The Definitive Vocal Credits Thread...

[adamghost]

I had often thought the falsetto on BABY BLUE was Brian's...Alan Boyd played a different mix of the track and proved me wrong.  It was Carl.

One of the reasons I love LIGHT ALBUM is the prevalence of Carl's falsetto on it.  He actually seemed to be pretty reluctant to take the high part, generally leaving it to Brian, Al or Bruce.  Boy, did he kill in that range or what?

[mikeyj]

I had often thought the falsetto on BABY BLUE was Brian's...Alan Boyd played a different mix of the track and proved me wrong.  It was Carl.

One of the reasons I love LIGHT ALBUM is the prevalence of Carl's falsetto on it.  He actually seemed to be pretty reluctant to take the high part, generally leaving it to Brian, Al or Bruce.  Boy, did he kill in that range or what?

This is really strange. Because I always assumed (like Im sure maby some other people have as well) that the falsetto bits are usually always Brian (unless they are obviously not). Like when a lot of people used to think Brian did "It's been such a long day..." on Be Here In The Mornin' when it is really Al. Then on Baby Blue it is Carl, Good Timin' is Carl... etc.. So this is all new to me. I agree though, Carl has a great falsetto. I don't think I've ever seen him use it in concert or atleast not very often.

[signum]

I agree. Carl's falsetto is brilliant. And it's recently struck me how great the "LA" album really is. Full of perfect, amazing recordings and harmonies. I'm even happy with "HCTN" although I normally wouldn't go anywhere near "disco" music.

Listening yet again to "HCTN", that part at 2.28 is Alan and can't even be imagined as being Mike. But sometimes it is followed by some "do do dos" which sound like they could easily be Mike.

[MBE]

Brian's voice was in bad shape in mid 1978 as his demo of I'm Begging You Please bears out. He didn't have the ability to sing them at the time.

[mikeyj]

Brian's voice was in bad shape in mid 1978 as his demo of I'm Begging You Please bears out. He didn't have the ability to sing them at the time.

Yeh it does make sense. But when I was just starting to get into the band and I found out it was Brian singing the high bits on Fun Fun Fun etc.. then I just automatically assumed he sung the high bits on the later songs too. Then I found out his voice got worse around 15 Big Ones but I never really thought about that the falsetto parts weren't him. But as I say it does make sense now that somebody has said it and now that I think about it.

[c-man]

Brian's voice was in bad shape in mid 1978 as his demo of I'm Begging You Please bears out. He didn't have the ability to sing them at the time.

Brian was smoking a lot at the time, and specifically called Bruce down to the Miami sessions to sing the high parts b/c he (Brian) couldn't do them at the time.  Interesting how Carl ended up doing some of them, and I agree that Carl sounds great in that range...really "full-bodied" compared to Brian or Bruce.

Incidentally, probably the earliest BBs song with someone other than Brian singing a substantially falsetto part was "Girl From NYC", which had Bruce singing the falsetto.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Brian's voice was in bad shape in mid 1978 as his demo of I'm Begging You Please bears out. He didn't have the ability to sing them at the time.

Brian was smoking a lot at the time, and specifically called Bruce down to the Miami sessions to sing the high parts b/c he (Brian) couldn't do them at the time.  Interesting how Carl ended up doing some of them, and I agree that Carl sounds great in that range...really "full-bodied" compared to Brian or Bruce..

"I'm Begging You Please" always confused me. I assumed, because of the vocal, that it was recorded circa-1976. By late 1977, during the recording of MIU, Brian's voice had recovered substantially. I also saw/heard Brian in concert in 1978 and he didn't sound that bad. It's hard to believe that by smoking heavily post-MIU until the recording of "I'm Begging You Please" (in 1978?), that his voice could deteriorate that much.

I also always assumed that Brian's main reason for calling Bruce down to Miami was for production reasons, not vocal ones. Not that Bruce couldn't handle the falsetto parts, but Carl, Bobby Figueroa (?), and maybe Brian - after several takes - could?

[John]

I'm with the guys here who can't picture HCTN being anyone other than Al. I listened to it so many times, then I listened to it in the dark, I listened to it standing on my head, and I can't hear Mike at all. It's SO Al. It's the quintessential Al. It's 100% Al.

