Mike Love's merit as a singer

[Autotune]

Recent announcement of Mike being an Ella award recipient provides a chance to ponder his abilities as a vocalist.

Remarkably, he shines as a bass singer even though his natural range is that of a baritone-tenor. Yet, he manages to sound ultra cool and has been an anchor for the harmony stack for over five decades. Brian's arrangements usually demand that Mike jumps from lead tenor to bass (e.g. Wendy, Little St Nick and countless others).... He does this with incredible ease and control. Some of the bass lines he sang are significantly intricate and he excells at them (Lord's Prayer is an extreme example of this).

As a lead singer he is a most distinctive part of the sound associated with the BBs and some of their timeless songs. He defined a style of his own that blends a young man's self-confidence, coolness and innocence. He sounds like a regular guy, and yet has a perfectly distinctive sound. In fact, his voice and early singing style is so associated with the music, that BB soundalike usually suffer a great deal in the lead-singing department. Seems so siimple, but still...

As their career advanced, Love showed an unusual range and versatility as a singer. Meant For You, SDT, All I Want to Do are examples of this.

And finally, he has been extremely competent and consistent. Rarely missed shows, tours and performs endlessly while his level of performance and commitment remains at an admirable high.

Please discuss.

[bluesno1fann]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umuz39g_nOE

[alf wiedersehen]

Intelligent response.

[Sheriff John Stone]

And finally, he has been extremely competent and consistent. Please discuss.

This is the point that I would like to highlight; I think it goes largely unnoticed.

We have learned that you never know what to expect from each successive Beach Boys' album, except for one thing. Mike Love will provide excellent vocals, both lead and background.

[Kurosawa]

He's an awesome singer, an awesome frontman and sometimes a great lyricist. He should write more songs because he's more than capable. But just as a singer-the guy is ace. Best nasal singer ever, IMO, and his bass parts are great too.

People wouldn't be so bitchy about Mike and Brian not playing together if they didn't know deep down that Mike is great.

[CenturyDeprived]

He's an awesome singer, an awesome frontman and sometimes a great lyricist. He should write more songs because he's more than capable. But just as a singer-the guy is ace. Best nasal singer ever, IMO, and his bass parts are great too.

People wouldn't be so bitchy about Mike and Brian not playing together if they didn't know deep down that Mike is great.

IMO, Mike has been very, very underutilized in terms of his "Meant For You"-type voice. The few examples we have of his leads on songs like that tell me that he had a lot of wasted potential as a more sensitive vocalist. I'm guessing it's because there were powerhouse vocalists like BW + CW in the band which made Mike's more sensitive side as a vocalist less of an avenue he wanted to keep exploring, and that's a bummer, because instead we got a lot of later-period retreads of mid 30s (and beyond) Mike trying very consciously to sound like early 20s Mike, often with mediocre/annoying results.

I hope with whatever recordings Mike still may have in him, he goes more the "Cool Head, Warm Heart" and "Kokomo" route with how he sings. (And I'm serious, I really love Mike's smooth vox on "Kokomo" - I like that vocal styling, but I just don't want anymore "Kokomo"-ish lyrics/retreads anymore.)

[guitarfool2002]

I'll take it from a musician angle...Mike is a great bass singer, and not just as a frontman but I think his real strength was always the way he had such a good bass *sound* that could anchor a larger vocal group arrangement and sing bass parts that weren't "comic" sounding. That's what gets me sometimes about listening to the hundreds of various 50's doo-wop groups and theie offshoots in tribute bands and retro bands and the like. The bass man was often doing some kind of an overblown comedic type of singing, or was overblowing the bassy part of his range too much for effect. But Mike had a really smooth, natural voice.

I remember Brian in some interview or something complimented him on how he could sing those "guttural" bass parts as in "Papa Oo Mow Mow" and others, and it's very true. He could have a sensitive bass tone for a ballad, and then switch on that gritty, guttural growl of a bass voice, and that was impressive technically.

I know someone else had already written this years ago, but the way Mike sings the chorus hook on "Kiss Me Baby", specifically the part in bold here: "kiss a little bit/fight a little bit/kiss a little bit...whoa baby"...that whoa baby part...it took the role of a doo wop bass singer out of the comic and overblown 50's "bow bow bow, dum dum dum, dit dit dit" kind of nonsensical syllables and into the realm of advancing teen pop music into something new for the 1960's and beyond. You have doo-wop bass singing, then you have what Mike does on "Kiss Me Baby" in the same role, and it's like going from cylinder records to 33 1/3 LP vinyl in terms of advancing the form.

Having said that, it's not saying anything negative about previous bass singers, I just wrote a chapter-length thing on the Drifters' "White Christmas" and how the bass lead stands out, but Mike I seriously think did do a lot for bass singing in general, in pop music, which he doesn't get enough credit for doing with the Beach Boys.

