The Smiley Smile Message Board

I love this song!  ;D It just might be the best of all of Brian's overlooked songs. Does anybody agree? I think it would be interesting if Brian started doing it in his concerts. He can't hit the high notes anymore, obviously, but I think the song would suit his "mature" voice of today. I think it could work, with a few different key changes.

Well Brian didn't write it but his demo was a revalation when I first heard. It proved that Brian had yet to decline creatively as late as 1971 and was a sharp contrast to the 1976 Love You demos.

What year was the demo recorded in? To me, you can hear the first signs of his voice starting to get "thin". Maybe it's just the sound quality. To me it sounds like his falsetto isn't as "pure". It's a little more sharp, or forced.

1971 and to me it sounds better then ever. The sound on it is a little muffled.

I love Brians voice on this, this is my favourite era of his voice, I liked it when his falsetto was a little thinner, he sounded more Mickey Mouse-ish.

I love this song too and I agree with MBE, his voice sounds great; reminiscent of the end of Forever (a cappella version). Sounds like his voice might be double tracked.  Also, it is a "demo".  Maybe he just woke up (no pun intended) and gave it a whirl.  I love it.

The demo was recorded during the first week of October 1971, along with "Silly Walls", on Brian's personal 8-track. Tape op was Diane Rovell.

The Spring version was recorded the next day.

wow, there's a huge difference between the BW-demo and the Spring version.... and that within 24 hours...

Yeah SH, I wonder who all played on the Spring version.

Oops, mea culpa - the Spring version was recorded on the 8th, the demo sometime in the week before that..

Still that the arrangement was done so quickly is quite an achievement.

I also like the early 70's voice Brian possessed. One of my favorite vocals is also one of his shortest: On my way to sunny Californ-I-A. The Awake demo is one of my all time favorite Brian Vocals. It kind of reminds me of Jonathan Donahue from Mercury Rev. Beautiful.

So, the obvious next questions are: Who is Floyd Tucker (the credited writer of Awake), has anyone heard his version of the song, and did he write/record anything else?

And yes, Brian's vocal on the demo is absolutely wonderful. One comment: to me, the vocal doesn't sound like Brian until the falsetto kicks in. Has anyone else thought this?

I think theres another copy floating around where someone tried to process the recording. It sounds hollow and much different then one that I was originally given.

It's him he is singing in the same style he sings Spring Is Here on the Spring promo tape.

I forgot but I actually did the remix. I couldn't get it to not sound a bit hollow but it is speed corrected.