The Smiley Smile Message Board

I think Dennis would have been good for a day in the life of a tree.

I wish Al would have taken the Mike's vocal on Bluebirds Over The Mountain

Al Jardine should have been the lead vocalist on Vegetables.

Would have loved to have the Dennis version of Sail On Sailor, recorded at a time when his voice was in pretty good shape....especially for that song.

It seems that Al, with a far superior voice than the nasal bleating myKe luHv, was absolutely under utilized as a lead singer on the early hits. I am sure Brian was aware of this but felt that he'd be put through the wringer if he didn't use the luHvster on those leads.

I think Al would have been a better choice for California Saga: California.

Sail On Sailor - usually at the top of my list; wish it would've been Carl or Dennis; I never cared for Blondie's lead or voice
A Day In The Life Of A Tree - this song was made for Brian or Dennis' voice
Getcha Back - I wish Carl would've done the tag
In The Back Of My Mind - anybody but Dennis; I love Dennis' (later) vocals but not on this one
The Beach Boys' Christmas Album - I wish Carl would've taken a lead, that way all five Beach Boys would've gotten one
Shelter and Isn't It Time - nothing against Foskett but I wish Brian would've gone for those high parts 

I would have liked Brian or Al to sing the second verse on Sloop John B. I've never liked Mike's vocal on this song.

I wish there were alternate versions of the entire Stars & Stripes album with the Beach Boys singing the lead vocals.

Dennis on 4th of July...

I think Please Let Me Wonder would have been perfect for Carl.

No LEAD vocals by anyone who's nose was on the critical list...on ANY of their songs.  Absolutely  > NO <  2nd version of Forever.  I 'get' Brian wanting the "tree" sounding like a tree.  So, that said, I'll begrudgingly accept Jack's impersonation of said tree...although it might have SOUNDED more appealing if someone else had sung it.

I think that I would have liked to have heard Caroline No with more voices included.  What the heck was a solo song doing on a group album?  [the dogs don't count.]

I wish we would have gotten all the Dennis leads over the years that were originally planned for him, such as I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, Sail on Sailor, etc.  I even think I heard once that Dennis was originally supposed to sing Cabinessence in an exaggerated country voice, I would love that.

I also wish Dennis sang lead on more of his own songs such as All I Want to Do, It's About Time, Steamboat, and Only You. 

Basically I want more Dennis leads.

Gotta beg to differ. No one could sing please let me wonder or i just wasn't made for these times like Brian in his prime

Dennis certainly had the chops during the mid 60's, he probably should have been used more for lead vocals,
before he trashed it in the mid 70's.  'Got to know the woman' certainly shows the range he had before
the 'whisper' low voice era.

I may be the outlier here, but I actually love Dennis's late 70s raspy voice.  It adds so much emotion to the music, you can tell he's really feeling what he's singing. 

I got in trouble with the man himself who assigned the lead vocals, for my opinion on this, so I'm probably stupid to comment here.  I loved Mr. Love's bass vocals in the old BBs stack.  I never liked his lead voice - he always sounded like he was "taunting" people as a teenage snotty kid to me. 

Somehow, thanks to all those amazing songs and harmonies, I still bought all those records, though.  Possibly Mr. Wilson knows more than me about these things.  ;D

I agree with more Dennis and Al in general. either could have done Tree justice and I'd love to hear Dennis and Carl's attempts at SOS.

but mostly I wish Brian had laid down more leads on his compositions, at least in demo form.
if there was just one version of Brian singing God Only knows in '66 I would die much happier. same goes for any number of songs that Carl or somebody else sang instead. it's a long list.

The Pet Sounds Sessions box set has a version of God Only Knows with Brian on lead.  Although it sounds more like Carl and Brian doubling.

right. turns out Brian might not even be on that version. it sounds like an alternate Carl vocal to me

Anybody but Jack Rieley.  You have a band with SIX capable lead singers. 

On the Sunflower album, I'd trade at least one of the Bruce leads, either on Diedre or At My Window, for an Al lead. 

I never really cared for having Blondie or Ricky sing on BB's songs. Carl did SOS awesome in later concerts, so no reason he couldn't have sung it in the studio. IMO there could never be too many Carl leads on a BB's album.

Just my opinion, but with few exceptions (songs on Pet Sounds), it seems that Brian utilized Mike as a lead vocalist when the lead vocals were the least interesting thing in a particular song.

