Two cabin-fever induced musical what-ifs...

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Ever wondered what a Beach Boys song would sound like if it were recorded in a different era?  I consider this often.

Here are a couple of sketches. 

Kokomo as an Add Some Music era production:

https://vocaroo.com/lx8DqJcFvzX

Vocals were spleetered and then I recorded a crude backing track.

Wouldn't it be Nice as a Love You song:

https://vocaroo.com/g7kVXh2zcmc

Here I pitched Brian's raw lead down a minor third or so and put autotune on it so it'd go off key occasionally.


Nothing serious here -- Hope you think it's fun.

[hodad]

Are you trolling for Vocaroo? Why post stuff on a $ site? Youtube is free, whoppeee.... i'm not paying....

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I wasn't aware one had to pay.  It's always been free in my experience?

[Jim V.]

Hey aeijtzsche, I wasn't asked to pay for a thing.

Now about your experiment...

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" done Love You style was actually kinda eye opening to me. So thank you for that. I also kinda like when artists revisit songs done in the style of the current album. I think that's why the studio recorded Lei'd In Hawaii material interests me. It's the older Beach Boys classics done Smiley Smile style (obviously) and I dig it. Just like I like Dylan doing "Girl from the North Country" Nashville Skyline style long after releasing Freewheelin'.

"Kokomo" was a harder sell though. I don't think it's any fault of your own, but that one was tougher to try to meld it into a lightly folky early '70s pop song.

[guitarfool2002]

There was no charge or fee on Vocaroo to listen to these tracks, I don't know how that happened if they tried to get a payment to listen.

Two quick comments:

WIBN needs a little more obnoxious (in a good way) Mini-Moog bass cranking in this one!

Kokomo sounded close to my ears to what the original John Phillips version sounds like! 

I agree with Jim V, a lot of the charm about all of those Hawaii '67 tracks, both the live and the re-records, comes from hearing the band tackle those tunes with sounds and arrangements from what they were releasing at this time, namely the stripped-down and laid-back Smiley Smile sound and vibe. I always thought California Girls worked extremely well that way, especially the tag and fade.

[NateRuvin]

Kokomo works very well in that style of arrangement. That has my gears spinning for a full late 60's wall of sound style production of the song. Take away the drum machine and tropical instruments. Layer up on those acoustics, double them up with piano, drums on the backbeat, Fender and Upright Bass, it could sound really groovy. That "Spectorian" drum beat works quite well.

[CenturyDeprived]

This is very very cool, and a really creative idea. Hats off to you for doing it!

It's fascinating to think about various songs time traveling to different eras. I think people often times enjoy a song (or don't enjoy a song) based more on if they are a fan of the production of that particular era, sometimes more than the actual songwriting.

I've always thought Kokomo was a pretty decent song, but boy do Carl's vocals pop in a wonderful way here. His vocals elevate that song immeasurably.

[Mitchell]

I'm still waiting for you to finish your Smiley Smile version of Cabinessence!

I'll give these a listen tomorrow, hopefully.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I'm still waiting for you to finish your Smiley Smile version of Cabinessence!

I'll give these a listen tomorrow, hopefully.

It's only been what, 15 years?

[Mitchell]

If Smile took 37, then I guess I'm in for a wait...

[Mitchell]

Thoughts:
Kokomo by way of San Miguel, ha!

WIBN: it's uncanny how the vocal almost sounds like Carl in '76, and then "together" isn't far off Brian's demos of the era, like In the Back of My Mind 1975. I think if it were less jaunty and a little more plodding it would be even better.

Nice experiments!

[Don Malcolm]

Fascinatingly fun stuff...!

I think the issue with "Kokomo" is that the BBs are too far past their classic vocal sounds for the track to be truly credible as a 69 recording. If it were really going to work, IMO you'd have to time travel the track back to that time frame and have Dennis sing the verses instead of Mike, thus getting it in the right vocal continuum. That entire concept, though, is intensely sacrilegious (particularly for Mike!) but it would solve the problem of him strutting around the world with his #1 hit record (since he wouldn't have been the prime mover of it all).

Of course Carl is great on the track, but this version seems to accentuate the more mannered aspect of the vocal (it's more obvious that he's shifting vocal ranges, which is more distracting here than it is on the official recording).

"Wouldn't It Be Nice" is pretty darned ingenious in this LOVE YOU context, much more successful in tying together some often overlooked unities in Brian's songwriting style/technique. Slackening that vocal trill is a great surrogate for vocal degradation!

I second the emotion for a SMILEY version of "Cabinessence"--would you be using all three sections in the same order?

And what about "Honkin' Down the Highway" done in the style of FRIENDS?? :-)

[Lonely Summer]

Ever wondered what a Beach Boys song would sound like if it were recorded in a different era?  I consider this often.

Here are a couple of sketches. 

Kokomo as an Add Some Music era production:

https://vocaroo.com/lx8DqJcFvzX

Vocals were spleetered and then I recorded a crude backing track.

Wouldn't it be Nice as a Love You song:

https://vocaroo.com/g7kVXh2zcmc

Here I pitched Brian's raw lead down a minor third or so and put autotune on it so it'd go off key occasionally.


Nothing serious here -- Hope you think it's fun.

That Kokomo doesn't sound much different to me, mainly the drums are quieter.
On the other hand, Wouldn't it Be Nice needs those trash can sounding drums to sound like a Brian 1977 production. And the vocal is far too nice. But let me smoke real heavily for 5 years, and then I can do a vocal for you. 

[yonderhillside]

Funny y'all should mention the "Smiley version" of Cabinessence. I tried! and this was the best I could come up with (basically just removed the chorus, the verses sound Smiley enough as it is)

https://youtu.be/wPo0Y22pA8s

And then there's my reimagining of what a "Home On The Range" may have sounded like if... Brian completely lost it.

https://youtu.be/u_otJ6XbKq4

[Jay]

I often wonder what a version of the original arrangement and lyrics of Kokomo would sound like as a Beach Boys song sung by Carl.