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Being someone whos fascinated by Brians falsetto (in its slightly different four eras - early 60s, late 60s/early 70s, late 70s and late 80s/early90s, I was wondering as I have only ever seen him live twice, can he still do falsetto?
There is some falsetto on GIOMH (Fairytale), SMiLE (Surfs up) and a bit on the Xmas album (First Noel), but do we really think we will ever here Brian doing falsetto again?

Barely. In fact, he can't really even do God Only Knows live anymore.

Yet, oddly enough, on songs like "Drive In" he sounds phenomenal.

He did a really good version of "good to my baby" live in 04.  the falsetto phrase at the end of "First Noel" is about the best I've heard him in years, though, sounds incredible. 

Re: GIOMH - Remember, he also sang all of the background parts (including the high falsetto stuff).

I think he'll always be able to sing falsetto to some degree.  Despite all the damage he did to his voice, bear in mind he developed it at an early age and kept it in top shape for about 15 years.   It's practically in his blood.

Can he still sing a demanding song like Surfer Girl in the original key?  I don't know, but I'd bet on a good day he could do it if he really wants to.

He sings falsetto on each of the past several albums, so obviously he can sing in that voice. It isn't anywhere near as pretty or pure as it used to be, but he can do it. Obviously, he doesn't trust it live, as the others take those parts. I don't blame them...his falsetto basically sounds like sh*t (GIOMH bg vox).

He doesn't like singing falsetto from what I hear -- makes him feel like singing like a girly man or something.

If it was just that, I'm In Great Shape and "columnated ruins domino" on BWPS would've been pure Brian.

Unless he doesn't trust it in the studio, either..

as I said, it sounds like sh*t either way. But he CAN do it, and has in some songs. No question, others all sound better than him, live or studio.

He only disliked his voice at a time he was self desructing. Sounding good in 74 he smoked and coked as much as he could in 75 and by the end of the year damaged himself for good. He still did the high notes sometimes through 85 or so, but it wasn't quite as pure. Once in a while it sounded good but never the same. After Getcha Back Brian sang less and less falsetto. When he did it wasn't too good (Daddy's Little Girl). In 1999 he hit the end note of Caroline No perfect during his Chicago show.  Damnit if the dvd from this tour has him miss it. Anyhow I do think his voice since 98 or so is better then it has been since M.I.U. but really he now sounds best singing Mike's parts.

My dad (Mike) has always loved Brian's falsetto voice. He told me this little story about his visit with Brian while at the Capitol Records building last week: He and Brian were chatting while in the background Pet Sounds was playing. My dad interrupted Brian at one point to listen to a song (I neglected to ask which song, sorry!) and asked him, "Can you still sing like THAT?" Brian just laughed and said "No, man!"

 ;D

Yeah Brian has always been pretty open about the loss of his voice.

Try reposting this on the Bloo, and you'll be told it's just another example of Brian's wacky sense of humor, he can still hit every note just like 1965, etc., etc....

Truth.

I just watched my Pet Sounds Live DVD tonight and you're right, he absolutely drilled that note at the end of Caroline No.  Almost sounded like the Brian of old, just not quite as nasal as when he sang it in '66.  Whether he could hit that today, who knows?  Doesn't really matter, he still sounds pretty good all things considered, and given all the amazing vocals he did back in the day when his voice was at its peak, he certainly doesn't have anything to prove to anyone.

By the way thanks for sharing that story Melinda!

Well like I said I think he has become a good  singer again in the last decade, not a stunning one like before but very nice.

I'm 27 and I think I have a pretty decent voice, I can't touch a lot of the background vocals and things Brian can still sing now in his 60's.  I imagine some are drenched in autotune, but all in all I'm happy with how his voice sounds.  Sometimes he hits notes that make you cringe 'urgh, good god why did they leave it like that' and then sometimes he hits a really sweet note.  On something like "What I Really Want For Christmas", in my opinion he sounds impressive all through the song.  Even things like "It came upon a midnight clear" his voice sounds very strong and impressive for a grandfather. 

The high note in "Don't Talk" on the PS tour was hit or miss. He'd get up there, but sometimes lost control of it and went way off key. Maybe his ear affects him on stage sometimes....

That is a good point. When we critique his live performances, we have a tendancy to forget that the man is deaf in one ear.

But doesn't he usually only sing out of the side of his mouth that goes to his good ear?

Hmmmmm... don't think I'd accept a commercial DVD as any kind of evidence. That's the DVD where he changes shirts in mid-sentence, as I recall.

He does not change shirt mid-sentence. That might be the "on tour" DVD.

He does sometimes change shirt from song to song, as it clearly stated on the DVD cover (and the CD) the released recording is culled from his 7 nights at the Royal festival Hall...so what Mark Linnet did was to take the best performance of each song and glue them together. Nothing wrong with that, it is the way most bands have done live albums over the years.

