The Smiley Smile Message Board

Wow, this is amazing! Christian Love does an amazing job on God Only Knows, and you can tell Mike & Bruce are very pleased with the results...you can see Mike & Bruce look at each other in amazement early in the performance, and Bruce seems amazed pretty much throughout the whole thing and congratulates him at the end! I hope they let him keep singing the lead on this...this is the closest to Carl's lead that I have heard from anybody!  I know the comparisons to Carl have been out there for awhile, but to be honest, I really didn't hear it as much as others.  What do you guys think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Qe0dZPJKo

I think it's amazing.  Just amazing.

Great stuff, I personally think that he has sounded more like Carl on some GV vids that I have seen posted but that was still really something.

I've seen Brian's band about six times but man I'm really looking forward to hopefully finally getting to see Mike's group at some point for the 50th - reunion or not.

What do I think ? I think I just fell flat on my ass with amazement: what a voice. Makes me wish I hadn't forsworn the Bloo for the foreseeable future - love to post the link and say "so you think they're just a poor covers band ?" (which is of course exactly what would be said - no Brian so it can't possibly be any good. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !)

Christian inherited the good Wilson genes. He doesn't sound exactly like Carl, but there is something in the timbre of his voice that sounds closer to Carl than he does to his dad. It definitely helps legitimize the sound.

This guy needs to be at the reunion!

It's amazing.

Very good rendition ! Which other leads does Christian sing during the BB shows ? Can't remember as I last saw them in 2008.

Beautiful !

Another clip on the You from just a few days earlier has Bruce singing it. Perhaps he was unwell and 'loaned' him the lead. May well be regreting it now.

This.

Holy crap that was amazing!!! Sorry, Bruce, but I think you just lost a lead vocal duty.  Congrats, Christian!!!  Beautiful...

When I saw them at Epsom in July I thought Christian should have taken the whole lead vocal on this. It's such a great performance and the nearest anyone has come to the sound and soul of Carl's GOK since the great man himself. If Christian isn't at a possible reunion it will be a great shame. A Carl like voice has to be used for this song, not Bruce and not even Brian now.

Have you hear Brian sing it recently? He does a very nice job. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX7znc-bhDs)

That being said, Christian's work here is exquisite. I quite like him on "Cool Hand, Warm Heart," too -- he's part of what makes that tune sound so darn BBs-like.

He has trouble hitting the high notes-sounds alot like Bruce singing the song so no big deal-he's also goin' bald just like his ol man did.  Shame. :p

I saw Brian at the RFH in Sept and it is a very special thing to hear him sing this song so I do agree he does a very good job. He wrote it! However, Christian really does it justice here and it's a soft, smooth voice that suits it. Brian just seems a little strained on it nowadays.

I get the feeling you're criticizing 'im merely because he's the spawn of Michael Love. Just a guess. imo.

It's weird to hear that voice coming out of a face that looks so much like Mike.  He has Mike's exact bone structure.  Makes you wonder what it is that makes singing voices, since the shape of the face and mouth have something to do with it.  Why doesn't Mike sound better?  The throat?  The adenoids?

She heard him sing it in September in London. Recent enough ?  ;)

Good effort. But I prefer the emotion of Brian's recent performances.

Mike sounds fine.

Man, what a voice he's got on him!

Mike can't sing that high.  He doesn't have much range.  He also can't get that nasal-y sound out.  It's a personality voice, and it sold millions of records, so it's fine for that with the right type of songs.  But his son's voice is more subtle and has more feeling.  Put it this way, I couldn't hear Mike singing that song even when he was young. 

Yeah. It also has to do with cultural upbringing, personal taste and singing techniques. For instance, I cannot imagine Christian singing lead on a rocker.

All in all, I like christian's lead on GOK a lot. It's not an impersonation, but a genuine approach to classic song, that is also true to the original sound. This guy and Matt have to be in the reunion band. Family matters.

So.............this is Mike's kid, the same one who is on the Sunflower cover and inner sleeve, right? Brother of Haleigh?

First time I saw him with the Mike and Bruce Band (on YouTube) I immediately thought that he sounded like Carl Wilson. I don't see how anybody could miss the simularities of the two voices. I don't mean to slag Christian, and again I've only seen him perform a few songs, but he doesn't have the EMOTION in his voice. I don't really compare him to Carl - nobody in the Beach Boys can belt out a rocker or sing a ballad like Carl could (with exception to Brian in the 60's/early 70's).

Christian just sings too.........how should I say this.........DRAB! Not much emotion. It's not his fault - it's his style. It's just the way he sings. It's his personality. Seems like a nice enough guy; I've seen him talk during interviews - he's young. But he just sounds like he's dragging - like he's bored or just wants to get the show over with!

"I, I love the colorful clothes she wears........"   He sounds like he's about to go to sleep!   ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

WOW!

GREAT voice!  Sign that boy up!  (oh, they already have)

Nice arrangement too.