[c-man]

Brian's voice was in bad shape in mid 1978 as his demo of I'm Begging You Please bears out. He didn't have the ability to sing them at the time.

Brian was smoking a lot at the time, and specifically called Bruce down to the Miami sessions to sing the high parts b/c he (Brian) couldn't do them at the time.  Interesting how Carl ended up doing some of them, and I agree that Carl sounds great in that range...really "full-bodied" compared to Brian or Bruce..

"I'm Begging You Please" always confused me. I assumed, because of the vocal, that it was recorded circa-1976. By late 1977, during the recording of MIU, Brian's voice had recovered substantially. I also saw/heard Brian in concert in 1978 and he didn't sound that bad. It's hard to believe that by smoking heavily post-MIU until the recording of "I'm Begging You Please" (in 1978?), that his voice could deteriorate that much.

I also always assumed that Brian's main reason for calling Bruce down to Miami was for production reasons, not vocal ones. Not that Bruce couldn't handle the falsetto parts, but Carl, Bobby Figueroa (?), and maybe Brian - after several takes - could?

No, Bruce was quite adamant in interviews that Brian called him down to Miami just to sing.  It wasn't until they got deep into the sessions, possibly back in L.A., that Bruce took over the helm (with Guercio).

[adamghost]

Brian's voice was in bad shape in mid 1978 as his demo of I'm Begging You Please bears out. He didn't have the ability to sing them at the time.

Brian was smoking a lot at the time, and specifically called Bruce down to the Miami sessions to sing the high parts b/c he (Brian) couldn't do them at the time.  Interesting how Carl ended up doing some of them, and I agree that Carl sounds great in that range...really "full-bodied" compared to Brian or Bruce..

"I'm Begging You Please" always confused me. I assumed, because of the vocal, that it was recorded circa-1976. By late 1977, during the recording of MIU, Brian's voice had recovered substantially. I also saw/heard Brian in concert in 1978 and he didn't sound that bad. It's hard to believe that by smoking heavily post-MIU until the recording of "I'm Begging You Please" (in 1978?), that his voice could deteriorate that much.

I also always assumed that Brian's main reason for calling Bruce down to Miami was for production reasons, not vocal ones. Not that Bruce couldn't handle the falsetto parts, but Carl, Bobby Figueroa (?), and maybe Brian - after several takes - could?

There's a clip on youtube of Brian singing (I think) "Love is a Woman" onstage with the Beach Boys in early 1977.  He does a so-so job on the lead vocal, nothing great really, then at the very end, he does a very high little falsetto ad-lib and he nails it.  Then he repeated it.  Perfect tone and pitch.  It's totally out of nowhere.  Weird. 

A lot of the issue may be focus...it was harder for him to sing up there, and so he had to concentrate to do it, and probably the concentration was lacking most of the time in that period.

[Jay]

Brian's voice was in bad shape in mid 1978 as his demo of I'm Begging You Please bears out. He didn't have the ability to sing them at the time.

Brian was smoking a lot at the time, and specifically called Bruce down to the Miami sessions to sing the high parts b/c he (Brian) couldn't do them at the time.  Interesting how Carl ended up doing some of them, and I agree that Carl sounds great in that range...really "full-bodied" compared to Brian or Bruce..

"I'm Begging You Please" always confused me. I assumed, because of the vocal, that it was recorded circa-1976. By late 1977, during the recording of MIU, Brian's voice had recovered substantially. I also saw/heard Brian in concert in 1978 and he didn't sound that bad. It's hard to believe that by smoking heavily post-MIU until the recording of "I'm Begging You Please" (in 1978?), that his voice could deteriorate that much.

I also always assumed that Brian's main reason for calling Bruce down to Miami was for production reasons, not vocal ones. Not that Bruce couldn't handle the falsetto parts, but Carl, Bobby Figueroa (?), and maybe Brian - after several takes - could?

There's a clip on youtube of Brian singing (I think) "Love is a Woman" onstage with the Beach Boys in early 1977.  He does a so-so job on the lead vocal, nothing great really, then at the very end, he does a very high little falsetto ad-lib and he nails it.  Then he repeated it.  Perfect tone and pitch.  It's totally out of nowhere.  Weird. 

A lot of the issue may be focus...it was harder for him to sing up there, and so he had to concentrate to do it, and probably the concentration was lacking most of the time in that period.

