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I'm a little bit confused as to who is singing the lead vocal on the Pet Sounds Sessions track "God Only Knows [Brian Wilson Vocal]." I've seen some people comment that David Leaf apologized and incorrectly called it that, but some still claim it's Brian. Every time this is brought up on here, it never gets resolved. I'm almost certain it's Carl, but what do you guys think?

It's Brian.

And while BW's lead vocal is nicely done, he recognized that Carl's voice and delivery would take GOK to the stratospheric heights needed to make God Only Knows one of the greatest songs of all time.

It's definitely an early, alternate take of Carl.  Leaf was incorrect.

Sorry, man, but apparently you can't discern Brian's voice and vocal intonations from Carl's in 1966.

It's Brian all the way and exists in the vaults only because BW realized that Carl was capable of infusing a level of transcendent tenderness, delicacy, and soul power to the song that Brain (not to mention everyone else who has ever recored the song) could not.

This one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YIaXYrCGys


Always sounded like Carl to me, just as the early Good Vibrations version. But the guys all had the ability to sound alike, so there's a chance it might be Brian.

It's absolutely 100% Carl.  I know that won't convince you, but it is. And being an asshole and insulting my knowledge of the group or lack of familiarity with their voices isn't going to change my mind.  I'm sorry you've been duped by David Leaf, a lot of people have.

Let's argue facts, not emotions.  Brian has stated repeatedly that he wrote the song for Carl to sing.  There's no reason for him to have recorded any lead vocal for it (even a scratch vocal). Carl was in town that week and present for the tracking session.  There's even the story told by Bruce that they recorded most of the vocals immediately following the tracking session.  The so-called "Brian take" is just an early alternate vocal take done in a more forceful way before Carl became tired.

I interpret it as being Carl

It's Carl and Brian doubling each other

We can all debate whether it's Brian or Carl, but there's not much of a point to that if we don't have proof (I believed it was Brian until someone said it was Carl, and now I could never hear it being Brian).

But does anyone know if there's any truth behind the statement that David Leaf apologized and said it was a mistake? That would clear everything up, right?

It’s also credited as Brian in the 2016 boxed set, which David Leaf didn’t have anything to do with. So his apology or not is irrelevant to the question at hand. The existence of other, alternate vocal takes on PS material certainly suggests that it would not be out of character for Brian to take a swing at the lead.

Everyone agrees that Carl was great. I don’t see why that also involves believing he sang every possible attempt at the lead vocal.

My two cents is that it's Brian and Carl doubled, and I think Alan Boyd had confirmed that for me, but I will double check. And while the Boys were all in town on the date of the tracking session - and Bruce was present in an observer capacity - Carl apparently wasn't (despite my earlier belief that he played guitar on the track, I'm now convinced that the guitar was played by Carol Kaye - hence my crediting her with that in the 2016 "book set" release sessionography). 

To my ears it sounds like a doubling of Dean and Stamos.  No, wait a minute, I was listening
to Tears for Fears.

And on my fourth gin and tonic.

Before 1:00 in the afternoon, Don?  Well, it IS Saturday, so what the heck...    >:D

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I don't think that's why people think this is Carl; the vocal just sounds like it's him and not Brian.

Oops, included my response in the quote...you can tell I'm new at this.

It's Carl.  Seems like applying lex parsimoniae is appropriate here even if one's ears are not sure.

I'm still not convinced Carl's not playing guitar on the track, though.

Given that two generations of Beach Boys researchers — people with actual access to the tapes and session notes — have said it’s Brian, the simplest answer is surely that it’s Brian, no? I mean, Craig and Alan on this very thread have said so. It’s credited as such on each boxed set, too. I don’t know — this strikes me like the dubious assertion that Dennis Wilson secretly co-wrote every ‘70s power ballad, when instead he was nicking them from Manson and his lesser-known collaborators.

The original intent of my post was to figure out if it was true that David Leaf apologized and said it was actually Carl. I've heard it a couple times on here, but I have no idea if it's true.

Lex parsimoniae - I like that! 

Apologies for my rather ranty previous post. It’s been a grumpy week.  :P

It's double tracked and sounds like both of them. I'm going with Brian and Carl double tracked (as in one of each).

It's the Brian-Carl version of the John-Paul "supervoice."

