Mike Love’s finest vocal moments

[CenturyDeprived]

 
Mike undeniably has several different types of singing voices; among them: the nasal one (which sounds somewhat forced at times) most associated with the early hits ( his most familiar type of sound), but at times, he also sings with a smooth, chilled out phrasing that I find quite pleasing to the ear. It’s this second smoother type of voice of Mike’s that I feel is very unappreciated - Mike himself doesn’t seem to use it as much as he should (IMO), and I think he’d get a lot less flack if he’d made this voice the more predominant voice
 
It would be cool to discuss not just entire songs, but also specific lines in songs that he really sounds great on.

- Kokomo (despite the haters, I’ve always dug this song, but in particular I think his vocals are great on it). Especially love the way his voice sounds on “by and by we’ll defy”. I think this song is one of his very best vocals.

-Kiss Me Baby (the “late last night, we said it was over”)

-Meant for You (the whole song is one of his finest vocal moments)

-Cool Head, Warm Heart (similar to his Kokomo sound, just smooth and chill, and I dig it).

[Justin]

For me, he's one of the highlights in many of the "Smile" material.  My favorite is "Heroes and Villians" during the acapella/barbershop part in the middle.  His bass vocal is fantastic and nailed it at all the C50 shows.

But in terms of his normal voice register, I think "Meant For You" is great from top to bottom.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

"Airplane". A very sensitive and touching vocal.

[Rotat]

I think Mike had an amazing voice at times and I would happily give him praise for his great role in the band. Here's a few of my favorite Mike vocal moments:

Heroes And Villians - The unfinished low "da da da da da" backing vocal on Smile Sessions from 'Wonderful ver. 3'.. One of the most beautiful vocals he's done.. also on Children Were Raised with the "rum ba bum" type vocal

California Girls, any version but I love his mellow vocal on the Leid In Hawaii post-show recordings

Of course All I Wanna Do on Sunflower

That's Not Me and Here Today are incredible

Meant For You.. Tender, soft, warm and beautiful. Something you don't expect when you hear the name Mike Love.

Mike's vocal on Hawaii is awesome too. I hear he had a cold that day? I thought it was Dennis singing when I first heard this song

Airplane, Johnny Carson.. actually all of Love You he is top notch

Definitely Today too..

He had tons of great vocal moments actually, mostly from the 60s until the mid or late 70s.

[schiaffino]

Cool thread! My vote goes to:

• Airplane - all his verses
• Let him run wild - his bass part 'waited for you girl'
• Cabinessence - Specially knowing how much he disliked the lyrics, he does an amazing job in the tag
• STD - I don't like the song, but if ever Mike sang with conviction and balls of some sort, that's the song...and I do like the speaker effect
• Water chant - all his bass parts, specially the 'na, na, na, na...'

[baseball95]

I think Mike's best late 70's early 80's vocal may be Sad Sad Summer, plus its the best song he ever wrote by himself in my opinion.

[Lonely Summer]

Tops for me is All I Wanna Do from Sunflower..or is that All  I Want to Do from 20/20? I get the 2 titles confused. Also love his voice on the California Saga. He's got a very soothing, warm tone on those tracks.

[beacharg]

I agree with many of those, but I think his best vocal was on 'Big Sur' (released version). It's a pretty hard song to sing.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Top of my head...

"Kiss Me, Baby"
Salt Lake City"
"All I Wanna Do"
"All I Want To Do"
"Fun, Fun, Fun"
"Meant For You"
"Cabin Essence" (tag)
"Viggie"
"Amusement Parks USA"
"Teach Me Tonight"
"Paradise Found"

[Andrew G. Doe]

STD - I don't like the song, but if ever Mike sang with conviction and balls of some sort, that's the song...and I do like the speaker effect

Can't say I know this track - is there a lot of clapping on it ?