Can Brian sing falsetto? Well, I've seen him live albeit only once. He absolutely nailed Surf's Up when I saw him in the summer of '04 and delivered a prefect "God only Knows". The dude sings better at 60+ than I do at 33.  Occasionally he'd hit a bum not and not adjust it...this suggests to me a hearing problem rather than a voice problem. He isn't aware that the note is out of tune....when you only have one good ear and 19 other musicians playing on all sides around you, it must be difficult even with monitors.

I also have some...err...unofficial recordings from the SMiLE tour...they vary...on some he is said to have had a cold and his vocals are more likely to be out of tune...on others he nails it consistently throughout the performance.

So i thnk Brian can still do falsetto. But it ain't quite as sweet as 40 years ago and Brian himself knows he cannot always rely on it.

Time for pantomime !

OH YES HE DOES !!!  ;D

Can't recall which song - it's been some time since I've watched the DVD - but the first time I saw Pet Sounds Live, I remember falling off my chair laughing as, in mid-song intro, as the camera angle changed, so did Brian's shirt.

And yes, I know that the DVD - and CD - were culled from four nights recording: I was there for all four of them. My point was that, citing a DVD version of a song where Brian nails a difficult note doesn't mean he actually nailed it on the night in question.

Errrrrrr... sorry, but he didn't. On that particular song live, Brian was doubled by both Darian (highest) and Jeff (high), and he - Brian - didn't attempt the falsetto... or so Mr. S. told me. :-) I checked the following night: he was right.

I'm doing this merely to be a pain, just presenting facts as told me by participants.

Darian was, I'm sure, referring to the "columnated ruins.." part. On the second half of the song it was Brian singing solo, until the second tour where Jeff began to double Brian (probably because Brian could never consistently hit those notes.

Not trying to put down anyones opinion but his hearing never stopped him from perfect pitch in his 20s. He has an unusually good ear and I think he proves it as an arranger and as a performer. The problem is that his voice is damaged. Before 75 he was a terrific singer. From 76-82  once in a while he was better then he is now but often far worse. His vocals from 83-95 annoy me overall as they are kinda whiney. He was fairly good at times (Let It Shine, Getcha Back) but at other times (Daddy's Little Girl) horrid. Around the 95-6 he began to markedly improve and by 98-99 he sounded quite professinal. Since then I have been pleased with his voice but not knocked out. The last vocals of his that really knock me out were done in 1974 and as much as I like his voice now I don't LOVE it.

AGD, Darian (as Nimrod suggests) is probably referring to "columnated ruins domino"...Brian certainy sang "while at port" when I saw him in portsmouth two years ago.

I have unusually good ears, and am trained musically. I can pick out who is singing. I also know what it is like to hear your voice alongside an instrumental accompaniment, detect that you are off-key and correct (or at least attempt to). Sometimes I've heard recordings of Brian where he doesn't correct himself - therefore I assume he is unable to hear that he is out of tune.

Perhaps doing a gig with the other Beach boys in the 60's is a bit different from singing with the backing of 19 other musicians in your 60's ?

I'll have to check the PS DVD for a shot of Brian changing shirts mid-song...nevertheless we know he nailed the vocals on at least one of the four nights :)

As I said summing up, Brian *can* still sing falsetto but not consistently.

If you listen to the earliest SMiLE concert recordings, he's attempting a few falsetto phrases that are altered (transposed) in later concerts...and in other instances his vocals are doubled in earlier concerts while later he sings them solo - indicating that his voice and confidence got better.

The title of this thread is "Can Brian still do falsetto?" Well, yes, he can. He can still hit the notes. But, hell, so can most of us.

There is a big difference between just hitting notes - whether they be falsetto or bass - and singing them with emotion and expression.

I believe this is THE BIGGEST distinction between Brian's vocals with The Beach Boys and his solo years. Yes, Brian (or somebody) makes sure he hits the correct notes on his recent recordings; well, most of them. But there is something missing in his solo career vocals that is keeping his music from reaching its potential. I'm not a musician, so I don't know the term. Phrasing? Inflection?  But I know when I don't hear it...

His phrasing is definitely different than it used to be...mostly I notice that he can't sing a long line with one continuous breath anymore, which I'm guessing is more due to his age than anything else.  Good example is H&V '04.  He sings "I've been in this town so long that back in the city I've been taken for lost and gone *breath* and unknown for a long long time."  On the old versions he went right through.  It's not a huge thing but maybe that's part of what you're not hearing Sheriff.  His emotion, on the other hand, is definitely still there, on stuff like Surf's Up, especially the "laughs come hard" section.  His weathered voice fits the song very well I think, and it makes hearing it all the more special.  I think that in general though, what is missing is that we all want to hear the Brian of old singing these songs, just because we know that if he were still 24 he'd knock them out of the park.  That's how I feel at least...sometimes it's hard to remember that the old guy coming out of my speakers is the same guy who had the voice of an angel once.  But there are still times when you hear that old voice creep in, if just for a moment.