I have ha a similar thought about the early version of Good Vibrations. I thought it was all Brian. But now I think they are doubled. Same with this version of God Only Knows.

I'm an asshole? I won't debate that one but was it something I said???

Having contributed to Beach Boys boards for ages, this is the first time I've been called a disparaging name on any of those boards, so I guess I can now relax knowing that I've finally been officially inducted into the asshole club. I must admit that my post last night (actually in the early morning) was made after returning home from a party. Finding myself in a great mood I decided to further imbibe and consumed a couple of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Selects on the rocks while perusing the Smiley board and posting my comment.

Getting back to the question at hand, yes, this has been debated for ages, and I agree that many of the vocal intonations do sound like Carl would be expected to sound. Others are distinctly Brian. So my presumption was that Brian was singing while attempting to give the song a Carl style delivery. I hadn't considered a double tracked version done by both Brian and Carl until I read c-man's post. The recording in question is most certainly double tracked, so it makes sense that it could be both Brian and Carl, although overall I hear a lot more Brian than Carl. As far as I'm concerned, there is no way this track is Carl by himself. And we can be very thankful that this vocal track was not used for the released version as it sounds nowhere near as good as the one we all know and love with Carl's lead.

Speaking of the released version of GOK, the tag provides an excellent example of the potential difficulty in discerning Brain's vs Carl's voice. Remembering the vocal tag recording session, over the years Carl and Bruce repeatedly stated that the tag on the released version was sung by Brian, Carl, and Bruce. So it obviously sounded that way to Carl and Bruce as well as many listeners, myself included. Later it was revealed that Brain had erased Carl's voice on the tag, replacing it with his own voice, but giving it a somewhat different intonation so it sounded a lot like Carl. Like many others I initially thought that story had to be BS, as I was sure I clearly heard Brain, Carl, and Bruce, but it turned out it was in fact two Brians and Bruce.

Rocker's point about BBs sounding alike is well said. This GOK debate is puzzling but since 1st hearing, to my ears it's Brian. It doesn't seem like Brian copying Carl's vocal style. Not a bit. Maybe Carl then copied Brian's style if it's he? I just don't hear anything Carl in this song. Either way, it's really good version. & we get back to Rocker's correct point.

For as long as most of the people in this thread have been listening to the Beach Boys - how can you not think that Carl isn't at least one of the double tracked voices? He's totally the prominent voice. Listen for the distinctive chubby cheeks phrasing.

Edit: This is maddening.

100% Brian.

It’s Al Jardine.




Kidding

It's 100% Carl, it was Carl when this topic was first discussed 10 years ago on here, it was Carl when it was discussed a few years back, it's Carl today and it will be Carl tomorrow.

I feel like I'm witnessing a Yanny or Laurel thread.


It sounds like Carl to me.  Or possibly one track of Carl that's dominant, with a lower-volume overdubbing of Brian's voice. 

I think this is a good example of cognitive biases at play.  The initial mistake was made, for whatever reason, and now it can't be erased.

As someone who knows these voices plenty well, yet also hasn't obsessed over *this particular* track, I can come at it with a relatively strong objectivity.

Much like the "Holland tape" and discussion of Brian vs. Al, I think the reason this "God Only Knows" situation is one where it's *absolutely understandable* why there's debate and confusion.

Anybody who says it's 100% Brian or 100% Carl and that it's clear as day and as clear as any of their other lead vocals, I'm not inclined to strongly weigh an opinion with such absolutism on this particular issue. No offense, believe whatever you want, but this alternate take of "God Only Knows" wasn't labeled by someone (Linett, Leaf, someone else) who worked on the PS Sessions set as a "Brian lead" out of pure ignorance. It sounds less "sweet" as Carl's finished released lead does, and a bit more brusque/forceful as some of Brian's leads of that period do.

Listening to the song now (and, as I said, this isn't an alternate I've played to death over the years), my first thought was/is that it literally sounds like both of them. The fact that it's double tracked, and there are moments where it sounds a bit more "Carl" and others a bit more "Brian" *screamed* to me that it sounds like Brian double tracked Carl's lead (or vice versa I guess).

These guys (both the related ones and the non-related ones!) could uncannily imitate each other at times (some fans *still* insist it's Brian rather than Al on "Be Here in the Morning"). They also could weave one voice into another (think what Brian did with Dennis's lead on "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times").

