The Smiley Smile Message Board

When you're singing along with the Beach Boys in your car all alone, or what have you, what are the songs you generally struggle with? I don't have a very deep voice, so I can't hit the low note in Shut Down, for example. I also struggle to keep up with Darlin' and Cotton Fields (the second time through "it was BACK IN LOUISIANA"). I also have trouble with Don't Worry Baby, as I am sure many people do, what with the seamless register switching. Similarly for Don't Talk, Let Him Run Wild, and even Lonely Sea.

Mike's parts are usually within my range, all the others are usually too high for me.

Try an elastic band.

My voice can go actually a little higher than Brian's, but I can never hit the transition in Surf's Up (Columnated Ruins Do-AH-mi-nooooo). Going from low to high, I always miss the pitch. Same thing with Elton John's Rocket Man.

And yet the original Don't Worry Baby is right in my range, as is Don't Talk. Go fig.

That's Not Me is very hard to sing - i'm talking about holding the long note

That bit in Surf's Up must be one of the most difficult in pop.

WIBN….just a bad key for me. I just can’t hit those notes for some reason.

Yeah, WIBN is another ridiculously high head voice lead. I can hit the notes, but I get all whiny.

Yeah, that's actually an interesting one that not many people would think of, but it's just an awkward song to sing.  Something with the phrase lengths.  Mike did a good job, but you can hear him struggle with certain parts.  It's not one of those songs that sings itself.

I really only have trouble with that note when I am walking and listening to Pet Sounds, because the walking makes me use up my breath. It's an interesting challenge, I guess. I always try to hold it as long as I can.

Don't Talk is super hard. Actually unless I have a cold Dennis' post 74 leads are a little rough.

Wild Honey and Darlin are bitches.

You said it!

In my honest opinion, the most impossible Beach Boys song to sing is "Don't Worry Baby".  It's hard for me to believe anybody can seamlessly go through head voice into falsetto like Brian does in that song, and not only does he do that little trick right there... he does it OVER AND OVER AGAIN, and even goes like Head Voice, Falsetto, back down into Head Voice.  It's like vocal gymnastics. 

I think my voice is pretty decent but nothing great.  I've just been recently getting more consistant at being able to sing things like "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "You Still Believe in Me" in key and fully. 

I like the little things they do live in concert sometimes that add a lot to the song.  For instance on the "In Concert" CD where Carl? I guess sings "Wouldn't It Be Nice" the way he walks down "stayyyy to GETHA!" is flawless.  Brian sang the original just in a pure falsetto sound, but Carl turns it into like a sterling, elated comment on how he loves this girl he's singing about.

Al's live version of "You Still Believe In Me" is just beautiful, too.  The end part is kind of weird to sing solo or acapella.

The funnest Beach Boys song to sing is "I Get Around".  The way it's made, you can jump from the "my part of town" up into falsetto on "I'm a real cool head! I'm making real good bread!" and it sounds great.

Another impossible one to sing for me at least is "Catch A Wave".  Brian sounds like Jesus or something on that song, it's incredible.  "those who don't jussss HAVE TO put it DOWWWWWN, owww OWWWWNNN" head, falsetto, head, falsetto.  Incredible voice. 

I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man  ;D

Nearly all Beach Boys songs are hard for me to sing right. When I'm singing Wouldn't It Be Nice, for example, I sing most of it a little lower than my range, which is much lower than the recording and then I sing the "staayy together"-type parts in my normal voice.. even with all that, the "let's taaalk about it" part is sometimes too hard.

Hawaii just rapes my larynx.

"Friends" is nearly impossible for me; ditto "Wild Honey" and "Darlin". "In My Room", however, is ridiculously easy for me, as are "Don't Worry Baby" and "Surfer Girl". Oddly enough, though, my voice is a mix between current Brian and Sunflower-era Brian...

Without a doubt, "Surf's UP" You might nail it one day, and completely miss it the next. An impossibly beautiful song to vocalize...

Brian´s falsetto on the chorus of "She Knows Me Too Well", and then again at he fade-out. It´s so incredible powerful.

Even with a female voice, it's hard to hit Brian's falsettos in the early songs, Why do fools fall in love is nearly impossible for me.  But, I can hit Surf's up spot on a good part of the time, the easiest for me to sing is either Til I die or Cottonfields, Al's vocals are pretty easy for me.

Funny you should say that, Carly - i use Brian's falsetto on the early songs as part of my warm-up before a gig, because it makes me work through a break and get it seamless before i have to perform!

