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When I heard Brian Wilson's falsetto on Getcha Back I assumed it was back for good. What exactly happened? I have never seen any footage of Brian performing this song? Was this nothing more than 80's studio magic? Has ANYONE seen this song live with Brian singing?

I have an MP3 of the Boys doing the song live in 1985 and it sounds amazing but it doesn't sound like Brian.

Is that ... Carl doing the chorus?

LINK REMOVED BY MODERATOR: WHILE WE CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THE COURTESY, RULES ARE RULES.

To the mods ... I ask that you please not delete the link. It is a live song not on ANY album we can buy.

 :hat

I'd be very surprised if the falsetto wasn't looped.

There is debate as to whether the falsetto is even Brian. Some suggest it is Foskett (who I believe sings uncredited on the album).

Well it certainly sounds like Brian.  It would seem strange to ask Foskett to do it in a Brian voice.
As for the live clip, I can't tell who is doing the falsetto, but the "woah-oh" that Brian also sings sounds like its being done by Al. Its not Carl because during  the second chorus you can hear Carl sing "getcha back, baby". Strange, the ending sounds like Bruce, but you can clearly hear him singing another part during the choruses.

Brian was not at the 7/4/85 Phildelphia show. He was at the show later that night in D.C. Foskett was handling the falsetto part in the 7/4/85 concert performance, Al on the wo wo wo's,  with Carl on the "I leave you her, you leave him" tag. To my ears, on the actual studio recording, it is Brian on the falsetto. But what do I know, I wasn't actually there...

It being Foskett is the most sensible answer.

Now that you said it, it does sounds a lot like.

Sensible?  You're following the wrong band...

I think Brian's Getcha Back falsetto sounds just as coked out and shredded as his She's Got Rhythm falsetto.  He sings at least as high on Orange Crate Art 8 to 10 years later.

Hasn't someone on the board said that on the studio recording that it was Brian, coached and coaxed into it by Terry Melcher?

many published reports have said something to that effect

Perfect timing re 'coached and coaxed'. Take a look at this clip from the other night. At 1 min in Jeff is doing just that trying to get Brian to join in on the backing vocals! :lol


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEBHAba7Yfg

That sounds about right to me - add in some studio wizardry and I think you've got it (i.e. EQ, pitch correction, looping, etc.).  I wouldn't discount the possibility of Foskett doubling it though.  I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same!

I don't get why people are so psyched they are performing it this tour when neither Mike or Brian are doing their original parts...which was the appeal of the recording.

TBH I don't know how anyone can think that's NOT Brian. ???

Mike sings, like, what, 80% of the songs, not only on the records but also -obviously- live, so it's really cool to have a song that hasn't been played in a while and that is sung by someone who never gets a lead -and that is a member of The Beach Boys-.

Agreed.  And it is not an especially high falsetto.  Compare it to Surf's Up next time you are singing along with it in the car.

There was a thread about this 3 or 4 years ago (I remember reading it at my old desk) and somebody posted an interview with Terry Melcher where he said it's Brian, taped looped. There might have been other effects too, search for that thread and it should have all the details.

He sounds better than any other falsettist. Even in this robotic, manufactured form.

Sounds like Totten's handling the woo-oos this time, also looks like Brian did a little backing vocals live, nothing that particuarly stands out though!

Can anyone pin point where Foskett is singing in Getcha Back?

In an interview for my book, producer Steve Levine said "This is pre-Auto-Tune. It is tracked , but there is no faking."

What do you mean by "tracked"?

it wouldn't be nearly so ragged if it was Foskett.  Brian all the way.

I love the scratchiness of the falsetto on that track. Beautiful.

I always heard it as Brian, and it did confound me as well. He does very distinctive though, I admit I a psyched to see this live, so I hope they keep this for Sydney. I think its heaps cool David Marks is doing it!

"Looped" meaning they got 4 good tripled-tracked bars out of him, and repeated it? Must have been a different loop for the trucker's gear change modulation, as I don't know if digital technology allowed for pitch shift without tempo change back then.

