The Smiley Smile Message Board

This has always fascinated me, as I’m sure it has many people over the years, when listening to the vast BB catalog... moments where you actually think you’re hearing 1 BB, only to find out it’s really someone else. Or, moments where you know it’s someone singing, but they momentarily capture the sound of another BB.

Some examples:

-  “This Car of Mine” – at 0:43, when Dennis sings “No clunker”, it’s so bizarre, almost sounds like Brian for that one line. Especially on the phrasing in the “ker” in “clunker”.

- For some reason, for a good long while after getting the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey 2-fer, I thought that Bruce sang lead on “Aren’t You Glad” (I must have overlooked the liner notes or info online somewhere, that it was Mike on lead vocals). A very un-Mike vocal performance, I totally dig it. Not that Mike doesn’t have his share of good or great leads, but to my ears, this is sort of a different kind of styling for him.

- All Dressed up for School – I’m confused on this one... I thought I’ve heard from different places that it’s Carl singing, or that it’s actually Brian. Who is it? I can’t quiet tell.

Anyone had the same experience(s) as above, or got any other examples?

-Ben

The lead on "All Dressed Up For School" is Carl.  But I actually think the high part singing "Ooh, she's so fine...what a turn on" sounds like Al and not Brian.

"I Know There's An Answer" is probably the best example of Al and Brian sounding alike.

Mike on "Hawaii". Thought it was Dennis. Must've been that cold. Also thought the SMiLE version of Wind Chimes was Brian for the longest time.

The SMiLE version of Wind Chimes isn't Brian? Who is it, since this is news to me...

Nice point.  There really is an overlap of how the voices sound sometimes, even though they've each got very unique properties to their vocal qualities.  
I guess it's part of what makes that "blend" so damn special.

How about Al singing EXACTLY like Mike on All This Is That during the 'golden auras' parts(at least I think it's Al, but it could be mike singing like Al singing like mike, no kidding!)
Is it Carl or Brian on the GOK 'demos'?
Al as Brian on Be here In the Morning.
Brian's 'I LOve You' at the end of PLMW sounds exactly like Carl.
.......

100% Carl...it's just a rough vocal take.

Dennis sounding more like Mike than Mike while singing bass on Its OK, Steamboat, River Song, Moonshine and at least part of Wouldn't It Be Nice.

Are you sure? Is this an error in the booklet?

I've found that Dennis and Mike can sound a lot alike on some of the earlier albums.


Carl.

I'm positive, but I'm sure some people will disagree with me.  It's certainly not the first error regarding vocal credits in the booklets.

I do think there's something weird about that vocal though.  The lead sounds triple tracked (A rarity for that era of their recording) and Carl gives a much different vocal performance, both of which I think are factors that made people like Leaf think it was Brian.

It may be similar to 'In the Back of My Mind' in that Brian doubled the voice.

One song that I always thought was one lead singer throughout was 'It's Over Now'. Blown away to find out there are 3. Carl, Brian and Marilyn! If you aren't paying close attention its hard to catch. I bet a lot of people assumed that 'Sail On Sailor' was Carl. My brother thought that 'Meant for You' was Dennis. In 'Breakaway' and 'Time To Get Alone' it is hard to tell between Carl, Al and Brian. 'Wouldn't it Be Nice' sounds like Mike in a higher register.

I understand how 3 brothers and even a cousin could blend so well but Al Jardine has to have some genetic connection with them! Seriously!

Ah, awright. I haven't been sure ever since hearing it, really. Almost sounds like it could be one Brian vocal, one Carl vocal, too - not sure at all who it is.

The credits on the original vocal round at the end always confused me, too. The original mix sounds like Brian, Bruce, then Carl, to me, but credits it as being Brian, Bruce, then Brian again.

Or rather, the first part, "God only knows" sounds like Carl and "What I'd beeee withouuuut" sounds like Brian, although a Carl falsetto could sometimes sound like a Brian falsetto. On the stereo mix, it's clearly Carl, Bruce, then Brian, with Brian sounding a hundred times more like Brian on the "God only knows" section. Sounds too subdued to be him on the original mix. I'm probably wrong, but it never sounded as it's listed, to me.

