IJWMFTT & Dennis

[Gertie J.]

Exactly.

[SgtTimBob]

I'm guessing it wasn't all that great or else it would have been saved. The melody is pretty dynamic, with all it's unusual ups and downs, not to mention the range, and I can't imagine Dennis being able to pull it off. I'd wager his take was pretty bad.

[Aegir]

I'd wager his take was pretty bad.

According to 65/66-era perfectionist Brian? probably.

According to a diehard Beach Boys fan? doubt it.

[runnersdialzero]

Holy f***, Aegir's in color now.

I'm guessing it wasn't all that great or else it would have been saved. The melody is pretty dynamic, with all it's unusual ups and downs, not to mention the range, and I can't imagine Dennis being able to pull it off. I'd wager his take was pretty bad.

Even though the idea of Dennis singing the song is fascinating, if the attempt had been worthwhile wouldn't Brian have made a safety copy like he did with many alternate vocal takes recorded during Pet Sounds?

Did Brian really opt to save these, or did they just happen to survive by chance?

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Well, it's interesting.  I can't prove definitively that Dennis did a full pass of the full lead vocal, but I can prove that he tried to sing at least parts of it.  Nevertheless, I'm convinced he tried the whole thing at one point.

As far as being out of his range, it's not, really.  Consider ITBOMM, "It'll always be" at the end goes up to high A.  The "But they Ain't doin' me no good" line in IJWMFTT goes up only one more semi tone to Bb.  Dennis could certainly get up there.  I haven't examined the Tessituras of the two songs to see if IJWMFTT lies higher in general, but in terms of the extremes of the range, Dennis could do it.

[SgtTimBob]

Well, it's interesting.  I can't prove definitively that Dennis did a full pass of the full lead vocal, but I can prove that he tried to sing at least parts of it.  Nevertheless, I'm convinced he tried the whole thing at one point.

As far as being out of his range, it's not, really.  Consider ITBOMM, "It'll always be" at the end goes up to high A.  The "But they Ain't doin' me no good" line in IJWMFTT goes up only one more semi tone to Bb.  Dennis could certainly get up there.  I haven't examined the Tessituras of the two songs to see if IJWMFTT lies higher in general, but in terms of the extremes of the range, Dennis could do it.

That's a good point. Perhaps the song really was within his range, then. But perhaps the melody was a little too active for him at least? It is definitely more appropriate that Brian sang it in any case.

[runnersdialzero]

I have no doubts it was within his range, but I do have doubts that he could have convincingly pulled that song off. Mustering the energy behind "BEE-EEE-EE-EEE-EEEEEEEEEE" was probably easy for him (and sounds incredible, obviously), but what goes on in "These Times" was probably not best-suited for him.

Still. As much as Brian nails this one, I really, really wish that at the very least, a Denny vocal would've survived for a Pet Sounds track.

[hypehat]

Didn't Brian also want him to sing 'I'm Waiting For The Day' or has the caffeine finally corroded the remainder of my tortured synapses, leaving my brain to conjure up misinformation and delirium in the face of trivialities such as facts or truth?

[Magic Transistor Radio]

The white powder in my nose told me that Brian wanted Dennis to sing Let's Go Away for Awhile

[Amy B.]

According to Wikipedia, Dennis was originally meant to be singing IJWMFTT. Were any demos made (of Dennis) or were the entire lead tracks recorded with Brian?

I guess Dennis was the go-to guy whenever Brian had a song with lyrics that he thought revealed too much about himself.

[The Heartical Don]

I can't imagine Dennis' version being better, but it does suck that his vocal was erased permanently. It's wierd, the man was spending loads of Capitol's money on studio time but he was worried about penny pinching on recording tape?

It probably wasn't penny-pinching, just day-to-day procedure in a recording studio.

Yep. Unquestioned, standard practice. I don't think that Capitol commanded it, even. Tape was/is expensive. We are so spoilt with today's technology, with which everything, but really everything can be saved and stored, even the occasional farting and burping of a band, that we tend to question things that aren't deserving of that.