Why didn't Dennis sing lead on songs he wrote?

[ohthosegirls]

One that comes to mind in particular, is "All I Want To Do" off 20/20. Mike obviously kills on this, but I'm sure Dennis' lead would kick butt, too.

So, do you think there was some kind of contractual type of thing ever, or maybe he thought Mike's lead would be more commercial? I guess this could apply to others in the band as well.

I really hope we get some demos like this & Brian's '75, "In The Back Of My Mind!"

[I. Spaceman]

Probably because he had a similar sensibility to Brian's, where he saw himself as a songwriter for a band with several gifted lead vocalists. Whichever of the guys it seemed to fit, that's who it was given to. A great way to do it.

[ohthosegirls]

I thought about that also and it seems so strange and unselfish to me. That is why I love this band. There is not too many bands out nowadays that this would ever seems to happen with!

[Cabinessenceking]

Imagine that all 5 of them were such extremely good singers, both harmony, backup and lead! Bruce was the only one who didnt suit lead imo, except ofc on his own sugar tunes.

[Bicyclerider]

Probably because he had a similar sensibility to Brian's, where he saw himself as a songwriter for a band with several gifted lead vocalists. Whichever of the guys it seemed to fit, that's who it was given to. A great way to do it.

As Brian was withdrawing from the band, there was a void to fill and I believe Dennis felt he could do it.  He was the most prolific songwriter in the post friends period, he could produce his own stuff, and I think wanted to take the lead position in the band.  His songs were even featured on some tv appearances (Mike Douglas).  There were 2 problems with this happening.  First, Brian turned to Carl to finish Brian's songs in the studio, and Carl Helped Mike and Al with their songs in the period.  Carl was the Brian designated successor.  Second, Dennis was too erratic and unpredictable to depend on to get everything done when it needed to be done.  Third, dennis's songs, as highly regarded as the are now, were not commercial successes when released as singles (Slip on Through, It's About Time, Forever).  If any of those songs had hit, i suspect the dynamics of the group would have changed substantially.

 There seems to have been a rivalry between Dennis and Carl that culminated in the Surf's Up blow up over song sequence that resulted in Dennis pulling his songs and working on a solo project.

[smilethebeachboysloveyou]

Much as I like some of his lead vocal performances, the voices of different members of the band were better suited to certain types of songs than others.  This was particularly true after Dennis' voice became hoarse; it became particularly good at expressing a mournful mood ("I'll Bet He's Nice," "Moonshine," "Thoughts of You," "My Diane," "Angel Come Home," and "Love Surrounds Me"), but Carl's voice was better suited to a sweet ballad like "Baby Blue."

[I. Spaceman]

 There seems to have been a rivalry between Dennis and Carl that culminated in the Surf's Up blow up over song sequence that resulted in Dennis pulling his songs and working on a solo project.

True, but it doesn't seem to have affected their generosity on vocal leads after that, considering Carl sings Steamboat and Only With You, Dennis sings Angel Come Home, etc.

[Jon Stebbins]

 There seems to have been a rivalry between Dennis and Carl that culminated in the Surf's Up blow up over song sequence that resulted in Dennis pulling his songs and working on a solo project.

True, but it doesn't seem to have affected their generosity on vocal leads after that, considering Carl sings Steamboat and Only With You, Dennis sings Angel Come Home, etc.

I don't think it was much a rivalry as a momentary disagreement over an artistic choice. For the most part Carl and Dennis were very supportive of each other, very different people, but very supportive of each other's place within the doings of the Beach Boys band. Seemed like a mutual admiration society more often than not.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Had POB had some Carl leads, and even some Al leads, it may have been my favorite album EVER.

(I know about River Song, i'm talking leads)

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

Had POB had some Carl leads, and even some Al leads, it may have been my favorite album EVER.

It's already my favourite album EVER. Please don't fantasise about ways to make it less good!