To me, this GOK alternate sounds like Brian doubling Carl, with Carl's part a bit less sweet, thus magnifying a bit the effect of it sounding like Brian when Carl is also on the recording.

Assuming this rough take of a double-tracked lead vocal only exists on that mixdown and not on an multi-track means we'll probably never be able to pull it apart to say for sure. It sure would be interesting to hear each layer of that double-tracked vocal and see if that ended the debate or only spurred more debate.

Well-written post - reading it bit by bit, it explains this debate really well in easy language.

My best guess is that it's Carl's first attempt to sing the song following Brian's work lead. Somehow it survived as a "take" and we are hearing it out of context. It does leave us with the question of why we don't have a version just with Brian's first pass, but lots of stuff has been known to disappear in the BB's archives...

There's a variation of that process found on the original tape for "Can't Wait Too Long," where Brian is guiding Carl through the lead vocal.

This is Carl's voice.

Well, so much for not speaking in absolutes....  :lol

Again, I find it so darn peculiar that the work of two generations of Beach Boys archivists and researchers is so easily discarded by fans. Every single person who has dealt with these tapes in a professional capacity have confirmed what the track listings say. It’s a Brian lead. Yes, it’s certainly possible there’s a track of Carl in there. But the dominant voice is BW.

This reminds me of theeea when folks believed the Wrecking Crew tracked every BB song after the first album. It took year for folks to accept that yes, those guitar solos that sounded like Carl actually were. That Dennis actually drummed, etc. This is. So here’s an alternate of GOK with BW singing it. It is what it is.

It sounds a lot like Carl, but I think this is Brian.

The problem with that is that said archivists have no more recourse to documentary proof than anybody.  There is no multi of that take to strip down, and there is no definitive written record.  We're all on the same footing.

Also, I have dealt with these tapes in a professional capacity.  Regardless of whether I have or not, it's still objectively Carl.

While there are cases where documentary proof could be weighed and tip the scale (e.g. if there were a tape box notation that specifically stated "Brian and Carl doubled" or whatever), apparently that isn't the case for this take.

The most fascinating thing with this particular case to me is the unwillingness of much of anyone to say "I'm really not sure." Maybe there are a bunch thinking that and just not posting.

There are other cases where a fan or group of fans has an idea that such-and-such person is singing where, when I listen to it, I'm immediately like "No way, you'd have to be nuts to think that!"

But this "God Only Knows" take is not one of those cases. The closest comparison I can think of is the "Daddy Dear/Susie Cincinnati" tape. But even there, it's harder to tell because it's of low fidelity, and is a single voice (at a time anyway).

This GOK recording has an *obvious* *potential* explanation for why people are hearing Brian, or Carl, or both, or "Carl sounding like Brian" or "Brian sounding like Carl." It's a double-tracked vocal, and Brian (and others) are documented as having taken stabs (or guide attempts) at lead vocals eventually sung by others. Brian also has a track record on PS for smushing different voices together.

I do know this: When you take one single track of a double-tracked vocal, it sounds WAY different, more than you'd think. Listen to that "Rhythm of Life" documentary bit with Brian and George Martin futzing with the "God Only Knows" multi-track. On that, they *do* have both isolated tracks of Carl's released double-tracked vocal. When they single one out, it sounds way different. It doesn't just sound like Carl, but not as loud. I'd say it's even more "different" sounding than Brian's single-tracked YSBIM vocal.

In any event, my guess is that if there were a way to pull apart the two parts of the double tracked lead on this alternate version of GOK, one would start sounding more definitively like Brian, and one more definitively like Carl.

The thing that makes me feel sure has something to do with the pronunciation, which is inextricably linked to Brian's youthful personality. it just seems positive that it's Brian in my sense memory while listening. As far as the double-tracking goes, it seems like common sense that they would double-track the same person's voice while giving it a full test run to decide who would eventually do the lead on the finished track.

I could totally picture Brian deciding to test out double-tracking on top of Carl. We know from anecdotes from the GOK sessions that he didn't mind just finishing a session without the other guys (e.g. doing the ending round with Bruce, etc.).

I honestly don't know if this came from some sort of unlabeled tape or what; it may well have been an off-the-cuff mixdown of something never intended even in concept to be released. As in, Brian adds a vocal on top of Carl's, with an eye towards wiping one or both and doing new takes, but in the meantime someone did a quick mix down.

