Question about Still A Mystery

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

I've had the bootleg of this for years and always wondered this...

Who sings the high lead vocal on the chorus? The "It's happening again...." part.  It sounds like Bruce a little, Brian a little, or maybe Bruce and Brian together. I just can't tell. It's almost too smooth to be Brian which is why I think maybe Bruce.

Any ideas?

[seltaeb1012002]

I'm thinking Andy Paley.

[hypehat]

Matt Jardine is credited on it, so I'd assume him.

[Eric Aniversario]

I've always assumed that was Brian

[Rocker]

I've always assumed that was Brian

Pretty sure it's Brian. May someone else doubled with him on that.


(talking about the boot. Dunno if the MIC is a different one)

[Jesse Reiswig]

To me, that particular vocal sounds the same on the MIC version. I actually think it's two voices singing the same line. Possibly Brian and Matt? Sort of like how Brian and Carl sing in tandem on "Let the Wind Blow" and it ends up sounding a lot like both of them.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Brian & Alan was always my best guess.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

To my ears, that part is pure, 100% 1995-vintage Brian falsetto, nasally squeakiness intact. I always thought it was double-tracked Brians. If I'm wrong, Brian is still the (much) louder part.

Now, if we only knew when the lead dated from. My guess is either 2002 or May 2013 (doubtful).

Talking about the MIC version...

[HeyJude]

I would agree with the others that that particular bit as heard on the MIC version is retained from the '95 version, and it sounds like Brian. The rest of the falsetto on the song is Matt Jardine, very audibly so.

[runnersdialzero]

I thought it was Matt! Further proof that this guy should've been part of the reunion shows or album. So much more tastefully done than others who've filled the unfillable shoes Brian gave up for shoes made of cigarettes.

I'd swear, though, that Brian is doing at least one of the falsettos on the bootlegged version.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Further proof that this guy should've been part of the reunion shows or album. So much more tastefully done than others who've filled the unfillable shoes Brian gave up for shoes made of cigarettes.

Foskett is weeping now. Like a little girl.

[STE]

I speeded up the MIC version of 5% and it sounds more like the version we are used to and, I think, overall better.
Still a shame about the pitch-correction.

As long as we have a thread for the song, does anybody know for sure what the background vocals under the lead are saying?

It's happening again
- Tell me your secrets (? ? ?)
I thought you were my friend
- Give it to me straight now (? ? ? inside?)
Help me through this please
- Need a little hand now (? ? ?)
Help me find a key
- Gotta find a key now (you're still a mistery)
You're still a mistery

[37!ws]

I don't know for sure, I've been wondering that for nearly 15 years...

BTW, anybody else notice something...interesting...about the lead vocals?

[EDIT: oops...I see that's been discussed in the other thread...it's great to have the song in decent quality, but I have mixed feelings about the rerecorded vocal...on one hand, I much prefer Brian's current voice over his harsher 1993-1995 voice, but on the other hand, we're still missing something, know what I mean?]

[DonnyL]

'95 Brian was a cool singer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N90zRw-2fkQ

... similar to 1981 Brian:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBgipKCTmkM

I'm a fan

something happened between '95 & '98 ... he sounds totally uninterested and bored from then on.

[37!ws]

So....what stuff between 1995 and 1998 IS there, other than Imagination??

[Wirestone]

something happened between '95 & '98 ... he sounds totally uninterested and bored from then on.

Several things happened.

-- He totally changed medication regimens. In 94 or so, he was still on a bunch of stuff left over from the Landy era. Around that time, Melinda had him go through an entire new round of doctors' visits and cut his meds waaaay back.

-- He stopped smoking. He had started again toward the end of the Landy years, and kept it up until he married Melinda.

-- He started working with a vocal coach.

Disagree with the "totally uninterested and bored" comment. Starting with Imagination, Brian adopted a different, much smoother (and generally more pleasing) vocal approach, which has only gotten better over the years.

[Wirestone]

So....what stuff between 1995 and 1998 IS there, other than Imagination??

Stars and Stripes. The Wilsons album. The Imagination demos.

[Wirestone]

'95 Brian was a cool singer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N90zRw-2fkQ

Gotta say I prefer almost any post-98 Brian vocal to that. Painful (if spirited).

[37!ws]

So....what stuff between 1995 and 1998 IS there, other than Imagination??

Stars and Stripes. The Wilsons album. The Imagination demos.

Demos??? Wha???

BTW, where can you even HEAR Brian on S&S?? And I'd hardly use the minuscule contributions on The Wilson to judge his voice...

[DonnyL]

So....what stuff between 1995 and 1998 IS there, other than Imagination??

that's what I mean -- comparing the Paley stuff to Imagination

[southbay]

So....what stuff between 1995 and 1998 IS there, other than Imagination??

Stars and Stripes. The Wilsons album. The Imagination demos.

Demos??? Wha???

BTW, where can you even HEAR Brian on S&S?? And I'd hardly use the minuscule contributions on The Wilson to judge his voice...

He's actually pretty prominent in places--TWOTS, Caroline, No, LDC just off the top of my head.

[Wirestone]

So....what stuff between 1995 and 1998 IS there, other than Imagination??

Stars and Stripes. The Wilsons album. The Imagination demos.

Demos??? Wha???

There are two or three out there, mostly as played on Steve Dahl's radio show.

[Rocky Raccoon]

I thought it was Jeff.

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

I don't think Jeff was involved with the Beach Boys in the mid-90s

[Rocky Raccoon]

I don't think Jeff was involved with the Beach Boys in the mid-90s

Yeah, but if Brian re-recorded his vocals recently, it's possible Jeff added backing as well.