Never really understood why Mike never handles the lead on this song anymore.  In recent years he's been handing it off to his song Christian.  Mike really does the best job with this song.  Marks' voice just isn't well suited for this song. 

I think it's Brian too.  BTW, on the clip mentioned above, I do believe Brian IS trying the falsetto at the top of the song...and really not hitting it!  Listen carefully.  Perhaps again around 1:45 and later. The first half of the "whoa" falsetto is pitchy as hell, then someone drops out and it's in.  Brian seems to be singing, but it's hard to see.  Hard to imagine who else it would be...


Interesting hearing Dave do this one.  It's kinda cool.

Vocal highlight of that version is Mike's part. The rest of it sounds quite not right, perhaps because Brian, Al and Bruce are singing a different part than they should. Perhaps because Jeff doesn't really nail the falsetto part this time.

Probably the same thing as Terry Melcher meant by looping.  They're saying it is Brian making the sound, but admitting that they used sampling or looping or whatever to repeat the same performance of the falsetto line throughout the song.

I take it to mean Brian did a good take and they duplicated it and kept layering it over top the original, as Brian would do on his first solo album. Here's an excerpt from the book on the subject of Brian's singing at the sessions:

For Levine, making the album was a combination of “highs and extreme lows.” The defining event came a few days in at Westlake, after Brian had laid down a weak vocal. “It was just awful,” the producer recalls. “He walked in the control room and everyone’s going, ‘Hey, great, Bri, really great.’ Everyone was so unbelievably patronizing. And Brian says to me, ‘What do you think, Steve?’ And I said, ‘Do you want an honest answer? It’s sh*t. You need some singing lessons,’ at which point everyone in the room took a deep breath and Brian stormed out.”

The room cleared and Levine believed his critique had just earned him his walking papers. He returned the next morning to pack up, when the phone rang. It was Tom Hulett, who had replaced Stephen Love as Beach Boys manager years earlier. “Brian’s not coming to the studio today,” Hulett told a contrite Levine. “Do you know where he is? He’s having some singing lessons. Thank you.”

By the way Mark, I picked up your book at the B&N at the Irvine Spectrum when I was in town for the Boys' show a few weeks back. I only bought it based upon the posts here, I kind of hedged actually.  Long story short, a great piece of work.  I find the book to be an absolute page turner.

* One question though, I always thought that Mike Love referred to himself as the "surf word man".  The quote in the book is "surfboard man".   Not suggesting my ears were right.

That's what I take the tape looping quote to mean as well, Brian sang the line once, then they used the same take repeated and layered throughout the track.

I'm looking forward to picking up your book this weekend, just found a $100 Barnes and Nobel gift card in my purse and you're book was the first thing I thought of using it on.

Funnily enough, I've wondered before if Brian's falsetto was looped, it sounds TOO spot on, not just for mid 80's Brian but for anyone, for example the tag, both Brian and Bruce's 'waa-ooh' sound looped (although that may just be my ears, I'm sure Bruce was capable of pulling it off each time).

Thanks, southbay. I understand your hesitation. I had to ask myself before embarking on this two and a half year project whether the world really needed another Beach Boys book. I was certainly very fortunate in terms of who was willing to speak to me, and I would say, as a longtime fan, I found each interviewee to relay something that was revelatory to me. The "Getcha Back"  chapter is a good example. I think the 1985 album sessions have been quite underreported and it was fascinating to have Steve Levine run through the whole drama.

I just went back to watch the 1994 Mike Love interview. I think you're right. I'm optimistic about a second print run, which will give me an opportunity to fix it. Thanks!

Wish I had that link to reference, but alas. Can't talk about something I'm not allowed to hear.

Cool.  Can I get an acknowledgement? Kidding.

Two things:

1) Hearing this song on this tour, a few weeks ago, was the first time I'd ever heard it. I thought it was pretty cool, and was looking forward to hearing the studio version. Upon seeing this thread, I loaded the song up on youtube, and immediately remembered why I've avoided this era of the band! It's just so damn 80s, which isn't really an adjective, but I think you'll know what I mean. So slick and drenched in reverb. I'm sure Joe Thomas loves it. Juuuuuuuust kidding. But seriously, I'm glad my first exposure to it was the live version, so I can at least stomach the studio version. I'm thinking the live cd of this tour will contain my definitive version of the song (if it's included that is).