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You may think it’s Carl. You may believe so strongly. But there is simply no way to say that it’s objectively Carl. The only person you might say it was objectively — given the official credits and words from authorities ON THIS VERY THREAD — is Brian. That simply has to do with what the word objective means.

The fact that it's difficult to tell one brother from the other, I think speaks volumes.

.

Except it is Carl's voice.  There is objective truth in this world.  The argumentum ad verecundiam is not convincing.

It's still Carl one day later and it will be tomorrow. It's Carl.

So David Leaf, Mark L., Craig and Alan Boyd are all liars / mistaken?

It’s attitudes like yours (personal, subjective judgment at the expense of professional expertise) that led to the Trump administration and the decline of democracy in the West. And I am most assuredly not kidding.

It was Brian when he recorded, and it’s Brian now.

This is utter nonsense, and I regret posting it. My apologies, gents and gentleladies.

I hate Trump, and I love Brian... This is Carl.

While some of this debate is interesting, it's arguably pointless - my original intent behind this post was to find out if David Leaf really apologized for making an error. If that's true, can anyone provide some evidence? I've only seen a couple people say it on here. (btw, if he did say it was an error, I would believe him that it's Carl..which is what I am currently leaning towards)

I have to step in here, although I want to keep any political things out of the discussions.
First, aejitzsche never called anybody a liar. Everybody can make a mistake, that includes David Leaf, Mark Linnet and Alan Boyd. A lie is telling untrue things that you know are not true.


Secondly, no, what led to Trumpism and this whole post-truth movement in the democracies that is going on for a couple of years now, can be traced back (among other things) to people giving a sh!t about the insights of the Enlightenment, namely having the ability and the right to form your own opinion by free access to the facts. Based on them you can build an opinion. Only then it is an opinion, but many people just burst out gut feelings without any kind of reflection and call that an opinion, because they think that freedom of opinion means just that. Every sense of rationality is gone and instead you have tribes of people who only know that they feel angry or left behind, people who can't cope with the complexities of the modern world we live in (btw - they are not to blame for feeling that way, they should be helped to find out of that). Then along comes a demagogue like Trump who tells them who's to blame for their fate, lies about everything (big or small) and gives simple answers to complex things and they fall for him because now they have a target (or more than one) they can blame.

aejitzsche, though, has simply stated that objectively (meaning without any bias) it's Carl. The reasons given are empiric, since the singing style and the phrasing is Carl's and we never had a recording of Brian singing that way. Now, you can say you don't agree with that because the credits on the CD releases say something different. But that's not a cogent argument (it's the argumentum ad verecundiam that aejitzsche mentioned), 'cause aejitzsche's is based on the actual evidence (the recording itself and other recordings of Carl singing).
And here comes the other reason why our democracies are so troubled: no one is willing to admit he was/is wrong about anything. For whatever reason that seems to be considered as a weakness or whatever.  Who knows. The point is though, that all the evidence points to this being Carl and that you are probably wrong. There's no reason to be ashamed of that. But one should be willing to acknowledge it, 'cause only that way one can learn.

That's it from me in this thread. I don't want to fill this place with my diagnosis of Trump, the U.S. and western democracies. I just felt offended that someone who built his opinion on reason and empiricism gets blamed for the whole Trump fiasco which itself is far from reason.

People, listening to the recording is not "evidence." It's YOUR subjective opinion.

Seriously, every person who is saying "It's Carl, end of story, anybody else is wrong and provably wrong" is losing credibility in doing so.

WTF is so hard about saying you don't know?

Believe me, I'm most assuredly *not* a fan of fence-walking and trying to pick the middle for the sake of it. But I think it's ABSURD that *I'm* just about the only person (though Wirestone also allowed for the possibility) allowing for the possibility that it's BOTH Carl and Brian double tracked.

I personally am highly skeptical that both parts of that double-tracked vocal are Carl. What I'm MORE skeptical of is refusing to allow for all of the combinations/possibilities.

To me, saying "Hey, a bunch of the regulars who work on all of these archival releases seem to think it's Brian" isn't a case of "argumentum ad verecundiam", as I don't think the assertion is that we should blindly trust them or that we should absolutely assume they are 100% verifiably accurate. Rather, it's a case of "hey, these people know Brian and Carl's voices too, and they also have access to listening direct from the 1/4 inch master reel instead of a 16/44.1 CD, so maybe their opinion should ALSO be weighed and not dismissed out of hand because some person online says it's Carl and that I should "just trust them."

