The Definitive Vocal Credits Thread...

[James Hughes-Clarke]

"Feet" middle-eight - "if you wanna do the right thing for 'em/just take a walk in the grass/but don't you catch yourself fallin'" - sounds more like Brian to these ears.

That's Al for me - the giveaway is his tone on the word 'walk'.

[pixletwin]

That crazy sonic chemeleon known as Alan Jardine! Who doesn't that guy sound like? Next thing someone is gonna tell me that he sang back up on Elvis' Suspicious Minds!

Nope, Al actually sang the lead on it!   

  Well I might as well give these ears of mine to Goodwill... 

[John 2]

I think it's Al on the Feet middle-eight, too. Al is definitely the hardest guy to idenify - he can sounds identical to Brian, Carl and Mike at various times.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

"Tree" coda:

"Trees like me weren't meant to live/if all this earth can give/is pollution and slow death" - VDP

"Oh Lord I lay me down/my branches to the ground (or 'no life's left to be found')/there's nothing left for me" - ACJ

Wow! I never realised that VDP sang on this song! I've noticed that since Smiley Smile, the read on vocals has been much tougher because the share leads and they can all sound alike. In fact I was listening to 'Looking At Tommorow' which I believe is Al, but could also sound like Bruce (without vibrato).

[adamghost]

"Feet" middle-eight - "if you wanna do the right thing for 'em/just take a walk in the grass/but don't you catch yourself fallin'" - sounds more like Brian to these ears.

I wondered about this too, motivating a trip to the I-Pod.

First off, it's panned hard right, which means it's almost certainly on a different track than Al's lead.

Second, it's two voices singing together (or just possibly three).

Here's the aural impression I get, word by word:

"wanna do" sounds like Al's timbre.

"for 'em" sounds like Brian (or Carl...the classic Wilson "curl" at the end of the note).

"Take a walk" sounds like Brian.

"Grass" sounds like Brian and possibly Bruce.

"Fallin'" sounds like Al and Brian together.

Since I keep hearing one or the other timbre sticking out of there, it's on a separate track(s) from the lead, and it's clearly two voices, my guess is that it's Al and Brian singing together in unison.  The last line is the one that sounds most clearly that way.  I wouldn't stake my life on it, but I'd bet $20 on it.

[adamghost]

I don't know if it's useful information, but all the backing vocals on "Feel Flows" are Carl and Marilyn (per Marilyn).

[MBE]

Brian also sings the White Puffs part of Feel Flows.

[adamghost]

Brian also sings the White Puffs part of Feel Flows.

We're talking about the white hot glistening shadowy flow bit, right?  Did he?  I wondered about there being someone else on there.  Good to know. 

[MBE]

Desper had gone into it I think in his book but definately online. I think David Marks talked about Brian drinking Melon liquer and singing it laying down tipsey.

[John 2]

Desper had gone into it I think in his book but definately online. I think David Marks talked about Brian drinking Melon liquer and singing it laying down tipsey.

I think that's Long Promised Road.

I was sure I heard Bruce on Feel Flows, but I could be wrong; oh, and I'll alter "Feet".

[MBE]

Desper had gone into it I think in his book but definately online. I think David Marks talked about Brian drinking Melon liquer and singing it laying down tipsey.

I think that's Long Promised Road.

I was sure I heard Bruce on Feel Flows, but I could be wrong; oh, and I'll alter "Feet".

Marks was refering to the other song but I quote Steve Desper from his book "The ending "White Puffs" vocals are Brian, Carl and Bruce around a stereo microphone doubled."

[John 2]

Aha! I'm glad I was right about Bruce as well. 

[MBE]

Looking at the tag of Til I De. Brian does the real high "Untill I Die" that leads into it.

[adamghost]

Aha! I'm glad I was right about Bruce as well. 

I'd always thought I'd heard Bruce as well, but I just put it down to it being a Marilyn soundalike, so that's good to know.

Now here's question, backtracking a bit:  Stebbins had said Dave Marks doubled Dennis on some vocal tracks...was one of them "Surfin' USA"?  I'd always heard an unfamiliar voice in the mix and it just now came up on the IPod, it seems to be doubling Dennis' part, though I didn't listen all that closely.

[Jon Stebbins]

Aha! I'm glad I was right about Bruce as well. 

I'd always thought I'd heard Bruce as well, but I just put it down to it being a Marilyn soundalike, so that's good to know.

Now here's question, backtracking a bit:  Stebbins had said Dave Marks doubled Dennis on some vocal tracks...was one of them "Surfin' USA"?  I'd always heard an unfamiliar voice in the mix and it just now came up on the IPod, it seems to be doubling Dennis' part, though I didn't listen all that closely.

