The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was wondering why Al didn't have more lead vocals on TWGMTR as he clearly had the best singing voice of the group.  And that's been the case for a very long time.  Taking nothing away from Mike Love, why wasn't Al given more lead vocals to sing over the years?  If there is another album, I hope Al is given the majority of the leads. 

Honestly, that's kinda the way its always been on BB albums, right? Right now, I'm tryin to the think of what albums have Al featured quite frequently...the Love You album has him on Honkin' Down the Highway, Good Time (kind of a co-lead with Brian, I think), and Love is a Woman (he has some of the lines towards the end)(as a separate but interesting note, there's an unreleased version of Al singing lead on LIAW). Then there's 15 Big Ones, he sings TM Song, Susie Cinci, and parts of A Casual Look. Granted, he does have smaller parts on other songs like Had to Phone Ya, Back Home, and It's OK (I think). MIU, he actually has a lot: Come Go with Me, Peggy Sue, Winds of Change, parts of Kona Coast, and it seems like there's another I'm missing.

So with that in mind, he kinda had a lot more in the 70s but that's about his height, kinda short in areas (yeah, pun intended)  :-D

I think, at least around the first few years of his tenure, he wasn't given as much in the way of recorded lead vocals because he covered most of Brian's songs in concert, which made it all balance out in some ways.  Over time, I guess that's just how things "went" when putting an album together; maybe like a "quota" of sorts.  I don't know...obviously. :)

Brian leads = "BRIAN'S BACK!"
Al leads = "this song is good, but I bet they put Brian's name on this but he had nothing to do with writing the song. I doubt he's even on the recording."

As great as Al sounds, I think it just comes down to the fact that The Beach Boys "lead singers" were/are: Mike, Brian, and Carl. In the beginning, say, from Surfin' Safari to Pet Sounds, you were most likely to hear a Brian or Mike lead with an occasional Dennis lead, and very rarely maybe Carl or Al. Then during Smiley Smile through Friends you had Carl stepping up to the plate, with Mike and Brian still having their share. From 20/20 through Holland things got much more spread out, with Dennis and Carl very much having lead parts, with Brian and Mike still around, and the Al vocal here and there, depending on the album. After "Brian's Back", Brian made a bit of a resurgence as far as lead vocals, with Carl also leading the way. As Brian vocally kinda disappeared on L.A. (Light Album) and Keepin' The Summer Alive, Carl and Mike kinda became the co-frontmen, and things basically stayed that way until Carl died. Carl took Brian's place from the early days, as far as having that lovely high, yet commercial voice to go along with Mike's nasal, rock and roll kinda thing.

So anyways, leading back into TWGMTR, I think the group tried to go back to being the "classic" Beach Boys, with Brian Wilson producing, and Brian and Mike singing most of the leads, a la Pet Sounds and most of the stuff from before that. I think that's just the way history has played out. Carl and Mike were the '80s and on "lead guys", and especially without Carl up front, Brian's basically had no choice but to step back into that role that Carl took over in the late '60s. And Al just remained Al, doing his part, probably wishing for more (both vocally and artistically). He's in an odd place. He's basically considered an original, but with less clout than the obvious leader (Brian Wilson) and less clout than the main singer (Mike Love). And he is part of BRI, which puts him ahead of Bruce Johnston and David Marks, which I'm sure also contributes to the fact that Al is featured more vocally on the album than Bruce.

I think part of it is that Al sang so many of Brian's parts live, even when Brian was there in later years even though he didn't have as many leads on albums. Al lost out on some leads in 2012 because Brian was there and he was singing a lot of the stuff Al would sing. Awesome to have Brian do them don't get me wrong, but also disappointing cause you missed some Al leads.

I guess the question that should be asked here is...what tunes in the BB canon does anyone think would be better if Al had sung lead?

The brilliance of having Al in the band was that he could blend in so well, which made it possible for Brian to create differing vocal textures by using Al (and, to a lesser extent, all the others) in various locations.

It strikes me that one of the reasons why Brian gave Al the lead on "Help Me Rhonda" was to boost him into a position of greater prominence. He my have wanted to boost his confidence because he knew that Al would need to do more leads in the live shows. There seems to be some subtext in the infamous "Murry" tape that makes me think that Al was more deferential about his position in the band in the early days, being (until Bruce came in) the lone "non-family" member. It seemed that everyone was supporting someone who hadn't quite the same level of confidence (even Murry, in the midst of his strange behavior, is being supportive).  As other posters have noted, when Brian went into his post-Smile tailspin it was Carl who stepped up to take his place, evolving quickly into a singer with an incredibly diverse range.

I always get the sense that Brian has done a really good job of knowing when Al is best matched to a song in terms of being the lead singer. That extends right up to the present. As Al began to write his own material, he found his own voice, and he's a lot more playful and relaxed with his later leads than he was in the 60s.