2) More relevant to some of the discussion in this thread, I think the falsetto in the original is Brian. As mentioned above, the reverb is so thick, and the part layered so much, that it's hard to tell. Throughout most of the song I couldn't make heads or tails, and if someone had told me it was or wasn't Brian, I could be swayed either way. The turning point was the end of the song, where the key modulates up. The falsetto part is having to reach harder for the notes, and there's a more human element that breaks through where (I think) I can hear the voice as Brian.

It's a funny tune. A ripoff of Hungry Heart, written by Mike and Terry Melcher (the only writing credit either one has on the record). Produced by Culture Club's Steve Levine, yet Brian seems to have had a hand in the arrangement (baritone sax). Brian did arrange the vocals, apparently. So a tune from a lot of hands, but one that manages -- in its own way -- to avoid some of the nostalgia traps of other BB material from that era.

I have to say, while the criticisms of the overall production sound are right on, I do love Brian's wo-wos and tag vocals on this. I'd dearly love for him to take them up in concert, too, but it seems like he doesn't want to.

Ah, you reminded me of something else I wanted to mention. When the song started up at the concert I was like "Hushabye?! With a Caribbean rhythm on it???!!!" The first 4 notes of the melody (and chords underneath it) are the same, and having not heard the song prior it fooled me for a second.

Thanks for sharing that story, Mark. I'll be sure to check your book out.

I think a lot of good things can be said about the production on BB 85. I wouldn't say I like it, but I'd at least say its pretty interesting. The vocals sound great-in particular I don't think Bruce has sounded better. I also think that Getcha Back works best as it appears on the album. I've never heard a live version that I've liked.

How about this one then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfAT-rTv-zw&feature=plcp (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfAT-rTv-zw&feature=plcp)

Reasons it rules:

• 15-voice stack of Brian Wilsons. No overdubs required.
• Mike's sweet jacket/hat combo.
• Double-handed octo-pad percussionist with a mullet (pronounced "mull-ay").
• The dancing. Enough said.
• Al posing as an insurance salesman on tambo.
• Bruce + Keytar = mother naffing win. Bitches.

Has to be Brian - compare it to his falsetto on something like "In My Car" and imagine him in that voice, but doing a whole lot better, and it's pretty easy to see how it's him. Doesn't sound a thing like Jeff.

Doesn't really sound "looped" to me in the sense that he only sang it once - it's only sung twice per chorus and the melody varies a bit between the two. It's likely the same vocal on every chorus, but then Brian was doing that as far back as "Good Vibrations", so hay.

 ;D

I ain't hearing any live anything here. Pretty sure this is a pure lip-sync.

"Solid Gold" performance.  That's not live. Nothing on Solid Gold was ever live.

I've always felt it was Brian.  This discussion is great...but what about Mike's HORRID lead vocal (excuse me if this has been discussed before)!  Yes, we all know he can sound nasal...but there is just something so processed and fake sounding about this track that almost makes it unlistenable to me...which is too bad because it's a catchy song.  I like David handling the lead live these days.  It's a good song...but it's also a victim of its time.

While I enjoy the song (despite it's many, many performance/production shortcomings), Mike's lead is indeed among his worst. As you said, so over-the-top processed and "80s", and the guy has never sung out his nose quite as much as he did here. It was one of those, "Man, this lead vocal is so bad that it's amusing," that you go back to it a few times. Then you notice that holy sh*t, Brian sounds great. Then you notice that the song is pretty okay. And then you find yourself acknowledging the song comes dangerously close to being a flaming pile of sh*t but kind of enjoying it for what it is just the same ;(

Yeah, this pretty much sums up my feelings about "Getcha Back". Mike should be embarrassed of his lead vocal on this. However, his vocals on "California Calling" are even worse, more nasal. And the re-records with Adrian Baker top them all I think.