This may sound "amazing" to some here and perhaps some may more dramatically "fall on their ass" ::), but no one in this particular universe achieves anything labeled close to Carl's perfection at performing this song.

And? We're talking about Carl Wilson, here. Just because no one else can achieve the "perfection" he did, no one else should be able to sing it? Or no one else, least of all the son of one Michael Love (GOD HELP US ALL IMO), is capable of doing a really great job on it?

No.

Complete revisionism of my post. Read it again RDZ-s l o w l e y-take all the time you may need. HINT: where in my post did I infer that no one else would be "able or capable"?

Christian has been doing Getcha Back and Good Vibrations...there seems to be a family quality to his voice, and sounds like Carl a bit, but, sounds like himself.  I hope people allow him to be judged on his own merits rather than hold him up to be compared to Carl or Mike.   Few kids want to be compared to their parents, or family members, or feel compelled to fill someone else's shoes.  He is a very gifted young man who works very hard, with and under, some serious pros. 

And, he is nice.   :)

I just don't like Mike's band..

Maybe it's because they call themselves the Beach Boys

I am known to be a staunch defender of Brian's band, but even I must give credit where credit was due: Christian sang this excellently. Not taking anything away from Brian's superb renditions, of course. But a lovely version. Bravo!

As much as I enjoy Lovester-bashing for the Endless Summer in Paradise in Kokomo Golden Surfin` Oldies direction that he`s taken both the actual BBs and with his current act, the show seems like its improved 10-fold since Totten took over as musical director. The younger Lovester is another big part IMO of why the M&B band sounds so good now compared to pre-2007ish.

Christian did a nice job, but he still doesn't sound that much like Carl to me (related to Carl, yes). Of course, it's a bit hard to hear him with that loud orchestra in the mix.

I respectfully disagree. To me he does have a lot of emotion in his voice. At least in this specific performance. I haven't heard any other leads from him. But I have listened to Carl renditions of this song with less emotion the voice. Nobody could ever beat the performance on the studio version of GOK of course, not even Carl himself.

What really is amazing: All these high praises in this thread made very high expectations, and usually having that high expectations results in a little disappointment. But even with these high expectations Christians performance is stunning!

if there is a reunion album, i hope christian gets in on the blend.  he'd fit in well.  much better than most of brian's band (not a fan of their blend)

That would be because they fulfil the terms of the license that Mike, Brian, Alan & Carl's estate agreed upon back in 1998, no ?  ;D

That particular performance has been posted numerous times on this message board and I just don't see what the big deal with it is.  Just because Brian isn't actually "yelling" the vocal doesn't make it much better.  His voice actually sounds rather weak here. 

Christian Love, however, does a nice job handling the song.  As already mentioned, there is a little bit of "Carl" in him.  Not literally. 

Thanks for posting the link, Eric.  I think Christian Love does an absolutely wonderful singing God Only Knows.  Hope he continues to perform it on a regular basis.

(PS, Eric, please check your PM's.)

Holy mackerel. Sign the boy up. What. A. Voice!

Same here - OK, so he's not shout-singing it, but in truth, it's not a very good performance. Weak, suspect pitch and phrasing... about the only thing he does right is remember all the words and flash a smile.

That clip made me want to see the Mike band for the first time in 20 years.

Go!  They are fabulous!  People need to stop living in the past.  We were fortunate to have these awesome legends, both here and gone.  It is great that the younger family members have taken an interest in the music, whether it is Wendy and Carnie, Matt and Adam or Christian.  They are learning from the real masters. 

The newer band members take the music seriously and work on it to exacting standards.  I've seen all three bands, and find the quality very high, and audience response to be exuberant, because it is all about the music, our music, much of which was ahead of its' time, and timeless in appeal.  They've all grown in the job.

License schmlicence-they ain't the Beach Boys. Put Brian, Al, and David up there with them, then and only then will you have the closest article available. Quit leaning on something that was concocted 14 years ago-that band is not the BBs and portraying themselves as the BBs is more than fraudulent -Myke Luhv and his band of strangers have f*cked with the band's legacy since Carl died(the official end of the band). Cocoamoe

Why did you say it was amazing just a few posts above, then?

I respectfully agree. (As great as Brian's musicians are, actually they're brilliant, but their blend is not that appealing to me. They sing very good, but they seldom create that special magic.)

I'm bi-polar.

No, Lenny, actually I was being sarcastic because Eric was using one of THE most over-used words these days; "Amazing". That word seems to have replaced "awesome" in a lot of people's vocabulary. Eric from Socal, I still love you, man! You have one of the best BB sites on the Internet!!!

Just my opinion. Christian did an above average job on "God Only Knows" in that clip. But listening to him sing "Good Vibrations" and "Getcha Back" - to me he just sounds like he's going through the motions without much emotion. I'm sure it's his personality. No problem. Again, just my opinion. Guess I'm in the minority, but that's OK.  ;D

He looks like Cliff Richard. No one but one of the Beach Boys should ever sing this song! Be it Bruce , Mike , Al or Brian!
Let Christan Love sing "409" or "Surfin USA" , but dont touch GOK!

