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According to Wikipedia, Dennis was originally meant to be singing IJWMFTT. Were any demos made (of Dennis) or were the entire lead tracks recorded with Brian?

Dennis gave it a go on the multis, but was wiped over by Brian's final lead vocals.

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It's a shame, he doesn't have any lead on a such incredible and important BB record :/ (even Carl needed more, imo)

Yeah, what a shame. Pet Sounds might have actually been a decent album if Dennis had a lead vocal on it.
 ::)

I can't imagine Dennis' version being better, but it does suck that his vocal was erased permanently. It's wierd, the man was spending loads of Capitol's money on studio time but he was worried about penny pinching on recording tape?

It probably wasn't penny-pinching, just day-to-day procedure in a recording studio.

Wow. I could totally hear a Dennis lead on this one. That would have been like "In The Back of my Mind" pt. 2!

Not that there's anything wrong with Brian's amazing lead, but I do think Dennis could have done it very well, maybe better.

All the things that could have been.... Not even worth talking about. Write some fan fiction about it or something if it's something you need to get off with or whatever.

Wow, what an unpleasant attitude.. when did i ever said such things? Pet Sounds is with SMiLE my fav album, i'm not saying it could have been better or that it "might have ben actually a decent album" (quote me, cause i don't remember saying anything that meant this) i was just saying it would have been cool to have some more leads by Dennis or Carl, i'm not saying it would make Pet Sounds better tho, it's good as it is.

Jesus christ, how freaking sad that board can be sometimes.

Thanks for the information, although I'm pretty disappointed with it haha.

Well, you're right. Dennis absolutely could have done the song justice. As an unabashed DW fan, I would have loved to hear his attempt.

But it really is perfect as it is.

The slightly amusing thing is, as I opined many years ago on a mailing list, first listen to ITBOMM, and then listen to the word "behind" on the first verse of IJWMFTT -- preferably with headphones. Either the mono or stereo mix will work.

The Wilson genetics thing is truly spooky at times. And thus, yes, it is indeed fairly easy to imagine Dennis doing this one...and feeling right at home with it in the process.

I can't imagine Dennis singing the "They say I got brains, but they ain't doin' me no good" part. The rest, probably.

I too think it would've worked best as a split-verse thing between Dennis and Brian, though I'm not sure those latter, upper notes would've been completely out of Dennis's range at the time (e.g. perhaps double-tracked). Maybe, a little wild, but.......lol.

Even though I'm a massive fanboy, I don't think the entire song would have worked so well with him...

That said- the 'sometimes, I get, very sad' 'put my heart and soul into' bits that all sound like (are?) Brian overdubbed, would have benefitted from some gutsy Denny vocals in there.

I think it would have added a lot of emotion to have Dennis sing a lead late on the Pet Sounds album. Caroline, No might have been more in his range, but Brian is perfect on that one. So a split lead of IJWMFTT would have been great! Personally, I think its one of the 'weeker' songs on the album and may have benefited from a raw vocal performance of Dennis.

I can't hear Dennis singing "I just Wasn't Made For These Time" because, from everything we've read - especially on this board - he was! Isn't it the other Beach Boys who WEREN'T the cool ones?

However, I can hear Dennis singing, "I know so many people who think they can do it alone..."

I just don't think he had the range to be able nail it in the key that it was recorded.  I betcha money he was straining on those passes.

HA! This thread just jumped the shark  :lol

Definitely right that Brian sang the lead vocal on the album version. The lyrics (in spite of him not writing them) fit him down to the ground. Would have been interesting to hear a Dennis attempt though.

I agree that some of the song was out of his range. But Dennis singing the lower parts of the song could have added a new depth of emotion to the album.

It would've had to have been something like: "Brian says I'm too stupid, but how did I learn to sing?"

no, it's not and no, Carl needn't more. God Only Knows is the most recognisable song on Pet Sounds and perhaps the most covered BB song by musicians, overall. Know what I mean?

Even though the idea of Dennis singing the song is fascinating, if the attempt had been worthwhile wouldn't Brian have made a safety copy like he did with many alternate vocal takes recorded during Pet Sounds?

Exactly.

I'm guessing it wasn't all that great or else it would have been saved. The melody is pretty dynamic, with all it's unusual ups and downs, not to mention the range, and I can't imagine Dennis being able to pull it off. I'd wager his take was pretty bad.

According to 65/66-era perfectionist Brian? probably.

According to a diehard Beach Boys fan? doubt it.

Holy f***, Aegir's in color now.


Did Brian really opt to save these, or did they just happen to survive by chance?

Well, it's interesting.  I can't prove definitively that Dennis did a full pass of the full lead vocal, but I can prove that he tried to sing at least parts of it.  Nevertheless, I'm convinced he tried the whole thing at one point.

As far as being out of his range, it's not, really.  Consider ITBOMM, "It'll always be" at the end goes up to high A.  The "But they Ain't doin' me no good" line in IJWMFTT goes up only one more semi tone to Bb.  Dennis could certainly get up there.  I haven't examined the Tessituras of the two songs to see if IJWMFTT lies higher in general, but in terms of the extremes of the range, Dennis could do it.

That's a good point. Perhaps the song really was within his range, then. But perhaps the melody was a little too active for him at least? It is definitely more appropriate that Brian sang it in any case.

I have no doubts it was within his range, but I do have doubts that he could have convincingly pulled that song off. Mustering the energy behind "BEE-EEE-EE-EEE-EEEEEEEEEE" was probably easy for him (and sounds incredible, obviously), but what goes on in "These Times" was probably not best-suited for him.

Still. As much as Brian nails this one, I really, really wish that at the very least, a Denny vocal would've survived for a Pet Sounds track.

Didn't Brian also want him to sing 'I'm Waiting For The Day' or has the caffeine finally corroded the remainder of my tortured synapses, leaving my brain to conjure up misinformation and delirium in the face of trivialities such as facts or truth?

The white powder in my nose told me that Brian wanted Dennis to sing Let's Go Away for Awhile

I guess Dennis was the go-to guy whenever Brian had a song with lyrics that he thought revealed too much about himself.

Yep. Unquestioned, standard practice. I don't think that Capitol commanded it, even. Tape was/is expensive. We are so spoilt with today's technology, with which everything, but really everything can be saved and stored, even the occasional farting and burping of a band, that we tend to question things that aren't deserving of that.