Brian's voice

[the captain]

I read somewhere that Carl was woried about singing that high part in 1970. He really wanted Brian to sing it, but Brian told Carl to sing it. Carl didn't think he could do it. I think it sounds better then Brian.

Keep in mind the Brian version is a demo, though--and in fact, a demo with a doubled vocal in which the two takes are a little out of tune. Who knows what Brian's might have sounded like on a real take if they had recorded it.

One other thing to keep in mind on this talk of Brian's range: Stephen Desper has said in his thread on a few occasions that they sped up the guys' voices plenty of times when there were particularly high parts. That isn't to say their ranges weren't great or that they couldn't maybe have hit the highest notes, but just that we can't take the recordings at face value all the time. The days of doing that, if they ever existed, were over by the mid- to late-60s.

[Glenn Greenberg]

Click here for my performance of Surf's Up on the New Friday Project

i was a bit coldy but i just about managed it.. i do really fodaing hate the sound of my own voice though

Nice performance, man!

[Mahalo]

On pg55 in the Making of Pet Sounds book from the box set, Chuck Britz recalls, "Brian could hit the high parts, and it wasn't falsetto. His voice was unreal."

[Chris Brown]

On pg55 in the Making of Pet Sounds book from the box set, Chuck Britz recalls, "Brian could hit the high parts, and it wasn't falsetto. His voice was unreal."

He's right, it was head voice.  Most people have a natural break between the two, and that's why Brian's voice was so unique.  He literally had no discernable break.  A good example is "You Still Believe In Me", the "I wanna cry" line.  With most singers, you could hear several breaks where they switch between falsetto, head voice and chest voice.  Brian's voice sounds pretty much the same throughout.  It's amazing. 

[PMcC]

Paul, alright, now!! Beautiful performance of "Surf's Up" you were really feeling that one. Enjoyed it....PMcC

[MBE]

On pg55 in the Making of Pet Sounds book from the box set, Chuck Britz recalls, "Brian could hit the high parts, and it wasn't falsetto. His voice was unreal."

He's right, it was head voice.  Most people have a natural break between the two, and that's why Brian's voice was so unique.  He literally had no discernable break.  A good example is "You Still Believe In Me", the "I wanna cry" line.  With most singers, you could hear several breaks where they switch between falsetto, head voice and chest voice.  Brian's voice sounds pretty much the same throughout.  It's amazing. 

That is a fine lead. The demo of Break Away has him taking many different tones as well. It's not as polished as most of his released leads of the era but it's a good example of how multifacited his voice was. The worst thing he ever did was blowing out his voice in 75.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I read somewhere that Carl was woried about singing that high part in 1970. He really wanted Brian to sing it, but Brian told Carl to sing it. Carl didn't think he could do it. I think it sounds better then Brian.

Keep in mind the Brian version is a demo, though--and in fact, a demo with a doubled vocal in which the two takes are a little out of tune. Who knows what Brian's might have sounded like on a real take if they had recorded it.

One other thing to keep in mind on this talk of Brian's range: Stephen Desper has said in his thread on a few occasions that they sped up the guys' voices plenty of times when there were particularly high parts. That isn't to say their ranges weren't great or that they couldn't maybe have hit the highest notes, but just that we can't take the recordings at face value all the time. The days of doing that, if they ever existed, were over by the mid- to late-60s.

I agree that Brian's voice is better then the Surfs Up demo. However, I do like Carl's voice better then Brian's. Having said that, there are certain songs that seem to fit Brian better then Carl, like 'Wonderful' and 'Caroline, No'. I heard Carl singing them live and he did a great job on them, but his voice doesn't quite fit the song like Brian's does. On Surf's Up, I love the way they split Carl and Brian's voice on the song. The sections they sing fit their vocal parts well.