Since Brian was producer and bandleader, I guess he didn't groove on Al's voice for leads so much.

Al had quite a few leads on Post Card to California  :)

Okay, I've just had my mind blown.  Al shares some of the lead on "Good Time"??  I always thought it was all Brian.  Is that Al on the choruses?  Please fill me in.

That's a really good question.

You don't really notice how few leads Al had until you think about it.

He killed every lead he got though, what a voice.

Al's voice works best when given the right material.  He can knock a "Help Me Rhonda" or "Cottonfields" out of the ballpark, but I prefer his lead vocals in small doses.  His singing voice is kind of on the "plain" side, and it doesn't work well for all kinds of music.  But I agree his vocals have held up better than the rest of the group.  And for what it's worth, he got to sing lead on the best song off of TWGMTR.

Spring Vacation?

The lead of "Good Time" is Brian. No Alan.

I mean, Al's so unassuming he doesn't even get all of the leads on his solo album!

The nice thing about From There To Back Again was that Brian was reportedly so chuffed with the way Al sang the first line, that he got him to record the second. And then the third.... until he'd sang the entire front section!


(can't remember where I read that!)

I think he'd have done a better job on the lead vocal of "Isn't It Time" and perhaps some other songs on That's Why God Made the Radio than Brian did.  On a somewhat related topic, I was wondering why Bruce didn't get any lead vocals on That's Why God Made the Radio.  In fact, if I'm not mistaken, Bruce has never had a lead vocal on a song that Brian was the primary songwriter of (since Bruce was the primary writer of "Deirdre" and I think Al was the primary writer of "At My Window").

If there is to be another album, let's hope that Al gets most of the lead singing chores.

Al sounds amazing now. He really should get more leads on any future recordings because his voice is the best of all of them at the present time.  He blends so well on the harmonies, too, because he sounds similar to a Wilson, with a brighter edge.  Yet he has his own unique sound that is a Beach Boys' signature.

Why so few ?  They kept losing the box.

Al Jardine, the Alan Ladd of pop music.

California Saga: California

Mike had to sing lead. California is both nostalgic and contemporary at the same time, lose Mike's lead (and the California Girls bassline) and you've got a completely different song.

I think Al should have rang Heroes with the more upbeat 70s live arrangement on the tour. Brian`s the man, but in 2012 Al just sounds better.

Yeah, but that's such a classic Mike Love lead on the record. SOOOOOO Beach Boys.

This is the great thing about these guys. It never seemed to be an ego thing about who had the BEST voice, but rather who worked best for the song. Even Mike, for all his legendary Myke Luhv-ness, was not above singing "Bad luck, no more" over and over again on Celebrate The News. I think, in the end, Al worked out as mainly a utility type of guy and provided that great and VERY Beach Boys strength in the harmony blend. I think it's pretty inarguable that Al had the strongest voice. I don't mean the best voice, but the one with the most consistent tone, timber, attack. He created a firm and powerful foundation for the more expressive and emotional voices to join themselves to.

He said "best" tho.


Mmmh i think i like more Al on Californ-i-a and since Mike Love got so much leads.. but that is actually very true, i guess why we never got a Carl or Dennis version of Sail On Sailor because it probably just didn't work or fit the song, and that in the end Blondie was da man.

I agree but it's not the same kind of feeling or emotion we hear in a "Be With Me" or "God Only Knows". It's a subtle thing and maybe I'm full of merda. But I'm just thinking that the guy with the most powerful voice in the group would likely be used as a strong support and highly valued as such. But a by=product of this would be he's end up getting less leads.

I actually agree with this sentiment. In fact, when I saw that Al was back in the studio in Europe doing his vocals for the reworked single version, my first assumption was that the band was going to "go for broke" and indeed have him replace Brian's first-verse vocal. In truth, after hearing the album version, I think I actually would have preferred it this way from the get-go. And while I do think Brian sounded fine, and even *quite* nice elsewhere on the album, and while, probably in a minority view, I actually (much!) prefer the reworking of IIT to the original, if they honestly were looking to achieve substantial radio play (and striving for a "hit" single), it probably really would have been a better idea to have Al sing that initial verse (IMHO).

On the other hand, this most likely would've been a highly controversial and politically volatile move to make. At least, after-the-fact of the original recording/release. That is, I *get* why Brian sang it to begin with......and why it remained that way.

Was Al insufficiently forthright? Did he just get bumped by stronger egos?

