Fan Mix of "Break Away"

[Andrew G. Doe]

No way for me to know, but I always thought that the lower voices were meant to give the impression of "manliness."  Particularly in that they clearly go down in the second chorus from the first.  I'm guessing it is a combination of "Brian humor" (it sounds pretty funny!) and a dramatic device to indicate emotional growth that goes with aging (a la "21, 22..." in "When I Grow Up").

Anyway, always one of may very favorites.  And I don't see it as "underproduced" at all.

Let's go a step further, and hypothesize that Brian meant this song as a statement of his "Breakaway" from what he thought of as his whiny, feminine-ish trademark sound...after that, he rarely used his falsetto (at least for a long time), and by the time of "15 Big Ones" was trying to sound as deep and masculine as he could.  I never thought of it this way until now, but maybe "Breakaway" was the first indication of this intention.   

Um... except that Murry wrote the lyric. 

[bgas]

No way for me to know, but I always thought that the lower voices were meant to give the impression of "manliness."  Particularly in that they clearly go down in the second chorus from the first.  I'm guessing it is a combination of "Brian humor" (it sounds pretty funny!) and a dramatic device to indicate emotional growth that goes with aging (a la "21, 22..." in "When I Grow Up").

Anyway, always one of may very favorites.  And I don't see it as "underproduced" at all.

Let's go a step further, and hypothesize that Brian meant this song as a statement of his "Breakaway" from what he thought of as his whiny, feminine-ish trademark sound...after that, he rarely used his falsetto (at least for a long time), and by the time of "15 Big Ones" was trying to sound as deep and masculine as he could.  I never thought of it this way until now, but maybe "Breakaway" was the first indication of this intention.   

Um... except that Murry wrote the lyric. 

Maybe they worked on it together, Brian expressing his feelings/Murry writing the lyrics; as with Tony Asher? 

[c-man]

No way for me to know, but I always thought that the lower voices were meant to give the impression of "manliness."  Particularly in that they clearly go down in the second chorus from the first.  I'm guessing it is a combination of "Brian humor" (it sounds pretty funny!) and a dramatic device to indicate emotional growth that goes with aging (a la "21, 22..." in "When I Grow Up").

Anyway, always one of may very favorites.  And I don't see it as "underproduced" at all.

Let's go a step further, and hypothesize that Brian meant this song as a statement of his "Breakaway" from what he thought of as his whiny, feminine-ish trademark sound...after that, he rarely used his falsetto (at least for a long time), and by the time of "15 Big Ones" was trying to sound as deep and masculine as he could.  I never thought of it this way until now, but maybe "Breakaway" was the first indication of this intention.   

Um... except that Murry wrote the lyric. 

Maybe they worked on it together, Brian expressing his feelings/Murry writing the lyrics; as with Tony Asher? 

Yeah, or maybe Murry wrote the lyrics but Brian identified with the concept and decided to embrace it production-wise.

[Mikie]

Brian's voice was an instrument that he could do just about anything with. He could sing anyone's part, had incredible range, could sound strong or weak, thin or thick-whatever he needed at the time.

So Brian actually tried to sound thick or thin on purpose? Like the intro to California Saga for instance; he sounded a little "thin" on purpose and not because he couldn't help it? You don't think his voice sounded thin because of the hash, smokes, coke, or general vocal chord inactivity?

[JaredLekites]

Low voice on the end is definitely Mike. Murray's voice didn't have the nasal quality Mike's did.

[MBE]

Again Brian sounds older in 1972 but still like Brian. I always thought he was trying to sound a bit like Mike on California Saga I don't think his voice sounds strained or thin. Honestly how could anyone listen to something like Won't You Tell Him from 1971 and think Brian sounds anything other then great. After 1974 Brian had real problems singing and still does but before that he had a wonderfull voice.

[B-Rex]

I agree that the Hawthorne version is the best.   It could have been the centerpiece of an album rather than a relatively obscure single.  At least it was a minor hit in a time where even minor hits were rare!

[GuyO]

What are the words Mike is singing at the end of Breakaway?

[runnersdialzero]

Just found this amazing fan version of "Break Away" and wanted to share it in case it wasn't posted here previously.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au4moAPdPxA

Which version of "Break Away" would you rate as the best?

Thank you that would have been my work. Unfortunately, Brother busted my ass and got my YouTube account shut down for having a fan mix of this, "Surf's Up", and a couple other Smile tracks.

[positivemusic]

Well, it was excellently done! Figures they would attack what I consider to be a tribute of sorts. Luckily I had already saved the video and an mp3 out of it before it had to be taken down. But definite props to you for a job well done!!