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Author Topic: Settling the "Getcha Back" debate  (Read 12274 times)
c-man
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« Reply #25 on: July 31, 2015, 09:34:43 PM »

I'm amazed that this thread even exists.  What's to debate?  Anyone who's been listening to this band for more than 30 years knows without question that the falsetto is sung by Brian.  I think I even remember in Mark Dillon's 50 SIDES book, a story from Steve Levine that he or someone actually managed to cajole Brian into doing the falsetto.

Terry Melcher had to "force" ("persuade" is probably a better word) Brian into singing it, as he initially didn't want to.
« Last Edit: August 01, 2015, 06:48:10 AM by c-man » Logged
Ron
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« Reply #26 on: July 31, 2015, 10:28:50 PM »

I think I even remember in Mark Dillon's 50 SIDES book, a story from Steve Levine that he or someone actually managed to cajole Brian into doing the falsetto.

That's the part that always gets me... the vocal sounds strained and has that Brian 'whine' in it, that he does RIGHT NOW.  He could probably sing that song just like that at Dinner tonight... he sings like that all over the album he just released a couple months ago... and all the ones in between. 

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« Reply #27 on: August 01, 2015, 01:17:25 AM »

Didn't Steve Levine insist Brian take vocal classes to get his voice back in shape? It was Levine talking on a radio doc where I heard that, possibly the one presented by Harry Shearer.
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« Reply #28 on: August 01, 2015, 05:13:59 AM »

There is no debate here.  It's Brian all the way..  He sounds nothing like Jeff.

Brian's falsetto never went away.  Period.
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c-man
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« Reply #29 on: August 01, 2015, 06:54:19 AM »

Didn't Steve Levine insist Brian take vocal classes to get his voice back in shape? It was Levine talking on a radio doc where I heard that, possibly the one presented by Harry Shearer.

Yes, and also in an interview reprinted in STOMP! about a year after the album's release. The song in question that time, though, was "Maybe I Don't Know". Looks like the vocals on that are all Carl, Brian and Bruce. One track I know of on which Jeff sings is "She Believes In Love Again".
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« Reply #30 on: August 01, 2015, 08:34:02 AM »

Nice comment Matt about the pitch correction. You know that for sure right ,and so what if he did. That's one of the things I hate about this board; the drive- by snide comments made by all the so-called experts.
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Autotune
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« Reply #31 on: August 01, 2015, 08:42:46 AM »

BTW, for me it's clearly Brian on top of the stack in It's Gettin' Late doing some great-sounding falsetto work There's some great group vocals there (even if the intro and verse seem to lead to nowhere-- great chorus though).
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« Reply #32 on: August 01, 2015, 11:24:42 PM »

BTW, for me it's clearly Brian on top of the stack in It's Gettin' Late doing some great-sounding falsetto work There's some great group vocals there (even if the intro and verse seem to lead to nowhere-- great chorus though).
Mostly on that song I hear a lot of Carl. Carl singing backup to Carl's lead.
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« Reply #33 on: August 02, 2015, 06:42:43 AM »

It's Brian OBVIOUSLY (yet not as obvious is the pitch correction used).

Pitch Correction wasn't invented and released until (circa) 1997.
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« Reply #34 on: August 02, 2015, 06:49:07 AM »

I think the proper debate here should be what Steve Levine was smokin' when he let Mike Love get away with that lead vocal.... I'm not the biggest ML fan by any stretch, but man, couldn't he have sung that lead better than that!!  Huh
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c-man
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« Reply #35 on: August 02, 2015, 07:05:00 AM »

It's Brian OBVIOUSLY (yet not as obvious is the pitch correction used).

Pitch Correction wasn't invented and released until (circa) 1997.

Yes, I thought '84-'85 was a bit early for that abomination. To my ears, Brian's falsetto part (and all of Brian's leads on the album) sound uber-squashed with mucho compression, which can have the added "benefit" of making an off-pitch vocal sound more "on".
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c-man
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« Reply #36 on: August 02, 2015, 07:12:28 AM »

BTW, for me it's clearly Brian on top of the stack in It's Gettin' Late doing some great-sounding falsetto work There's some great group vocals there (even if the intro and verse seem to lead to nowhere-- great chorus though).
Mostly on that song I hear a lot of Carl. Carl singing backup to Carl's lead.

I hear Jeff in the intro. I think all the guys are singing in the almost a capella break toward the middle or end of the song - Mike, at least, is there with his low bass voice.

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« Reply #37 on: August 02, 2015, 07:55:21 AM »

I think the proper debate here should be what Steve Levine was smokin' when he let Mike Love get away with that lead vocal.... I'm not the biggest ML fan by any stretch, but man, couldn't he have sung that lead better than that!!  Huh

I always liked Mike's lead vocal on "Getcha Back". It's a catchy song, but I thought one of the reasons for it's success was hearing Mike's familiar voice on the radio (and record, along with Brian's falsetto). Conversely, and I know I'm in the minority on this board, but I thought the weak link on the record was Brian's shouting, not on the falsetto, but on the "whoas" and on the tag. It was nice to get Brian on the radio and a semi-hit, but Carl would've been a better choice, IMO.
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Autotune
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« Reply #38 on: August 02, 2015, 08:03:26 AM »

I think the proper debate here should be what Steve Levine was smokin' when he let Mike Love get away with that lead vocal.... I'm not the biggest ML fan by any stretch, but man, couldn't he have sung that lead better than that!!  Huh

I always liked Mike's lead vocal on "Getcha Back". It's a catchy song, but I thought one of the reasons for it's success was hearing Mike's familiar voice on the radio (and record, along with Brian's falsetto). Conversely, and I know I'm in the minority on this board, but I thought the weak link on the record was Brian's shouting, not on the falsetto, but on the "whoas" and on the tag. It was nice to get Brian on the radio and a semi-hit, but Carl would've been a better choice, IMO.