On that note, I recall someone saying that the original "You Still Believe In Me" had both Carl and Brian doing the lead at the same time (which would make what I said about both possibly doing the one mix of "God Only Knows" pretty interesting), but that Carl's vocal was missing when they did the stereo mix. The booklet states that it's just Brian double tracked. Anyone know for sure?

There's a part on Rock & Roll to the Rescue where Al sounds like 80s Brian.

At first I thought it was Dennis singing the first line of each verse of "Catch a Wave" until I head about Mike having a cold. I know it IS Mike with a cold, but it's weird he sounds so much like Dennis on the first line on each verse but like Mike on the third line of each verse.

I used to think Brian sang "This Whole World." Of course it was him on the first line, but the vocal "handoff" to Carl was so smooth I didn't notice it.


How about the line "but baby don't you know" on "I'm Waiting for the Day." Is that Dennis or Mike?

I thought Brian sang lead on the Smile version of "Vegetables" for the longest time.  The second verse of "I'm Waiting For The Day" threw me off too...I thought that was Al for awhile. 

Like many others, I thought it was Dennis singing lead on "Hawaii."  It sounds so eerily like him at times, so much so that I wish Brian had chosen him to do it instead of making Mike sing with a cold.

Yeah, it makes you wonder why Brian didn't just sing the whole song.

The two biggies for me would be the codas to "A Day In the Life Of A Tree" and "Surf's Up". Is it Al or is it Brian? That's been debated a lot.

And now, the newest one, is it Al or is it Mike on "Don't Fight The Sea"? :police:

I think that's Mike. My ears tell me Dennis is doing the "No" (which also has a cool "ah-ah" that gets burried in the mix) response on that song. I also hear him on the full harmony "You Still Believe in Me," the Sea of Tunes makes this evident as he sticks out on the last of these that got faded out.

Debated and conclusively settled over a year ago, in this very forum. It's Alan.

Picking up on another concurring thread, I guess you could add "Wipe Out" to this list. Is it Brian or is it Mike or is it Memorex? My biggest question about this one is why would Mike allow Brian to do his part on Wipe Out? Doesn't sound like something Mike would do in 1987. The duet/song was Mike's idea wasn't it? Mike wasn't exactly trusting of Brian or Landy around this time. And, unless Mike had something more pressing (more pressing than a Beach Boys recording session - WITH Brian Wilson contributing?!), I can't see why he couldn't take a day and cut the vocal. And, never mind that the bass vocal sounds exactly like Mike, and I seriously doubt Brian could pull that off....

My memory must be getting senile. First, I forgot a lot about the infamous SMiLE handwritten note thread. Now, I'm drawing a blank on the Brian/Al vocal debate. Didn't Steve Desper, who engineered the session, say that it was Brian on the "Surf's Up" coda?

...especially the buh-buh-BOMP-bomp part.  Or was it some unheralded session singer?

I'm still not convinced its Al on vega-tables. Damn Al and his mysterious BW voice!!!!!!!!!!

I always thought it was Dennis doing the "I love you" in "Please Let Me Wonder". I also always thought it was Bruce doing the "Heaven is far away" part in "It's Over Now". I am about 97% sure that it's Brian and Carl on "Till I Die", but there is still that slight doubt that it may be Al and not Brian. I THINK the coda on ADITLOAT is Jack Riely(yes, I know I spelled it wrong), Al, and Van Dyke.

For about 15 years, I thought that the lead on the In Concert version of Sloop John B was Al...until one day I realized, wait a minute...that's OBVIOUSLY Carl!!!

Then there was the whole thing about Good Vibrations...I think when I first heard it, that I heard Carl & Brian, but because of various things I read, I assumed it was Carl all the way through (except of course Mike's lead part)...but then I found out just a couple months ago that I was right the first time! haha

Could the "sped up Brian" been an alternate track they recorded and didn't use? It's odd that an engineer not only recalled that it was Brian, but the method they used to get the vocal. Still, that sounds exactly like Al, I don't see how it could be anyone else. Generally, it's Al sounding like another member and not someone else sounding Al.