I know it got to #26, but for anyone who was alive at this time, how much of a hit was Getcha Back really? Radio airplay on Top 40 stations? Young music fans/record buyers purchasing the single?

WHAT?!

that Getcha Back video is the first time you saw a video of Brian playing bass? REALLY?

That's almost impossible. but here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgDApIGvFxA full Beach Boys set from the early 60s, 9 songs.

The line "He may have money and a brand new car" is terrible.  It almost sounds like if his voice gets any more processed you won't be able to understand what he's saying.  Such a shame because at the core it's not a bad song.  I've always wondered if it was a case of Mike wanting to sound younger??  The whole LP has some decent songs...but they're just ruined with processed 80s goo.

I was 13 when it came out, in Washington DC, and I seem to remember it being pretty big at summer camp.  First time I'd really paid attention to a new song from those Beach Boy guys, at any rate -- there was a sense of it being a comeback after Dennis' death made the news.

I have vague memories of a group of us at camp miming to it as a comedy skit -- with shtick like the bass player wandering off in a daze halfway through and the guitarist having to corral him, then the drummer falling off his stool dead and the guitarist having to run back there and play guitar and drums at the same time.  Ah, the glorious tastelessness of youth...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

The video for Getcha Back was played in regular rotation on the major outlets of the day, including MTV, Friday Night Videos, etc. I heard the song on regular Top 40 radio and adult contemporary formats as well. That said, it came and went fairly quickly.

The video is awful...but that was typical of the era.  I think on YouTube you can watch "Getcha' Back" and "It's Gettin' Late" back-to-back.  They're hard on the eyes...though I do like the scene where Brian shows up in the delivery van!  Classic!

Steve Levine did mention in Mark Dillon's book that Mike did want his vocals speeded up so that he sounded younger...but come on...there is a limit before it sounds fake.  He also seemed to indicate that the falsetto is, in fact, Brian...though I think it was looped.

I remember hearing Getcha Back on my car radio in 1985.  Within a matter of days, I had the then new album, All Summer Long and the new edition of the David Leaf book. I was 17 and didn't know any better, but my life would never be the same.  If only car radio had been on a different station...

I believe foskett is credited in the two-fer...for at least being "on the album," so I just assumed it was Foskett's doing the falsetto.

But...hey...maybe it is Brian.  I'm going to listen to it again.... I don't mind listening to this song looped 4 or 5 times.  I really hooks me!!

By golly...it does sound like Brian!  I would agree that it sounds "looped."  Man, it sounds really great.  I like Brian's latter-day, forced falsetto.  I wish he would do it more.  It's still got so much power and beauty and pain.  He was the best at this type of singing.  Everyone else always sounded like a cheap knock-off.

My agreement is closer to LdC in that Marks does a more than pretty good job, with Getcha Back, from early to mid June sound check rehearsal to my last C50 show at the end of June.  I find it more "lead neutral" where it is not identified to one lead singer, such as GOK, or Surfin' USA.  Dave brings kind of a visceral and gritty soulful quality, as he gets into the desperately wishful lyrics.  He is getting back more, into what I would characterize as  "the inimitable blend" of the BB brand. 

Dave sounded more as a "solo" when I saw him in Foxwoods, in 2010, with the Touring Band.  Now, he has worked so hard, that he sounds as though he barely missed a beat during his absence.  No doubt the exacting taskmaster skill of Scott Totten has assisted this transition as well as Dave's hard work is to credit. But, I found Dave's performances are better each time. 

Christian does a great interpretation as well.  And, I find that is the key here, as it impresses me as a BB song that is "lead neutral" meaning that whomever sings the lead, interprets the lyrics in his own context.  It's cool that the BB brand, is not just painted with the proverbial "broad brush."   ;)

Mike had said in a recent interview (conducted by Howie Edelson) that he always felt Getcha Back suffered because it needed a grittier lead vocal (he mentioned Bryan Adams as an example) and that's why he thought Dave would be a good choice to do it on the tour because he gets into that soulful mid-range a little more naturally than any of the other principals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uioR_7auEiY

I've never understood it either.  It sounds like nobody alive except Brian... and not really for all good reasons.  It's got all Brian's strengths, but also his voice's weaknesses in it (shrill sounding, kind of that wacky sound he had later on, etc.) 