Its possible. That would fall into the period when Dave was occasionally doing this(First two LPs and/or first few Capitol singles). Since he rehearsed the parts and also sang them live its really hard for him to remember, or even know, which ones might have made it to record. But if there's a second voice doubling Dennis, and you can hear what the others are doing independently that double very well could be David in the mix.

[adamghost]

Its possible. That would fall into the period when Dave was occasionally doing this(First two LPs and/or first few Capitol singles). Since he rehearsed the parts and also sang them live its really hard for him to remember, or even know, which ones might have made it to record. But if there's a second voice doubling Dennis, and you can hear what the others are doing independently that double very well could be David in the mix.

OK, went back to listen with the cans on:

The part I'm hearing is the low one in the background triad, which stays on the same note through most of the verse (and thus is the simplest, because it's mostly the same note, so it's the one you'd logically assign to the weakest harmony singer).  It does sound to me like Dennis and someone else, because I hear the tone of Dennis' voice, but also a more nasal tonality overlaying it that's different from Dennis'.  It's also an unusually prominent part in the mix, which you'd expect if there was an additional voice in there.

For the other parts, I hear Brian on top, and I assume it's Carl in the middle, but all I can tell you for sure is that it doesn't sound unlike him.  It's the least prominent part volume-wise and the middle harmony is the hardest one to tease out on its own.  It sounds as much like Al as Carl to me.  I have to say that on the unison "Surfin' USA" there's a timbre in the mix that sounds very like Al's.  It could just be that "Hawthorne twang" producing that sound.  I don't know.  I know nothing about the sessions or anything like that, I'm just going by aural evidence only.  Anyway, I can't imagine why they'd do a vocal that was Brian-Al-Dennis/David if Carl was around, and whoever I hear doubling Dennis (if that's what I'm hearing, it could just be an "aural illusion") definitely isn't Carl or Al, so it's probably Carl in the middle.

Anyway, it probably doesn't matter.  I just am enjoying listening to this stuff and picking it apart (probably a little too much).

[Jon Stebbins]

Nice work Adam! Its a sure thing Al was not around for that session. After the last Hite Morgan session Feb '62 Al didn't participate in a BB's recording session until the Surfer Girl LP sessions in July '63, so it would be impossible for his voice to be on the Surfin' USA single recorded in Jan. '63. Sometimes Al is foggy in his recollection, but Dave remembers clearly at which point Al re-joined for sessions (Catch A Wave, In My Room, Boogie Woodie) as the SOT's  & session tapes clearly prove with his name being called out by Murray through the talk back.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

There are a lot of times that I hear unfamiliar voices on the earlier sessions that Al wasn't around for.  There were times I suspected that Al had snuck in or that another singing friend of Brian's came by.  There are lots of times where I'd be willing to swear on some sort of holy book that there is somebody besides Brian, Mike, Carl, Dennis, or David on certain songs of that era.

[adamghost]

There are a lot of times that I hear unfamiliar voices on the earlier sessions that Al wasn't around for.  There were times I suspected that Al had snuck in or that another singing friend of Brian's came by.  There are lots of times where I'd be willing to swear on some sort of holy book that there is somebody besides Brian, Mike, Carl, Dennis, or David on certain songs of that era.

I've had the same thought.  Isn't there some evidence to that effect?  Didn't Gary Usher sing on some of the first album?

[adamghost]

This made me wonder if it was possible to pick out enough of the backup vocalists on the rest of the album to give us some clues of the working process...again, just going by my ears without knowledge of the session sheets...so I gave SURFIN' USA a once over with the headphones.  I don't have a piano in front of me to double check the parts, but here's what I got:

FARMER'S DAUGHTER
Harmony stack:  I hear four parts:  Mike on bottom, then Carl (the pedal tone or pivot note), then Dennis, then Brian.  Brian's double tracked lead is in another channel, so it was likely overdubbed.

LONELY SEA
Harmony stack:  I hear the same configuration, same overdubbed Brian lead vocal, opposite panning.  Really sloppy performance.  You can hear the four parts clearly at the end:  Dennis and Brian on counterpoint, Carl (barely audible) and Mike on the response part.

SHUT DOWN
Harmony stack:  Same configuration (except Mike has the lead vocal), although it sounds like Dennis' part may be below Carl's this time.  I'm not 100% sure though without a piano in front of me.  But you can hear everyone's voices very clearly at different places (Carl's very audible at :45), so the personnel's not in question.

