Brian's Voice Change

[mikeddonn]

He was using a vocal coach during the '88 album sessions.

[puni puni]

Wow. If you believe laryngitis is a cause (or even a major contributor) of Brian's change in vocals you must have stone ears or have never heard what a person with laryngitis sounds like.

So it's not beyond our imaginations to conceive of a time in the 70s where Brian totalled his voice through smoking of all kinds, but told the media his new voice was down to laryngitis.

Laryngitis usually lasts a few days, not years. If it were laryngitis, Brian would have waited a few days for the laryngitis to go away, like a cold, before recording 15 Big Ones. And then a year later Beach Boys Love You? Naaaahhhhh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSLclEJ0IAQ

Sure, he doesn't have laryngitis here, he's only pretending to have it, or whatever. And it's only a coincidence that he sounded much more nasal after this date.

Now, after doing a quick Google on whether laryngitis can cause irreparable damage: http://ehealthforum.com/health/topic11838.html
"I'm having the same vocal chord problems right now. I am an alto and used to have a wide range being able to sing to high E. After a bout with bronchitis in September and being on 2 rounds of antibiotics and steroids, and an inhaler,my cough is still there and I cannot sing."
"i had brochitis when i was 19. I coughed so hard my vocal cords where damaged.  My voice still has a raspy quality and i still have to be careful anytime I get a cough."

More research: http://ent.nm.org/uploads/2/4/3/7/24375049/otolaryngology.voice.laryngitisfromreflux.pdf
"This kind of acute laryngitis rarely causes any long-term problem unless the vocal folds are damaged by overuse during the illness."

Could it have been a major contributor? It's surely possible. I seem to remember that the laryngitis Brian suffered in the 1970s were, in fact, severe cases. Also consider the highly likely possibility that he may have continued to smoke a pack a day while in this condition. What's more?

We were at that Oakland show, sitting out around second base. Long hot day barely describes it. People were worn out by the time the Boys came on, and it didn't help when Brian tried to sing In My Room.  Oh my goodness. Mike made a valiant attempt to blame "cousin Brian's" problems on laryngitis but the crowd wasn't buying it.  It was a little sad, knowing Brian was up there trying his best to please the audience when he probably wanted to be anyplace else at the time.

Obviously, as can be gleamed from the clip, the laryngitis wasn't a fabrication after all. Does this forced-singing count as overuse?

[srealist]

This is a topic I've obsessed over quite a bit and for the longest time it was difficult for me to listen to BW post 75-76 without getting really sad.  The thing that strikes me is not so much the scratchiness or gruffness but rather it begins to sound as if he is singing with his tongue immobilized.  To my ears I can hear it even as early as '75 but it doesn't really become very obvious until the mid '80s.  One of the phrases that really sticks out to me is BW's singing of "sunnydown snuff I'm alright" on BWPS.  It sounds like he does not have full articulation of his tongue.

My take on it, and certainly many others have already said this and thought it long before I did (I think it is even on his wiki), is that he developed tardive dyskinesia from psychotropic medications - made much worse with Landy's mobile pharmacy.  Recreational drugs, cigs, alcohol, self-sabotage or whatever contributed to hurting other qualities of his voice but none nearly as destructive and permanent to his overall tone and style.

Long time reader of the site.  Thanks for letting me post here.

[pixletwin]

My take on it, and certainly many others have already said this and thought it long before I did (I think it is even on his wiki), is that he developed tardive dyskinesia from psychotropic medications - made much worse with Landy's mobile pharmacy.  Recreational drugs, cigs, alcohol, self-sabotage or whatever contributed to hurting other qualities of his voice but none nearly as destructive and permanent to his overall tone and style.

Long time reader of the site.  Thanks for letting me post here.

Exactly on.

[dellydel]

What do you guys think about Brain's voice in the I Just Wasn't Made for These Times docu/album?  I hear some of that "cool california sound" back in his voice, and it somehow seems less slurry than stuff that came before and after.  I also hear some of his demented Mt. Vernon genie voice in it.

Is this pretty much the only project where Brian was trying this higher register voice?

[Wirestone]

Is this pretty much the only project where Brian was trying this higher register voice?

Some of the Paley sessions, too. All recorded around the same time.

My take on it, and certainly many others have already said this and thought it long before I did (I think it is even on his wiki), is that he developed tardive dyskinesia from psychotropic medications - made much worse with Landy's mobile pharmacy.  Recreational drugs, cigs, alcohol, self-sabotage or whatever contributed to hurting other qualities of his voice but none nearly as destructive and permanent to his overall tone and style.

Not sure that tardive dykinesia actually does that. The impression that I get is TD has different symptoms, which can be extremely distressing to watch. Brian doesn't have them, at least not now. Here's a man with TD (warning, it's quite uncomfortable): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEKxWzvoD7M

It's quite possible there were worries about Brian developing TD in the latter days of Landy, and that Brian was massively mistreated, but Mark H.'s posts on the subject are quite interesting.

A couple of points:

I'm a physician and I've seen lots of TD over the years and Brian doesn't have it.