I think you are right about Mike's sound being crucial to its hit status. But the live vocal linkes above is killer, while the studio vocal is a smaller and somewhat ball-less.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2015, 11:56:17 AM by Autotune » Logged

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« Reply #39 on: August 02, 2015, 08:36:03 AM »

The Auto-Tune pitch correction software wasn't released until around '97 however there was such a thing as pitch correction pre Auto-Tune.  E.g running the problem vocal through a sampler and using the pitch wheel to nudge any off notes into line.

Whether such practices occurred during the BB1985 album sessions, I don't know.

C-man I'm no expert but I'm struggling to see how any amount of compression could help an off pitch vocal sound more "on"  Huh
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« Reply #40 on: August 02, 2015, 09:09:35 AM »

OCA was heavily pitch corrected with pre-Auto Tune tech, as was BW88.
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Autotune
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« Reply #41 on: August 02, 2015, 11:58:03 AM »

The is an account on the WIBN book about Levine's recording method, and it says it involved pitch-correcting of some sort. Not that that book is very reliable.
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c-man
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« Reply #42 on: August 02, 2015, 02:12:37 PM »

The Auto-Tune pitch correction software wasn't released until around '97 however there was such a thing as pitch correction pre Auto-Tune.  E.g running the problem vocal through a sampler and using the pitch wheel to nudge any off notes into line.

Whether such practices occurred during the BB1985 album sessions, I don't know.

C-man I'm no expert but I'm struggling to see how any amount of compression could help an off pitch vocal sound more "on"  Huh

Regarding compression to "pull" something into pitch: I remember that method was suggested in one of the professional recording mags back in the '90s (Mix or Recording, most likely). It doesn't technically pull something into pitch, but rather smooths out the jarring impact of an off-key note on the ear.

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c-man
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« Reply #43 on: August 02, 2015, 02:14:42 PM »

OCA was heavily pitch corrected with pre-Auto Tune tech, as was BW88.

I believe the Fairlight was used in the latter case (possibly the former case, and possibly with BBs '85 - although, if it or something else was indeed used to tweak off-pitch vocals on BBs '85, why not on "I'm So Lonely", which has Brian frequently flatting?).
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« Reply #44 on: August 02, 2015, 03:27:44 PM »

<<I think the proper debate here should be what Steve Levine was smokin' when he let Mike Love get away with that lead vocal.... I'm not the biggest ML fan by any stretch, but man, couldn't he have sung that lead better than that!!  Huh>>

I think Getcha Back is one of Mike's best leads.  He tries a different type of phrasing, hanging back on the beat, always hanging back.  It's jazz phrasing; Matt Monro used to do it a lot.
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Ron
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« Reply #45 on: August 02, 2015, 06:02:36 PM »

Mike's lead I haven't really liked on that song, interestingly though it's not a failure of his voice or anything, he's purposefully singing it like that.   

I always took it, that he was trying to do a kind of retro sound to it, he was trying to sing it like it was a doo wop song or something.  So the nasal sound in it is just him kind of singing it like a smart-ass on purpose.

Kind of curious choice to do it that way, but it is what it is.  I'd probably prefer it straight but it's so... off... from what he normally does it's kind of cool in that regard I guess.  Very strange. 
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Autotune
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« Reply #46 on: August 02, 2015, 06:43:25 PM »

<<I think the proper debate here should be what Steve Levine was smokin' when he let Mike Love get away with that lead vocal.... I'm not the biggest ML fan by any stretch, but man, couldn't he have sung that lead better than that!!  Huh>>

I think Getcha Back is one of Mike's best leads.  He tries a different type of phrasing, hanging back on the beat, always hanging back.  It's jazz phrasing; Matt Monro used to do it a lot.

Great observation. You sold me into the vocal.
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« Reply #47 on: August 02, 2015, 09:34:39 PM »

Interestingly this is one of the few leads Mike has ever given up in concert over the years which leads me to believe he was never satisfied with his lead and in fact talked about wanting someone else to do the lead in an interview I believe.
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« Reply #48 on: August 02, 2015, 10:17:16 PM »

It's Brian OBVIOUSLY (yet not as obvious is the pitch correction used).

Pitch Correction wasn't invented and released until (circa) 1997.

Yes, I thought '84-'85 was a bit early for that abomination. To my ears, Brian's falsetto part (and all of Brian's leads on the album) sound uber-squashed with mucho compression, which can have the added "benefit" of making an off-pitch vocal sound more "on".

The vocals sound super-processed on that album ... maybe something like the Aphex Aural Exciter ?
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c-man
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« Reply #49 on: August 03, 2015, 03:10:05 AM »

It's Brian OBVIOUSLY (yet not as obvious is the pitch correction used).

Pitch Correction wasn't invented and released until (circa) 1997.

Yes, I thought '84-'85 was a bit early for that abomination. To my ears, Brian's falsetto part (and all of Brian's leads on the album) sound uber-squashed with mucho compression, which can have the added "benefit" of making an off-pitch vocal sound more "on".

The vocals sound super-processed on that album ... maybe something like the Aphex Aural Exciter ?

More likely the BBE Sonic Maximizer, which achieves the same result in a different fashion (I have two of each in my studio). The Aural Exciter was used to mix the L.A. Light Album, and is name-checked on the inner sleeve. BBE is name-checked on the inner sleeve of the '85 album. That plus tons of compression on the vocals.
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