Ironically, the "It's Carl. Period. Trust me. Any other answer is WRONG" is sometimes colloquially referred to as the "just because" logical fallacy.

I also find it super weird that *this* particular track is such a sticking point and seemingly out of the blue causing some people to be so close-minded and dismissive of alternate theories. Why there's so much "It's Carl!!!" and then running away with fingers stuck in the ears is just strange.

The fact that multiple official releases of the track say "Brian", while others hear Carl and yet others (I guess mainly just me and maybe a few others) genuinely hear BOTH, all add up to something that makes me more intrigued and more open to any number of ideas and theories. What it *doesn't* do is cause me to become *more* close-minded and arguably disrespectful and dismissive of anyone who doesn't "hear" what one person hears.

With all due respect, I don't know where you're getting any of this, that one person's ears and nothing else can offer "empiric" and "non-biased" judgment. "I think it's Carl because I believe it's Carl" is not "objective" whatsoever.

Again, anybody that says "It's Carl" without one modicum of equivocation or being open to other possibilities loses a *ton* of credibility in my opinion. I doubt that concerns anyone, but that's how it is. This isn't like some far-flung weird theory, as if we have film footage and corresponding audio of one person singing it but someone insists it's an elaborate cover-up. We have a recording where people CLEARLY disagree as to who is singing.

I haven't a clue why a group of people saying "I think it's Carl" and then a group of people saying "I think it's Brian", and then others saying it's both results strangely in a few people DOUBLING DOWN and becoming, I guess, even *more* certain of their answer.


Again, this is 100% wrong and I'm not sure where one would even come up with this. What's *abundantly* clear is that there is SCANT hard evident of *any kind*, and the available evidence (meaning basically our ears; that's about it) does not "ALL" point to this being Carl.

Ok, one more post, since I don't want to be belied, but then I'm through.
You mis-represent my statement. Read my post again. It doesn't say that "listening" is evidence, but listening and comparing the singing style and phrasing with other performances of Carl and Brian (for example the Carl-sung "Good vibrations" demo). That is empiric, objective evidence.

Andrew Doe once stated that Carl sang the Wild Honey version of "Here comes the night" iirc. Obviously it is Brian. What now? Do we say from now on it is a mystery who sang it?

I read your post; several times in fact. You're simply saying one person's ears and subjective analysis should not only be trusted more, but should be taken as objective in any way when there's pretty much nothing of the sort possible with this particular recording. All we have is the recording and our ears and our analytical skills. *All* subjective, *all* opinion.

Doesn't the fact that someone (especially someone pretty well-versed in BB history, the sound of their voices, etc.) listened to the WH version of "Here Comes the Night" and decided it was Carl singing (presumably based on comparing to other performances/recordings) *disprove* your assertion that some *other* person who would be doing the EXACT same thing when listening to the GOK alternate is somehow reaching some sort of "objective" conclusion? It's *all* subjective listening and subjective comparison/contrast.

A person using their *own opinion* to compare Carl's singing on other recordings to the GOK alternate is not "objective" analysis. It's absolutely 100% subjective! It's one person listening to two things and coming to an OPINION as to whether it's the same person.

Yes, we weigh these SUBJECTIVE opinions accordingly, and the more knowledgeable one seems to be regarding any or and all facets of the BBs, the more we might trust that subjective opinion.

Knowing what I know about the BBs, and what is and isn't easily verifiable, I'm highly skeptical of any firm, immovable opinion on this GOK alternate.

If someone had said "Wow, yeah, I can see how this is difficult to discern. Here are some timecodes in the song where I think it sounds just like Carl on such-and-such other song", I'd be quite open to more analysis.

But this "It's Carl, I'm right, you're wrong, and if you simply assert the weighing of the opinions of Boyd or Linett or Leaf then you're using an "appeal to authority" logical fallacy", that sort of stuff, absolutely 100% undercuts credibility in my opinion.

Let it also be known that few if any other bands have been known to so often have the ability to sound both *like each other* (and again, including NON-FAMILY members), and also seemingly randomly sound quite different on one song than another.