And Andrew I certainly do understand where you're coming from, but the point I was trying to make is that he hit the note on whatever evening it was, and what's more is he had the guts to even attempt it.  In the IJWMFTT version (which as I recall was in the same key as the concert on the DVD), he didn't even try, he just went down the octave.  Brian seems to have a good sense of what he can and can't do vocally at this point.  If he has the confidence, he'll usually nail it.  As others have said, in live performances his hearing difficulties may be a factor, and of course everyone has off nights.  I'd love to see him nailing falsetto parts in concert, but the time for it has passed, and Brian knows it.  And he seems perfectly happy to hand off those parts to others now, and just stick with his leads and bass singing. 

I don't like Brian's bass vocal that much, it makes me laugh sometimes. Especially in "Little Saint Nick"; he sounds so silly.

Well, hey - I was there too ! Small world, huh ?

He does nail it some nights and other nights no. Te point of my original Caroline No stroy was that I was sad that the note I heard him hit so well personally was not attempted on the concert chosen for the dvd. I think Chris is right on about this. We wan't to hear "Brian" again and have to accept that it won't happen. I personally think he didn't emote enough on the SI sessions and many of the Beach Boys 85 tracks. The last three LPs may not be perfect but both in vocals and in production I have no real issues.

One thing I want to mention is, the live shows aren't entirely fair to judge because you're judging what he's doing live against what he did in the studio 40 years ago.  If you judge what he does in the studio now against what he did in the studio then, there's a few moments here and there where he approaches what he once was... but Brian singing off key in concert isn't something he just does now, he screwed up all the time back then too.  I'm not saying his voice is as good now, it's clearly not... but it sure is magic to hear him every once in a while be great again, even if it's just a couple notes.

I was listening to the live version of "Hushabye" from the GV box set today, and noticed Brian sing the wrong line in the first Chorus.  You can listen to lots of the old demos and things too, and hear Brian sing off key all the time! Nowhere near as much as he does now, but we're talking about a man who's a recovered alcoholic, drug addict, and has severe mental disorders.... he shouldn't even be alive right now.  If he sings "all the flowers dieeeeeeed" off key on "Fairy Tale".... well, maybe he'll get it right next time, god bless you Brian, right?

His falsetto is leaving him. His bass notes can sound funny sometimes. Yet, his mid-range voice is stronger than ever.That's why I wish he would actually do  a ROCK album. Sometimes he has this *edge* to his voice.

Oddly enough, he sounds really good singing Mike's old parts, but they would've sounded terrible back when he had his "good" voice...

You know I agree that his mid range voice is really nice again but I got say he always nailed Mike's parts, Wouldn't It Be Nice and California Saga come to mind. I also think his singing on Friends but also the 66-74 period in general has a lot of nice mid range singing.

When did he do "California Saga" live ? I'd like to hear that one.

The original 1972 and on the single 1973 On My Way To Sunny Californ I-A lines are what I was refering to.

But not the "Lonely Sea" era Brian.

I think Brian could have done a pretty darn good bass vocal back in the day...of course the only evidence we really have is that "Don't Talk" vocal snippet from the PS Box.  But the bass voice he does there is quite good I thought.  I think at that point Brian could pretty much do whatever he wanted with his voice, whether it be a beautiful falsetto, a powerful mid-range lead, or a solid bass part.  Too bad age has taken that away from him, but he had such a special voice back in those days.

Agreed. His mid range vocals on the first album are pretty average.  Lonely Sea is one of my favorites. 

It certainly can be. Perhaps you saw me...I was in the 4th row fairly close to the middle...I'm a very large guy and I had a big camera with me.....Brian - to my surprise - would look straight at me and grin whenever I pointed it at him :)

Shame nobody seems to have a recording of that concert. Do you recall his one rocky moment was when he was about to sing the intro to "Getting In Over My Head" and somebody shouted "I love listening to your new CD". I shall assume that wasn't your good self...:)

There was at least one guy in my row who seemed unaware that Brian and band were going to give a full rendition of SMiLE. How strange is that?

On Orange Crate Art there is some fantastic falsetto singing, especially in San Francisco.

I bet it was "Don't talk".

BTW re: brian's falsetto: you can watch the promo-video for "GIOMH" and you'll hear him doing the "look so fine"-part from Rhonda. He hits the notes, but it doesn't sound really good.

I like in "saturday morning in the city" how he sings falsetto when he starts talking about the little kids in his neighborhood and it sounds so funny.  Lotta heart in that guy

Can Brian still do falsetto?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMWhfqVTMN4


But Dennis made up for it on the skins IMO.

