Brian Pics 72-74

[MBE]

MBE,

Listening to Brian's voice during the early 70's there is a substantial difference between say 71-72' (Surf's Up) and 75'-76' (15 Big Ones).  Was this intentional?  It has been said that Brian was at times somewhat embarrassed by his voice.  I recall hearing/reading somewhere that he wanted a more manly voice and that he intentionally smoked cigarettes by the packs per day to achieve this....not sure if this is true. 

I don't enjoy listening to 15 Big Ones in part because I am saddened by the abrupt change in his 'health' which as a listener hits you when you hear his voice on that record.  Same can be said for Dennis.  While they went on to make some decent records, to me, the Beach Boys would never be the same once Brian's voice changed...or at least they didn't sound the same.

Well I couldn't agree with you more on the vocal decline hurting later records. I think Dennis (at least until it gave out completely) was able to adjust better to it. His voice had been fairly low to start, and he ususally managed to stay on key. Brian didn't sing consistently well until the late 90's and even then it never was the same. How it happened for Dennis was a fist fight where he was punched in the throat. This took place sometime in 1974. A similar incident took place in 1981 which is when he lost his voice completely. While some say booze, coke , and cigarettes also hurt Dennis' voice, the big changes happened because of these two fights. I heard a December 1973 performance of Forever that is perfect and that is the last time he really sounded great to me. By the end of 1974 he was pretty raspy.  Brian did deliberately destroy his voice in 1975. Late 1974 recordings show him to be singing as well as ever. By Back Home which was recorded in late 1975 his voice was gone. Why did he do this? His friends say he just hated his voice and was really self destructive at the time. In other words he wasn't thinking straight and has had to pay for his actions over the last 32 years.

[jmc]

Brian did deliberately destroy his voice in 1975. Late 1974 recordings show him to be singing as well as ever. By Back Home which was recorded in late 1975 his voice was gone. Why did he do this? His friends say he just hated his voice and was really self destructive at the time. In other words he wasn't thinking straight and has had to pay for his actions over the last 32 years.

Interesting.  Was Brian a cigarette smoker before 1975?  Carl must have been a light smoker as he smoked most of his teenage and adult life and was able to maintain his vocals (although I think he too experienced some changes or range reductions in the early 70's and mid-late 80's).

What were the late 74' recordings you referred to?

[pixletwin]

What were the late 74' recordings you referred to?

My Holy Grail of unreleased stuff...

The November 1974 version of the never-been-bootlegged California Feeling.

[MBE]

I think Al said Brian was the last of the brothers to start smoking, but I know he did by 1964 because I have a picture of him and Roger Christian where you can see a pack in his pocket. I never heard California Feeling but understand Brian is still untainted vocally. Hard Times, and Child Of Winter are where I draw my conclusions from as well as a home recording of the Fairy Tale from either 73 or 74. Carl had lost some of the lightness in his voice by the mid 80's and while he could still sing well in the 90's his voice was a little cloudier.

[phirnis]

I was just thinking about what a punch in the throat hard enough to make one lose their voice might possibly feel like. Ouch... I've once read about Dennis having his vocal chords operated on. If it ever really happened, which year was that?

[MBE]

He got punched in 74 and again in 81 probably by Steve or Stan Love in 74 and definitely by Stan and Rocky in 81. His friends say if he had rested his voice while it was healing (both times) it may have turned back to normal had he let it rest but he never did. I think the operation was in 1981.

[Jay]

It would be interesting to see a thread like this on Dennis. 

[MBE]

Do you mean pics showing him going from looking healthy to ill?

[jmc]

In Carlin's Catch A Wave, he mentions that Brian sang the high parts on a cover of Help Me Rhonda by Johnny Rivers.  This was the spring of 75'.  I haven't heard this track except for the free 30 second clip on Amazon.com.   From what I could hear though his "high voice" sounds ok, but was starting to sound a little strained.

But even before that, Carlin noted that Brian was showing signs of strained vocals as early as the Surf's Up album - to the point where Carl would have to help or Desper would have to modify the tape speed.  However, he sounds pretty dam good on Til' I Die and the tag of A Day In The Life Of A Tree.

Does Brian sing background vocals on Cuddle Up?

[phirnis]

It would be interesting to see a thread like this on Dennis. 

Indeed it would be. I've seen a picture of Dennis, presumably from 1974 on Ed Roach's website (unfortunately it's not there anymore) and he looked better than ever before on that one. Then again, there's pictures from the 15 Big Ones sessions where it's obvious that something might be a bit wrong with the guy...