I have seen that same video. It IS weird!  For a brief second, his voice sounds perfect.

[Chris Brown]

I just checked the video out, and yeah I see what you guys are saying.  That totally came out of nowhere!  The lead is rough at times, then he suddenly jumps up to falsetto and it sounds great.  Go figure.

[Jay]

Maybe Brian's lack of falsetto is(or was, at least in the 70's...) psychosematic(spelling?)? I mean, maybe he convinced himself that he couldn't do it, and therefore he wasn't physically able to?

[MBE]

I never heard that about Briuce Girl From New York City anywhere. Sounds like vintage Brian to me.

[mikeyj]

I never heard that about Briuce Girl From New York City anywhere. Sounds like vintage Brian to me.

Yeh I always thought that sounded like trademark Brian too. I spose if anybody on this board knows though, its probably C-man.. he is a nerd for that sort of stuff.

[Beach Boy]

Is the lead vocal by Carl of "Good Timin'" from 1974, or 1978/9?

BTW Sometimes it really sounds like Mike on HCTN around 2:30, but I am still not sure.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I think the basic track and lead are from 1974.

[Beach Boy]

I think the basic track and lead are from 1974.

That's what I thought too but another member of this board said that he read on your site that only the track dates back from '74.

[c-man]

I never heard that about Briuce Girl From New York City anywhere. Sounds like vintage Brian to me.

Yeh I always thought that sounded like trademark Brian too. I spose if anybody on this board knows though, its probably C-man.. he is a nerd for that sort of stuff.

I first started suspecting it was Bruce several years ago (like the early '90s).  Then when I finally heard the session tape, that confirmed it.  Brian, Carl & Al sing a tight three-part mid-range harmony in the chorus, then Bruce lets rip with that falsetto. 

www.beachboysarchives.com

[MBE]

I will have to listen close to the SOT. Why doesn't Bruce claim credit for it, he pipes up to claim everything else? Maybe we can ask him at BBB.

[John]

Girl From NYC is definitely Bruce.

[c-man]

Not sure about Alan on "Sunshine", unless you mean the prominent background part he sings.  In the TV special they did for this album, Mike mentions how he, Carl and Brian share the three-part lead.

[Andrew G. Doe]

"SAW" - Bruce shades Alan during the verses after the first line of each.

[adamghost]

Not sure about Alan on "Sunshine", unless you mean the prominent background part he sings.  In the TV special they did for this album, Mike mentions how he, Carl and Brian share the three-part lead.

Yeah, and if IIRC, on the lipsync'd concert of the song, Al and Bruce sang the "dum dum" loop part, Carl, Brian and Mike did the main vocal.  Doesn't prove anything, but it seems right.

It's interesting that Brian did so much of the singing on the album, and yet his voice is presented in such a way that a casual fan could never tell.  I remember getting the album in 1980 and not picking him out anywhere on the album (I had thought then that the "Goin' On" responses -- the only place where Brian's voice is by itself -- were Dennis).  Judging by some of the outtakes from this era, it's probably because they couldn't get a good solo vocal out of Brian, but judging by Bruce's comments at the time, really wanted his voice back on top of the blend.

[c-man]

Not sure about Alan on "Sunshine", unless you mean the prominent background part he sings.  In the TV special they did for this album, Mike mentions how he, Carl and Brian share the three-part lead.

Yeah, and if IIRC, on the lipsync'd concert of the song, Al and Bruce sang the "dum dum" loop part, Carl, Brian and Mike did the main vocal.  Doesn't prove anything, but it seems right.

It's interesting that Brian did so much of the singing on the album, and yet his voice is presented in such a way that a casual fan could never tell.  I remember getting the album in 1980 and not picking him out anywhere on the album (I had thought then that the "Goin' On" responses -- the only place where Brian's voice is by itself -- were Dennis).  Judging by some of the outtakes from this era, it's probably because they couldn't get a good solo vocal out of Brian, but judging by Bruce's comments at the time, really wanted his voice back on top of the blend.

Yeah Adam, I know whatcha mean. At first I thought that "Wontcha gimme some of" background vocal on "Some Of Your Love" was Dennis, but of course it's Brian.  Brian does a really good job on the falsetto on "Sunshine" BTW, one reason I love that song (I know I'm one of the proud and the few who does).