'Tis, as far as I know. Al could sound a whole hell of a lot like another member, usually Brian, but the one thing that usually sets them apart is Al typically had a harder "edge" to his voice than Brian.


Same here on both of these, although I didn't want to mention them for some reason. Damn misleading first lines.

I love Carl's vocal on "This Whole World", but I really wish there was an alternate Brian vocal lying around somewhere. It puzzled me why they'd have Brian sing leads at the beginning and then he wouldn't be on the rest of the track - "California" is another example, and I think there's another that escapes me right now.

In "California", I always thought Brian's vocal at the beginning was THE hook of the song, the other choruses sound empty to me without it. It annoyed me so much that I remixed it so his vocal part comes in again at each chorus because it sounds like it should be there. JSUTME, now I've rambled about nothing for too long.

Even though it's been confirmed by several people that Carl sang lead on How She Boogalooed It, it still sounds like Al to me, even after repeated listens through headphones.

To be honest I'm not sure why I care so much as I don't actually like HSBI but hey, I guess that's all part of being a Beach Boys obsessive!  ;D

It's equally perplexing the FEW lead vocals that Brian Wilson actually sang on the Beach Boys' five albums from 1969-1973. He basically went five years, during a period when he could still sing, during a period that is a favorite of many fans, and rarely sang an extended lead vocal.

It's Carl doubled by Brian.

I always thought that Al sings lead on Heroes And Villains.

I always though "This Whole World" was Brian doing his best Carl impression. But it's actually more like Carl doing his best Brian doing Carl impression.

The single mix of "Californ-i-a" is, IMO, much more anthemic with the extra Brian vocals and responses. Plus the overall "punchier" sound, too.

Yeah it's Carl as has been said. That one made me go "WAAAAAAH?" also.

It's also Al in the SMiLE version of Vega-Tables. Thought that was Brian for a long time also.

There are reports that he tried to sing the 71 "Surf's Up" but stopped after what he felt to be two bad takes. Would it have sounded great to us? Probably. Did he still not feel his voice was good enough? Very likely, yes. I think the reason he rarely sang on his own songs or even others songs around that time could have been that he had recognized the change in his voice a few years before felt that he couldn't do his songs justice. But other members, usually Carl? Shore, they could.

Kind of ironic that he started singing more leads after his voice really had gone south. He must've just really needed to get that music out.

Yep. I asked him in his thread.

It's 1000% Al on the Surf's Up coda.

http://www.filefreak.com/files/138097_yobcr/Surf%5C%27sUpCoda.mp3

Actually, I think it's both.

Has there ever been a discussion with Brian (or any of the BB) regarding why he didn't have many lead vocals from 69-73? Was he self-conscious about his voice during this time? Its just odd that most of his leads we're these little half ass ditties like "Walkin'", "Good Time", "Games Two Can Play", etc. Not to say those weren't good songs (well at least "Good Time"). "Til I Die" is an obvious exception from that era. But hearing "This Whole World", "A Day In The Life of a Tree", and maybe even something like "Marcella" would have been so very interesting.

My reasoning on it is you didn't just nail a Beach Boy vocal at this time in a couple of takes. Getting a usable vocal track out of Brian would have required him to stay in the studio for more than an hour or two. It's a shame because as has been stated by the posters above his voice was still in adequate shape around this time. His superb harmonies are all over "Sunflower" so it is abit of a mystery why he didn't take a few more leads.

Also worth mentioning, his backing vocals crop up VERY prominently on the American Spring record which was made in '72, reinforcing the notion that he really just wasn't that interested in the BB's at this time.

If you want to talk about Beach Boy soundalikes look no further than Blondie and Ricky. I can distinguish the two when they sing leads but cannot for the life of me tell them apart in the vocal blend.

While his interest in the Beach Boys was obviously waning (he was only contributing about 2 songs and 6-7 minutes per BB album), with the Spring album, he only spent a couple of hours on that project, and, it might've been done, not to disassociate himself from the Beach Boys, but to please Marilyn and Diane.

Only a couple hours on the American Spring project?????

Who did the rest?  Richard Carpenter?

A couple of hours?

