young love so completely and every time you listen to those songs they hold you down and fill you up with stars from a fantasy that feels realer than reality.

If only he hadn't gone bald.

[Lee Marshall]

This all-telling picture in use on this the first day of March 2017...

http://www.brianwilson.com/music/

[SMiLE Brian]

Lee, where is the love?

[Lee Marshall]

Lee, where is the love?

Ask Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway...no wait...Donny's gone.  Passed back in early '79. 

You bite the hand that  F E E D S  you and sooner or later...what goes around/comes around.  [and deservedly so.]

[ThyRavenAscend]

https://youtu.be/T94mq3vsiZo?t=35s

In this "alternate mix" of Wouldn't It Be Nice during the 35s - 50s window, the high part of the background vocals is accentuated. Even though I've listened to this song hundreds of times, I never noticed this vocal part. And now that I've heard it, I can't unhear it (which is a good thing)! Has anyone else not noticed this high vocal part before?

[JK]

https://youtu.be/T94mq3vsiZo?t=35s

In this "alternate mix" of Wouldn't It Be Nice during the 35s - 50s window, the high part of the background vocals is accentuated. Even though I've listened to this song hundreds of times, I never noticed this vocal part. And now that I've heard it, I can't unhear it (which is a good thing)! Has anyone else not noticed this high vocal part before?

My (cloth) ears missed it too. This is the line it seems to follow: C - B♭- c - B♭- A.

That second (ascending) c is interesting, giving an open fifth on top, as in the first chord of "Don't Worry, Baby".

In fact, is there a major third at all in the vocal stack at that moment? I'm having trouble hearing it...

[petsoundsnola]

The alternate mix of "The Little Girl I Once Knew" from the 2001 Hawthorne, CA album when the instruments drop out and the a cappella section takes over, followed by the instruments coming back just at the right time with the ringing guitar licks. 

[Tricycle Rider]

I found an extended version of "Walk On By" on you tube, and it's been slaying me for days now.

In the same way a sad love song would become tragic in Roy Orbison's hands, Brian and Dennis manage to make you feel so vulnerable that you don't know if you can go on another minute. Maybe it's because I'm a male, but I feel the song is more powerful from a males perspective. After all, she DOES have the upper hand, doesn't she.

God Bless Murry, Audree, and all the little Wilson's 

[JK]

I found an extended version of "Walk On By" on you tube, and it's been slaying me for days now.

In the same way a sad love song would become tragic in Roy Orbison's hands, Brian and Dennis manage to make you feel so vulnerable that you don't know if you can go on another minute. Maybe it's because I'm a male, but I feel the song is more powerful from a males perspective. After all, she DOES have the upper hand, doesn't she.

God Bless Murry, Audree, and all the little Wilson's 

You must mean this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkIw6SMt2bs

It certainly is stunning! The bits where they don't know the words almost sound deliberate, as if words were inadequate for what they wanted to convey...

I love your signature!    

[NOLA BB Fan]

The alternate mix of "The Little Girl I Once Knew" from the 2001 Hawthorne, CA album when the instruments drop out and the a cappella section takes over, followed by the instruments coming back just at the right time with the ringing guitar licks. 

Thanks for mentioning this. It is a wonderful version.
In some ways I prefer it to the released version, except for Mike's "Split, man"; the released version of that is perfect.

[Scaroline No]

Just now I was listening to Don't Go Near the Water and I heard something I've never noticed before... the backing vocals in the "toothpaste and soap will make our oceans a bubble bath"  part... I always heard them as "aah-oom-diddy-wadda", but it just hit me that they're singing "aah-oom-dirty-water". Unless I'm just hearing things... but I've been playing it over and over and I can't unhear it! So cool!

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Listening to He Come Down on headphones, I'm struck by the lovely soft 'ohhh' vocals that rise and fall between 2:18 and 2:42. So very pretty.
Got to be Carl in there most prominently, right?