Ouch that was pretty rough to hear...I give him credit for attempting though.  Interesting how at the end of the 2nd verse he starts improvising and changing the melody so that its in a more comfortable range.  Probably a smart move on his part; so sad that only 15 years before that (hell, even 10 years before that) he had he most gorgeous falsetto. 

Video's been taken down - does anyone know what it was?

Probably "Don't Worry Baby" from 1981. Not one of Brian's top moments.

Yep that's what it was...he tries singing it in the original key and it's just awful.  He tried improvising the melody from the chorus onward, but his voice was not in any kind of shape at that point to attempt that song in its original key.  Trust me, you're better off not hearing it!

Yeah, it was pretty craptastic.

Honestly I like his voice from this era. But the should not have had him singing this song in this way. The only times Brian's voice has really gotten to me starts with some of BW88 (some of the vocals are good) and goes all the way to probably OCA or the Paley sessions. The only listenable vocals from the Paley sessions were "You're Still A Mystery" and "Gettin' In Over My Head". For the most part he was just SO whiney during this era. By Imagination he sounded great though, somehow.

I wonder why those vids from 81 aren't there anymore. I'm pretty sure there was also videos of Brian singing "Good Vibrations" and maybe "God Only Knows" too. Its crazy that they trusted Brian at this time to handle those pretty tough vocals.

Four basic parts to Brian's voice: Range, pitch, phrasing and tonal quality.

From 62-early 70s. All four in good shape, with range reduced slightly toward the end.

75-78. Range much less. Tonal quality shot, replaced with raspiness (MIU expcepted). Phrasing sometimes awkward.

79-82. We don't hear as much of Brian's voice on record, but it generally gets worse in all areas. For the first time, pitch is sometimes affected.

85-95. In general, Brian sounds very similar over this entire period. He has some of his range back. His pitch is generally okay, too. But his phrasing is quite poor, and his tonal quality can range from acceptable to shouty to piercing.

98-present. Again, he's sounded pretty similar in the last decade. His range is lessened, although some falsetto remains. His phrasing overall is much better, as is the tonal quality (that is, his voice just sounds smoother). But his pitch sense takes a turn for the worse.

I would say some of the recent changes have been due to vocal coaching -- Brian has learned to use what he has more effectively. That's definitely a problem in 75-78 era and 85-95 years, when you hear him trying to force his voice to do things it just can't anymore. When he's on, and his pitch sense is good, he sounds remarkably good for a 68-year-old. When he's off (tired, lazy, etc.), it can be painful. But it does mean his recorded vocal work -- which can be pitch-corrected -- sounds better in the 2000s than it did in the 80s. Phrasing and tone count for a lot (the demo of Midnight's Another Day, for example).

That being said, he's clearly never going to be the vocalist he was in the 1960s, or even in the 1970s. Too much water under the bridge. I'll be interested to hear the Gershwin, though.

Where can I watch this video?

I think there's one factor to this it's easy to forget, and that's the physical effort of singing.  I'd bet that, given how Brian hits the notes, a lot of them are just physically painful to try to do.  Yes, he might be able to hit this or that note better, but is it really worth the effort?  I think that's a lot of what's in play here.  Can he hit the notes?  Sure, if he really wants to.  Can he hit them with the accuracy and physical ease that he did in his '20s?  Not even close.  

That's what I always think Adam. 67 year old men don't usually sing falsetto, and Brian also has a damaged voice and he's insecure and overweight. Many factors.

Hell, there are nights I don't want to hit the notes myself, and I'm nowhere near 67.  If your sinuses and/or throat aren't where they need to be -- and I bet BW's aren't about 99% of the time -- yeah, you can hit 'em, but it ain't exactly pleasant.

Here's a rather interesting video of Brian singing his original part to "Surfer Girl", at a party in 1991.  Though a little rough, its really not that bad, and there are moments in there that sound just like the original recording.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE6xnns1lpw

Discuss   ;D

Can Brian still do falsetto?  Yes.  Does it always sound good? No.  Am I grateful that he even tries to sing falsetto from time to time?  Yes, always.

A little rough ?  :o

That was inspired.

I thought that was a pretty freakin awesome performance. And I'm one of those guys that don't think Brian is anywhere close to the singer he was pre 75.

That video is also nearly 20 years old.

Brian subsequently started smoking again and damaged his voice still further.

Well if this isn't timely. Listened to 'Vegetables' last night off BWPS and the very last 'name' on the verse 'name of your favorite...vegetables' is right up there IMO. Hadn't noticed before.

The vocals don't bug me as much as the fact that the band seems lost for a while there. Thankfully Brian chimes in with a "speed it up". Thanks for the video.