Brian's greatest lead vocal

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I know this is something of an impossible question, but the guy just had an unreal voice in his prime, so I think it might be fun to try and pin down our ideas regarding what might just be Brian's all-time greatest vocal showcase (for himself)

My three choices are:

1. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times.

.... This one might not be the most obvious choice, but as a singer myself (I'm being kind to myself here) who has sung this one on occasion: it's a toughie.... Brian sings strongly throughout, traversing great plains of emotion. Each subsequent section of the song sequence gains power vocally. There are peaks and valleys, but not in such a more typical fashion where the verses are more laid back before going into a big chorus. No, Brian starts out with great intent and merely builds on this to great effect and with seemingly little effort .... It's quite amazing to me how Brian (and the rest of The Beach Boys) are able to nail the art of singing like few before or since, while hardly ever applying obvious vocal technique/tricks/vibrato/etc etc.



2. I'm So Young

.... Another not so obvious choice, perhaps, but this being a doo-wop ballad cover thingy, it's very easy to lapse into imitative, shrill affect in such cases, but Brian manages to be true to the original's pitch yet pull off a reading with almost painfully true emotion and with an almost shocking amount of body in his voice.

Mike's similarly sincere bass singing and Dennis' tag also help elevate this past doo-wop time capsule stuff and into insane awesomeness.

3. I'd Love This Once To See You

.... Has Brian ever sounded so relaxed and natural before or since this little gem? ...... As amazing as his falsetto is, I can never get enough of Brian in full, calm, almost conversational voice.

[CenturyDeprived]

While (very) far from my fave BB tune, cover or otherwise, gotta put Blue Christmas pretty high up there on the list of great BW vocals. Unreal, especially from such a then-whippersnapper.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Same with Lonely Sea....

How young was Brian there? Yet he sounds like he's lived at least a lifetime or two.

[DonnyL]

Kind of a weird choice, but "Let it Shine" always sticks out to me as a great vocal.

[bluesno1fann]

Surf's Up. I still get chills up my spine when I hear him sing "columnated ruins domino"

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Surf's Up. I still get chills up my spine when I hear him sing "columnated ruins domino"

Oh yeah! One of the most gigantic life changing moments for me was when The Beach Boys: An American Band came on cable one day when I was about 15, and I picked up the remote to change it, thinking "Yeah, The Beach Boys: been there done that" and then that passage "Surf's up again" comes on and blows my mind while I'm watching some guy ride a wave on the screen as if the universe was telling me "what you're looking at is all you THOUGHT you knew about The Beach Boys, while what you're hearing is telling you how much you DON'T know about The Beach Boys" ....

I still get chills too.

[Cyncie]

Brian's tone in it's prime had a beautiful purity to it. Most people rave about Carl's voice, and it was wonderful. But, there's a bit of vibrato that sneaks in in the high register and the occasional pitch break in Carl's voice. Brian maintained the clear, pure tone of a boy soprano in his tenor and falsetto that's hard to match.

Lot's of singers singing in falsetto in pop music, but few of them had such a pure tone.

I can't pick just one vocal. But the final wail on "Caroline, No" and the poignancy of "The Warmth of the Sun" get me in the "feels" every time.

[CenturyDeprived]

Same with Lonely Sea....

How young was Brian there? Yet he sounds like he's lived at least a lifetime or two.

BW was still 19 when Lonely Sea was recorded... can you believe it?

Not to mention that was the same age when Carl recorded God Only Knows. Wonder how many people who've listened to GOK over the years would be shocked to find that out.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Brian's verse on "Isn't It Time" is also a favorite of mine .....

He sounds pleasingly like his "Love You" self at first, but then when he breaks into "I wanna take you there" a whole other little universe opens up.

Mike, Bruce, and Al sound fab too, on that one.

[TimeToGetAlone]

Brian's voice doesn't get much sweeter than on Don't Worry Baby.

