The Smiley Smile Message Board

What is it about him and/or his voice that puts him so far down below Mike Love, Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson?

Mike, Brian and Carl just have more leads, or at least, they sing on the more popular songs. I think. does someone want to make a list?

I think the thing about Al is he really only rose to prominence as a vocalist in the band after Brian left.  He sang a lot prominently in the live show, but in the main, he was covering Brian's parts, e.g. "Heroes and Villains," "Help Me Rhonda," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Barbara Ann" and so on.  Before that, he really only had one hit lead:  "Help Me Rhonda."  This is somewhat true of Carl too except that Carl had a spate of late-period lead vocals that were at least mid-level hits:  "Good Vibrations," "God Only Knows," "Darlin'," "I Can Hear Music," and so forth. So even though Carl and Al didn't really sing lead much prior to PET SOUNDS, Carl was featured vocalist on many if not most of the hits after that.

So yeah, I would argue that as prominent vocalist, that was mostly in the live show.  On record, Al didn't have very many hit leads, or even leads on prominent songs.  Even going up through the present day, I can only think of a couple...off the top of my head "Come Go With Me," "Lady Lynda", then you're into die-hard fan territory.  Carl, Mike and even Brian have more prominent lead vocals even on the later stuff.

It's funny since I'm such a big BBs fan  but i don't think I can even tell when Al is singing instead of Brian. It seems like he just doesn't have his own identity or identifiable sound (for me at least) within the group. Brian's voice is the high one, Mike's voice is the nasal one, Carl's voice is the pretty one, Dennis' voice is the rough one. What is Al's then?

What is it about him and/or his voice that puts him so far down below Mike Love, Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson?

Ahem. I will accept this as a joke.

Why? I didn't mean it to be funny. I don't get it.

"Then I Kissed Her" was a hit in some countries, as was "Cotton Fields",  "Lady Lynda" and "Come Go With Me".  But more than his lead vocals, I think Al's part in the harmony blend is a super important element.  Most early songs would not have sounded the same without him.

The only super well-known hit to feature Al on lead is "Rhonda", while Brian and Mike (especially Mike) likely have as many as a dozen each to their name, with Carl singing on a handful of their biggest hits, too.

Al? There's "Rhonda", and, if you really want to take as stretch, maybe "Cotton Fields" (didn't it do well in the UK? Or somewhere?), but... yeah.

Brian? "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Don't Worry Baby", "Sloop John B", "I Get Around" chorus, "Barbara Ann", "In My Room", "Surfer Girl", "California Girls" chorus, "Heroes And Villains" (albeit with an indistinguishable Al in the chorus), etc.

Mike? "Surfin' USA", "California Girls", "Fun Fun Fun", "Kokomo", "Good Vibrations" chorus, "I Get Around", "Dance Dance Dance", "Little Saint Nick", "Surfin' Safari", "Do It Again", "Be True To Your School", etc.

Carl? "Good Vibrations", "God Only Knows", "I Can Hear Music"

Al? "Help Me Rhonda" and... yeaahhh :\

"Then I Kissed Her" is a decent example, but the others? Ask any casual music fan and they're not likely at all to know either song or even "Then I Kissed Her" or "Cotton Fields" except maybe a handful of people in a few select countries.

I love Al's voice and he's the closest texture to Brian Wilson that they had other than Brian himself. One thing that hasn't been brought up here is that Dennis was actually an equally or even more prominent vocalist than Al in the early days. He had more leads. And... Songs like Surfer Girl, Little Duece Coupe, Surfin USA do not feature Al's voice at all. Songs like In My Room, I Get Around, Don't Worry Baby do, but Dennis had the more prominent vocal part in those classics. In fact Al would often sing Dennis' studio part in the harmonies during the early concerts. Even on a later track like Kiss Me Baby its Dennis harmonizing with Brian on the chorus, not Carl or Al. I think every Beach Boys voice is essential, but I'd venture that Dennis is the one whose contributions as a singer are most overlooked and unrecognized, especially in the complex harmony blends. Somehow he got a reputation for not being that involved but it does not hold up under scrutiny of the sessions. Look at the credits on the Smile box, Dennis sings at least as much as any of the other Beach Boys. This is even more true on the '63 to '65 material...he's all over it. So maybe Al is the 5th voice if we're really breaking things down fairly. Again I think they all were essential, and each one got a chance to shine...Al has a fantastic voice...and one that is integral to the Beach Boys sound.

