What prospects did the original double-sided '15 Big Ones' album have?

[ash]

There is a big problem with the arranging. Funnily enough, Break Away has a slightly bizarre vocal arrangement - Bruce once commented that they sound like old men which i can hear. Still a stunner though.
On 15BO Mike's voice is more nasal by this point (actually irritating is the word i'm looking for) and only Carl and Al could sing like they used to. Brian and Dennis are rasping croakers. Maybe that left too many voices in the upper mid range and lower making the whole thing cluttered and leaving the top lines exposed. Quality vocal arranging is quite an art form. These guys hadn't sung much together as a 5 piece for a while and the top line singer's voice is gone. Swapping parts alone changes the vocal blend significantly - these could all be factors. Of course the arrangements could just be plain bad like the rest of the album (except the Had To Phone You backing track !!!) .

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

On 15BO Mike's voice is more nasal by this point (actually irritating is the word i'm looking for) and only Carl and Al could sing like they used to. Brian and Dennis are rasping croakers.

Dennis's voice was harsh when he shouted, but there's a richness to his voice which if anything, would have worked better in a decent vocal arrangement than in the sixties. Thing of the 'little baby go to sleep' at the end of I wanna pick you up. Carl had lost some of his smoothness...was he in his 'booze' vocal period at this point?

I think the main problem is that Brian seemed to have lost the ability to sing softly- almost like he had to shout to hit the notes, and it sounds like the rest of the band are trying to match him. And back to the arrangements- there seem to be few points where say Carl and Al are holding some 'oohs' whilst Dennis is runweooing and Mike is bipping. There are just way too many moments where it feels like they are all shouting the same thing, at the same time.

[Cabinessenceking]

There is a big problem with the arranging. Funnily enough, Break Away has a slightly bizarre vocal arrangement - Bruce once commented that they sound like old men which i can hear. Still a stunner though.
On 15BO Mike's voice is more nasal by this point (actually irritating is the word i'm looking for) and only Carl and Al could sing like they used to. Brian and Dennis are rasping croakers. Maybe that left too many voices in the upper mid range and lower making the whole thing cluttered and leaving the top lines exposed. Quality vocal arranging is quite an art form. These guys hadn't sung much together as a 5 piece for a while and the top line singer's voice is gone. Swapping parts alone changes the vocal blend significantly - these could all be factors. Of course the arrangements could just be plain bad like the rest of the album (except the Had To Phone You backing track !!!) .

Actually I think they tried to keep Brian doing his classic falsetto parts. All the falsetto parts on 15BO are Brian's (Chapel Of Love, In The Still Of The Night). But there are some weird vocal overdubs by Brian which are horrendous and sound like he's trying to add some gospel-like  oooh's and yeeaaah's (Back Home, That Same Song and Chapel Of Love in particular). Absolute crap. It almost sounds like they don't respect their audience anymore. Many must've thought "oh so they record some quick covers to cash in?". This is probably closer to the truth than anything else.

[Phoenix]

And keeping things on topic, the version I have includes the bit where the DJ refers to it as "an exclusive preview from the Beach Boys unreleased double album."  Does anyone know when that broadcast originally aired?  I'm curious to know how far along the plans changed for the mix of the song and the length of the album.

Nevermind.  The tracklisting on the back says the announcement, and the interview with Carl that precedes, were broadcast in spring of 1976.  Since 15 Big Ones came out in June, the album (which the DJ says was still untitled at the time) was still slated to be a double until very late in the game.

[drbeachboy]

There is a big problem with the arranging. Funnily enough, Break Away has a slightly bizarre vocal arrangement - Bruce once commented that they sound like old men which i can hear. Still a stunner though.
On 15BO Mike's voice is more nasal by this point (actually irritating is the word i'm looking for) and only Carl and Al could sing like they used to. Brian and Dennis are rasping croakers. Maybe that left too many voices in the upper mid range and lower making the whole thing cluttered and leaving the top lines exposed. Quality vocal arranging is quite an art form. These guys hadn't sung much together as a 5 piece for a while and the top line singer's voice is gone. Swapping parts alone changes the vocal blend significantly - these could all be factors. Of course the arrangements could just be plain bad like the rest of the album (except the Had To Phone You backing track !!!) .

