When was the singing voice of each individual Beach Boy at its best?

[Smile4ever]

When was the singing voice of each individual Beach Boy at its absolute best? Did each guy have a particular era in which his vocals shined? Obviously, this is nitpicking a little bit, as many (Carl, for instance) sounded great for a long time. But here’s what I would consider each guy’s “prime” era:

Brian—1966-1967 (Pet Sounds/Smile)
Mike—1966-1967 (Pet Sounds/Smile)
Carl—late 60s through early 70s
Dennis—early 70s
Al—late 70s?
Bruce--? early 70s?

Best years harmonizing collectively as a group: 1966-1967

[Smile4ever]

I didn’t want to bog down the initial post, so I’m providing further analysis here. I have the strongest opinions about Brian’s voice and Mike’s voice.

Mike’s voice worked very well from the early 60s through the early 70s. You could say it was just as good in the early days as in the Pet Sounds era. But it seemed to reach a level of greater maturity in that mid-60s time frame. For example, his voice sounds perfect accompanied by the amazing harmonies in “Sloop John B” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” I think he had definitely declined (though of course not incredibly) by the mid-70s. His voice sounded much whinier and more nasally in the band’s mid-70s work.

Of course, Brian’s voice was still good through the early 70s. But when he stepped away from music into recluse during the late 60s, his voice on recordings was not as “sweet” as it had been. It seemed a bit more grating at times and his high notes didn’t have the same sweet spots, even if they were technically  sound. Of course, by the mid-70s he had damaged his voice and it was never the same again. So the mid-60s seems to clearly be (in my mind) his zenith. Not just as songwriter, producer, and arranger, but as a vocalist too.

Dennis seemed to be a late bloomer. Even though some damage may have been done to his voice in the early 70s (or maybe not), I think he sounds by far the best in this era. I don’t think he’s an enjoyable lead singer in the mid-60s. But in the 70s he was. He had that crazy voice-damage which generated a soul sound in the late-70s. Unlike Brian’s mid-70s vocal changes, Dennis’s really worked well for him. But I’d say early 70s—like Sunflower—was his best vocal era.

Carl really nailed it with “God Only Knows,” which is perhaps still his best sung material. He exhibited a soulish side later and had an incredibly versatile voice. I put late 60s through early 70s as his best era. But that’s basically a guess. He sounded incredible for many years, several decades in fact.

Al seemed to be pretty consistent over many years, so it’s hard to rank him. 60s and 70s were definitely good eras. So maybe late 70s was actually his best? Not sure. His voice probably holds up today the best of all the Beach Boys. And I feel like I don’t have enough hard evidence for Bruce. Maybe sometime in the early 70s?

[Mikie]

Right around '68 through '70 they sounded their besteses.

[pixletwin]

Brian 66-67
Carl 68-73
Dennis 1970/1976
Mike 67-70
Al 65-80
Bruce.... Pretty consistently vanilla his entire career

[Alan Smith]

Brian 65-67 - His singing on Today; aw man
Mike - 66-73.  I think Mike reigned in a lot of the extra nasal and settled in to a pretty good run until he started to imitate his early self post Endless Summer.
Having said that, I do dig It's OK and Roller Skatin C

Carl from 66 onwards

Al - well, I think Al has finally hit his stride on Postcards, and great stuff on TWGMTR (despite the jiggery pokery)

Dennis - all

Bruce - all good except for BB85, go figure

Blondie - 72-73

[zachrwolfe]

‍

[Sheriff John Stone]

Brian    -   1963 - 1967   Surfin' USA thru SMiLE
Mike     -   1963 - 1971   Surfin' USA thru Surf's Up
Carl      -   1979 - 1992   L.A. (Light Album) thru Summer In Paradise
Al         -    1965 - 1971  Today thru Surf's Up
Dennis -    1968 - 1972   Friends thru Carl & The Passions
Bruce   -    1965 - 1971   Summer Days (And Summer Nights thru Surf's Up

[Moon Dawg]

  Brian sounded great 66-67 but do any of his leads from that era surpass his 1964 vocal on "The Warmth of the Sun"?  He was a great vocalist 1963-67 and a very good one through the early 70's. Few leads on SUNFLOWER but some wonderful background parts BTW. 

  Carl hit his stride with "God Only Knows" and sustained that level for most of the rest of his career except for a stumble during the 15 BIG ONES/LOVE YOU era.

  Dennis' best singing was easily 68-72.