Think of something random like "How She Boogalooed It." WTF is that lead vocal? I can't say it's completely dissimilar from anything they ever sang, but that's not a "voice" that Carl or any of the members used often on record.

Indeed, I've always found that Carl's voice did some weird stuff in the mid-late 60s. A good hunk of "Wild Honey" has him sounding pretty different from either "Girl Don't Tell Me" or "God Only Knows", or stuff that came after on "Friends", "20/20", etc.

How many fans prior to having some liner notes or other sources never knew it was Al singing those lines on "I Know There's An Answer?"

I've run into pretty big fans that never knew both Carl and Al are singing on "In My Car."

People STILL debate "Be Here in the Morning."

Hell, even *Mike and Brian* could sometimes start to sound like each other.

We debate whether it's Brian or Foskett (or some technical manipulation) doing the falsetto on "Getcha Back."

Wanna get into even more heated discussion? Try debating John vs. Paul on the wordless "aaaahh" bridge leading into the final section of "A Day in the Life." There, there even WAS some amount of truly hard evidence about what existed on which track of the multi-track that might help (though not firmly prove) who was singing it, and people on both sides of that (though more on the "John" side) are stunningly stubborn on that one.

Let it *also* be known that folks on this board (and authors who have posted here) have done some truly amazing sleuthing and fact-finding, both in the musical and non-musical realms.

Sluething out the whole "dental school" story with Al, tons of stuff about the early era from Murphy and Stebbins/Marks. Digging into AFM contracts and listening to namechecks on session tapes to figure who was or wasn't there. And so on. I could list dozens if not hundreds of things.

No such hard or revelatory info has come out regarding this GOK alternate. It has, thus far, been purely in the realm of listening acumen and subjective analysis, and a bit of citation of what we know/assume some experts on the BB archival teams have (presumably) believed.

It's Mickey Mouse with a sore throat. Point finale.

Nah, I'm pretty sure it's Bernard Purdie....

Dennis, Purdie and Hal Blaine triple-tracked.

Zeppo flown in.

Three is a huskier timbre to Brian's lower range that is present here, and when he strains to hit "stars" it is also inimitable. I'm frankly surprised that there is so much dissention. Flame away....

Wait, you're surprised that this board has so much dissention?? I'm doubting that "Posts: 806" thing in your sidebar. :)

Time for a couple random thoughts...

Double tracked vocal with a strong Carl presence throughout.  To my ears, most of the time, it sounds like a predominant Carl lead with some Brian here and there at some parts.

Maybe mentioned earlier, but it even sounds like in the released version there's some (possible) Brian vox punch-ins near the end of some vocal lines.  Check it out. (a la IJWMFTT)

Crazy random thought Carl double tracked vocal, with added reverb from a take of Brian singing the lead!  (was that even possible back then?)

Anyone agree with any of this?

Hey, I just want to go on record, as stated in my post below, that while first stating it was Brian, after reading c-man's post about the double tracking and doing additional careful listens, I also stated that it makes sense that it could be both Brian and Carl.

Hey, remember when a certain someone stated here that Brian was not on that Daddy Dear song and that it was only Al, and people disputed it (I had always stated I heard two people there too) and Marilyn apparently confirmed it was Brian? :lol

I'm sure this won't convince anyone one way or the other, but, for what it's worth, here's a look at the various dates we have for recording and mixes:

Basic track (at Western) - although the between-take chatter from the IKTAA vocal session has Brian announcing that he will be cutting "God Only Knows" the following Sunday, it appears he changed his mind and instead cut the track for "I'm Waiting For The Day" on that day (March 6, 1966), and "GOK" the following Thursday (March 10), from 12:30am-4:15am.

First vocal session (at Columbia) - from notation on the track sheet, the initial vocals were done ALSO done on March 10 - whether immediately after the tracking session at Western, or later in the day, we don't know - but Columbia was just across the street from the United/Western complex, so the former is certainly possible.

Mix # 1 - this appears as the "Sax Solo" version on the Capitol Pet Sounds Session box set - this has what MAY be the Brian doubled lead (with Carl mixed in), a sax solo instead of vocals in bridge, what seems to me to be a mix of Carl and Brian on the first line of the tag, and the ensemble vocals in the tag - this mono mix bears the date 3/12.