Hell, the Beach Boys whole status has shifted radically since I can recall being humiliated as a youngster in 1980 by advocating for the Beach Boys as artists and my teacher looking at me whitheringly and saying with dripping condecension:  "I don't think the Beach Boys were ever meant to be a deep group."

I kind of like how over time, the "big picture" grows more complete even to the casual observer.

Regarding Al being on the studio In My Room, I thought it was Brian on the first line, Dennis joining in on the second, then Carl on the third with Mike coming in on the chorus?

Brian first line, Carl second line, Dennis third line...Mike and Al come in on the chorus. David plays guitar on the track so IMR is one of a handful of Beach Boys early classics with six Beach Boys on it.

It has always irked me that the only Beach Boys to write a hit without Brian are Mike, Al, and Bruce. Although, Kokamo might be a stretch since most of the song was already written when Mike came up with the hook.

But it really sucks that Dennis and Carl never wrote a big hit! And their songs were much better! Although, there are claims that Dennis was part of the creative force behind You Are So Beautiful.

Although, there are claims that Dennis was part of the creative force behind You Are So Beautiful.

“Billy Hinsche emailed me a while back just to remind me that although my written account of the Dennis/Preston connection was accurate I should remember that Preston's status in no way deserves any degradation because of it. I agree, and would not expect any changes in the "You Are So Beautiful" author credit. The simple truth is yeah Hinsche and a couple others (not Roach by the way)remember Dennis helping Preston finish the song one hazy night long ago. But there is nothing out of the ordinary here. Musicians cross pollinate, help each other, and jam into the night constantly. Credit usually goes to the person who initiates a composition even if he is influenced and assisted by others to it's completion. The point is that Dennis loved the song, and felt it was a part of him. He sang it to thousands upon thousands in concert. When he mentioned to some folks that he had helped out in it's creation many people laughed him off. Billy Hinsche knows different and had the courage to go on the record with his recollection. He NEVER said Preston should give up a share of the credit. He just told a story about a night when one of his friends had a great new song he played for the pleasure of a few partying dudes, and how another of his friends sat down and helped him finish it...and then fell in love with it forever. I think if Dennis had believed he had somehow missed out he would have gone after the credit himself. That wasn't his style. Let Billy P. have it, Dennis made it his own anyway.” * * * * “Billy Hinsche went on the record with me for my book stating that he witnessed Dennis helping Billy Preston write You Are So Beautiful. Hinsche also repeated this claim for the Endless Harmony interview he taped but that was left out of the documentary. If anyone has a problem with this You Are So Beautiful thing they need to take it up with Billy H. He was there.

By the way. It came to my attention prior to my interview with Billy that many of Dennis' friends believed he had a hand in writing this tune. Dennis mentioned it offhand to more than a few people over the years. When I heard this I had the same reaction that many still do, "Oh that's just Dennis telling one of his whoppers." But BB's engineer Tom Murphy said to me, "Listen to the chord changes in that song, it's just like so many of DW's songs. How many Billy Preston tunes have changes like that?" I though about it and asked a few more people. I thought maybe, just maybe they were hanging out getting high and Dennis showed Preston how to finish a tune he was working on. Of course Dennis would never care about the credit. That's like Dennis too. Then Billy Hinsche confirmed it when I asked him about it. He was very clear on this. Not that Dennis wrote the song, but that he helped Preston finish the song. Magical is how he described the collaboration. I totally believe him.”

Dennis wrote an entire hit album. (POB Legacy #16 UK)

What is it about him and/or his voice that puts him so far down below Mike Love, Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson?

Isn't it cos he's the shortest?

Isn't it cos he's the shortest?

It's amazing to listen to I Know There's an Answer and Be Here in the Morning. It's hard to tell when its Al and Brian, unless you've listened a million times. :)

Its common knowledge that Al sings Help Me Rhonda and Brian sings Wouldn't it Be Nice, but if you know nothing about the BBs, it could easily be the same singer!