For the technical aspects of his singing, I think even he would say his range was limited and his vocals needed to be close-mic'ed a certain way to really deliver the full resonance since he didn't project as loud as some other trained bass voices might have done, but it was the *perfect* anchor for those terrific group vocals.

As a lead, he has his ups and downs but one thing you can't deny is that his voice put a distinctive stamp on the BB's tracks where he sang lead. You can't mistake at all who it is when you hear "round round get around...", and that was his fastball, that distinct quality.

Has he made questionable choices? Sure, everyone has.

[guitarfool2002]

Apart from "Kiss Me Baby" which I think is one of Mike's all time best, I have to mention "That's Not Me" as a standout lead vocal. He does a really cool thing where he goes from the aggressive voice as the narrator to a sensitive voice when he sings a line like "What matters to me is what I could be to just one girl" and holds out the note on the word "girl". It's a terrific lead vocal, and it captures a range of emotions that a lot of people overlook in his style. It's how you deliver a classic vocal, essentially, and no amount of "coaching" as seen on shows like American Idol can teach a singer how to pull that off. And it sounded real rather than contrived or even put-on for effect.

That's Not Me, a terrific vocal on a melody that can be a real bitch to sing, and worth noting as a Mike highlight.

[Cyncie]

One of the most distinctive things about The Beach Boys "sound" was the contrast between Mike's more earthy vocal quality and Brian's soaring falsetto. Often imitated, never duplicated. He is an integral part of what made The Beach Boys, The Beach Boys.

[Andrew G. Doe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umuz39g_nOE

I knew someone would do this, and I kinda guessed it'd be you. Odd you didn't post the original recording for comparison. Or this one:

Kiss Me, Baby

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

One of the most distinctive things about The Beach Boys "sound" was the contrast between Mike's more earthy vocal quality and Brian's soaring falsetto. Often imitated, never duplicated. He is an integral part of what made The Beach Boys, The Beach Boys.

This is what I've been yelling and screaming (granted, with much less beautiful simplicity as you) forever, and it's why there's no dismissing Mike! The Beach Boys sound, DNA, identity (to it's basic core) is Brian and Mike's voices: their interaction, dynamic. With all the rest either filling in or replicating/replacing (to an extent).

[kwan_dk]

I'm a bass singer in a Beach Boys inspired group myself and since taking on that role my appreciation for Mike's talent has skyrocketed. Some of his parts on the Beach Boys classics are way more intricate and challenging that you would think as a casual listener. We tried our hand at Our Prayer some time ago and his parts there are outright scary, jumping all over the place. As a standalone vocal it just sounds really weird, but combined with the other voices - lo and behold; it makes perfect sense.

[bluesno1fann]

In all seriousness, I've said it once and I'll say it again: This is Mike Love's all-time best vocals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SIirCB-nII

[kwan_dk]

In all seriousness, I've said it once and I'll say it again: This is Mike Love's all-time best vocals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SIirCB-nII

Nope, - this is. Almost same title. But way better song with the perfect lead vocal...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO_LX-m74uw

[Nicko1234]

I think Mike's lead vocals up to around 1973 were superb both in terms of his bass singing and his leads. I think Brian absolutely made the right choice when selecting him to sing so many of those hits and that the songs wouldn't be as good if other band members had sung them.

From the mid-70s through to the 90s his voice did become too nasal but remarkably it seems to have improved over the past decade. Certainly not to make him as good a singer as he was in his prime but he now does a good job again on the hits.

[seltaeb1012002]

In all seriousness, I've said it once and I'll say it again: This is Mike Love's all-time best vocals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SIirCB-nII

Nope, - this is. Almost same title. But way better song with the perfect lead vocal...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO_LX-m74uw

OT.. but f*ckin hell that just reminded me of how that song is pretty much the best song ever written, recorded, engineered, produced, sung, arranged, etc etc etc etc. How was this not released as a single?

And to keep it on topic.. Mike's voice is awesome, not necessarily in the classic sense. He can't do vocal acrobatics but his tone sounds great on record, and live. Definitely legendary status.

[bluesno1fann]

In all seriousness, I've said it once and I'll say it again: This is Mike Love's all-time best vocals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SIirCB-nII

Nope, - this is. Almost same title. But way better song with the perfect lead vocal...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO_LX-m74uw

We'll have to agree to disagree with that. I prefer All I Want To Do over All I Wanna Do, and Mike's vocals are far superior on the first one IMHO

[kwan_dk]

In all seriousness, I've said it once and I'll say it again: This is Mike Love's all-time best vocals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SIirCB-nII

Nope, - this is. Almost same title. But way better song with the perfect lead vocal...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO_LX-m74uw

We'll have to agree to disagree with that. I prefer All I Want To Do over All I Wanna Do, and Mike's vocals are far superior on the first one IMHO

Fair enough. To each his own. And yes, he really rocks on the first one. It's a cool song.