Mix # 2 - this has the Brian-Carl dual lead (IF that's what it is), no vocals or sax on the bridge, and the familiar Brian-Bruce tag. This mono mix appears on the Goodbye Surfing, Hello God bootleg box set, and is dated 3/22.

Mix # 3 - this appears as the "Brian sings lead" version on the Capitol box set - this has the same Brian doubled lead (with Carl) - IF that's what it is - but maybe with a bit more reverb - the bridge vocals are in place, but here Brian seems to be doubling Bruce's part - this mono mix is also dated 3/22.

And, then there's the "with a capella tag" version on the Capitol box set - this appears to be "Mix # 3" above, except that it fades out when the ensemble vocals - in stereo - fade in, unaccompanied by instruments. Obviously a modern composite mix, rather than a vintage mono rough mix.

Second vocal session (at Columbia) - another track sheet bears the date of April 11 - and it would appear the final lead vocal and bridge vocals were recorded at this session. This was a Tuesday, though - and Carl recalled doing the lead vocal on a Sunday...but who knows.

God Only Knows has "Girl Don't Tell Me/All Dressed Up For School" Carl in the early take and "Good Vibrations/Windchimes" Carl in the master. If you think it's Brian, compare the tag lead vocal from the version we're talking about with the MONO released real Brian tag... they don't sound alike. Now compare with the STEREO released tag(Carl) and you'll find your singer.

ps1.: Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd9446M-ASc) you can hear didactically both Carls in the tag. Isolated and single-tracked. Sweet Carl in the first line and rough Carl from the second line beyond
ps2.: it can be Carl and Brian together, but definitely not Brian alone

Although I could have sworn that I heard Brian singing along with Carl on a couple...maybe 3...lines early on in the Rocker posted version...For the most part...it is clearly Carl on both.  He also seems to get into the groove more as the song progresses and nails it to the point where a couple of the lines sound like the finished /final/chosen 'take'.

Those certain that it's Brian were fooled like I was on a couple of lines...but how they missed Carl's oh-so-distinctive nuances is beyond me.  It's true that some of the guys could sound eerily similar...Brian, Carl and Al to be exact... ... ...but NO ONE could sound like Carl.

In all fairness, Doe by his own admission has had hearing problems for years;that’s not me holding a grudge , that’s by his own admission.

C-man, thank you for that info.

COMMENT TO EVERYONE: !!

I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU ARE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION.  THERE IS ABSOLUTLY NO DOUBT THAT CARL WILSON SANG THE LEAD VOCAL, AND THEN DOUBLED IT, ON THE LP RELEASE OF GOD ONLY KNOWS .

I REFER YOU TO THE PRODUCER, BRIAN WILSON  :bw AS HE TALKS WITH GEORGE MARTIN ABOUT GOD ONLY KNOWS. IN THIS VIDEO YOU WILL SEE AND HEAR THE ISOLATED VOCAL TRACKS FROM THE GOD ONLY KNOWS MASTER MULTI-TRACK.

IT WILL SETTLE THIS STUPID ARGUMENT.  >:(

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-watch-george-martin-los-angeles-god-only-knows-brian-wilson-20160309-story.html

SEE:  3:18 TO 3:48  

You can also hear the isolated vocal tracks at http://swdstudyvideos.com  --  page 3  --  "God Only Knows" button.    ~SWD

Mr. Desper,

With all respect, this thread is about the version of GOK marked "Brian Sings Lead" on the Pet Sounds Sessions. I'm almost certain everyone here knows that Carl sings the album version. It seems this topic that I started has initiated a string of similarly related ones about who sang which line, such as the Be Here in the Morning. Sorry if the title of this topic didn't make that clear. Much respect!

COMMENT to John Brode:  Well what are you asking?  Brian singing GOK is completely different than Carl singing GOK

Brian sings >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCYw3HrtXAQ

There are plenty of other cuts on youtube of the same, but in a concert setting.  Brian's phrasing is always the same, and it's not because of his age . . . it's because that's how he shapes his words. Further, it's not because of drug damage either. He's always spoken and sung that way. Brian and (if he could) Carl will tell you, some songs are suited for one and some for the other. Of course, you know that.

There should be no difficulty in determining who is singing this song. Carl and Brian are completely different in phrasing, intonation, and pronunciation. How can you mix up Brian's delivery from Carl"s?

Am I missing an argument here?   ~swd

OK after more listens with ears open wider I'll go with both Brian and Carl, doubled.