Let's see, he does all of the instruments and a prominent vocal on "Tennesse Waltz," singing on "Thinkin' bout you Baby," singing on "Forever," singing and playing on "Good Time," the synthesizer work and a prominent vocal on "Sweet Mountain" and he sings on "Everybody."

And that's just what I/we know about...

David Sandler

Right, you got it! A couple of background vocals (a few lines actually) and some keyboard work.

Seems to me like quite a bit of work (also he undoubtedly arranged the BVs) and not just something he's slag off in a few hours...

You think so....That's an interesting thought....I didn't think singing, "I remember...." or "sweet mountain of love...." was that time consuming. How many takes do you think that took? As far as arranging the background vocals, I guess I'll have to defer to you because you posted "undoubtedly". You obviously know more than me. Maybe I'm giving David Sdandler too much credit. All these years I thought Brian Wilson got too much credit for the Spring album....

not to derail the thread but i asked jack rieley about brian and the spring lp about 14 years ago... here was his reply...

Steve,

I used to have a wonderful dog whose name was Bingo The Magic Dog, and he was well know for being loving, friendly, fun-filled and capable of speaking/howling the word "hello." Incredible but really true. Bingo was almost always in a great mood, unless I left him at home alone, when he would show his distaste for my neglect by finding and chewing on recording tapes. Good friends loved Bingo as I did. Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson adored him, as did Audree and Mar and Annie and others. The dog seemed to be happy, but a couple of times -- when I drove out to the country with Bingo to give him a real run -- I wondered about his self-esteem. He'd run free and run some more and keep on running until he found some cow dung. Inevitably he began rolling in it. Ecchhh.

Somehow that's the metaphor which always comes to mind when I think of Brian's involvement with Spring.

Brian was definitely rolling in the Spring project, but he seemed not to care much about it. They got the "B" and "C" songs, he dutifully did his shtick and on rare occasion we actually had fun with it. Like on Down Home.

Brian's relation to Diane, who he seemed seldom to notice for months at a time, warmed during Spring. And when Murry died, by the way. But he never exuded pride at all about the project. Never in my presence.

Sorry about all the still unanswered posts. I am really busy 16 hours per day these days. Will try to real some and answer them soon.

- Jack

He tends to write responses like his lyrics: very over the top, much too wordy and long so they take forever to get till the end , and full of metaphors that are hard to understand. :-D

I considered starting a thread about this but I'll just slap it on here:

"Good Time," in it's Love You incarnation it's a good song. Nothing more, nothing less.

But I've listened to the American Spring version repeatedly and it's nothing short of a masterpiece. Just brilliant. Granted, some of Brian's child-like lyrics, but IMHO nothin' wrong with that. The thing that knocks me out is the arrangement: so much going on. The clip-clop percussion, interweaving synth lines (most notably around the 2:15 mark on), Marilyn's really spirited vocal and the great BB backing vocals, sung with lots of verve. The mix on Love You is a bit muffled, not bringing out some of the better elements. On Spring, even the given-to-me-by-a-friend version I have, it's dynamic and full. Brilliant.

"Pom Pom Play Girl" - all official sources say it's Carl on lead, but while he's definitely there, I'm convinced that Brian is doubling his part in unison.

Kind of like VDP, but not quite as clever.

I used to confuse Bruce's voice with Mike's...Like Deirdre, I thought it was Mike's softer voice, same with Disney Girls.

And actually, as I think about Sunflower vocals, does Bruce sing lead on At my Window?

Have we ever found out who really sings Walkin? I believe it's Brian.

Al and Brian's vocals on Be Here in the Morning have always threw me through a loop.

When I first heard A Day in the Life of a Tree, I thought it was Brian's new voice (yes, that of 1976 gruffy-ness); don't ask me what I was thinkin.  ::)

Used to think Brian sang lead on God Only Knows.

While I'm at it, Carl sings lead on With Me tonight, right?

Is it Brian or Carl on lead of Smiley Wonderful? who's on Whistle In?

I always thought Bruce sang lead on Aren't You Glad.

Is it Brian on lead of He Gives Speeches?