[Gregg]

This is a tough one.  But I have come to one conclusion over 40+ years listening to these recordings and that is that Brian Wilson, in his youthful prime (~20's) possessed the most perfect male singing voice, at least as far as I'm concerned. Just heart-melting, beautiful singing on so many tunes. I guess I especially love the ones where the melody seems to center right around that break in his voice. You could tell it took a lot of skill and musicality to pull it off, but he always did it so beautifully.

Three of the best that fall into this category, I think, are "Don't Worry Baby", "She Knows Me Too Well", and "We'll Run Away". He's constantly going in and out of falsetto and it evokes so much yearning and emotion into the melodies. Just beautiful stuff that I never grow tired of listening to.

[seltaeb1012002]

I realize it's more of a group vocal. But to paraphrase Brian, I don't think *he* could've sounded any cooler than on I Went To Sleep.

[Lonely Summer]

Has anyone here ever tried to sing Brian's lead on "Heroes and Villains"? That is hard - and i like to think of myself as a singer. Hard to pick just one song, though - "The Warmth of the Sun", "She Knows Me Too Well", "Surf's Up". Carl became the best singer in the group, but in the early days, it was definitely Brian.

[kwebb]

Don't Worry Baby was a great Brian lead, IMO.

[18thofMay]

One kind of love on the new album is his best in 40 years

[Kurosawa]

So, so hard to pick....

I'll go with 1-Don't Talk. It still amazes me that any person could sound so beautiful
2-Surf's Up. As others have said, chills, every time.
3-Let Him Run Wild. I know the man himself doesn't like it, but I sure do!

60's Brian is the best male singer I have ever had the honor of hearing.

[Ron]

I have to go with "Wouldn't it be Nice", not only does he sing it in fine form, but it has a really almost maniacally happy sound to it.  On top of that it stands as probably his most commercially successful lead vocal.  He really pulled something special off with that one.

[Eric Aniversario]

This is a tough one. Are we looking at wide-range vocal acrobatics, commercial appeal, tonal purity, ability to convey emotion, or simply just a favorite vocal?

A few favorites pop into mind, for different reasons:

Please Let Me Wonder
Matchpoint Of Our Love
Lonely Sea
Your Summer Dream
 Farmer's Daughter
There's No other (like my baby)
Midnight's Another Day
Sunshine (imagination)
She Knows Me Too Well
Blue Christmas (thanks to the poster who mentioned this earlier!)
Don't Worry Baby
I'd Love Just once To See You
Busy Doin Nothing
Surf's Up (2nd half of 71 version)
Song For Children (BWPS)
I'm So Young
Hushabye
What Love Can Do

[Andrew G. Doe]

"Midnight's Another Day".

[Eric Aniversario]

"Midnight's Another Day".

Glad someone agrees on this one!

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Great list, Eric.

I think what I'm trying to single out are Brian songs where he basically carries it.

There are no shortage of great songs where Brian sings the chorus etc, but which are basically Mike leads, like Don't Hurt My Little sister or Good To My Baby.

[Mike's Beard]

Please Let Me Wonder.

[chris.metcalfe]

"Midnight's Another Day".

Yes, there's unlikely to be another one like that.

If you look on the YouTube vid of the song (well, one of them), you'll see a new comment by a certain Steve Kalinich.

[Wild-Honey]

I like your list Eric

Wouldn't it be Nice.
Match Point of our Love
Dance, Dance, Dance.  (not a lead but my favourite vocal of his)
Please Let Me Wonder
I Know There's an Answer
I'm Waiting For the Day
Surf's Up
Let's Put Our Hearts Together (I think it's so gruff and cute)
Don't Worry Baby.   

[Andrew G. Doe]

"Midnight's Another Day".

Glad someone agrees on this one!

In terms of pure technique, it's not even close to his best vocal, but no-one else could have sung that lyric with such utter conviction and credibility. Gave me chills back then, still does.