The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'm looking for Beach Boys' recordings that feature Brian multi-tracking himself.

Examples off the top of my head:

Happy Birthday Four Freshmen
Vegetables [Ballad Insert]
Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulders) [Unused Background Vocals]

What else is there?

 "Wipe Out" ?

KOMA (radio spot)
The Surfer Moon (?)

Sounds like Brian is doing all of the strange harmonies/background vocals on "Transcendental Meditation"

I'm Waiting for the Day is all Brian.  I thought for a long time that I Just Wasn't Made for These Times was Brian solo but supposedly there are some Beach Boys vocals buried in the mix, there's been discussion on the board about that. 

A lot of his solo recordings before Foskett, the Wondermints and company got involved were just Brian.  I think the '88 album is almost entirely Brian on vocals except for on Night Time and Walkin' the Line.   Also Andy Paley does some additional backing but in terms of what you can hear, it's very much "Wall of Brian."  Every song on Imagination except for South American which features Jimmy Buffett is just Brian.  Nearly every song on Gettin' In Over My Head is just Brian except for the guest appearances by Sirs Paul and Elton, Carl on Soul Searchin' and the band on Desert Drive.  Live Let Live on the Arctic Tale soundtrack is just Brian.

Correct.

Hand on My Shoulder on Anton Fig's Figments album has a wall of BW backing vox, which are isolated as a bonus track.

The new Jimmy Webb album Still Within The Sound of My Voice has a wall of BWs and Jeffs on the track MacArthur Park. Not entirely sure (yet) but there might be other Jeff involvement on the album.

This is...not true and is repeated here all the time.  It's Mike doing the bass vocal and he's also audible at 1:09 ("Baby don'tcha know")  and he's doing the "No's" and "uh-uh" starting at 2:37 on the tag.  This is clearer if you listen to the various vocal overdub mixes on the SOT box.  I also hear at least Carl and Mike on the BGV.

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One of the best BW backing vocals, "Adios" by Linda Ronstadt, features a wall of Brian's.  I'm still not sure about "Wipe Out".  The bass vocals sound so Mike.  The rest is Brian IMHO.  Has anyone managed to get a definitive answer?

Not a 'wall' of Brians per se, but all Brian on 'Busy Doin' Nothing'.
He does a continious background note through the song and also blows a raspberry... (OOps it).

For along time I thought this song was just Brian until I read a post on this MB. Once you notice Marilyn's vocals you can't unhear it  ^-^

Best Wall of Brians would be Your Imagination.

AGD says of 'Wipe Out' ;  '' The answers out there''

Was just about to Post ADIOS when the above poster beat me to it. Great songs with the wall of Brian BV's.

I would say THE best. A masterful arrangement, performance, and recording. The fact that it was a very well-written and beautiful song no doubt inspired Brian.

Metal Beach
Your Imagination (vocals only)

Question, is the unreleased background vocals to Don't Talk all Brian or are the Boys included? I always thought it was all the Boys as well

Is Delirious Love with Neil Diamond all Brian on Backing Vocals?

Also, if you can find it, the backing vocals to Elton John and Leon Russell's When Live is Dying...it's such a good song besides the great featuring of Brian's vocals

Hidden snippet at the end of TLOS.

California by Belinda Carlisle, IIRC

No mention of "One For The Boys" on BW 88? That's a perfect example of Wall of Brian's. Late 80s Brian voice and not a Beach Boys track, but still very impressive imo.

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Let us not forget the Rhaosody in Blue bookends.

Good shout on Roll Around Heaven.

'He Gives Speeches', perhaps?

If you're talking BW bvs as opposed to BB/solo tracks, there's a rough list here:

Guest Appearences (http://)

http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/guesting.html

Hm. What happened there ? Thanks, John.

I noticed the phrase "wall of Brians" in a recent post and found this old topic.

Surely "You're Welcome" qualifies, as the first example of a WoB? (I didn't see it mentioned.)

Whatever... it's a fascinating area of Beach Boy Land, to be sure.       

I believe that's a full band effort, as opposed to multiple vocal overdubs by Brian alone. Check out the revelatory session excerpts on TSS! :)

A good hunk if not most of "Orange Crate Art", right? I know one or a few have a few additional vocalists (Danny Hutton, etc.), but some of the tracks certainly sound all-Brian, and something like the title track or "San Francisco" is about the best latter-day example of what a "wall of Brians" sounds like. Even with a kind of whiney, gruff voice and some pre-autotune vocal assistance, those walls of vocals sound amazing.

John, I only have the single CD of TSS. Thanks for the correction.

And indeed, OCA has some wondrous walls of (latter-day) Brians.

Big big fan of the walls of Brian. Hand on my Shoulder… got that one?

I don't have it but I'd heard it on YouTube before it became unavailable. maybe just in my country...

But thankfully, for me and others in the same position, it's also here:

https://www.relix.com/blogs/detail/song_premiere_anton_fig_hand_on_my_shoulder_featuring_brian_wilson_and_blondie_chaplin

Sheer heaven! (For some reason I'm reminded of "Like A Brother".)

Anyway, thanks for reminding me. :=)

Yes they do!  :hat

I guess some of the other Smile session outtakes were Walls Of Brian like for example the GV "hum-de-dums".

So is the My Only Sunshine Pt. 2 Vocal Sessions from the Smile Sessions.

I don't have proof but it always sounded to me like Brian was doing most of the work at the end of "Getcha Back". 

Been listening to OCA (again) today. It sounds better with every listen!