1) Bruce on At My Windows
2) Walkin is Brian.
3) WMT- Carl
4)Whistle In & Wonderful- Carl
5) AYG- Mike
6) HGS- Mike (although Brian's doing the backups)

The backups on He Gives Speeches are incredible.

That's Mike on HGS?

Again, mind blown. Was sure it was Brian doing a softer voice and then overdubbing.

Yeah, me too. See, this I why I love reading these kinda threads. I learn something new every time the subject is brought up.

No way is that mike. Brian all the way. Sorry global moderator but yer wrong!!!!

Agreed, that's definitely Brian doing the lead and backing vocal.

Yeah it's Brian no doubt about it. On the retooled version Mike is singing the "she was goin' bald" and "really flipped her wig" refrain, which, when considering his own hairline at the time is rather ironic.

Its called The definitive Beach Boys vocal credits thread...its on this board...its been throuroughly vetted by the best people. Check it out before you ask a bunch of questions.

sorry, i was discussing my confusions then started ranting with questions, then realized there was that post, sorry for my waste of a post

Thanks for the honesty, and the lack of defensiveness. That's a rare commodity around here. Also, sorry for my slightly grumpy way of suggesting you use the Vocal Credits thread..

it's cool. I honestly like it when people present easy questions because I appear to be smart when responding  :smokin....even if a previous post exist.  But I do give credit where it is due

I swear, Al is Brian's illegitimate brother. Murry Wilson must've fooled around on Audree with Mrs. Jardine and it produced the slightly-more-edge-having Brian Wilson sound-alike we know today.

Have you heard him singing Brian's part on God Only Knows at the Knebworth concert? It's phenomenal.

Murry must have fooled around with a monkey then....   ;D

That's a bit harsh, now isn't it?

Even if it is totally, totally true.

harsh on Murry's behalf or Al's?

It's Al's fault for looking like one    ;D

Let's say both and call it a day.
But seriously. God Only Knows. Knebworth. YouTube. Now.

Wow...just realized my tape player 's jacked up. Listening to the mp3...I've been hearing it at the wrong speed. Yeah, it's Brian.

Very interesting thread, since i started to listen the beach boys thirteen years ago, i´ve bee curious about the peculiar sound of their voices. Just as the beatles and the byrds, they have a very unique sound. I used to imagine that the magical effect of the vocal harmonies of the beach boys was due to the fact that each individual voice was related to another; i mean, the voices of Brian and Mike are on the top and the bottom of the spectrum respectively, but in the middle yhe voice of  Carl sounds like Brian´s but at the same time has it´s own quality; Al´s voice sounds like brian´s but a little bit Mike too and Dennis and Bruce did sound like other beach boy sometimes to. So in the end its like  just one voice with different textures!

I only just now realized that "I'll Bet He's Nice" is sung by both Dennis and Brian Wilson. I thought it was just Dennis, but Brian's voice had deteriorated so much by that point it was hard to tell!

And Carl as well, don't forget

Yeah, well, that much is obvious.

Not sure why I posted that, tbh. In a somewhat pedantic mood, sorry.

You scared me there with that He Gives Speeches 'revelation', Mr. F2Stop!

I think that's very much the case. Family vocal harmony is a wonderful thing, and the beauty of the BBs is that, not only did they have family members with great voices that blended well together, but they also had other non-family members (most especially Al) with voices that pigeon-holed beautifully into the blend.

Brian sings "I Love to Say Da Da". PEOPLE WHO SAY OTHERWISE ARE FULL OF LIES AND PIE.

Guess what? I just figured out that the chorus of "Break Away" is sung by Al and not Carl! I always just thought it was Carl going nuts.

Truth is, it's all Carol Kaye - she did everything. Bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, horns, vocals, composing, arranging, producing - hell, she even put the discs in the sleeves and loaded the trucks. She was everything, The Beach Boys were nothing. Believe it.  :thumbsup

Me too  ;D

Not crazy talk at all...I asked a few people about this same question, including Alan Boyd, when we were trying to gauge just where Brian is to be found on the LIGHT ALBUM.

The best answer I got is that that vocal part is Carl and the song's cowriter, Geoffrey Cushing-Murray.  It doesn't rule out Brian being in there (or someone else), but it does explain why the difference in vocal timbre.  