  Mike 's singing was consistently fine from "Surfin'' Safari"/"409" through HOLLAND.  That is a good run.

  Al? Still cruisin' near peak form. Along with Carl, he is the band's most consistent singer.

[The Shift]

Carl: I think from the mid-60s he just got better and better. It might have gone in peaks and troughs but overall I think his voice improved throughout his life. It's the amazing saving grace of Kokomo and the only real good thing about SiP.

[EgoHanger1966]

Bruce - all good except for BB85, go figure

For whatever reason, I really like that vocal on She Believes In Love Again. It sounds like he'd smoked a couple packs before hitting the studio 

[Mikie]

Carl hit his stride with "God Only Knows" and sustained that level for most of the rest of his career except for a stumble during the 15 BIG ONES/LOVE YOU era.

Huh?  Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?

[drbeachboy]

Bruce - all good except for BB85, go figure

For whatever reason, I really like that vocal on She Believes In Love Again. It sounds like he'd smoked a couple packs before hitting the studio  

Everybody sounds like they had a cold on that album.

[drbeachboy]

Carl hit his stride with "God Only Knows" and sustained that level for most of the rest of his career except for a stumble during the 15 BIG ONES/LOVE YOU era.

Huh?  Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?

[Moon Dawg]

Carl hit his stride with "God Only Knows" and sustained that level for most of the rest of his career except for a stumble during the 15 BIG ONES/LOVE YOU era.

Huh?  Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?

 Well, we know Carl was having some problems during that time - I thought it carried over into his singing, just a bit.

[EgoHanger1966]

Bruce - all good except for BB85, go figure

For whatever reason, I really like that vocal on She Believes In Love Again. It sounds like he'd smoked a couple packs before hitting the studio  

Everybody sounds like they had a cold on that album.

Nah, they were just all holding their noses while singing - making fun of Mike behind his back!!!!!

[drbeachboy]

Carl hit his stride with "God Only Knows" and sustained that level for most of the rest of his career except for a stumble during the 15 BIG ONES/LOVE YOU era.

Huh?  Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?

 Well, we know Carl was having some problems during that time - I thought it carried over into his singing, just a bit.

Carl sounds great on Love You. As for 15 Big Ones, I think that was more a style choice than voice deterioration.

[Moon Dawg]

  Carl sounds drunk on LOVE YOU.  His singing was way better on LPs like SURF'S UP and HOLLAND. Not to mention BEACH BOYS' 85. He was the ONLY member of the band who did not have a cold on that album.

  Since technical precision isn't the point of LOVE YOU maybe it doesn't matter.

  Do you really think he did "Just Once In MY Life" justice on 15 BIG ONES?

[Smile4ever]

  Brian sounded great 66-67 but do any of his leads from that era surpass his 1964 vocal on "The Warmth of the Sun"?  He was a great vocalist 1963-67 and a very good one through the early 70's. Few leads on SUNFLOWER but some wonderful background parts BTW. 

  Carl hit his stride with "God Only Knows" and sustained that level for most of the rest of his career except for a stumble during the 15 BIG ONES/LOVE YOU era.

  Dennis' best singing was easily 68-72.

  Mike 's singing was consistently fine from "Surfin'' Safari"/"409" through HOLLAND.  That is a good run.

  Al? Still cruisin' near peak form. Along with Carl, he is the band's most consistent singer.

Yeah I completely agree. And agree with almost all of the comments on this thread.

As for Brian, yes his voice was amazing from 63-67 and a lot of good stuff in the late 60s and 70s too. I was just trying to determine when everyone's voice was at the absolute best. I think Brian's vocals were a little bit better on Pet Sounds and Smile than other times in his career. But I do mean "a little bit." It's hardly discernible from his voice on earlier stuff, which was incredible. But I say it's a bit better. So I guess my intention was to be nitpicky, not to assert that there is a huge different between 66 and 64, for example.

[Mikie]

Steve, Carl sounds fine on 15 Big Ones and Love You. Listen to him belt out that, "To get you babe I went through the wringah. Ain't gonna let you slip through my fingah's. Listen to him rock Palisades Park. And Talk To Me and Night Was So Young.

I don't think Carl really hit the skids until '78. He had some back issues around there but I'm not sure that and the brief bouts with alcohol or smack contributed to any voice issues......

[Nicko1234]

  Brian sounded great 66-67 but do any of his leads from that era surpass his 1964 vocal on "The Warmth of the Sun"?  He was a great vocalist 1963-67 and a very good one through the early 70's. Few leads on SUNFLOWER but some wonderful background parts BTW. 

