The Smiley Smile Message Board

I have been listening to Sunflower/Surfs Up (double album) here a lot lately, and realized that Bruce Johnson had three lead vocals on Sunflower (At My Window, Tears in the Morning, Deirdre). And of course had lead on Disney Girls on Surfs Up. All excellent songs. But it got me wondering. Bruce's lead vocal selections are few and far between on the other albums we appeared on, even the ones in the 80s and 90s. I know that he provided lots of harmony, but on most concert films from the 70s/80s.... you never see Bruce take a lead vocal. When I saw the BBs a few months ago, he did Disney Girls, Do You Wanna Dance, and maybe another. But was just wondering. Why was he never featured more as a lead vocalist? Even when he was a member of the Rip Chords, I don't recall any tracks where he was singing lead (they were all usually Ernie, Phil, or Terry Melcher). Just something I was wondering.

Good question. Maybe he's just not comfortable being the lead/main guy in the spotlight. I've always pictured Bruce more as the behind-the-scenes guy. He was a successful sessions musician, and went on to write and produce some neat sh*t before joining the BBs, and after. I guess he was content with playing a mainly supportive role on stage. After all.. he's "the group's biggest fan", or how he likes to put it himself.





P.S. Welcome to the board, chaps!

His lead on "Don't Run Away" (OK, yes, it's a Bruce & Terry track) is some kinda serious good. "I Love You, Model "T""... eh, he did OK considering the material.

Don't Run Away (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDGXpfIoz8)

BTW, he also wrote the music, and got Mike to do the lyric AND sing bass.

Bruce is a great  singer and arguably has a much more distinctive voice than the other BBs. Maybe a Bruce lead would seem too solo and less band-like, less chance for the song to shine and too much focus on the singer? Maybe he'd' e had more leads if he had a Hawthorne accent!

Bruce has always reminded me of a record producer turned band member. He spent  a lot of time down here in Nashville over the years. Although he  is quite a self promoter, he is very talented. The studio folks down here all respect him. I am told he also is a very good piano/keyboard player. I have seen some other posts questioning his playing ability. I think those comments are un founded.

I wonder what the odds are that M&B would ever be willing to play "Don't Run Away" at one of their shows. Probably will never happen, but would be incredibly cool if it did. I got Bruce to sing a couple lines of "Dont' Run Away" in the hallway of the Grammy Museum. IMO Bruce's finest hour, but as usual in BB-land, this song is way under-appreciated and off the radar of pretty much everyone except us nerds.

How much Terry is on there, Andrew?

I always wondered why Al didn't sing "At My Window" instead of Bruce, considering Al cowrote it and had just one small lead vocal section on "Add Some Music" on Sunflower. Maybe Brian, Al and/or Bruce thought it suited Bruce better, but it surprised me there was so much Bruce and so little Al vocally on Sunflower.

I think "Deirdre" is Bruce's best Beach Boys vocal.

Does he adjust his mic in the studio too?

His organ solo on "Wild Honey" is enough for me to never question his playing ability; I love it. He's pretty skilled at bass, too, IMHO.

Those comments are indeed founded. They are founded on Bruce's live appearances for decades, where his keyboard is either very low in the mix or his contributions unsubstantial. That doesn't mean he's not a good musician - but it does 'found' those comments. Ergo, comments = founded. ;)

He's clearly audible during the middle-eight.

  The question has never been lack of ability but rather why he plays so little on stage.

  Moreover with a songbook containing "Disney Girls", "I Write the Songs", "Deirdre" etc, GOING PUBLIC could have been something special.

Thanks!

I've always thought this to be such a 'mature' song compared to the other stuff they were doing.

Recorded 2/15/66.

Had done.  ;D

Yep. And he also smiles and waves and claps his hands as he walks across the control booth. He also has a new scissor-kick jump that he's added to his repertoire.

Best Bruce Johnston bass vocal: Hey Little Cobra

Indeed. Check this out. This is Bruce. Just Bruce and the piano, performing Disney Girls, and it is excellent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4m5SfdZ_n4

I love Bruce Johnston's voice.

My guess is that it's because a. Bruce wasn't an original member, and an original member of The Beach Boys singing would give it a more authentic feel, and b. because his voice isn't as strong as the rest of The Beach Boys. And that's not just based on today. Listen to the 1966 Japan boot, and his voice is much weaker than the rest of the band.

Isn't this the clip Bruce tried to get removed from YouTube a few years ago?

Who was that dude that kinda looked like Mike, sleeping in the background?

Honestly, that clip was too slow and melodramatic...I love the song, but that was overblown.

Not only the three lead vocals on Sunflower, but had some prominent vocal lines in Add Some Music To Your Day as well.  Bruce and Dennis had the most lead vocals on that album - who could have predicted THAT?!

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Agreed...the clips I've heard of Bruce doing Wendy the past few years have been terrible. I'd rather drink the anal leakage of a dying water buffalo from a sippy cup than hear him do that again.

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I was exaggerating a bit...I meant a reasonably healthy water buffalo :lol

Whispering Bob Harris - clip is from The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Ahh...he must've dyed his hair, or it was the lighting, because his hair looked grayer when he introduced Roxy Music right before they played Ladytron, back in 1972.

At the time when I wasn't really a BBs fan (yet), didn't know who is who, I actually liked that video. That's the 1st time I heard "Disney Girls". As for the guy in the background, one of the comments said it was a host of that show Bob Harris. If I recall, he did the chart of the BBs story on BBC radio.

Spot on. He's still a radio presenter, one of the few authentic music experts left on BBC Radio 2. One of those DJs who presents great music, in an intelligent way and is worth listening to. He'd actually close his eyes and listen to the music…

I 100% agree.  I think Bruce has a great voice and is a very talented dude so I'm not trying to slight him at all, I just think that all of the drawn out phrases and dramatic pauses take the song into an overly cheeseball territory.  Bruce's performance in the original recorded version is damn near perfect.  The arrangement of the song in this video, even though it's evident that Bruce does have a great voice in it, does nothing for me.

ppk700 - quoted

His organ solo on "Wild Honey" is enough for me to never question his playing ability; I love it.
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+1

I think there's a simple reason why Bruce never did that many lead vocals. For any musician (or any other kind of artist, for that matter) to do anything there's gotta be a personal creative urge and/or public demand. Seems that there never has been much of either for Bruce Johnston leads.

Whatever anyone thinks of Bruce, he does have a few good qualities that seem to be very rare among famous musicians: he's not a bragger, he knows his place, doesn't feel the need to prove himself and he doesn't have to be the centre of attention. People don't go see The Beach Boys for Bruce Johnston or his songs, never have and never will. And it seems that Bruce fully realizes and has always been perfectly comfortable with that.