Can Brian still do falsetto?

[matt-zeus]

Being someone whos fascinated by Brians falsetto (in its slightly different four eras - early 60s, late 60s/early 70s, late 70s and late 80s/early90s, I was wondering as I have only ever seen him live twice, can he still do falsetto?
There is some falsetto on GIOMH (Fairytale), SMiLE (Surfs up) and a bit on the Xmas album (First Noel), but do we really think we will ever here Brian doing falsetto again?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Barely. In fact, he can't really even do God Only Knows live anymore.

Yet, oddly enough, on songs like "Drive In" he sounds phenomenal.

[Ron]

He did a really good version of "good to my baby" live in 04.  the falsetto phrase at the end of "First Noel" is about the best I've heard him in years, though, sounds incredible. 

[seltaeb1012002]

Re: GIOMH - Remember, he also sang all of the background parts (including the high falsetto stuff).

I think he'll always be able to sing falsetto to some degree.  Despite all the damage he did to his voice, bear in mind he developed it at an early age and kept it in top shape for about 15 years.   It's practically in his blood.

Can he still sing a demanding song like Surfer Girl in the original key?  I don't know, but I'd bet on a good day he could do it if he really wants to.

[the captain]

He sings falsetto on each of the past several albums, so obviously he can sing in that voice. It isn't anywhere near as pretty or pure as it used to be, but he can do it. Obviously, he doesn't trust it live, as the others take those parts. I don't blame them...his falsetto basically sounds like sh*t (GIOMH bg vox).

[Jeff Mason]

He doesn't like singing falsetto from what I hear -- makes him feel like singing like a girly man or something.

[Aegir]

Obviously, he doesn't trust it live, as the others take those parts.

If it was just that, I'm In Great Shape and "columnated ruins domino" on BWPS would've been pure Brian.

Unless he doesn't trust it in the studio, either..

[the captain]

Obviously, he doesn't trust it live, as the others take those parts.

If it was just that, I'm In Great Shape and "columnated ruins domino" on BWPS would've been pure Brian.

Unless he doesn't trust it in the studio, either..

as I said, it sounds like sh*t either way. But he CAN do it, and has in some songs. No question, others all sound better than him, live or studio.

[MBE]

He only disliked his voice at a time he was self desructing. Sounding good in 74 he smoked and coked as much as he could in 75 and by the end of the year damaged himself for good. He still did the high notes sometimes through 85 or so, but it wasn't quite as pure. Once in a while it sounded good but never the same. After Getcha Back Brian sang less and less falsetto. When he did it wasn't too good (Daddy's Little Girl). In 1999 he hit the end note of Caroline No perfect during his Chicago show.  Damnit if the dvd from this tour has him miss it. Anyhow I do think his voice since 98 or so is better then it has been since M.I.U. but really he now sounds best singing Mike's parts.

[Melinda]

My dad (Mike) has always loved Brian's falsetto voice. He told me this little story about his visit with Brian while at the Capitol Records building last week: He and Brian were chatting while in the background Pet Sounds was playing. My dad interrupted Brian at one point to listen to a song (I neglected to ask which song, sorry!) and asked him, "Can you still sing like THAT?" Brian just laughed and said "No, man!"

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

 

[MBE]

Yeah Brian has always been pretty open about the loss of his voice.

[Andrew G. Doe]

My dad (Mike) has always loved Brian's falsetto voice. He told me this little story about his visit with Brian while at the Capitol Records building last week: He and Brian were chatting while in the background Pet Sounds was playing. My dad interrupted Brian at one point to listen to a song (I neglected to ask which song, sorry!) and asked him, "Can you still sing like THAT?" Brian just laughed and said "No, man!"

Try reposting this on the Bloo, and you'll be told it's just another example of Brian's wacky sense of humor, he can still hit every note just like 1965, etc., etc....

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Truth.

[Chris Brown]

In 1999 he hit the end note of Caroline No perfect during his Chicago show

I just watched my Pet Sounds Live DVD tonight and you're right, he absolutely drilled that note at the end of Caroline No.  Almost sounded like the Brian of old, just not quite as nasal as when he sang it in '66.  Whether he could hit that today, who knows?  Doesn't really matter, he still sounds pretty good all things considered, and given all the amazing vocals he did back in the day when his voice was at its peak, he certainly doesn't have anything to prove to anyone.