  Carl hit his stride with "God Only Knows" and sustained that level for most of the rest of his career except for a stumble during the 15 BIG ONES/LOVE YOU era.

  Dennis' best singing was easily 68-72.

  Mike 's singing was consistently fine from "Surfin'' Safari"/"409" through HOLLAND.  That is a good run.

  Al? Still cruisin' near peak form. Along with Carl, he is the band's most consistent singer.

Can`t really add much to this.

[MBE]

Brian 1962-71
Through Sunflower I love Brian's voice. Maybe he sounds a bit older but I love his vocals from Smiley to Spring as much as before.

Dennis 1968-72
Just a really interesting voice and a lot of heart. The later stuff is cool but I miss the innocence (if you can use that word with Dennis) you hear in this era.

Carl 1966-70
I like his airy 1966-70 vocals a touch more than from his edgier 1971-75 period.

Bruce 1965-72
Just didn't have the same quality later.

Al 1968-72
He always sounds good, but his material between Friends and Holland is a peak in all ways.

Mike 1962-72
Really fit with the times the entire first decade. Seriously underrated in his prime.

[oldsurferdude]

Carl kicked ass on 'Girl Don't Tell Me". Brian should have given him more leads before this. Such an incredible voice deserved more attention in the years 62-65. Instead we get mYke Luhv.

[BJL]

Brian - 1964/65: I consider Don't Worry Baby, Hushabye, Warmth of the Syn, and other 1964 era ballads to be the peak of Brian's voice, with the streak extending into Please Let Me Wonder and Let Him Run Wild. Already by Pet Sounds, I think that Brian's voice has started to subtly change, becoming a little bit less youthful. Obviously it stay's spectacular well into the 70s, but I'm trying to pin point more specific highlights.

Carl - Obviously his voice was incredible his entire life, but I think it was at it's best in the early 90s. Carl's voice aged in an incredible way, becoming more mature and ever so slightly older, without losing any of it's raw beauty or expressiveness. Tragically, Carl was literally not given *any* good material to sing in this period, with the possible exception of his own "I Wish for You."

Mike - 68/70: Meant for You. Big Sur. All I Wanna Do. Weirdly enough, Mike did the least singing of his entire career with the beach boys during the time when his voice was best. And I do think the two facts are related: when he wasn't in "lead singer" mode, he sang more subtly, and thoughtfully.

Dennis - 1968-70: Without a doubt this was the period when Dennis's skill as a singer lined up most clearly with his voice not being a hoarse croak! I love Dennis's late 70s voice, but A Time to Live in Dreams is definitive evidence for me that this period is the winner.

Al - it's hard to make a distinction, since his voice basically hasn't changed for their entire career. I'm trying to judge the voice, and not the material, still, it's hard not to think that Al never again reached his iconic Help Me Ronda peak, so 1965.

[RubberSoul13]

Mike: 1961-1967...those early lead vocals are part of the beach boys signature sound, you can't ignore them. BUT, as has been said, his voice matured a bit on Pet Sounds and SMiLE...after that, I think he just tried too hard to re-create his old nasaly self and it didn't come out nice in the 70's or 80's or even the 90's really...he seems to have found a happy medium this century though.

Brian: 1963-1967...Again, can't ignore his ballad tracks and that falsetto, the other half of the signature sound...it only got better until the drugs got bigger. He never really had it again after this, in my opinion.

Carl: 1966-1979...Easily the greatest vocalist to ever grace the band. The range I placed was really just to represent his vocals on NEW material at the times, but there's no doubt his voice held up in a live setting until the final months. Just listen to "God Only Knows" and "Wild Honey" back to back...hard to believe it's the same person!!!

Dennis: 1968-1976...with Dennis' raspy voice, it took a little while to reach a mature sounding grit but eventually, it sort of "ran out"...listen to Knebworth...

Al: 1965-Present...has this man's voice after stopped? While I do believe Carl had the best voice, Al has definitely maintained his the best AND kept it entertaining to the point that he can take on lead's that other band members used to sing (Wouldn't it Be Nice, Little Deuce Coupe, etc...)

Bruce: 1965- Present...My thoughts are similar to Al's except Bruce's voice isn't as exciting BUT, I still love it!

[SMiLE Brian]

Bruce - all good except for BB85, go figure

For whatever reason, I really like that vocal on She Believes In Love Again. It sounds like he'd smoked a couple packs before hitting the studio 

I wish Bruce sang it on the C50 tour....