Actually I think they tried to keep Brian doing his classic falsetto parts. All the falsetto parts on 15BO are Brian's (Chapel Of Love, In The Still Of The Night). But there are some weird vocal overdubs by Brian which are horrendous and sound like he's trying to add some gospel-like  oooh's and yeeaaah's (Back Home, That Same Song and Chapel Of Love in particular). Absolute crap. It almost sounds like they don't respect their audience anymore. Many must've thought "oh so they record some quick covers to cash in?". This is probably closer to the truth than anything else.

Back in 1976, the old original fans that I knew loved this album. To them the type of music was more to their liking. I don't remember too much complaining about their singing, except expressing shock over the change in Brian's voice. sh*t, even I was shocked at that too.

[Sound of Free]

I've said it before here, but I'll say it agin, a perfect song for 15 Big Ones would have been San Miguel.

At a time when people were looking for "fun in the sun" songs after Endless Summer, San Miguel would have perfect and it was all set to release "as is." Sure, it wasn't new, buy neither was Susie Cincinnati.

Put San Miguel on and have Carl fix his vocal flub on Soulful Old Man Sunshine and out those in place of two of the covers and the album is a lot stronger. Plus SOMS gives another Brian credit for the "Brian's Back" campaign, even if the song was more Rick Henn than Brian.

[ash]

I've said it before here, but I'll say it agin, a perfect song for 15 Big Ones would have been San Miguel.

At a time when people were looking for "fun in the sun" songs after Endless Summer, San Miguel would have perfect and it was all set to release "as is." Sure, it wasn't new, buy neither was Susie Cincinnati.

Put San Miguel on and have Carl fix his vocal flub on Soulful Old Man Sunshine and out those in place of two of the covers and the album is a lot stronger. Plus SOMS gives another Brian credit for the "Brian's Back" campaign, even if the song was more Rick Henn than Brian.

I think you're on the right track. First we burn the 15BO master tape and in it's place we have
Side 1
Soulful Old Man Sunshine/ San Miguel/ Susie Cincinnati/ Loop de Loop/ Had To Phone Ya (instrumental)/ Do You Like Worms (with Al dubbing on the lead vocal)/ Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again/ol man river

See label for correct playing order.
I'll leave side 2 to the rest of you but looking at what we have so far, i'm telling you Brian's back.
BTW don't let Torrance anywhere near the artwork.

[Phoenix]

I've said it before here, but I'll say it agin, a perfect song for 15 Big Ones would have been San Miguel.

At a time when people were looking for "fun in the sun" songs after Endless Summer, San Miguel would have perfect and it was all set to release "as is." Sure, it wasn't new, buy neither was Susie Cincinnati.

Put San Miguel on and have Carl fix his vocal flub on Soulful Old Man Sunshine and out those in place of two of the covers and the album is a lot stronger. Plus SOMS gives another Brian credit for the "Brian's Back" campaign, even if the song was more Rick Henn than Brian.

That's some seriously smart thinking!  Where were you in 1976!? 

[Fro]

I think the best way to make this work would be to use the album flip as a divider, with "River Song" kicking off the 2nd half.

The 1st side would have songs like "It's Ok" and "Good Timin'" with the more traditional Beach Boys sound.

[Smile4ever]

So is the consensus that 15 Big Ones actually ruined their career? (Instead of saved it as they hoped)

[Wirestone]

So is the consensus that 15 Big Ones actually ruined their career? (Instead of saved it as they hoped)

The one-two-three punch of 15 BO, followed by the inscrutable (at the time) Love You and the bland M.I.U. certainly didn't help them. The hype got them a hit record, but at the cost of artistic credibility. And Love You has to be one of the strangest records ever released by a classic rock band.

By the time they got their act together, however momentarily, with L.A., it was too late.

[clack]

So is the consensus that 15 Big Ones actually ruined their career? (Instead of saved it as they hoped)

The one-two-three punch of 15 BO, followed by the inscrutable (at the time) Love You and the bland M.I.U. certainly didn't help them. The hype got them a hit record, but at the cost of artistic credibility. And Love You has to be one of the strangest records ever released by a classic rock band.

By the time they got their act together, however momentarily, with L.A., it was too late.

This "one-two-three punch" didn't help matters, for sure, but even if '15 Big Ones' had garnered artistic credibility up the wazoo, the fact is larger factors were at work in the late 70's rock scene that would have marginalized  the Beach Boys in any case : namely, the rise of punk and New Wave.

Lots of big name acts got caught on the wrong side of the New Wave/"Dinosaur" divide of the late 70's early 80's -- Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Peter Frampton, the Moody Blues, etc. etc. Out with the old, in with the new : that's the story of pop music. It was like 1964 or 1967 all over again.