Oh...almost forgot...Right from the get-go I have always wanted a different narrator for Mt. Vernon and Fairway.  I always felt that the narration detracted from the FEEL...from the FANTASY.  The narration is rather like the lead vocal as it suggests the story...in this case poorly and amateurishly.  It doesn't necessarily require some big-voiced announcer type.  It requires a really warm voice and a read from someone who 'gets' the part. :hat

That version sounded like Brian to me from the start. Compare it with other Brian leads such as verses on IJWMFTT & Sloop John B.

Well, Bill, I haven't changed my opinion, either, so apparently we agree.  I couldn't tell you why Brian assigned the leads the way he did.  He never got into that.  I did buy the records more in spite of the Mike leads because the rest of the music was so amazing.  That's one of the many, many reasons I've loved Brian's band all these years.  No nasal leads on the oldies.

The world really missed out on not having Mike do lead on I Just Wasn't Made For These Times and Surf's Up.

That may be the first time I've shuddered and laughed at the same time.

 ;D

Now that is a spectacular notion.

Though kidding and Love-hate aside, he could have done a nice job with the "dove-nested towers, the hours..." part if he used his non-nasal voice. Not all of it: I can't imagine him hitting "the laughs come hard..." but the first parts of that section seem right in his sweet spot. And I think we can all say with certainty he loved those lyrics!  ;D

Columnated ruins wheeeeeeeeennnnn!

Maybe he could rewrite the section more to his liking.

Love's best like ours, the hours of good vibrations: fun, fun, fun.
(Marriages lost, the costs are startling by this, my fifth one.)
The laughs come fast in old hot rods.
The glass was raised, a toast to beaches, cars, and surfing, everlasting high school fun
while on tour, repeating songs.
A transcendental meditation makes me calm, oh also we beat Beatles once.

Surf's up, mmm...

What about more nasality on WOTS and SKMTW? In fact, why not have a version of PS where myKe luHv destroys each and every song with him doing all the leads, including the dogs with backing vocals by Ted Cruz?  :-D

The captain needs to record this! ;D.   Plus "do you like Wendy" and " summer holidays"

Hmm. I think they made good choices on the leads most of the time, but I suppose I wish we coulda had a full Brian lead on "This Whole World."

I also think "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone" would be interesting with a a 1972 Brian singing lead. I know he supposedly shared the lead with Carl on that one, but I must admit it's hard for me to hear. Does anybody really know if it's Brian doubling Carl on this song??

I also think it woulda been awesome if Brian would've had more vocals on"Funky Pretty" as well. I know he's there somewhere on the tag but there are so many parts going on it's hard to tell where he is. Woulda been nice if he coulda gotten a lead somewhere in between the vocal trading between Carl, Al, Mike and Blondie.

I also think that while I don't know if it would top Blondie's vocal, I think a Brian lead on "Sail on, Sailor" woulda been fascinating. And I think I remember that Carl and Jim Guercio (or somebody, can't remember) wanted Brian to do the lead vocal on "Good Timin'" but when it came to get it done, Brian may have been in the hospital and therefore unavailable. It's interesting to wonder what kinda lead vocal Brian coulda done for the song, how his vocals would have fit the smooth vibe of the song.

But regardless, all the songs mentioned are great as they are. Just woulda been interesting to have Brian singing them back in the day!

Off the top of my head
Dennis on Good Timin
Dennis Only With You (Holland)
Carl on SOS
Carl on Getcha Back
Al on WIBN with Brian on Middle 8
Brian on Shortenin Bread
Al on California
Al on Tree

This isn't something I'd usually say (not being the biggest fan), but that's one on which I'd love to hear Dennis singing lead. Blondie would have been interesting, too.

Whennnnnnnnnnnnnnn.... a diamond necklace played the pawn...

Dennis on I Just Wasn't Made For These Times sounds intriguing.

Al probably deserved at least a verse of Sloop John B, since it was his idea to record it.

Al on California. I wonder who's decision it was to have Mike sing it. If it was Al's, it was very generous of him to let Mike sing it.

Dennis on Sail on Sailor.

Dennis should have at least sung the first section of each verse of Catch a Wave -- which I used to think was him until I heard it was Mike with a cold. When I heard "So take a lesson from a top-notch surfer boy" I thought that was Dennis.

With his love of the song, Brian should have sung Shortenin Bread.

Of course you could say that Dennis is co-lead vocalist with Brian already on IJWMFTT.  The last word or two of each line in the verses.