Thoughts on "Where Is She?" and Brian's 'Sunflower' voice

[Jukka]

No doubt his voice had already changed by 1969, but not that drastically. It's just that by then the tracks he sang lead on were much more sparse and intimate, not pop symphonies of the past. Take "I'm Bugged at My Old Man" for example. I know he sings that one in a jokey way, but the highest notes are just as shrill as they would be in 1969/70. Single tracked vocal with sparse accompanient plays a much greater role than any actual voice change.

[pixletwin]

The only change I can hear is that his voice became even more brassy - which I liked!

[Watch a Cave]

I think Brian sounds fantastic on Sunflower..  his vocals on Cool cool water, Forever, and Our Sweet love (MIC vocals only show them off) are really something special.

I think Al once described it as a "cutting" sound..  so pure and beautiful. 

I also think he sounds very "Brian-esque" on the California Feelin demo as well.  It seems he still had it as late as '74.

[Bean Bag]

He sounds a little self-conscious.

At times, during these garden years (which I'm calling it today) or the "post-SMiLE/sometime before Brian's Back" period, I think he sounds a little more self-conscious than he ever had before.  Being self-conscious while singing may cause an alteration in technique, endanger the emotional connection and level of conviction.

Whether it was mental illness-related or SMiLE-breakdown-related I don't know.  He could have been unsure about himself because of age or the Beach Boys predicament or unsure about his falsetto voice.  I don't know.

[Micha]

At least on "This Whole World" in the bridge, Brian's falsetto sounds as if he sang with a beard on.

[zachrwolfe]

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