NOBLE SURFER
Harmony stack:  Mike's "no bull" bass line is on his lead vocal track.  As for the stack, this is interesting.  I hear 3 parts this time, Dennis is now on the bottom, which you can hear clearly at :11 when he gets confused and winds up scooping up to Carl's part (which he keeps doing at the end of the phrase through the song, so that every harmony phrase ends in two parts).  I don't hear a bass part, but again, it sounds like Dennis' part is being doubled by someone else.  You can hear this most clearly at around 1:34 when someone goes off key in that part.  Again, there's a nasal tonality that doesn't sound like Dennis.  Is this David Marks?  Or is it Mike?  (There's no low part)  At first I thought I heard Mike in there, but now I don't think I do.

Harmony stack-wise, it sounds similar to "Surfin' USA" other than the stereo mix being different.  Was "Noble Surfer" done at the same session by any chance?

That's as far as I got before work called...

[adamghost]

I listened to the last two vocal tracks when I got home...

LANA
background stack:  Mike-Carl-Dennis-Brian from lowest to highest

FINDER'S KEEPERS
Same thing.  There MIGHT be a fifth voice in there carrying the pedal tone across the up-down "Finders Keepers" part, but I don't specifically hear one.  There's more reverb here and the harmony is more complex, so it's harder to pick things out.

Judging by the panning (because it's center channel), it sounds like Brian's "she said" vocal might have been on the background vocal track, and brought up and panned away from the hard left panning of the rest of the track for the lead vocal turn.  Mike's vocal is panned far right, so it doesn't appear to be on the same track as his.  Although it could be, and they just moved the pan fader center. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Alan was still in touch with Brian and co. after leaving the band - for some further details, check out the 'In The Beginning' page on Bellagio 10452.

[Jon Stebbins]

Alan was still in touch with Brian and co. after leaving the band - for some further details, check out the 'In The Beginning' page on Bellagio 10452.

Al may have been going to the malt shop with Dennis on occasion but I truly doubt he attended any BB's recording sessions between Feb. '62 and July '63. When he came back to sub for Brian on March 29th 1963 it was a major revelation to the guys in the band and to Murry. Gotta remember the other BB's and Murry were extremely ticked off at Al for how he handled his initial stint in the group. Ron Swallow's quote was they all said "Screw Al we don't need him." Al himself recounted to me they were very disappointed with him and it took him a good while of groveling to get back into the circle.  On the subject of Al coming back in late March Murry said, "No recording sessions, no royalties," But... Since Brian was threatening to quit for good, the others relented and in fact were happy to keep the ball rolling with Al, he saved the day, they welcomed him "back" it was a BIG deal. My point, if Al had been coming in and rehearsing the parts and participating on the recording sessions in between I doubt the evidence would weigh so heavily in the direction that he did not. I realize Al has blurred the period when he was gone with conveniently foggy recollection, and has said he was still around and all that, and the BB's pr machine consistently played down his departure in the post 1963 years. But if you can shed yourselves of all that and go into the factual realm of 1962 and early 1963 press releases, articles, quotes within context, and memories of those who were there it seems to me Al was not a welcome figure, in fact he was NEVER mentioned as a former Beach Boy or anything else in any writings from the time. Its as if he never existed in the BB's story, very similar to what they did to David in the years ahead. Now Gary Usher on the other hand was around, everybody remembers him. David recalls him playing the guitar intro on Lonely Sea. I would not doubt his voice could be on some '62 stuff, and Derry Weaver was hanging around during the first LP sessions. I believe the second LP, other than Loney Sea, is self contained to the five( and one possible Italian drummer on a certain song, err) Beach Boys. The third LP has a VERY different vocal texture in places (Catch A Wave, In My Room) and I feel this is purely because of the addition of Al to the blend.

[adamghost]

Do we know what the recording date for "Noble Surfer" was and if it's the same day as "Surfin' USA"?  Or perhaps that they were done on 3-track and the others on 4?

Every other track on the album, from what I can tell, has the Wilsons and Mike on backup and no one else that I can perceive.  If Dave's on those records vocally I'd bet it's those two.  It'd be interesting to see if we can confirm it in some way.

Another possible reason why that might be was if the lead vocal for each (Mike) was done simultaneously with the backups.  Brian might have wanted to double Dennis' part to compensate for the lack of a bass vocal and strengthen the blend without Mike.  All the other ones to me clearly sound like the lead vocal was dubbed at a different time from the backups.  Come to think of it, they both also have overdubbed keyboard solos as well.  Right off the bat, that shouldn't affect the track lineup on the tape (since you could put it on the same track as the lead vocal) but that could have affected the calculation in some way that's not occurring to me right now.

[John 2]

Adam, can you please lend that harmony-defining ear of yours to the accapellas and confirm who's on 'em? Thanks!

A Young Man Is Gone
The Lord's Prayer
Auld Lang Syne
And Your Dream Comes True
Mama Says