[Callisto]

From the top of my head:

Big Sur (released version)

All I Wanna Do

Meant For You

Here Today

Kiss Me Baby

Salt Lake City

Good To My Baby

Don't Go Near The Water

[Terry]

-All I Wanna Do
-Meant For You
-Aren't You Glad
-California Girls
-Big Sur (both versions)

[Autotune]

Distinctive sound, versatility, loads of expression, and the sort of balls/self-confidence you'd expect from a lead singer. Not to mention how effective and quick he was at recording and double-tracking; and, last but not least, his signature, always spot-on bass vocals.

Many great moments, but when it comes to the rockers, nobody touches him. They are tailored for his voice, and proof of that is that most people suck when trying to sing them.

[bluesno1fann]

All I Want To Do
Big Sur (Unreleased Version)


For the most part, I can't stand Mike's voice.
I'm surprised he even made it on this list when both Brian and especially Carl are far better singers:
http://artists.top5.com/rock-star-status-the-top-5-greatest-male-lead-singers/?page=4

[Mr. Wilson]

Is there a lot of clapping on it...!!  That sir is priceless...! 

[Sheriff John Stone]

With the exception of a couple of missteps on 15 Big Ones, Mike never had a bad album. He was ALWAYS excellent. No matter how weak the material, production, or performance was on various Beach Boys' albums, you could always depend on great vocals - lead and backing - from Mike Love. I'll give a shout out to one of his later vocals...."Summer In Paradise" is one of my favorites.

[rab2591]

With the exception of a couple of missteps on 15 Big Ones, Mike never had a bad album. He was ALWAYS excellent. No matter how weak the material, production, or performance was on various Beach Boys' albums, you could always depend on great vocals - lead and backing - from Mike Love. I'll give a shout out to one of his later vocals...."Summer In Paradise" is one of my favorites.

I'd say he sounded rather shite on TWGMTR...though that was the fault of autotune....Joe I swear to god if you autotune Brian's upcoming album....

[RockNSoul]

Yeah I agree that Mike has a bunch of great vocals, both lead and backup. So many, it's hard to choose. You can't go wrong with anything off of Pet Sounds. Terry also mentioned 'Aren't You Glad'. That's one of my favorites from him too! So smooth and confident.

[Orange Crate Art]

Can't Stop Talkin' 'Bout American Girls

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

I really love Mike's voice on Aren't You Glad, and also, Had To Phone Ya.

[Moon Dawg]

  Didn't Mike's unreleased ATLANTIS RISING include a groovy cover of the Hendrix opus "1983 (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" ?  That was good stuff.

[zachrwolfe]

‍

[Phoenix]

Off the top of my head:

All I Wanna Do
Big Sur
Here Today
Monster Mash
Please Let Me Wonder
Kiss Me Baby
California Girls

[Micha]

All I Want To Do
Big Sur (Unreleased Version)

I'd single out the same two, though Mike's performances on Meant For You, Big Sur (Holland), All I Wanna Do and Monster Mash stand out, too.

And I wish Mike had sung the lines "Surf's up aboard a tidal wave, come about hard and join the young and often spring you gave"...

[filledeplage]

With the exception of a couple of missteps on 15 Big Ones, Mike never had a bad album. He was ALWAYS excellent. No matter how weak the material, production, or performance was on various Beach Boys' albums, you could always depend on great vocals - lead and backing - from Mike Love. I'll give a shout out to one of his later vocals...."Summer In Paradise" is one of my favorites.

I'd say he sounded rather shite on TWGMTR...though that was the fault of autotune....Joe I swear to god if you autotune Brian's upcoming album....

See if you can find "Isn't it Time" live on YouTube.  Mike is unbelievable. His voice has astounding range.  Not on the CD, but the amateur video.  

I hope they leave the voices as they are, agree 100%!

Best song I ever heard Brian sing was "I'm Waiting for the Day" at a soundcheck for the Wilson - Beck tour.   It was a heart stopper.  He sounded 30 years old to me.