That said, 1981 might well be the point of no return for Dennis Wilson. From that year on, he looks a lot worse on virtually every footage I've seen when compared to any earlier stuff.

[Rocker]

He got punched in 74 and again in 81 probably by Steve or Stan Love in 74 and definitely by Stan and Rocky in 81. His friends say if he had rested his voice while it was healing (both times) it may have turned back to normal had he let it rest but he never did. I think the operation was in 1981.

To think that these guys are/were family is kinda sad...

The '81 incident was because Dennis gave drugs to Brian iirc, but what was the '74 fight about?

[MBE]

In Carlin's Catch A Wave, he mentions that Brian sang the high parts on a cover of Help Me Rhonda by Johnny Rivers.  This was the spring of 75'.  I haven't heard this track except for the free 30 second clip on Amazon.com.   From what I could hear though his "high voice" sounds ok, but was starting to sound a little strained.

But even before that, Carlin noted that Brian was showing signs of strained vocals as early as the Surf's Up album - to the point where Carl would have to help or Desper would have to modify the tape speed.  However, he sounds pretty dam good on Til' I Die and the tag of A Day In The Life Of A Tree.

Does Brian sing background vocals on Cuddle Up?

I really cannot agree with Peter on this listening to it myself. I mean Desper told me different things about Brian's voice personally. More or less that he didn't hear any difference untill he worked with them again in the late 70's. Look at the vocal credit thread to read my full opinion on this topic of Brian's voice. As for Cuddle Up I hear  him myself but many don't seem to agree. I don't think he's prominent but I hear him there. He is singing the high part on YNAMOHTSA during the verses. I also hear him on Steamboat doing high parts. Again I have been debating on this with people. The one album where you can hear him clearly from this time is Spring and he sounds very good.

[adamghost]

Well, regardless of whether he's on those songs or not, it's pretty well established that (a) he had most of his normal voice through 1974 but that (b) it had started to deteriorate somewhat in the late '60s, although probably not to a huge degree.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

yeah, but his part in the tag of Funky Pretty he sounded gruffer.

[MBE]

Brian's doing the"oooh Funky" on that song and it sounds sped up to sound almost girlish. I don't hear any gruffness though unless you are hearing another part with him. I slowed it down once myself but there seemed to be no trouble hitting the notes. Instead it seems like he wanted an unnatural voice effect on there. As far as the vocal damage in the late sixties I just don't hear anything. Forever is just about the best singing he ever did. Now I think his voice deepend a little around Smiley Smile but I mark that up more to age (remember when he cut In My Room or Surfer Girl he was barely out of his teens) and the Beach Boys change in style. He sounds a little rough around the edges on the even the early demos IE the Surfin USA demo has a few rough notes. I am sure that his lifestyle in 1973-4 meant that his voice wasn't being taken care of well, but I don't think he would have ever sounded as bad as he got had he not tried to hurt his chords.

[MBE]

It would be interesting to see a thread like this on Dennis. 

I did these for a CD comp I put together on Dennis I think it shows how quickly Dennis went down between 1974-79 plus it will give you all his early looks too. I think 1977 was the turning point for him. I didn't include any pics from 1980-83 in the collage because he really wasn't recording much then plus we know how bad it got.
http://download.yousendit.com/E717F9620DC0D569

[MBE]

He got punched in 74 and again in 81 probably by Steve or Stan Love in 74 and definitely by Stan and Rocky in 81. His friends say if he had rested his voice while it was healing (both times) it may have turned back to normal had he let it rest but he never did. I think the operation was in 1981.

To think that these guys are/were family is kinda sad...

The '81 incident was because Dennis gave drugs to Brian iirc, but what was the '74 fight about?

Sorry didn't see the question before. I think it was in a bar or something in 1974. I don't know the reason.

[Jonas]

From what I understand, there are infact women singing in the tag of Funky Pretty (Marilyn?) so I don't think his vocals were sped up. I'm pretty sure I can hear Brian in the mix and he sounds fantastic.

[MBE]

If you slow it down manually you can hear it was slightly sped up. I think it was to give it a slight affect, or perhaps like an electronic effect. Brian does sound great on it, and I think Marilyn is there. She told me the Trader is her proudest moment as a singer btw.

[Domino]

Could someone repost the pictures on the first two pages?

[Jim V.]

MBE, C. Miller or anybody else who is in possession of these pics, could somebody repost these. I'm really interested in seeing the change in Brian and whatnot.

I hope somebody can help.