COMMENT to Dove Nested Towers:

Listening can fool you if you let it. Mixing engineers must always hear the song as if "for the first time" even though it's the 100th playback. Objective listening is a learned talent.

Having said that, I have heard Carl and Brian thousands of times. I know their voices. I have heard them amplified, in the Control Room, in Concert, and in person. And I don't mean on stage in person, I mean standing two feet from them while they sing -- while they work out their approach to a vocal, mistakes and good takes, wrong notes and good ones, etc.

If you're talking about the "Brian Sings Leads" album -- it certainly sounds to me like Carl plus Carl.  As far as Carl sounding like Brian ... that can be true if Carl worked at it (Such as in some of the track replacement in Surf's Up) but Brian sounding like Carl ... no.

~swd

I believe they are talking about this track from the Pet Sounds Sessions box set:

https://youtu.be/X7ztzc7Xp0g

COMMENT to someone (I've lost track):

If you're talking about Disc 3 cut #29 --- I know this version. It's from one of the early attempts of Brian to sing the lead back in '66. It is after this take that Brian decided that the lead is best for Carl. If I remember correctly, this version survived with only one track of Brian .. with Carl trying the lead while listening to Brian's delivery. However, I can't say for certain, but it sounds like Mark blended both tracks together. However, it was meant to be only the one track of vocal. My memory is cloudy on this. 

This is a matter that should be ask of engineer Mark Linett on his thread. I'm sure he could tell you exactly what is which.

~swd

Good to know... that was the version that we had been discussing the past page or so... glad to know I’m not crazy for hearing the doubling!

Sounds very plausible. Yrplace or mine?

COMMENT:  Ask Mark for clearification here at his thread >>> http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,201.0.html  ~swd

OK - I just heard the "sax solo" version of "GOK" on the Sirius Beach Boys channel today...and I gotta say, I personally am convinced that it's two Brians and one Carl singing the lead on this mix. Some words definitely sound like Brian, and others definitely like Carl...as if one of the two was louder than the other on some words, so that's why one's voice seemingly pokes out sometimes while the other's voice does the same thing other times. When it's Brian "poking out", he seems way stronger, and definitely double-tracked, while Carl, when he "pokes out", seems single-tracked. For what it's worth, that's my personal belief.

Also, prior to playing that track, they played a sound byte of Bruce describing how he brought a date to the "GOK" tracking session, and walked into the control booth to see Carl with his 12-string guitar plugged into the board, alongside Brian. That would seem to answer the question of whether Carl is playing on the track. However, as I've said, there is no discernable evidence of him on the session tape, as you might expect there to be -  his voice is not heard and his name is not mentioned. Furthermore, what little between-take guitar doodling is heard on the tape is of a very "jazzy" nature - unlike Carl, and very much like what you'd expect from a studio cat such as Carol Kaye. Two other things that would seem to contradict Bruce's recollection: (1) Terry Melcher (who was definitely present that night) reportedly said that Carl did not play on the track, and (2) in his recollection, Bruce also mentioned that he'd only been in the band two months at that point (when in fact he'd been a Beach Boy for almost a year by then) - so perhaps he was blending his memory of being at the "GOK" tracking session with the memory of seeing Carl and his 12-string at another tracking session...but regardless, I'm willing to concede that Carl MAY be playing 12-string guitar on the "GOK" track, along with Carol Kaye (who I'd say definitely played 12-string on that session, since the tape makes it clear that Ray Pohlman is on Fender bass, and - thanks to aeijtzsche's careful analysis of the Pet Sounds guitar and bass parts - we can say there doesn't seem to be a Dano bass on this one).

After initially stating that lead was done by Brian, then agreeing that it could be a mix of Brian and Carl, with Brian being more prominent, I feel compelled to state that yesterday I was listening to the BBs channel on SiriusXM in the car and when "God Only Knows Lead Vocal by Brian" came on and for the first time Carl's voice seemed more prominent to me.

Perhaps it was the car's audio system speakers, the different listing environment, and/or even the fact that SiriusXM is sending out a significantly data reduced signal, but for whatever reason yesterday my brain came to a different lead vocal prominence conclusion. Went back and listened at home today and Brian's is once again the prominent voice.

To me it sounds like Brian because it is more clipped but he is trying to sound LIKE Carl if that makes any sense