YES AGREED LET'S NEVER HEAR "GOD ONLY KNOWS" EVER AGAIN AND BURY IT IMO

Hm. Methinks you overstate for effect. The "truth" you mention is your aesthetic reaction to a performance. Others differ.

EDIT:

And frankly, what bugs me most of all is this notion that there's some sort of zero-sum game afoot -- that for Mike's band to be decent, Brian's must be terrible, or vice versa. I don't think Brian or Mike think that. I don't think their band members think that either. Because you know what? Darian could surely sing a killer GOK. So could Foskett. The fact that a hired band member -- family or not -- can sing a nice version of a song that's part of the repertoire of the band that employs him isn't really that shocking. It is what they are hired to do.

Mike Love looks very tired in that clip.  He's taking a breather.  Is that the sound of his tamborine that sticks out like a sore thumb in the mix?

Hayleigh -- now, there's the member of the Love clan who sounds the most like Carl. That gal can SING!

True dat.  Girl's got the pipes!

He has a lot of Carl's gentle prettiness in his voice. His pitch control has a few problems. He doesn't sing out quite enough or elongate the phrasing toward the end (nerves?). There is a certain blandness present. Overall, quite decent.

Snot nerves. It's just the way he sings. Like I was saying earlier, yes, "bland" is the key word here.

Mikie - I could not disagree more.  Saw him last weekend and find his voice to be gentle but with that rare "yearning" quality that Carl had. He does a lovely job, live, and gets serious applause for  Getcha Back, and Good Vibrations.  Bland, no way.  He sings as if it he is telling a story.  Especially Getcha Back. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Mike and Bruce (and David) a few years back.  I'm in England, so we got a decent range of songs (probably down to Brian's setting the standard at the time) and the only duffer was Everyone's in Love etc.  To be honest, out of the other guys, I was least impressed by Christian's vocals and distinctly  recall You're So  Good as being awful.  Bruce did GOK and it had that soft, fragile quality that you hear in the Youtube clip of Brian posted above.  This, however, is very good indeed.

I think familiarity can breed contempt and with all the greatest hits packages and re-releases of Pet Sounds and the constant touring, we often forget just how good Brian's work (across numerous collaborators) was, but there are some works that transcend the body of great songs like I Get Around and this is one of them. As the great philosopher Thomas Earl Petty once commented - and I'm paraphrasing - pop/rock/whatever doesn't get any better than God Only Knows.

I would submit that God Only Knows is a soft and delicate song, concerning the fragile essence of the relationship captured in the song.  And, you are correct that it does not get better than God Only Knows.  And requires a similar approach to perform it.   I can't imagine Mick Jagger (whose work I love) on lead. 

Well said, Smilin' Edward!

How dare you talk like that about Brian Wilson!!





 ;D

The biggest problem I have with this clip, and with the MikeNBruce band, is that the vocal harmony backing is so weak. Christian does a really fine job on the lead, though. Brian's band at least know they need more singers and harmonies - they are recreating doubled 5 part harmonies on most songs! The M&B band also have a tendency to rely on awful keyboard sounds, still. I hate the supposedly incredible Paramount 1993 gig for the same reason - The instrumentation is so cheap and half-assed.


I should probably add I've never seen them in the flesh, which will give everybody the excuse to dismiss my opinion  ::)

Yes, the vocals in the middle section are practically inaudible, all of them.

I think he sounds fantastic.  People are going to hate this but the first time I realized how great he was, was when I saw them on t.v. doing a live version of Kokomo for something.  He nailed Carl's part, changed it up slightly but it was still just as beautiful.  It was shockingly good.  The guy has great chops, but really his dad does too, it looks like he inherited not only his father's ability to be dorky-cool but also the work ethic to get great at what you do. 

I agree, I think the kid's (in his 40's) fantastic.  Here's a good clip of the Kokomo stuff.  If you don't want to suffer through Kokomo, fast forward to about 3 minutes in, the camera work finally shows Christian do his thing.    He has the balls to do his own thing and change it slightly from Carl's, but still keep the vibe the same. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-yDEkyVOEM

I've always been a big fan of Christian's voice.

But you don't care for the rest of him ?  ::)

I believe those are called opinions...


And I don't think anyone else here thinks that either.  It's not complicated: I found Christian's YouTube performance of "God Only Knows" to be good, and BW's particular performance of the same song to be lacking.  Hooray for opinions!

BTW Matt Jardine does a pretty good job on it, too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHPIHJaX-J8&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHPIHJaX-J8&feature=related)

 I've never heard Matt do this song before.  His voice is beautiful!  He has a warmth in his voice that most of the others seem to miss.  I also love his take on Warmth Of The Sun.

"Acoustic Vibrations" by the Surf City Allstars has a great studio version of Matt singing God Only Knows.