Hardest vocal line for me to sing is the Cry-y-y--yy-y-y in "You Still Believe In Me."  The whole song is channelging, because it works through a couple of breaks and requires a pretty good range in the first place, but that "cry" not only goes through two breaks, but also goes on forever!  THAT is one tough MF to sing!

I don't know why it's so hard for me to sing Brian's falsetto, but after doing it for a while, I end up hoarse, I am need of a vocal coach for sure.  I would never be able to get the cryyy part in YSBIM.

When I sing that part, I sing the first part in head voice "I, wanna" then the next in falsetto "Crrrryyyyyyyy", then the next down into head voice again "aaaiiiiiiiii" then all the way down into chest voice "iiiiii".  Who in the hell writes like that?  I can't really hit it very well but it's fun to try I guess. 

"Columnated ruins domino," from "Surf's Up."

I have to sing the lower harmony part--the part that Brian himself sings on the 2004 SMiLE version--if I'm going to get through the song.

But see, if you CAN do the phrase seamlessly, you're on your way to really being a singer!  If nothing else, it's a GREAT exercise to work on seamlessness - going from one part of your range to another without showing your break.

I've been able to hit all of Brian's parts without a problem in the last year now that I've realized I'm Falsetto. Even a lot of the stuff thats been mentioned here. I've been sick lately and I havent been able to sing, Im scared I might lose that range. :(

Just to clarify a bit: 'falsetto' is defined as 'A male voice in an upper register beyond its normal range,' or, 'One who sings or talks in this register.'  In other words, it's not normal for one's singing/talking voice to be strictly falsetto, as it is beyond the normal range.  To sing and talk solely in that high of a range sounds, uh, kinda weird.  If that were the case, you would always sound like Aunt Bea from "The Andy Griffith Show".  I wouldn't classify Brian's voice at it's peak to be solely falsetto; rather, that he was a master of transitioning from normal voice to falsetto, because he could maintain that sharp tone throughout (meaning, unlike the soft, quivering tone of Aunt Bea.)    ;)

aaaannndddyyy!   ooopppiiiee!  Aunt Bea rocked! 

Michael Jackson would be considered a true falsetto.  I can't handle Frankie Valli's falsetto-my son laughs every time he hears a 4 seasons song, he says it sounds like someone is in the studio standing there with a pair of pliers planted on frankie's.......certain parts.....and when they need falsetto, they clamp down  :lol.   Brian's falsetto is seamless and natural sounding.  I love it.

I guess I'd add Student Demonstration Time as well.  Not because its an abnormal range or difficult melody, but because I can never listen to that pile of sh*t through to the end, let alone sing with it.

I wasn't going to open this can of worms, but there it is.  I don't like how people throw the word "falsetto" around as a catch all for a guy singing higher, but whatever.  Those of us who aren't interested in vocal pedagogy and singing technique can probably get their thought across without worrying about the vast world of vocal registers.

I guess that's just one of those pet peeves I have, how "falsetto" is used to mean a high singing range.  I wouldn't classify even Michael Jackson as someone who sings strictly in "falsetto"; he just has a naturally helium-high voice, extremely unusual for a male, unless he is a castrato.  Though, He does go into falsetto for some of his vocal "riffs", but usually, he just singing in his normal range, not his "false" range.  That's why "falsetto" is named as such.  Example: Carl's singing on "Wild Honey": not a bit of falsetto, rahter just pushing his normal singing range.  Carl's singing on "Baby Blue": sounds to me, and I could be wrong, I have not looked into it, but it sounds pretty much all falsetto.  Hopefully no one thinks I am being too analytical about this.

Believe me, it's a pet peeve of mine as well.  I just feel like I've already said my piece in threads previous.  I'm definitely of the thought that Brian rarely was in true falsetto of any kind.  I think that's partially why he finds it so difficult to access these days, because he never had to use it.   He didn't have to, but now, it would help him.

Whacko Jacko's voice is put-on, including the speaking voice. Okay, make it *definitely* the speaking voice. On that horrible abomination of an album Invincible, there were a couple of songs where he actually sang deep. Plus, in that Martin Brashear(sp?) interview that got him in trouble from a few years back, there was one moment where he got angry and his voice dropped down an octave and a half. I about died laughing when I saw that.


cd#2..I've always hated Frankie Valli's voice. Actually, I never saw the big deal with the Four Seasons.

You should post an audio example of what you mean about Michael Jackson's 'normal' range.  I'd like to hear it, perversely enough.

