The Smiley Smile Message Board

I am hoping someone may be able to help me.  I read an old topic, from 2007 I believe, regarding Carl's last live performance.  Someone posted a link to an audio file from that show, or one of Carl's last shows in late August 1997, of God Only Knows.  Of course, that download link is no longer available.  Can someone help me locate that audio clip?  I have a recording of God Only Knows from the August 2 show in Concord.  I'm trying to find something after that, later in the month.  Thanks!

Would love to hear (experience) that one too.  The great Carl Wilson – how I wish he was still with us today.  He would only be 68, a mere whippersnapper compared to his brothers and all but one bandmate.  Can you imagine what C50 would have been like with Carl Wilson there?

I know the recording exists because it was posted on here at one time.  Would love to find someone who has it.

Carl was so missed on C50. I still find it hard to accept anyone else singing the songs he sang on tour. I saw a lot of BB's shows in the 80's/90's, and Carl was always the highlight. Al's moments in the spotlight were nice, too.

http://andrewhickeywriter.tumblr.com/post/70675455024/today-would-have-been-carl-wilsons-birthday-this

This might be the one you're looking for.

Thanks!  This sounds like the one from Concord, CA on August 2, which I already have.  I believe there is one from near the end of August that was discussed and posted in these forums back around 2007. 

Carl still sounded amazing, though.

Amazing stuff. Even for '97 and his illness at that time, Carls vox sound wonderful.

Thanks for sharing that link. 8) 8)

Even after all these years, this never fails to amaze me.  Carl was so sick, but he still sang as beautifully as ever.  He is greatly missed.

Amen.

Wow.  It is truly amazing that these wonderful vocals were coming from a man who was very sick a the time - you would never know just listening to the track.  I can't even imagine how he was still able to sing so sweetly after all he was going through at the time.  He never lost that sweet angelic voice and he truly gave 110% until the very end. 

Did Carl or Al ever sound off key?  Those guys have been the two most consistently great singers in the band over the years.

Some of the live vocals from the others have been pretty poor at times. Even right to the end Carl was 'The Voice'.

I think Al sounds as good in 2015 as he did in 1965.

If you listen to enough live audio and video recordings, pretty much all of them had occasional off times. I would say Al and Carl the least (and I guess Bruce to the degree he's audible), though.

If you watch something kind of dreadful like the Australia 1978 video, Al is kind of the only guy holding the whole thing together vocally. Jon Stebbins' "The Real Beach Boy" points this out as well.

But yeah, Carl sounded great even in late 1997. There was a brief local TV news report posted awhile back that had little bits of Carl from that 1997 tour as well, and he sounded great there too.

I remember Al sounding hoarse at FarmAid around the mid 80s doing Rock n Roll To The Rescue but that was down to a sore throat.  He still kicked ass though!

That clip is on youtube.  It's from the June 21st show in Boston.

The hardest thing for ANYONE to do is to have to sing Carl's part(s) in ANY Beach Boys' songs...even the ones where he only sang backup and harmony parts in the intricate arrangements.  NOBODY can do it.  He's just that much greater than ANY fill-in.  (Sorry Brian...Jeff...everybody else)

Carl is SO missed every single day.  There is one section in Daybreak Over the Ocean where someone almost gets 'it'.  I did a double take when I heard it 'for the first time' the other day.  Never noticed it before.

Studio trickery?

It's just not quite the same or as good without him...regardless.

That was Mike's son Christian who can sound eerily close to Carl.

Then somebody needs to PAY and utilize him because it's a key MISSING ingredient.  It'd be a real difference maker.  Live AND in the studio.

There's a video on YouTube of Christian singing God Only Knows.  While it's not Carl, he sounded really, really good.

Though beautiful, as his performances of this song always were, I got a lump in my throat when I listened.  The ovation/cheers he received at the end were uplifting, however.  I don't know if the majority of the audience knew the extent of Carl's illness, but they sounded like they wanted him to know how much they loved and appreciated him.  I know Carl always appreciated the audience.

The YouTube video of that Boston performance in the summer of '97 was both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.  If I recall correctly, Carl was singing "I Can Hear Music" in that short clip.  The video quality wasn't great, but the man looked pretty darned good.  And, of course, that voice was as beautiful and strong as ever.

I know a number of people feel that Christian Love could sound a lot like Carl. I've never heard it to any great extend. I do think, as heard in his bits on "Daybreak....", that he does have a remarkably similar tone in certain ranges. But it's almost like the tone sounds like Carl on occasion, but the actual voice itself doesn't.

Still very interesting to hear that remarkably similar tone now and then. But I've never heard a Christian vocal and thought "wow, that sounds like it could be Carl!"

I agree with Hey Jude.....Christian just doesn't sound like Carl to me at all. No knock on him either....there's only 1 Carl Wilson ever!

Listening to this just made me extremely sad. :(

He sounded really good there

Pure inspiration. Carl was a trooper and a true professional. God I miss him.

This might be my favorite version, actually.

I miss him greatly. I've said this before, and I'll say it again; isn't it funny how you can feel like you  love somebody, almost like a family member, without having known them?

Ain't that the truth? And that love was reciprocated by Carl every time he sang.

I read that there is an audio recording of God Only Knows from one of the August 1997 shows.  Mike is speaking about Carl before the song and Carl thanks his doctors and dedicates the song to them.  Does anyone have that?

+1,000,000

  :angel:

August 4, 1997. Devore CA. I was there--last BB show I saw until the C50.  Its floating around.