Did Brian bring his falsetto back in mid-70s?

[Rotat]

My bet is on that Brian quit smoking for a brief period around recording those songs.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Nope...he didn't stop smoking until 1994, save for a good portion of the second Landy era. Even then, he was still smoking, just not cigarettes.

[adamghost]

You know, after listening to the MADE IN CALIFORNIA box set I think I may have some insight as to Brian's miraculous vocal recovery on M.I.U.

After having listened to that era's tracks with fresh ears, I think the main reason Brian's vocals on MIU sound so much better than on LOVE YOU and 15 BIG ONES is not that Brian sang substantially better in 1978 than the previous years...it's that Brian didn't produce MIU.  Brian, as producer, made choices that highlighted the flaws in his singing.  Not only does he seem to have been less disciplined on himself than an outside producer would have been (which makes sense when you think about it), but his vocals are much more front and center and with less reverb on his own productions than on MIU.  So Brian producing Brian basically let his freak flag fly, but with someone else behind the board there was a much more concerted effort to make him blend.  Bruce did an even better job with this on KTSA, where Brian is very much in the vocal blend but Bruce gets it to work.

If you listen to some of the early mixes to the Christmas album (which became MIU), you can hear that Brian's vocals weren't THAT great -- they were just mixed in a way where they smoothed out -- further back in the mix, double-tracked and in many cases lots of nice reverb.  LOVE YOU and to a lesser extent 15 BIG ONES -- he's just right there in your face.  Brian as producer let Brian as vocalist slide on a lot of stuff another producer wouldn't have.

[Jim V.]

I think you're right about Brian shredding his voice, Jim.  Once a while back I got a chance to hear a number of unreleased Brian vocals around this era (including the "California Feelin'" one) and they almost all were pretty bad...my impression was that Brian just didn't seem to be able to get through a whole vocal in this period.  The little bit of Brian's opening vocal that made it on MIC is a good example -- yes, it's pleasant enough for what it is, but his pitch is all over the place.  I got the sense from what I heard that they were trying to get Brian vocals that worked, and that they just gave up on it as undoable.  That, and of course Brian being instutionalized for a good deal of the L.A. sessions.

Heaven only knows what was going on during that time.  I don't imagine mental hospital stays are helpful to your voice!

I know you might not be at liberty to say, but can you tell us what other unreleased songs had a Brian vocal from around the L.A. era? I know there is a "Drip Drop" and then maybe "I'm Begging You Please"? I also remember something about Carl and maybe Guercio wanting Brian to do the lead for "Good Timin'" but I know that never happened. Are there any other Brian vocals besides those and "California Feelin'"? I think I hear him on "Calendar Girl" as well, sounding pretty rough, along with the high part on "Brian's Back". Anything else?

And how about KTSA? Were there any decent Brian vocals outta those sessions that you heard? The version of "Oh Darlin'" with Brian on lead is actually a lot more enjoyable than Carl's. Seems to have some life to it. But it's a classic rough sounding Brian vocal, not really technically great. I don't know of any other unreleased Brian vocals from that period, besides supposedly "Smokey Places". However, I have no idea if that one is any good. Although I think you may have mentioned it was good before.

[CenturyDeprived]

Nope...he didn't stop smoking until 1994, save for a good portion of the second Landy era. Even then, he was still smoking, just not cigarettes.

Through what period was Brian known to still be toking on the peace pipe? I remember hearing that Landy would give Brian joints as occasional "rewards" from time to time.

[adamghost]

I think you're right about Brian shredding his voice, Jim.  Once a while back I got a chance to hear a number of unreleased Brian vocals around this era (including the "California Feelin'" one) and they almost all were pretty bad...my impression was that Brian just didn't seem to be able to get through a whole vocal in this period.  The little bit of Brian's opening vocal that made it on MIC is a good example -- yes, it's pleasant enough for what it is, but his pitch is all over the place.  I got the sense from what I heard that they were trying to get Brian vocals that worked, and that they just gave up on it as undoable.  That, and of course Brian being instutionalized for a good deal of the L.A. sessions.

Heaven only knows what was going on during that time.  I don't imagine mental hospital stays are helpful to your voice!

I know you might not be at liberty to say, but can you tell us what other unreleased songs had a Brian vocal from around the L.A. era? I know there is a "Drip Drop" and then maybe "I'm Begging You Please"? I also remember something about Carl and maybe Guercio wanting Brian to do the lead for "Good Timin'" but I know that never happened. Are there any other Brian vocals besides those and "California Feelin'"? I think I hear him on "Calendar Girl" as well, sounding pretty rough, along with the high part on "Brian's Back". Anything else?

And how about KTSA? Were there any decent Brian vocals outta those sessions that you heard? The version of "Oh Darlin'" with Brian on lead is actually a lot more enjoyable than Carl's. Seems to have some life to it. But it's a classic rough sounding Brian vocal, not really technically great. I don't know of any other unreleased Brian vocals from that period, besides supposedly "Smokey Places". However, I have no idea if that one is any good. Although I think you may have mentioned it was good before.

Yeah, well unfortunately "Smokey Places" and "California' Feelin'" are the only ones I remember, and part of the latter vocal has been released -- and been pretty overrated in my opinion.  It's a good example of what I'm talking about...Brian sounds like he's sort of trying to do a good vocal, but he's pitchy, blows out certain phrases, etc.  "Smokey Places" wasn't bad, and I remember it because it was the only one of the tracks that Brian sang on that I thought was a releasable vocal.  It was years ago and my exposure to this stuff was pretty short.  So I can just give you my overall impression that I came away with at the time.

