The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hey y'all,

This stems from a question- did Dennis sing on "Our Prayer"?

But after a chance hearing of "Surfin Safari" on the Tower Records doc-- and being struck again by the prominence of what I believe to be Dennis' voice on the track-- I just wanted to rap about his voice in the blend, and where yous guys really appreciate its place in the harmony stack. Of course, I would hope the discussion would span all relevant areas.

I like the 70s tones of 15 BO and the gruff Wilson Bros texture

Edit: Also, what did his voice add? Should it have been used more in the bvs?

I can't actually detect his voice in the blend very much after Al came back to the group, but on the early stuff, yeah, very noticeable, and I think his voice adds a nice texture to the mix. His voice never was as sweet as Brian's or Carl's; but not nasal like Mike, either. I don't know how to describe it, other than, "a blend made in heaven".

Dennis definitely sings on "Our Prayer" - the session tapes confirm that. And, although perhaps not noticeable, he's on most of the hits from '63-'65 even after Al came back. He dropped out of the vocal sessions for much of Summer Days and Pet Sounds, but was back in for most of SMiLE and Smiley Smile.

I feel as though I'm able to hear him in the blend in a lot of the Today! songs, particularly Please Let Me Wonder and Kiss Me Baby. And with him singing lead on two of the album's songs anyway, I often view Today! as being the best showcase for Dennis's voice until Friends (he certainly was quite prevalent in the earlier albums' blends, though). But even still, I can hear him clearly on many Smiley Smile tracks (which is easy, since they often traded solo vocals throughout). I can appreciate his place in the stack, as I'm usually able to hit his notes better than the others'.
Disregarding that, though, I feel like his voice almost adds a tiny bit of dissonance to the blend, something a little rough around the edges. Al and Dennis both have what I would perceive as a "grit" to their voices that make the blend that much more fleshed-out, but Al's voice is somewhat more amorphous, sometimes sounding Brian-esque and other times closer to Mike. I think Dennis maintained a higher degree of uniqueness, even after his voice became raspy.

Hi, LBNL, and welcome! :=)

For me the extraordinary coda of the criminally overlooked "I'm So Young" is Dennis's finest hour as a Beach Boys vocalist. Well, almost everyone's----how about Mike's bass and Brian's falsetto?!

Hello, and thanks!

And of course!! How could I forget about I'm So Young?? His voice on the coda is very prevalent. I enjoy cycling through his, Mike's, and Brian's parts. They're all so much fun to sing!

I think I'm going to listen to Today! again right now. Digging into that harmonic blend and picking out the individual pieces never gets old!!

Edit: As for the original question of Our Prayer, it helped me to listen to the Made In California stereo mix. I think I could pick out Dennis in a couple of spots with the enhanced separation. It's usually easier to find him when they're making "aaah" sounds rather than "ooo" sounds, because Dennis has a particular "grit" or "rasp" when making the former sound in particular (to my ears). It's a little more subtle here than their earlier stuff, but I'm pretty sure I can hear him. As c-man said, he's definitely there, so it's just a matter of figuring out which individual line he's carrying.

I agree with that last part. In my early years of BBfandom, I would often confuse the voices of Brian, Carl and Al. I don't remember mistaking Dennis for someone else, except on "Catch A Wave".

Dennis added that "thick" tone to the early bend. Al and Bruce would later smooth with their vocal talents.

Having a rough voice in a vocal group is a pleasantly surprising addition. All great vocals groups had a rough voice blending with the sweetness l. That's why Lennon blended so well with McCartney.

And somewhat related - why didn't Dennis sing live when behind the drums?

Agreed...see also Chris Squire - Yes; Huey Lewis - News.

Bee Gees were great harmonists but suffered for the lack of this (though Maurice occasionally came close).

Too hard to keep in tune and in time at once? He did sing live while drumming on "Please Let Me Wonder" ('65 and '69), "In My Room" ('75-'80) and "It's O.K." ('76-'79).

Maurice had the most versatile voice but not a very strong bass (he would often sing the high harmony such as when they played Nights On Broadway live or when just he and Barry sang Heartbreaker in the One Night Only concert). Would have been amazing to hear what Barry could have written with a bass vocalist in mind, e.g. Lonely Days with some bass harmony would be heavenly

And that's Mike anyway.  ;D

Absolutely; I just meant he had the roughest voice of the three (but not saying much).  I don't mean gritty (that would be Barry when he chose to be), just the timbre of his voice.

Oh yes don't get me wrong you are right, just ruminating on how a bass would sound like in that blend, I guess the closest they got was the intro of "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man" with the intro "oh solo dominque" part :P but I believe that was Robin