I'm an unashamed Dennisista. Carl and Brian had clearly peaked both as singers and writers by 71/72, while Dennis kept on improving. Along with the odd Brian track, and of course, Love You (which is almost equal to POB as my favourite record ever), the only thing they really had going for them was his songs and performances.

I know some people find his hoarseness offputting, but those people, frankly, are idiots. The guy could sing the phonebook and it would have been brilliant. Voice up there with Nick Drake, Colin Blunstone etc, because every time he opened his mouth, he meant it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duende_(art)

I really hope that along with WIBNTLA we get decent versions of Carry Me Home, I'm Going Your Way etc. on the box set, for the reasons stated above.

[Pablo.]

Maybe it was a political move? (around the 20/20 era, at least)

John Entwistle said -around the time of Who Are You- that letting Roger Daltrey sing his songs gave him more songwriting space on the album.

[runnersdialzero]

What Ian said. Dennis knew Mike could do more justice to "All I Want To Do" than he, Carl "It's About Time", etc.

There are obviously some instances where Dennis definitely could've done them justice but still chose to hand the vocal over to Carl or someone else for aesthetic reasons. "Only With You" is a good example given we actually have a Carl-sung version and a Dennis-sung version.

I really don't think politics, rivalries etc. played into these decisions at all. See Brian continuing to hand out leads to others even when he was only contributing a couple songs per album, including once using their then-manager because Brian felt his voice was that appropriate for the song, Mike singing Al's "On My Way To Sunny Californ-i-a", etc.

Sorry for all the "etc."

[Aegir]

Had POB had some Carl leads, and even some Al leads, it may have been my favorite album EVER.

(I know about River Song, i'm talking leads)

Pacific Ocean Blues as a Beach Boys album with all of them (Blondie included) taking leads would have been fucking killer!

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Had POB had some Carl leads, and even some Al leads, it may have been my favorite album EVER.

It's already my favourite album EVER. Please don't fantasise about ways to make it less good!

I'm an unashamed Dennisista. Carl and Brian had clearly peaked both as singers and writers by 71/72, while Dennis kept on improving. Along with the odd Brian track, and of course, Love You (which is almost equal to POB as my favourite record ever), the only thing they really had going for them was his songs and performances.

I know some people find his hoarseness offputting, but those people, frankly, are idiots. The guy could sing the phonebook and it would have been brilliant. Voice up there with Nick Drake, Colin Blunstone etc, because every time he opened his mouth, he meant it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duende_(art)

I really hope that along with WIBNTLA we get decent versions of Carry Me Home, I'm Going Your Way etc. on the box set, for the reasons stated above.

Well said, and very very true. Yes let's hope there's a decent amount of Dennis material on the forthcoming boxset as he was seriously under-represented on the GV boxset, ridiculously so. If the group are making the decisions he sadly most likely wont get a fair hearing, as usual, but if Alan Boyd or similar persons are calling the shots hopefully we'll get a hefty number of Denny goodies...

[runnersdialzero]

The kids in charge have to be aware of the strong interest in unreleased Dennis songs among the more xhardxcorex fanbase. If they're smart, they'll give them a good handful of those tracks on the box set.

[Jason Penick]

I keep hearing that there will be unreleased DW songs in Drummer, assuming that production didn't halt once Aaron Eckhardt bounced.

[MBE]

Probably because he had a similar sensibility to Brian's, where he saw himself as a songwriter for a band with several gifted lead vocalists. Whichever of the guys it seemed to fit, that's who it was given to. A great way to do it.

I think they all understood that it made sense to share songs with each other to one extent or another and the way you put it sums it up perfectly.

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

The kids in charge have to be aware of the strong interest in unreleased Dennis songs among the more xhardxcorex fanbase.

Whilst that may be true, I don't think the POB reissue charted all over the world through selling to a handful of obsessives.

Obsessives are people who bought SIP...I think Dennis's stuff has a much wider appeal BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME.

I'd go as far as to say that if there was a full CD of seventies Dennis material on the box, it'd sell to people who'd never consider buying it otherwise.