One track I do remember hearing that was terrific -- and I don't think it's a huge deal that I've heard it since it's been played publicly before -- is a Carl vocal from the KTSA sessions of a song called "I Will Always Love You."  Had they released that I think they would have had a hit...it's very commercial in an early '80s MOR kind of way.  Which is probably why they didn't release it, as it didn't fit so well with KTSA, but I think it would have worked out well for them if they had.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Nope...he didn't stop smoking until 1994, save for a good portion of the second Landy era. Even then, he was still smoking, just not cigarettes.

Through what period was Brian known to still be toking on the peace pipe? I remember hearing that Landy would give Brian joints as occasional "rewards" from time to time.

At least as late as 1989, perhaps later.  There's a video clip for the making of the 'In My Car' video where Brian has Landy go score him some weed and some Xanax, although why Brian was asking for a dime and a nickle is beyond me...just get a bigger sack  rather than two small ones

[CenturyDeprived]

Nope...he didn't stop smoking until 1994, save for a good portion of the second Landy era. Even then, he was still smoking, just not cigarettes.

Through what period was Brian known to still be toking on the peace pipe? I remember hearing that Landy would give Brian joints as occasional "rewards" from time to time.

At least as late as 1989, perhaps later.  There's a video clip for the making of the 'In My Car' video where Brian has Landy go score him some weed and some Xanax, although why Brian was asking for a dime and a nickle is beyond me...just get a bigger sack  rather than two small ones

That's hilarious. Maybe that's why the last time I looked, that video had all the sound removed The audio on that video of Brian at the keyboard playing the chords of "In My Car" made me realize just how rad a song it actually was... stripped of the 80s production (which I don't mind anyway), it's clear that much of the composition is damn near classic BW.

[Rotat]

Yeah, well unfortunately "Smokey Places" and "California' Feelin'" are the only ones I remember, and part of the latter vocal has been released -- and been pretty overrated in my opinion.  It's a good example of what I'm talking about...Brian sounds like he's sort of trying to do a good vocal, but he's pitchy, blows out certain phrases, etc.  "Smokey Places" wasn't bad, and I remember it because it was the only one of the tracks that Brian sang on that I thought was a releasable vocal.  It was years ago and my exposure to this stuff was pretty short.  So I can just give you my overall impression that I came away with at the time.

One track I do remember hearing that was terrific -- and I don't think it's a huge deal that I've heard it since it's been played publicly before -- is a Carl vocal from the KTSA sessions of a song called "I Will Always Love You."  Had they released that I think they would have had a hit...it's very commercial in an early '80s MOR kind of way.  Which is probably why they didn't release it, as it didn't fit so well with KTSA, but I think it would have worked out well for them if they had.

Man it's a shame that "Smokey Places" and "I Will Always Love You" were never released.. They sound really interesting. I'd really like to hear a cover of "Smokey Places" sometime especially. It's one of those great classic doo-wop songs that I think they would have done pretty well with.

[adamghost]

Yeah, well unfortunately "Smokey Places" and "California' Feelin'" are the only ones I remember, and part of the latter vocal has been released -- and been pretty overrated in my opinion.  It's a good example of what I'm talking about...Brian sounds like he's sort of trying to do a good vocal, but he's pitchy, blows out certain phrases, etc.  "Smokey Places" wasn't bad, and I remember it because it was the only one of the tracks that Brian sang on that I thought was a releasable vocal.  It was years ago and my exposure to this stuff was pretty short.  So I can just give you my overall impression that I came away with at the time.

One track I do remember hearing that was terrific -- and I don't think it's a huge deal that I've heard it since it's been played publicly before -- is a Carl vocal from the KTSA sessions of a song called "I Will Always Love You."  Had they released that I think they would have had a hit...it's very commercial in an early '80s MOR kind of way.  Which is probably why they didn't release it, as it didn't fit so well with KTSA, but I think it would have worked out well for them if they had.

Man it's a shame that "Smokey Places" and "I Will Always Love You" were never released.. They sound really interesting. I'd really like to hear a cover of "Smokey Places" sometime especially. It's one of those great classic doo-wop songs that I think they would have done pretty well with.

Well who knows.  A lot of stuff came out on MADE IN CALIFORNIA that I never thought would see the light of day.  The longer time goes on and the more prejudices and trends of the moment fade, the more of the Beach Boys' later stuff gets re-evaluated and appreciated.  Critically, the cut off point of the Beach Boys' quality has been moved up from 1967 to 1970 to 1973 to 1977 (and I'd say 15 BIG ONES, with a tip of the hat to Alan Boyd for getting the backing track to "Had To Phone Ya" heard, is pretty close to being put into the "critically accepted" pile at this point).  There was an awful lot of stuff recorded from '78 to '81 apparently.  I could imagine if the Beach Boys' star continues to shine brightly for another decade that that might get a look-see, particularly if there was some late period Dennis stuff (which a few different people have assured me does exist, though I'm still a little incredulous) mixed in there.  I'm waiting for the LIGHT ALBUM to come off the sh*t list, because the disco tune aside (which I happen to enjoy a lot), it's a pretty terrific record.

Who knows, grasshopper!  Perhaps one day.