I don't know if it's struck anyone else, but:

- The sung title of the extraordinary "San Francisco" reminds me of 2Pac's "California Love"
- Those "yeah-yeah-yeah"s and the shifting chords in "My Hobo Heart" recall John Lennon's "Bless You" from Walls & Bridges

Hardly a criticism, of course----there are only so many notes...

"San Francisco" is a great tune, the one track from OCA that moves ever so slightly in the direction of that original Wilson-Parks collaboration. And all of those Brians are in good form throughout!!

I remember back around the time that Gettin' in over my head came out he was getting a lot of criticism about his wall of Brian sound, but I always liked it personally and I typically jump with glee when I hear it in any of his new music :)  You can hear it for instance a little bit at the end of "Strange World" on the last Beach Boys album. 

"This Whole World"? Aren't all the vocals on that Brian save Carl's lead? Seems like a good "Wall of Brians" example to me, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Regarding "I'm Waiting For The Day" - I used to think that was all Brian, but now I think it's Brian, Marilyn, and Mike. I believe Brian and Mike are singing the low part in unison.

Bass is Mike.

I always thought all the guys were on that, plus maybe Marilyn and Diane...

I've just listened to the tag half a dozen times in headphones, and I *think* it's made up of
High falsetto ooh -- Brian
Backing ooh -- Brian, possibly sequenced on Fairlight rather than necessarily sung, but could be anyone at all it's so processed.
Backing "wah-ooh" -- Brian with *maybe* Bruce and Al (the "wah" sounds quite Bruceish)
"Getcha back" -- either two Brians, two Carls, or (my best guess) Brian and Carl doubled
(Second "Getcha back" in later repeats -- Carl plus at least one other. This sounds to me like it's snipped from the "Getcha back baby"s from earlier choruses)
"Gonna getcha back now" -- Carl
"I leave her and you leave him" -- Brian
"Can we baby get it back again?" -- Brian, doubled very low in the mix by Mike
I'm pretty sure the "I leave her and you leave him/Can we baby get it back again?" part is the only new element in the tag, with everything just copy-pasted from earlier parts of the song and looped.

There's so much processing, and so much doubling, that it's hard to tell for sure, but it sounds like most of it is Brian, but there's definitely some Carl and Mike in there.

Would they have even been ABLE to copy/paste in late '84/early '85? Sure, this stuff was recorded digitally, but it was digital TAPE...did they even have DAWs (digital audio workstations) capable of this sort of thing back then? ProTools was a good decade away, almost (Summer In Paradise was one of the first albums recorded with it). There might have been a way to do it, but with tape copying (ala Smiley Smile) and overdubbing the extra parts...BTW, on the "Can we baby / get it back again?" part, I only hear the very-low-in-the-mix doubling by Mike on the second half of that phrase.

From the PCM-1610 blurb/spec:
"The PCM-1610 can instantly replace the existing 2-channel analog mastering equipment, giving you substantially better sound as well as increased
operational convenience.

First, the PCM-1610 can operate in perfect synchronization with professional videocassette recorders. Sony also offers U-matic digital audio recorders, such as the BVU-800DA and VO-5850DA/5850PDA, designed exclusively for use with digital audio processors for improved operational convenience.

Second, the PCM-1610 lets you record separate takes and edit them at will. Sony has an advanced editor, the DAE-1100, developed to serve the specialized needs of digital audio. With this unit, editing can be performed much more easily and accurately than with any conventional analog
system. Electronic editing, as opposed to tapesplice editing, also allows the original recording to be used again and again.

Third, direct digital-to-digital dubbing is possible. In professional recording, it is a common practice to make several dubbings from the original master recording. With an analog system, each dubbing is itself a poorer version of the original, with noise increasing each time a copy is made.
With the PCM-1610 and the BVU-800DA or VO-5850DA combination, however, any number of dubbings can be made with absolutely no deterioration of the signal quality. Each copy, regardless of the generation, sounds as if it is a master itself. In addition, digital recording also eliminates problems such as print-through. Digital recording, after all, can maintain the original high quality even after going through various studio operations of mixing down, adding
reverberation, repeat dubbing, and so on."

"Using the PCM-1610 and a pair of BVU-800DA or VO-5850DA digital audio recorders, direct digital-to-digital dubbing can be performed with no degradation in signal quality. Even after repeated dubbing, the high quality of the original recording remains true."

Sounds great, we should get one.

I wonder whether those 80's digital tapes have been transferred to the current storage medium.
we always discuss the old analogue tapes, but I believe I read somewhere recently how a lot of those
80's digital tapes are failing as well.?  I'm not sure of that source though.
I don't mind BB85, but it could use an update remix.  

I assume (but wouldn't categorically know) they've been backed-up to 32 bit/88.2khz as per the current archival methodology.

If so, these files may or may not have been sourced for the recent vinyl reissue, or dithered/downsampled re the related download files.

I don't overly mind the mix & sonics per se, it's more the track selection that could have used a little more, umm, consideration.

I don't really 'mind' the mix, but sonically I think it needs a 'lift'.  It is just a harsh 80's contemporary sound of the day, which I'm not a big fan of.
However, I do think the original vinyl sounds 'heaps'! better than the 2000 'keepin the summer/BB85' Cd release.

I wonder if the Beach Boys management realizes that there's at least a SMALL section of people out there that would love to hear expanded, or instrumental, or vocal only mixes of some of the strange stuff like that?  How friekin' cool would it be to hear 2 or 3 versions of "Getcha Back" with just the backing vocals or whatever.  Or studio banter while they're recording "Wipe Out" or some of that stuff.  Or some of the sessions from Brian doing "Rio Grande", or.... or.... or...