[Autotune]

I'll take it from a musician angle...Mike is a great bass singer, and not just as a frontman but I think his real strength was always the way he had such a good bass *sound* that could anchor a larger vocal group arrangement and sing bass parts that weren't "comic" sounding. That's what gets me sometimes about listening to the hundreds of various 50's doo-wop groups and theie offshoots in tribute bands and retro bands and the like. The bass man was often doing some kind of an overblown comedic type of singing, or was overblowing the bassy part of his range too much for effect. But Mike had a really smooth, natural voice.

I remember Brian in some interview or something complimented him on how he could sing those "guttural" bass parts as in "Papa Oo Mow Mow" and others, and it's very true. He could have a sensitive bass tone for a ballad, and then switch on that gritty, guttural growl of a bass voice, and that was impressive technically.

I know someone else had already written this years ago, but the way Mike sings the chorus hook on "Kiss Me Baby", specifically the part in bold here: "kiss a little bit/fight a little bit/kiss a little bit...whoa baby"...that whoa baby part...it took the role of a doo wop bass singer out of the comic and overblown 50's "bow bow bow, dum dum dum, dit dit dit" kind of nonsensical syllables and into the realm of advancing teen pop music into something new for the 1960's and beyond. You have doo-wop bass singing, then you have what Mike does on "Kiss Me Baby" in the same role, and it's like going from cylinder records to 33 1/3 LP vinyl in terms of advancing the form.

Having said that, it's not saying anything negative about previous bass singers, I just wrote a chapter-length thing on the Drifters' "White Christmas" and how the bass lead stands out, but Mike I seriously think did do a lot for bass singing in general, in pop music, which he doesn't get enough credit for doing with the Beach Boys.

For the technical aspects of his singing, I think even he would say his range was limited and his vocals needed to be close-mic'ed a certain way to really deliver the full resonance since he didn't project as loud as some other trained bass voices might have done, but it was the *perfect* anchor for those terrific group vocals.

As a lead, he has his ups and downs but one thing you can't deny is that his voice put a distinctive stamp on the BB's tracks where he sang lead. You can't mistake at all who it is when you hear "round round get around...", and that was his fastball, that distinct quality.

Has he made questionable choices? Sure, everyone has.

Great observations! There is an earlier example of "sensitive/artful" bass singing from Mike that always got me and that's the chorus to Don't Worry Baby. There are earlier examples of that to be sure, but that is outstanding. Let me say again. I appreciate your post very much.

[Micha]

IMO, Mike has been very, very underutilized in terms of his "Meant For You"-type voice.

Oh yes!!! On my alternate reality fantasy SMiLE album, Mike sings the lines "Surf's up aboard a tidal wave, come about hard and join the young and often spring you gave" in this vocal style.

[Joel Goldenberg]

I pretty much like all of the Mike vocals i've heard, including the later You're Still A Mystery (near the end of the song). The only one I dislike is the overly nasal Getcha Back. and I was glad David Marks sang it in concert.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I like Mike's lead vocal - and his "bow bow's - on "Getcha Back". I don't think David's lead vocal comes close to Mike's, and I was disappointed that Mike gave it up in concert. When "Getcha Back" first came out, especially on the radio, and still today actually, it has that Beach Boys' sound as much for Mike's familiar voice as Brian's falsetto. That was Brian wasn't it?

[Niko]

I have a vintage tube radio from the 60's that has an 'audio-in' port, allowing me to play whatever I want, and Getcha Back is one of the songs I play most over it. It makes it sound so much warmer...and even if Mike's lead vocal is nasally, it's still a great song. The half step key change at the end is perfect, and bridges to the outro so well. Luv it.

[Watch a Cave]

I have always thought Mike had/has a great voice.  Love the baritone bass parts and of course the punkish nasal lead vocals from the 60s. 

I agree with the post above that the Mike and Brian interplay is the definitive Beach Boy sound for me.  As great as Carl, Dennis and Al's voices are,  when Mike does his thing and Brian hits the falsetto it really has a magical sound.

On a side note, isn't it amazing how much vocal talent this group has?  I feel like the number 5 guy (Al? Dennis?) could have been the best singer on most groups in the 60s.

[Catbirdman]

Oh yes!!! On my alternate reality fantasy SMiLE album, Mike sings the lines "Surf's up aboard a tidal wave, come about hard and join the young and often spring you gave" in this vocal style.

Wow, that sounds so amazing in my head. If only...