Al's still retained his great voice, no doubt. But the new album made me realize that Brian's current voice has become somewhat iconic - perhaps not in the way his old voice was, but nevertheless, it is still a voice that is now instantly recognizable as Brian's voice. It's funny because I remember a lot of discussions at the beginning of the 2000s centered around Brian's voice - the tragedy of his voice, etc. Yet in the last ten years or so, I think many of us became accustomed to his new voice because of the relentless touring and releases. It is far from perfect, and something wholly different from what it once was, but Brian seems to have taken ownership of this new voice and has done some interesting things with it. When I hear Brian on the new album, I think, hey that's the guy from BWPS or Gershwin or Lucky Old Sun - I know that guy! That doesn't happen so much when Al sings, as great as he is.

Maybe Al didn't get more vocals in the past because his voice was so similar to Brian's non-falsetto voice. Take "I Know There's An Answer." For a long time I thought it was Brian on the verses – after Mike singing the first line of each verse, of course). Part of it was reading the liner notes, since David Leaf's policy seems to be, "When in doubt, automatically credit Brian (see also, "All Dressed Up For School" (Carl) and "Be Here in the Morning" (Al).

Speaking of "I Know There's an Answer," we know that Al wasn't comfortable singing those lyrics, even though he did a great job. It's interesting that Brian gave Al, the straightest member of the band, the most "trippy" lyrics on Pet Sounds to sing.

As for songs that would have sounded better with Al, I think "Getcha Back" is one. Supposedly Mike himself didn't like his vocal on that one.

I also think Brian should have let Al do at least one verse on "Sloop John B" since it was his idea to do the song. Instead of Brian-Mike-Brian, do Al-Mike-Brian.

It wouldn't be an altogether mad idea for Brian & Al to do a Pet Sounds tour.

I suspect that the paucity of Al Jardine lead vocals is due in large part to his not being a "made man" in the family.

We do have some concrete examples of how some songs would have worked with Al on lead. I much prefer the Smile version of Vegetables over the Smiley version. Of course part of it is the production, but Al was great on the lead vocal and his being replaced couldn't have been on artistic grounds.

I rather prefer Al's vocal on the Today version of Help Me Rhonda, which lacks Mike's nasal interruption. (Mike's background vocals are great, and even his "Help me Rhonda yeah" works, but I wish it were all Al on lead.)

California could have been a classic Al Jardine lead vocal. Maybe handing it over to Mike was the price he paid for its inclusion on the album. The song obviously has a strong folk vibe going on, so why not let the resident folk singer, who wrote the thing after all, sing it?

I much prefer the version of California Dreaming with Al and Carl doing all the leads. My guess is that covering the song was Al's idea, so it's nice that he got to sing lead on most of it.

Finally, I know it's not a Beach Boys record, but I think Brian's first solo album could have been a lot better if Carl and Al had made guest appearances as lead vocalists.

That's the first I've read that Mike has acknowledged how poor his vocal was on Getcha Back.  Al would have done well on that song, would have liked to hear him sing it live on the 50th tour.

That's interesting - I feel exactly the other way round. Al's April 1967 vocal sounds pretty bored to me, and I have about 8 times more fun listening to the Smiley version.

Micha, the Smile version of Vegetables was an immediate standout to me, and I believe to a lot of other folks as well. I could never have imagined how intricate and ambitious the track Brian wanted to make was until I heard the Smile box. One reviewer of Smiley Smile remarked that the instant he heard the bass which opens the Smiley Smile version of Vegetables he knew that Brian had thrown in the towel as a producer.

I listened to the Smile and Smiley versions back-to-back and I can't understand what leads you to the conclusion that Al sounded bored. The vocals on the Smiley version sound as if someone had taken too much Valium.  I still like the Smiley Smile version, particularly the extended stereo mix on Hawthorne, just not as much.

I'm probably in a minority here, but I prefer the Smiley Smile versions of Good Vibrations, Heroes and Villains, and Wind Chimes over their Smile counterparts.

Well, first off, I'll say that I agree with you about "Heroes And Villains". I think the Smiley Smile version is the best version. Especially the stereo remix as it appears on Hawthorne, CA. However, when you say "Smile counterparts", what do you mean? The versions on The SMiLE Sessions? Cuz I mean, it's pretty obvious that if the album got released in 1967, that the single version of "Good Vibrations" woulda been on it.

Great post! I think a lot of it comes from the fact that Brian's comfortable with his voice now; he showed on this tour that when he's on, he's as good as he ever was (just in a different way).

It's probably only me, and as this is all opinion, the only fact I can claim is that Al's lead sounds bored to me, valiumed, whereas the Smiley harmony vocal arrangement doesn't sound valiumed but intentionally silly. Mike's tongue-in-cheek lead on the cornucopia version is better, too. And I love the lone bass of the Smiley version, it's more funny to me than the weird bass rhythm of the SMiLE version. I just compared the two too, and it's just that way, I can't help it.