The rest of the background vocals are Carl and Bruce multitracked...I've heard the isolated tracks.  There's some question if Dennis or Bobby Figueroa aren't in there in some spots, but the general consensus of the experts is that they are not.

There are a few songs that sound like Brian but are actually Mike (atleast to these ears). Mostly early songs, I'll try and think some examples later.

What gets my goat is the line, "Shades of blue and purple haunt me".  It sounds as if Carl morphs into Brian over the course of that one sentence!     

I thought that one line WAS Brian?  I haven't heard it in forever though...

Its definitely Brian.

Hows this for embarassing I thought Brian was singing the "You need good timin" part for at least 3 years. I was also convinced it was Dennis saying Going On. This is despite knowing that they weren't prsent at the sessions for these songs!

When I was younger, I always thought  Blondie sang the verses with Carl in Marcella, you know, the "one arm over my shoulder" part.

Listen to the demo for MAD and tell me Carl doesn't take a few lines. "A flag without the wind" in particular.

Does anyone else think Bruce sounds like Al? This whole time I've listened to Wonderful, I thought it was Bruce doing the "daaa-da-da-da-da" part, but according to Wikipedia, it's actually Al. Or is Wikipedia getting their information wrong?

Always sounded like Bruce to my ears.

for a while i thought "if i'm the one you love" was brian in please let me wonder.  now it's so obviously mike when i hear it.

I thought it was Mike.

That's what I thought too, before I became more familiar with Bruce's voice.

Hmm....

And "cool it on the monkey jokes!"

LOL...Andrew's been hanging out with Hal Blaine!

I think it's actually both of them, at least according to the SOT sessions that I've never heard.

Based on the data I've gathered, the thick black lines represent voices that sound similar to one another:

(http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1985/soundalikesbig.png)

For it to come together this perfectly, I suspect black magic is involved.

Good thing you used a black line, then.

Al sounds alot like the Wilsons on "Be Here in the Morning" though I suspected it was his vocal. Im not sure what other track besides Cotton Fields he does lead in the 60's to compare his voice with, but even "Cotton Fields" could easily pass for Brian, at least to my ears. 

Wild Honey album is confusing for me to tell apart different leads usually.

"Then I kissed her" on Summer Days sounds very much like Carl or Brian but its Al.

Al sounds a bit like Wild Honey era Carl on that one - perhaps not so ironically, one of the most debated vocal credits on Wild Honey when we went through them was Carl's lead on "How She Bugalooed It," with a lot of people thinking it was Al.

Yes, but that's Carl sounding like Al, as opposed to Al sounding like Carl.
Or perhaps it's Carl sounding like Al sounding like Carl. :-\

All this recent board talk of "Goin' South" got me to re-listen to it a bunch of times...

Does anyone else think that Carl sounds like a dead ringer for a younger Dennis (1969-ish?) in Goin' South at 1:06 during the line "Fly away so gracefully"? (especially on the word "gracefully")... I'm certain the brothers were influencing each others' vocal inflections greatly, and probably subconciously, in many ways.

I heard Carol Kaye is also Phil Cohen... :-D


But back on track, I'm still (after 15 years of fandom) surprised by who sings what. I thought Brian sang all of the lead vox in Breakaway, but now it's Al doing the chorus?

When I first heard Love You, I couldn't always tell Brian from Dennis. Same thing with some 15 Big Ones tracks. I guess cocaine is a hell of a drug.

On I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, Brian sounds alot like dennis on the 'hind' of Be-Hind, and the 'ound' of f-ound.

How much coke were you doing...?

I'd love some more raw vocals from the guys though, a la 15BO and LY. I'm not a fan of autotuning a band whose main selling point is their harmony and vocal blend.

Mike on "Meant For You" sounds a lot like Brian.

Brian can actually be heard on the coda, however.  He's doing the "da-da dah-da" in the background that is reminiscent of the At My Window tag.

One song that trips me out a bit is Cuddle Up, mainly because there are so many little vocal bits in the background through the course of the song that are constantly changing voices. Come to think of it, I really want to know if Brian is audible at all on the album.

Because it is Carl.