BTW, if you listen to the acapella break in "Love & Mercy", just a few years later, he's certainly singing everything.... and there's some falsetto lines in there that melodically are really similar to the stuff going on in "Getcha Back".  Sounds very similar.

Since we're in that area, too, I think it's Brian doing the falsetto on "Wipe Out", which again sounds about like whoever's doing falsetto on Getcha Back.


I've also got to say, I'm very proud of my ability to love this song and represent it as great.  People come around, we're talking about the Beach Boys, this would be one of the 100 or so songs I would point at for why they're great.  Sure, they made a bunch of great songs in the 60's, and 70's, but the 'dork' image was always there and they've fully embraced it in cheese like this. 

I don't see what the problem is.  It sounds like it was produced in the 80's because it was.  Mike's voice sounds nasal because Mike's voice IS nasal.  Brian sounds a little off because he IS a little off.  It's a fun song meant to be taken lightly, you don't have to be ashamed of allowing yourself to enjoy it.  Drop all your notions of what people expect from music or what people will agree with you is good, and just enjoy what you enjoy.  You dont' have to hide in a closet to listen to Getcha Back :)  One of the best things about the Beach Boys was the feel, that warmth you get when you listen to those harmonies, and even through all the fighting, through the illness, through the robotic nature of the song, the warmth still shines through to these ears.

The video is one of their best, in my honest opinion.  Stupid storyline, silly lyrics, etc. but damn there's so much great going on in it.  When Brian pulls up in that van at the end, looking healthy, waving at the camera.... how is that not awesome?  The first time I saw it, I literally laughed out loud at him!  I think my exact words were "HELL YEAH!!!!"  Carl at the party as the security guard or whatever... there's this great part where he turns to the camera and just Smmmmillllleeeessss.  When I hear the name "Carl Wilson" I think it's that smile from this video that I remember the most.  Mike.   Kind of awkward... kind of cool... kind of like he always is. 

I'm not pitching you on the idea that the song is as good as Good Vibrations or Surf's Up.  It's certainly not.  It is a good song though, I love it. 

It is a good song.  No apologies needed!  I still think Mike sounds a bit too goofy (again, according to Steve Levine he wanted his voice sped up to sound younger).  As far as later day BB songs go...this is still a winner...and I'm glad they're doing it live right now.

The vocal is definately messed up, but it's indicitave of the mistakes the Beach Boys have always made (and continue to!)... so to me it seems natural in that way.

It's like finding a painting that Van Gogh messed up.  The proportions are all wrong, he accidentally dripped paint on it, and somebody ripped a hole in the canvas. 


HANG IT ON THE WALL AND MARVEL AT THE GREATNESS

Getcha Back is really good.  The fact that it hails from arguably the boys LOWEST period just makes it better.

Ah yes...the lowly 80s.  Denny was gone.  Brian was trapped in some sort of mental limbo -- a strange, purgatory-state, somewhere between Alan Thicke and totally bananas.  The fact that he looked "better" somehow just enhanced the unsettling nature of it all.

Musically, times were a-changing.  The Beach Boys were screwed.  Pop music was going in some strange new directions, and really didn't welcome an oldies act.  They had to make some tough choices in the studio.  If they were rock (or hard rock) things would have been easier.  But pop is always subject to the whims of the moment.  And in the 80's the moment was... um ...different.

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-HySOqLbr_s/TS4Lb0wXI6I/AAAAAAAAAFY/RcJaasBowAw/s1600/bb85.jpg)

Mike just looks creepy in that photo!  I think it's the creepy smile.  Whenever I see it...I hear "Hey, little tomboy..." in my head!

Also one of the few posed stills with Carl actually smiling (you can see his teeth). Generally, they are either non-smiles or grins.

Looks like Al is sporting some spiffy Velcro shoes, as well!

Getcha Back is my least favorite song on BB'85.

