The Smiley Smile Message Board

Never gave this much thought, but I was waiting for a haircut the other day, and the 60's satellite radio station was playing California Girls. Nothing against Mike's vocals, which are great, and you can't argue with the commercial performance of the song as is. But, Al might have had that slightly lower range that would fit the song. Al also has that habit of stretching out the last word in a line, that also would have fit the tune nicely. And Al had just sung lead on the last single, which was a #1.

No way on California Girls, but there are definitely some songs that would have been better with Al as the lead or sharing the lead with Mike.

Ignore the fact that Al's jumping in w/ a band that doesn't totally know the song, but he sounds pretty damn good on this recent video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8xkPRzN03c

I think Mike has that extra swagger that makes the song come to life.

Hell no.  This is a Mike song. 

Mike's lead is mint on California Girls. I don't think Al would have been a better choice for it.

There is not one squillionth of a squillisecond on this song that I would want to change...  :smokin

California Girls features one of Mike's definitive lead vocals.

Though, I wouldnt mind Brian handing it off to Al in concert.  Though, with the song being the opener, it would be odd for Brian to not sing it.

There is of course the anecdote to the effect that Brian was angry because he felt that Mike "rushed" the vocal. Don't remember the origin and it is a fine performance IMO but there are a few moments when it seems to me that he may have had a point.

What drives me nutz  is he is  singing flat when he starts the song.  I never understood why they didn't fix at least that line.

He sounds spot on to me.

It's as much Mike's lead as 'God Only Knows' is Carl's.

I think a triple tracked Al would have been great!! No doubt he couldn't have
executed it well.
BUT! I agree, Mike owns this one.  It's everything Mike brings to the stage
that is in the song.  Can't imagine anyone else it would be 'better' suited for.

I was under the impression that Brian the dog-eared perfectionist was unhappy with his own vocals. Another illusion shattered. :smokin 

Not a huge Mike fan, and I love Al's voice......that being said, while Al would do a great job on it, Mike does own the tune, and it's really been his signature one too.

Al is best singing about women when he puts them on a pedestal, Mike tends to be in his comfort zone when he reduces them down to a basal form. 

Using this "logic" Weird Al would be a better fit than Al.  It would take him 10 minutes to come up with "Tijuana Girls" and some south of the border accordion riffs.

I'm not big on the hypothetical of whether Al would have worked singing the lead on the original recording. It probably still would have been a bit I guess, and Al was a good singer back then. Al tended to sound like Brian in some instances back then, so a 1965 Al lead on that song probably would have sounded somewhere between Mike and Brian. But I can't say I'd want to jump in a time machine and change the lead over to Al.

What I *will* say is that I probably prefer Al's lead on the song *today* over any other members, including Mike.

Al sang the lead on stage occasionally when Mike missed gigs, including in 1983 and 1990. There's actually (an unfortunately murky) audience recording of a 1990 Canadian gig where Mike is out and Al sings most of Mike's leads, and Al sounds really good. It's obviously *different*, but also familiar because Al's voice is still familiar.

Interestingly, Al didn't do "California Girls" when he first went out in 1998/99/00 with his "Family & Friends" band. Eventually, by the time he was pretty much just doing random solo gigs or sitting in with the "Surf City All Stars" or other pickup bands in the mid 2000s, Al started singing the song and sounded great. I saw him do it solo in 2005 with Stevie Heger's band.

Here's a recording of Al singing it from his "guest spot" on the Surf City All Stars album:

https://youtu.be/AkUzV-cfL2c?list=PLdMFJClnv1NvTsuaVdjSwN3rZgLNTeHRW

I'm without sound at the moment, so hopefully I've linked the correct version with Al singing lead.

Yet *another* version with Al singing the lead was released on the 2004 Vocal Hall of Fame album:

https://www.amazon.com/California-Girls-feat-Jardine-Lettermen/dp/B001HO0L9S

I thought it was the backing vocals that he was unhappy with and had them redo repeatedly to get the timing/rhythm right?

 I think Al's voice has survived the best over time, and he may sound good singing it today.  But, honestly, Mike's original vocal on California Girls can't be beat.  It's a perfect timeless classic.

A few mid- late 60s Carl songs would have been nice if Al was on lead.

California Girls was the start of a decline in Mike lead singles. Carl sort of took up the torch.

One of the best voices explaining the importance of Mike's voice on those early era tracks is Jon Stebbins. He can correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall on this board (or somewhere online, or somewhere in one of his books), he speculated that "Do You Wanna Dance" might have broken bigger on the charts if Mike had sang the lead instead of Dennis. Not that Dennis didn't sing the song well, but it wasn't the same commercial voice that Mike had cultivated.

That sounds more like "Wouldn't It Be Nice" but I could be wrong (happens).

Fixed the subject line for ya'll.

Absolutely! Al should have had more leads than myKe luHv just based on the fact that he had an incredible voice and could actually sound like Brian quite a bit. Is there a video of Al doing "Little Deuce Coupe"? Bet it's better than the released version by far.

I know Brian has mentioned that he wished he brought the "I dig the girls" bit more to the forefront the way David lee Roth did for his cover version. Not sure if that counts as him being unhappy with it or not, but for a perfectionist, unhappy is probably the right word!

I've gone for an alternate fix in the subject line.... (with full credit, strangely, to the weird thrash band that did that epic "F*** You, Mike Love" song, who go through all the Beach Boys they *do* like and see fit to also include Al Jarreau in addition to Al Jardine for good measure).

The bigger question is whether Mike would have been a better choice for lead on Help Me Rhonda....

Ha, yes. Hogpig----it's still around, although without the original visuals. Probably just as well... 

You may be right, I hadn't heard that version. It makes more sense though because they would seem to have been harder to dial in.

Holy crap Al sounds amazing here.  "I come in late at night" is delivered so effortlessly and beautifully!

Al can sound freakishly good still. His vocal on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" on the PBS Soundstage DVD still blows my mind. Better than C50 where Foskett was overpowering him.

WIBN on the Soundstage DVD is the best version of that song since Al himself in the 70s. He nailed it. I wish he would sing it every night but I think at this point in time it is hard for him to sing it every night because it's at the top of his range. A one off or 2 and he is great.
At the early shows at C50, you heard Al more. As the tour went on, more Foskett overpowering. One of the reasons I prefer Matt Jardine to Foskett is Foskett tends to overpower any harmonies.  Jeff is a great singer but the blend isn't the same with him. He dominates it. That was true going back to the 80s.