The Smiley Smile Message Board

Why did Mike's voice get so nasal from 1975 onwards until C50? Did his voice wear down with age or he "try" to make it sound like it did on the early material with horrible results?

What you're actually saying it that there was a period of time when he didn't sound nasal at all..?

It actually improved a lot quite a while ago -- the shows I've seen post-2001 all had him in at least decent voice. I think partly it was a stylistic choice, but I've also heard that he has a lot of allergies.

I saw M&B in 2011 and he generally sounded like he did on C50, but I was wondering about this because I listened to some 1980s-1990s shows and his voice is extremely nasal.

His nose has been moved from the critical list, and is now in a hospice.

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Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeen some loud braggart tries to put me down.... :o

I always wondered if Mike's voice got even more nasal due to his voice changing with age.  Maybe he found it easier to hit the notes by singing even more through his nose, as opposed to from his chest (like Carl).  Could have been a stylistic choice like Andrew says, but I don't know why anybody would want to sound that nasal.  I like Mike's voice a lot, but I find stuff from the early to mid 90s painful to listen to, with the Budokan show from 1991 or 1992 or whatever being particularly bad.  I have to agree though, that from 2000 or so on his voice is perfectly acceptable, even if it's mellowed with age.

Mike's gone on record saying he doesn't have a lot of lung capacity...that's why he was always on a separate mic during group studio vocal sessions (they could boost the level of his mic independently of the others).  So, I guess that's why he uses mostly "head" voice, rather than "chest" voice.

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Do any of the Beach Boys have chest voices, at least strong ones? Carl was the only one with a belt, and it wasn't even that strong compared to people who really belt.  The falsetto by nature is a head voice. Though I agree Mike's bass is more of a simulation than a true bass. I don't think anyone would pay to hear him sing "Old Man River."

Well actually anybody who bought the Friends/ 20/20 or Hawthorne did in fact pay to hear Mike Love sing "Old Man River". In a way, I suppose.

Yeah, somehow, between Holland and 15BO, Mike's voice got way more nasal while all of the Wilsons' voices got darker. I don't believe in a stylistic choice (except maybe Brian's case). I assume that with old age deterioration Mike's voice got less nasal recently.

Big Sur was his best singing voice...ever. In my humble opinion.

Holland version or 1970 version?

Old man river sounds lovely in any register... it's one of the best songs ever written.

Speaking of aging, it's amazing how little Mike has changed, at least appearance wise, over recent years. He's aged very well.

Al's always had an *incredibly* strong chest voice. Mike's upper chest/lower head voice (if you see what I mean -- the baritone he uses for ballad leads) is stronger than his bass, though still not all that strong.

Is that like a cool head warm heart kind of thing

Yeah, those kinds of songs. There's a few like that.

Upper Chest?  Lower Head?  Those descriptions remind me more of some of my old girlfriends than any of the BBs singing voices!   ;)

I think that he developed his ultra-nasal technique as a way of making himself sound stronger and audible as he got older.
I believe that as the sound equipment improved dramatically over the last 15 years, he was able to be less forceful about his leads, and sing in a more relaxed way. In fact, he's sounded consistently good over the last 10 years or more.

 :lol

I have always wondered why he is not overly nasal on Love You, because he certainly is most nasal on 15 Big Ones & MIU. On Love You he sounds more like his late 60s, early 70s self.

Amazing what botox will cover up. ;)

For some reason, I always thought Mike was doing some kind of self-parody on 15 Big Ones, almost like he got caught up in the 1976 comeback/throwback and was doing his own personal "Mike is back" thing. I do hear some nasal tone on Love You, especially on "Airplane", but I really don't hear much on MIU. I think Mike's vocals on MIU are excellent.

Damn! Someone beat me to the "critical list" comment.

I once saw a video on YouTube with Brian at the piano attempting to imitate Mike's singing style circa 1979 or so. Al is standing next to him and he asks (a very embarrassed) Al to hold his nose while he's singing -- which Al does! I wish I'd earmarked this video -- it was hilarious.

It's on the Endless Harmony DVD

It's from 1996 or so. The Stars and Stripes sessions.

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Because I saw it only once in a fleeting moment over a friend's house circa 2006-07. Plus, I associated it with another video we were watching of the 1976-era Brian at the piano singing "I'm Bugged at My Old Man" with Carl and Dennis on backups. That one is still on YouTube.

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Good comparsion! ;D

Said "hold my nose" clip hails from Time-Life: History of Rock 'n' Roll, 1993.