Frankie Valli is voice for me is love/hate.  I love it on songs like "Rag Doll", "Grease", "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You", "Working My Way Back To You", "December 1963", but when he sings so nasally high, to me, it sounds amateurish.  But, then, sometimes I like it!  I don't know, I am torn.

It wasn't my cd. I can look for it on Lime Wire or something, and then I'll try to post it here. I'll quickly delete it off my hard drive, because my computer is too good for the Noseless Wonder.

Don't think I've ever sung a BB tune standing up...Almost always in the car, with a scrunched up diaphragm...Need to warm up first, drink some soda (NO DAIRY!)...Otherwise, they're all pretty tough...

When I saw the title of this thread, "Darlin" and "Wild Honey" immediately popped into my mind, just like others mentioned in this thread.

Others are "Friends", the studio version of WIBN (the Live In London version is easy), "She's Got Rhythm", "A Young Man Is Gone" (The lyrics to Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring always interfere in my mind), "Transcendental Meditation", "I Can Hear Music", "HELP Is On The Way" (too hard to keep up with the clumsy lyrics), "Your Imagination", "Orange Crate Art" (WAY too high).

Good vibes,
Eric

I can actually sing OCA!

I have a recording of me doing Surfin USA (all leads and backups) floating around somewhere. If I find it, I'll upload it.

Just tried to do Be Here In the Morning...and can't. I keep going sharp.

:lol

thanks for the clarification...

No really, you *don't* want to hear it. I sound like a chipmunk on crank. I make my wife laugh with that one.

I agree, Michael Jackson is not a falsetto.  I don't know if anybody sings and speaks truly in nothing but falsetto.  Take, urgh, "Billie Jean" for instance.  He's singing the entire lead in just his regular, pretty high, head voice.  In the background, though, all of the "Ooh, oooh" and "Claims that, I am the one!" is in falsetto. 

It's true that his normal voice is much lower.  On one hand, the softspokeness of his urgh, whole interview, speaking voice is a put on (although his entire family also does it.  Ever seen his brothers give an interview?  They have the same softspoken, high pitched, childish voice, I guess it's something their parents taught them).  If you can drop all of Michael's weirdness and possible pedophilic behavior, he has an extremely talented voice, which helps explains why he's been so successful even in the face of all of his contraversy.  There's a song, "2000 Watts" on that album where he sings the lead down into a regular, male speaking voice... but he's also capable of a beautiful falsetto, a screaming raucous, nasal vocal, a very high head voice alto (I believe), and everything in between. 


An example of a totally falsetto lead would be like something by Barry Gibb.  Listen to Barry singing on "Stayin' Alive", then listen to Brian singing on "I Get Around" or something.  Totally night and day, while Barry has a great voice, his falsetto is more in line with what most men's falsetto sounds like, kind of nasal and thin.  Brian's great gift is that his is so pure and thick, it's really incredible. 

Frankie Valli's is pretty nasal, in my opinion, but so is his speaking voice.  A lot of the 4 seasons songs are just so very well written that they sound great to me even though those notes are a strain.  "Lets Hang On" and "Don't Think Twice, it's Alright" are my favorite 4 seasons songs. 

I think Brian double tracked a lot of his vocals to thicken it out

I find 'Heroes and villains' very hard to sing - you have to sing in front of the beat fractionally to drive it along + it starts quite high and ends quite low

Even without double tracking, Brian's high notes, especially in later stages, didn't sound thin.  Note: the stereo version of "You Still Believe In Me".  But, as stated before, Brian used most of the time not true "falsetto".; he used a mixture....that's why it's naturally sharp and thick. 

I can't sing Mike's part in You Still Believe In Me all the way through, and that's frustrating. I could never do a vocals-only cover of Pet Sounds.

In Wild Honey, Carl hits that "swEET" note. That must be 'falsetto', right? It's a different register from the rest of the song. I Can Hear Music is another tough one.

Yeah, I don't know what that's called.  It's almost like a controlled Yelp.  I can do it on some of the songs, but like for instance, when he goes "And I can't explain... OHhhh NOOOOooo!" it's this frantic yelp kind of sound that's really high.  Wild Honey's all like that too.  "She's MYYY GIRLLL!" or whatever. 

That's the song. Sounds different, huh?

Don't you mean "That's Not Me"?

Only PS song I cannot sing for the life of me is "IJWMFTT"...oh yeah, and of course the instrumentals  :lol

I can sing "IJWMFTT" pretty well, "Don't Talk" is more hard for me. 

No, the part at 1:46 of You Still Believe in Me.