The Smiley Smile Message Board

I am simply amazed at how this non family member worked so well in the vocal blend for the Beach Boys. When Brian quit touring, it was Al that had the voice that most resembled his on songs like Wouldn't It Be Nice. Even in the studio, the lead singers on Help Me, Rhonda and You're So Good to Me sound like brothers, if not the same person! The lead vocals on I Know There's An Answer or Be Here In the Morning, between Brian and Al, sounds like the same person! Not only that, but Al in his lower register can sound a lot like Mike. How many of you, like myself thought it was Mike singing the lead in All This is That? So it Amazes me, that while Carl and Dennis have distinct voices, it's non family member Al that most resembles Brian and Mike vocally!

Al’s voice was the glue the “blend” needed in the studio.

Absolutely! I definitely think he was the best singer of the band in the 2012 reunion.

Mind is blown. For YEARS since I first heard this song, I thought that was Mike. I just went back and relistened.
Did someone tell you, or did you figure it out? I can hardly believe it!

I'm really curious about Al's vocal parts on All Dressed Up For School.

Is Brian even singing on that song? I feel like I clearly hear Brian singing the opening "dit dit dits", but could it just be Carl's voice sounding Brian-like?  Sometimes I think I have it all figured out with who's singing what, and then new facts emerge.

I'm just wondering why Al was chosen to sing the very distinctively Brian-esque falsetto parts on the choruses. Almost like this was a studio test to see if Al could pull off a very Brian part for when the song would be performed live on tour sans Brian, which of course didn't happen since the song's release was nixed.

By far.

Wow, that really is cool. It sounds just like Mike in his 'Big Sur' voice. I always thought so too.

I don't recall how I figured that out. I know we have an official vocal thread, so if there were any doubts, it confirmed that it is indeed Al.

I hadn't noticed that! I will have to listen again. It's hard enough to tell them apart as the leads sometimes, much less backing vocals! Lol

One more. Al actually sounds a bit like Bruce on Looking At Tomorrow.

Al is really audible singing "ahhhh what a turn-on" on the choruses. Always thought it was Brian for the longest time, but now it's obvious it's Al upon learning it.

What an incredible voice indeed! Ha, and Mike Love fires him not once but twice.  :o :o :o

It's both of them. They each sing a verse.

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Interesting. Who sings which verse?

Oh my God, Al's voice is incredible

So essential to that magical sound

He still sounds great live!

Lol! I had to listen again just now. No it's Al in both verses. But it's possible Mike is over dubbing on the first verse.

It's Mike on the second verse, and Al and Mike together in the first verse.

Hey, just listened to 2nd verse & it indeed is Al! Fantastic. I used to think it's Mike but in fact Al sings 2 verses. It's veeeery subtle to catch. Wow, Al really can morph his voice into Mike's (& the other BBs mentioned).

I'm about 98% sure that they each sing a line. They always sang it that way in concert.

Al sings the first verse, i.e. “Life supporting waves of bliss...”

Mike sings the second, “Golden auras glow around you...”

I always thought it was Mike on both verses. I’ll be damned.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Summer_Days, listen carefully to ''Meant For You'' with headphones, the same mellowness vocally as ''Golden auras''. Mike's timbre is little bit lower in it than Al's.

''around you''/ ''omnipresent love surrounds''/ ''wisdom warming as the sun'' give subtle, but clues nevertheless, that this is Al *entirely* in 2nd verse. There's folkiness in highlighted bits, Al's got it in his voice.

When Mike sings mellow in MFY, ''Aren't You Glad'', it's like he sings poem, he gives his voice special quality, tenderness, affection, grace, elegance, even upper class, as if to change completely his usual signature ML voice. Al sings with affection as well but it still doesn't stray to drastic change.

It's best explanation by me. Hope it makes sense. :)

do we know here where al really was, when they shot the summer days/nights cover-

After really thinking it over, I think it might be Al and Mike trading lines in the second verse. For example, It might be Al singing "Wisdom warming as the sun", but I think "You and I are truly one" is 100% Mike.

I wouldn't rule this out! They did often switch leads like this within songs!

I heard Al was sick on the day this photo was taken. Which is redicoulus because there were plenty of other photos they could have used with Al from that period.

Let's not forget how alike Brian and Al sounds on ADITLOAT! The discussion I saw here on which one of 'em that really sung the last "Oh lord I lay me down"-part really blew my mind. I remember how the way Al sung "Brances" made it more clear it was him. Without that one, it would be next to impossible!

The way Brian sings in I Wasn't Made for These Times, 'sometimes I feel very sad...' sounds like Al as well. But it's Brian. Hut agree that 'Oh Lord I lay me down' is Al.

So I guess that a wall of Al Jardines would equal the Boys vocal blend ?

Here's another one. Though in Wikipedia,  it only notes Brian and Mike on lead vocals, the song No Go Showboat appears to be Al singin "White wall slicks with racing mags
She's just for looks, man, not for drags". And all the parts with that melody. Anyone else notice that?

I second that. Mike is really "breathy" on his verse - you can hear him inhaling. That aspect is absent from Al's verse.

It doesn't quite prove it's Mike though. Al could mellow down in verse 2. It does sound like Al if you listen attentively, harken ears to it with volume up. Mike's voice/ timbre is lower than Al's, as been explained by me with detail in previous reply. Either way, I believe my ears.

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This is what precisely I tried to say, meant by previous replies. Thank you, salty. It shouldn't be debate, agree.

Thanks for this! These are great to listen to.

The voice in the first clip in particular has such a lovely, relaxed quality. I agree that it could only be Al. The gentle twist on the word "wisdom" has a distinctly Al-like intonation.

While I agree this is Al, to say this is obvious is redicoulus! Now that I have listened to the Beach Boys thousands of times and have become more familiar with their voices,  I can tell. And once, someone told me it was Al on All This Is That, I listened again more closely and noticed that it was indeed Al. But not sure if I would have considered that on my own. I think it is also obvious to us hard core Beach Boys fans that Help Me Rhonda and You're So Good To Me are 2 different lead singers. But I guarantee most casual listeners probably think they are both Brian.

Wow!  This is the reason I visit this site!  There's always a new vocal surprise waiting to be had when listening close to the Beach Boys.  The last one that wow-ed me was learning about Brian's little brief lead vocal parts on Good Vibrations, and now this one.  I hadn't even thought about it being Al, since this type of vocal is usually reserved for Mike's timbre.  I wouldn't have swore it, I just didn't even consider it! With the music it's still a tiny bit vague, but dang it if your vocal clips leave no doubt that we've got Al on the low end for all these parts.