I'm with you though in preferring the Smiley version of Wind Chimes which is really a totally different song with just the same lyrics. There's some valium for ya! ;D

Wonderful though is not as good as the harpsichord version, though. But I like to listen to Smiley on Christmas, it fits the silent mood of Christmas very well.

i could care less for an op's question, what rrrrreally bothers me is WHY SO FEW LEADS WITH BRUCE ?? i mean, he had an astounding voice! it's not the best (Denny) but who cares?

I was actually kinda surprised that MIKE had so few leads on TWGMTR...  really, considering that he's the 'lead singer' of the band.  Not that this hasn't happened before, but he doesn't sing a whole lot of leads on the album.  The only songs he gets a full lead are "Daybreak" and "Beaches in Mind,' plus he sings some of the leads on "Spring Vacation" and "Isn't It Time."  4 out of 12 isn't much. 

Considering that Al has been more of a harmony singer throughout the band's history, he does pretty well:  most of "From There to Back Again," part of "Isn't It Time," and the last line on the verses of the title track.  Plus, basically he is the lead vocalist of "Think About the Days," if you can say that song has a lead vocalist.  That's a pretty fair amount. 

As for Bruce, he gets part of "Isn't It Time," and the last two lines of each verse on "Spring Vacation."  Overall, it's a pretty balanced mix, though I do wish that they could have put Dave in there somewhere! 

I think "Think About the Days" is beautiful too.  And Al has the most dominant, mid-range part--everyone else is singing around him.  Bruce gets some nice stuff in there too, as does Jeff, but Al gets the part that is closest to a lead vocal. 

Since Carl has passed on, Al easily has the best voice in the Beach Boys. Hell, that's one of the things I like about him the most. His voice has easily aged the best (along with the even more underused Bruce), and it's shocking that he didn't get as many leads as he did on TWGMTR.

He still sounds like he's in his early 20's, and if there's ever a future Beach Boys album, I think Al must get at least the majority of the lead vocals. I'd hate to say it, but Brian's voice has easily aged the worst, and admittedly his vocals for me is hard to listen to since the Landy era. I guess that's a big reason why the 88 album is my favourite Brian solo album. And Mike's hasn't aged too well either, though not quite as bad as Brian.

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Not sure about that.

I think that Mike`s voice was at it`s worst (ie. most nasal) the from around 1980 into the 2000s. Listen to his vocals on the studio version of Santa Ana Winds (this is one where Al should have sung the whole song which he did in concert), his live rendition of Imagine, his live performance of Do It Again from the Nashville Sounds video etc.

Over the past several years Mike has sung better than previously (though obviously not as well as he did in his salad days) and does a good job in concert considering his age.

In the studio it is not really a problem as they can fix any bum notes. Mike sounds fine on TWGMTR and on his unreleased solo album to my ears.

It is in concert that I think Al should have been given more leads and he was definitely under-utilized when he toured with Brian last year. It certainly wouldn`t be a surprise if he didn`t tour with Brian again this year...

Right, I don't like how Al says "vheyjtibles". Is that a Californian thing? Sometimes I'm up all night thinking about this.

Also, I'm thinking Al being sacked as the vocalist for that one WAS on artistic grounds considering he wasn't so much as replaced by another member, but all members. The song, or at least the Smiley version, is all the better for it. Consider how many leads were changed between Smile and Smiley Smile - "Vega-Tables" goes from Al to a group vocal, "Wind Chimes" goes from Carl to a group vocal, "She's Goin' Bald" goes from Brian to a group vocal, "Wonderful" goes from Brian to Carl (although I think the "Rock With Me Henry" version is later than the version that appears on disc 1 of TSS, but still), etc.

That said, Al is indeed way too underutilized as a vocalist, especially on TWGMTR.

Also, Mike's voice indeed turned to piss some time in the 90s and was on the decline as early as BB85, I'd say. That Nascar record though, holy sh*t, the guy's voice is so bad it's sort of amusing. He seemed to eventually, y'know, realize his voice had aged and he'd worn it out from years of wheeeeeeeinning, and on the '05 solo material and TWGMTR, he works with the age and wear instead of against it as he had on the Nascar record etc. The results are pretty good, to me.

Brian has said several times he wishes he had given Al more leads.

Mike's voice from about 82-06??? steadily declined. He never adjusted to his voice changing, tried to sing the same way, and didn't seem to put that much effort into it. That changed in the mid-late 00s and we are all better off for it.

I would like to represent Californians everywhere and say that we pronounce vegetables as "vech-tuh-buhls."

Al doesn't have as much versatility as a vocalist than most of the other members do... Dennis similarly didn't get many leads...

Idkkk

If you wrote this to get reaction - it worked, as I cannot pass this comment by & strongly disagree with you, because if a lack of versatility meant a few leads, then why Al not Carl was chosen for lead vocal in "You Still Believe In Me" & "Heroes & Villains" in concert? I'd say those are pretty tough songs for singing, esp. live. Don't you think so? As for Dennis, I think you're just not a fan of his voice.