By the way thanks for sharing that story Melinda!

[MBE]

Well like I said I think he has become a good  singer again in the last decade, not a stunning one like before but very nice.

[Ron]

I'm 27 and I think I have a pretty decent voice, I can't touch a lot of the background vocals and things Brian can still sing now in his 60's.  I imagine some are drenched in autotune, but all in all I'm happy with how his voice sounds.  Sometimes he hits notes that make you cringe 'urgh, good god why did they leave it like that' and then sometimes he hits a really sweet note.  On something like "What I Really Want For Christmas", in my opinion he sounds impressive all through the song.  Even things like "It came upon a midnight clear" his voice sounds very strong and impressive for a grandfather. 

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

The high note in "Don't Talk" on the PS tour was hit or miss. He'd get up there, but sometimes lost control of it and went way off key. Maybe his ear affects him on stage sometimes....

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

The high note in "Don't Talk" on the PS tour was hit or miss. He'd get up there, but sometimes lost control of it and went way off key. Maybe his ear affects him on stage sometimes....

That is a good point. When we critique his live performances, we have a tendancy to forget that the man is deaf in one ear.

[Aegir]

But doesn't he usually only sing out of the side of his mouth that goes to his good ear?

[Andrew G. Doe]

I just watched my Pet Sounds Live DVD tonight and you're right, he absolutely drilled that note at the end of Caroline No.  Almost sounded like the Brian of old, just not quite as nasal as when he sang it in '66. 

Hmmmmm... don't think I'd accept a commercial DVD as any kind of evidence. That's the DVD where he changes shirts in mid-sentence, as I recall.

[absinthe_boy]

He does not change shirt mid-sentence. That might be the "on tour" DVD.

He does sometimes change shirt from song to song, as it clearly stated on the DVD cover (and the CD) the released recording is culled from his 7 nights at the Royal festival Hall...so what Mark Linnet did was to take the best performance of each song and glue them together. Nothing wrong with that, it is the way most bands have done live albums over the years.

Can Brian sing falsetto? Well, I've seen him live albeit only once. He absolutely nailed Surf's Up when I saw him in the summer of '04 and delivered a prefect "God only Knows". The dude sings better at 60+ than I do at 33.  Occasionally he'd hit a bum not and not adjust it...this suggests to me a hearing problem rather than a voice problem. He isn't aware that the note is out of tune....when you only have one good ear and 19 other musicians playing on all sides around you, it must be difficult even with monitors.

I also have some...err...unofficial recordings from the SMiLE tour...they vary...on some he is said to have had a cold and his vocals are more likely to be out of tune...on others he nails it consistently throughout the performance.

So i thnk Brian can still do falsetto. But it ain't quite as sweet as 40 years ago and Brian himself knows he cannot always rely on it.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Time for pantomime !

OH YES HE DOES !!! 

Can't recall which song - it's been some time since I've watched the DVD - but the first time I saw Pet Sounds Live, I remember falling off my chair laughing as, in mid-song intro, as the camera angle changed, so did Brian's shirt.

And yes, I know that the DVD - and CD - were culled from four nights recording: I was there for all four of them. My point was that, citing a DVD version of a song where Brian nails a difficult note doesn't mean he actually nailed it on the night in question.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Can Brian sing falsetto? Well, I've seen him live albeit only once. He absolutely nailed Surf's Up when I saw him in the summer of '04

Errrrrrr... sorry, but he didn't. On that particular song live, Brian was doubled by both Darian (highest) and Jeff (high), and he - Brian - didn't attempt the falsetto... or so Mr. S. told me. :-) I checked the following night: he was right.

I'm doing this merely to be a pain, just presenting facts as told me by participants.

[NimrodsSon]

Darian was, I'm sure, referring to the "columnated ruins.." part. On the second half of the song it was Brian singing solo, until the second tour where Jeff began to double Brian (probably because Brian could never consistently hit those notes.