The Smiley Smile Message Board

My vote goes to Brian's, specifically in the late 60s.

Especially his vocals on the alternate takes of Break Away and Time To Get Alone are very touching.

Brian, with Carl coming in second.

Brian 62-67
Carl 66
Al 69-70
Dennis 70-71

Great sounding voices.

Brian 63-74 (perhaps Pet Sounds and Sunflower particularly)
Dennis 65-72
Carl 66-74 and 1980
Mike 61-5 (bass) 66-72 leads
Al 65-72
Bruce 70-71

I like them all!

Mike and Carl I like no matter what the era, Al has managed to stay consistently well (but not "great"), Brian's and Dennis's voices when they're in the higher range (not the gruff "I smoke 10 packs a day" 70s voices). Brian's early deeper leads are great, too, like for Papa Oom Mow Mow. Bruce doesn't have enough leads for me to really judge him overall.

Present-day, I prefer Mike's voice to Brian's.

Sunflower era Brian and Dennis.  Brian sounds sweet singing Games Two Can Play and Dennis sounds great with soulful lead vocals on Slip On Through and Got To Know The Woman.

Carl.

They're all wonderful singers, but my vote has to go with Carl as having the greatest vocal gift of the greats.

Let's not forget Ricky and Blondie. They could wail.

I don't know why, but i find myself really loving brian's voice circa '76, '77. There's something so charming about his voice in "going to the chapel" , "solar system" and "let's put our hearts together".  Am i alone on this?

I think so. :)

Sorry but except for You Lost That Loving Feeling being good and Sherry + Lizzie being interesting the rest of his pre M.I.U. 75-7 vocals really are not to my taste

Easily Brian's voice for me, some of the stuff he did was amazing, almost sounded alien and not human.  "butttt don't, you treat it like a toy!!!!" from Catch a Wave, for instance.  His falsetto singing in things like "Warmth of the Sun" are pretty much impossible to replicate, and his almost maniacly joyous lead on "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is in my opinion some of the finest singing anybody's ever done in pop music.  He basically did it how it was supposed to be done. 

The Beach Boys incredibly though never had a bum singer in the group.  I'm not too familiar with Dennis' voice, but the few songs I've heard him sing lead on, he had that impossibly dreamy thing going on, really soulful. 

Bruce has such an innocent, sweet sounding voice, great singer.

Mike had an incredibly versitile voice and he doesn't really get the respect he deserves as a singer... his bass vocals frequently 'made' the song, and in things like "Little Deuce Coupe" he switches back and forth, back and forth and works his ass off making the song sound so great.  His braggadocio swagger was just *cool* too, no matter if he was a dork or not.  "Well, I saved my pennies; and I saved my dimes!" he's like the musical equivalent of James Dean.

Al shared with Carl the impossible task of filling in the blanks.  Brian was gifted with an incredible voice, so he sang the high falsetto, Mike was a great bass singer and sang that, but it was up to Al and Carl to really make the harmonies work and that great Beach Boy thick sound swell up and come through the record.  If you just listen to what Al or Carl are singing in the harmony, they were both extremely talented.  Al, apparently, still is.  Of course Al shined on the few tracks he sang lead on, and in concert he put on one hell of a show.  We've mentioned before how his live version of "You Still Believe In Me" is arguably better than Brian's original studio version. 

Carl had the voice of an angel, it's like he had Brian's falsetto, and Dennis' soul.  What an incredibly talented singer that unfortunately will likely never get his full due respect. 

Brian - 1963-1966; Brian sang with an emotional quality that made average songs good, good songs great, and great songs timeless classics; there will never be another voice like it

Dennis - 1969-1973; Dennis "found" his voice around 20/20 and provided a masculine, romantic voice that the other guys didn't possess

Carl - 1982-1997; Carl carried the group in the later years, got better with age, and because of Brian & Mike's shadow, was never recognized in rock/pop like he should've been

Mike - 1962-1965; Mike's lead and bass vocals defined the BB style as much as Brian's high falsetto; because of his personality will never get the credit he deserves as a singer, historically speaking

Al - 1976-1980; I never felt Al achieved "great" status, but he did have a pleasant voice, and, other than Carl, maintained his voice the best over the years

No, you are not alone.

Well, I wouldn't say that I love it as much as I am fascinated with it. There was some kind of weird, wacky emotion in his voice. I got the sense that Brian was really giving 100%, but at the same time, didn't realize just how bad he sounded. Either the other guys didn't have the guts to tell him, or were just happy to have him "back", and didn't want to hurt his feelings.

When you hear vocals like "Solar System", "Let's Put Our Hearts Together", and "Love Is A Woman", you wonder how they could release something like that. You'd think they had to do another take or two.

Interestingly enough, if you could take away the year 1976, you would never have those raspy, hoarse Brian Wilson vocals on record. He didn't sound that way before 1976, and by 1977, was already improving toward respectability. It was just those two albums, that short one year period out of 45 plus years, and, unfortunately, you can't take them back...

Easily Mike, especially when he's pushing that signature throaty strained sound to its maximum. The unique personality and charm he injected to his vocals are tough to match or surpass. Never the greatest technical singer in the group, but in terms of being an all-around enjoyable pop vocalist, he's easily my favorite.

Interestingly enough, if you could take away the year 1976, you would never have those raspy, hoarse Brian Wilson vocals on record. He didn't sound that way before 1976, and by 1977, was already improving toward respectability. It was just those two albums, that short one year period out of 45 plus years, and, unfortunately, you can't take them back...

I guess they are the worst of the released stuff in a way but I still think his voice on something like Smart Girls or Just Say No is worse. Adult Child did have some good singing compared to what came out. I am in the minority but I wish it had come out instead of Love You.

See, I don't think that's Brian's 'best' period of course, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with his vocals on "Solar System" or "Lets Put our Hearts Together".  He sounds pretty damn good on "Lets Put Our Hearts Together" ... of course it's light years away from his earlier stuff, but it just sounds like somebody else with a different voice is singing the song.... it doesn't sound off key or particularly bad to me, just a different voice, different singer.   

Carl Wilson!
  Especially Live in "73.As I've posted elsewhere here,nothing tops him doing "Let The Wind Blow" and "Sloop John B." Live.In fact,Carl steals the In Concert '73 album."I Can Hear Music" is another Fav.As well as ALL his singing on "Sunflower" & "Surf's Up" and "Holland".
  We "lost" a true GREAT when he passed on.
Big Bri

The BB's as a group over any individual.  The sum was greater than the parts and the parts were all very good.    Probably my favorite studio vocal is "Don't Worry Baby".  Of the live tracks I like Al's vocal on "You Still Believe In Me" on the 72-73 'In Concert' LP.  I don't know if it is the actual live vocal or if it (the vocal)  was re-recorded later but I think it was a very nice, and probably underrated, effort.           

Al sound really great on the '69 Live in London album. Aren't you glad and Wake the world are excelent. I love Al's vocals on Knebworth show's Good Vibrations too. I always felt he got the difficult parts live.

Funny, I thought a similar thing about Al. I think Al and Carl are my favorites throughout the carreer. Brian comes in at second, first in the early-mid 60s. I always loved Dennis' voice. Mike had a real good one, but when it became terrible nasal(late 70s I believe), I can't dig it. Listening to him trying to double Al's falsetto on the end of GOK kills the song imo

I like them all.
But most Dennis voice from early 70-76.