I can see how people get turned off by the production values of the single (and album), but if you spend some time with it, there's a lot to like. The production values are what they are but The Beach Boys were setting out to make something that would be current and sell albums. Getcha Back is a GREAT song that isn't a great record.

To me, "Getcha Back" was an optimistic time. Just two short years earlier, Brian was 350 lbs, Dennis died, the group's last studio album was 1980's KTSA, and the group didn't have a record contract.

Next thing you know, as mentioned above, "Getcha Back" is all over the radio, the video was played on MTV, and there was even an appearance on the Solid Gold TV Show - with Brian holding a Fender bass! Yes, it was lipsynched...

I respectfully disagree with a post above. I think "Getcha Back" is a better record than song. The song was a fairly simple one, but the track had the cool drum intro, Brian Wilson on "Hushabye" falsetto, and really good harmonies. True, it wasn't Mike Love's shining hour vocally,  but it was neat to hear that classic Beach Boys' - dare I say - formula again.

Brian looked great, the group sounded refreshed, they looked happy, and a new studio album was on the way with a hot producer. And, the rest was history....But, for that fleeting moment, "Getcha Back" was a welcome surprise.

I wonder if the boys decided on Mike singing the lead, despite it possibly being out of his range or better suited to someone else, in order to have that classic BB vibe that most casual fans were familiar with.  Most everyone is familiar with the Beach Boys, but not to the same level that we are.  The songs that most casual fans associate with them are the early songs that feature a Mike Love lead vocal.  If they were trying to recapture the pop music spotlight with a nostalgic or retro sounding tune, then why not have Mike sing the lead coupled with Brian's soaring falsetto. 

I think it's a nice enough tune even though it isn't groundbreaking and is formulaic.  Mike's vocal is definitely bad though.  Personally, I think Al could have knocked that song out of the park.

Banana - if you google "Bob Harris Brian Wilson Interview 1976" you'll find a rare 2 parter with Brian excitedly discussing Hey Little Tomboy.  It should come right up.  There is so much negative connotation with that song.  One can see, clearly, what Brian's concept was, at the time of it's inception. 

Enjoy!    :love

I will check it out!  I've always considered it to be an okay song...but it's so much fun to playfully poke fun at Mike Love!

as long as we're being hypothetical here, it would've sounded great with a Light Album-era Dennis lead. wouldn't've been as commercial, but it would've been great.

Mike could have had a better vocal...but I've read in the past that he kept tinkering with the mix trying to make his voice sound younger...but you get to the point where it stops sounding human!  Interesting idea of a late-70's Dennis taking the lead.  The bottomline remains that it's not a bad song...it just suffers from some bad production...especially on the lead vox. 

Al would have sounded a bit too 'much'. Carl would have gone too far with it, his vocal mannerisms wouldn't work at all. Bruce, no. Brian, no (although his part on the fade is f***ing amazing). I guess Mike was their best bet, but he should have blown his nose before the take.

BTW, I am feeling this song tonight, so will repost this snippet from the albums thread wot I just wrote and have at it, you... you.... people on the internet, you.

The thing I like about this album, the more I listen to it, is the strange collision between Levine's and Brian/The Beach Boys' styles of production, best demonstrated by Getcha Back. You can feel the Brian coming out of that - the percussion hit on the 4, the block harmonies, bari saxes doing THAT line, strategic doubling of Mike  - versus all the eighties 'modern' techniques. "You want echo on the snare" turns into it becoming a gated monstrosity, the harmonies are precise to the point as not human, looping BW's falsetto, terrible effects on Mike...

I really enjoy Mike's lead vocal but I'm also pretty much an idiot.

+1

Well, it sounds a lot like Hungry Heart, which worked pretty well for Springsteen's voice. Dennis' voice is the most like Springsteen's. I could see it with Dennis' voice.

Amongst the Beach Boys things I have never heard is a version of Getcha Back with an extended intro, starts off with the drums and then an organ comes in and then vocals.. or so I am told, does anyone know what this was? an early mix? intended as a single mix in the same way Somewhere Near Japan had a different intro?