Brian very well may have suffered an anoxic brain injury or small stroke over the years.  We don't know how many ambulance runs for unresponsiveness he's been subject too over the years; however,  I doubt his current medical problems are lasting effects directly related to any medications Landy may have given him.  Landy's a great villain (no pun intended) but name me a psychiatric medication that can permanently "damage" your brain.

Brian does have obvious anxiety issues in public settings. On the other hand, he looks like an elderly mentally ill patient who's just sort of reached the "burn-out" phase of his illness.  If you don't believe me visit a homeless shelter or geriatric inpatient psychiatric unit - you'll see lots of Brian look alikes.  Most mentally ill patients aren't multimillionaires.

So you're refuting Peter Reum's claims?

And doesn't Peter work in the same field ?

I'm not debating nor interested in debating Peter Reum.  He's forgotten more about the BB and Brian than I'll ever know.

I'm a physician, I prescribe these medicines all the time, I'm intimately familiar with their efficacy and side effects.  TD is not a subtle diagnosis.  Brian is 60+ years old.  Tremors, Parkinsonian tremors, etc. are very common in elderly who take psychotropics.  The guy is way too functional for someone with TD.  If making a diagnosis was as easy as looking it up on the internet, then I'd be out-of-business.

My last word on the topic.

thanks for your indulgence

http://www.springhillinternalmed.com/

[Autotune]

What do you guys think about Brain's voice in the I Just Wasn't Made for These Times docu/album?  I hear some of that "cool california sound" back in his voice, and it somehow seems less slurry than stuff that came before and after.  I also hear some of his demented Mt. Vernon genie voice in it.

Is this pretty much the only project where Brian was trying this higher register voice?

He goes pretty high in Orange Crate Art songs also. Nevertheless, it shows that during this period he was smoking again. His voice has a certain quality that can be easily associated to smoking. He regained smoothness later in the decade.

[If Mars had life on it...]

Here's one of my favorite later day Brian vocals.  "I Sleep Alone" from early 1989.  I hear some of that old sweet Brian on the verses especially, and even some nice falsetto.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an5WiAzee-w

And one of the best God Only Knows performances ive ever heard from the same show. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhfGEFkf3UY

[Watch a Cave]

One thing certain to me is that despite the hoarse 70s leads (from smoking, coke, laryngitis or other illness), Brian never lost his falsetto.

Just listen to the evidence..

74 California Feelin demo
75 In the back of my mind demo

Sherry she needs me
You've lost that lovin Feelin
In the still of the night
Airplane
The night was so young

Most of the MIU album

And then even after the brutal '79-82 years..
We get Getcha Back (strained but classic falsetto)
Little Children demo (crystal clear high notes)
Fat boys wah-wah-wahs
Brian's version of Heaven
Noelle on Christmas album (sick high note at the end)

Etc etc etc..

So even though the falsetto wasn't as youthful and powerful as it once was, Brian still possessed the soaring falsetto for all these years if he chose to use it.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Some nice moments on the new album too.

[petsoundsnola]

Brian's voice is fantastic during this 2012 performance.  His voice during the middle section of Surfer Girl (around 1:08) is amazingly close to his 60's voice.

I looked closely and it appears that Foskett is NOT doubling him...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu-bXvuPm7c

[leggo of my ego]

he developed tardive dyskinesia from psychotropic medications

I'll buy that.

Can't resist the scientific sounding answers! 

[pixletwin]

Brian's voice is fantastic during this 2012 performance.  His voice during the middle section of Surfer Girl (around 1:08) is amazingly close to his 60's voice.

I looked closely and it appears that Foskett is NOT doubling him...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu-bXvuPm7c

He really did sound fabulous for that Rolling Stone set.

[bonnevillemariner]

So even though the falsetto wasn't as youthful and powerful as it once was, Brian still possessed the soaring falsetto for all these years if he chose to use it.

Depends on how you define falsetto.  (Not the dictionary definition of the word, but rather how you define it personally).  If falsetto to you means hitting high notes here and there, well, I guess Brian retained it for quite some time and still does.

I don't define it that way.  In fact, hitting high notes is only one component.  Is it smooth? powerful? Clear? Retainable over several measures?  I think the "60's Brian Voice" that we love was gone for good by 1970.  He does not possess that soaring falsetto, and he hasn't possessed it for roughly 40 years.  So what if he can hit that high note on "O Holy Night?"or nail three notes on a concert in '83?

I think Brian sounds better now than he has since the 70's, and I actually think he can approximate his 60's voice when he sticks to non-verbal vocals (oohs and ahs).  Words are slurred and very labored these days, but oohs and ahs are still silky smooth.

I completely disbelieve the tired claim that he still has that 60's voice and and times has been caught switching between the two willy-nilly.  Bullcrap.  His  thyroarytenoid muscle and other physical vocal components are no longer capable of producing that sound in a clear, sustainable way.  Non-verbal oohs and ahs are the closest we're going to get.  And honestly, I'm cool with that.

[Autotune]

It's very difficult to be a consistent falsetto singer, as that register comes and goes depending on many factors. Brian himself doesn't always trust his ability and sometimes goes for the full voice. A telling example is the intro to Spirit of RnR from the 1990 San Diego Convention. His first attempt is at shouting the higher note, and only when he fails he goes for a smooth falsetto that -although nice- sounds nothing like his thick falsetto from the 1960s.