The Definitive Vocal Credits Thread...

[Jonathan Blum]

"Wild Situation" - Carl (& Bruce) on bvs.

Aww *yeah*.  Any excuse to get that in.  :-)  Plus the set could use another upbeat number towards the end...

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Aegir]

Who sings lead on the Fourth of July version of Back in the USSR? Sounds like Jello Biafra with a cold.

[signum]

Yeah, but if he learned to sing like Al, it doesn't matter if Al's not singing it live when Carl is. If you know how a song (especially one by your band, in which you sing the lead) goes, you don't just start singing it another way.

But this only makes sense if Carl sings it the same way live that he does in the recording. Actually, either way would be inconclusive, for if he sang it differently live, than that could also mean that on the recording he was singing to Al's guide vocal.

So I guess this post means nothing.

I agree. And furthermore there could be any differences of singer between any of the versions basically.

The strange thing is I listened to HSBI again recently and decided that it WAS Bruce after all, on all the lines I'd mentioned. It is exactly his accent and sounds nothing like Carl. Next I listened to "Carl's" lines, and, funnily enough they are not clearly Carl at all but some sound definitely like Bruce. Adding to this the theory that it's all one person (which sounds very likely of course) I am now thinking it's probably all Bruce.

So, Bruce's first full lead vocal?

[Aegir]

It's definitely not Bruce. Have you listened to his pre-BBs stuff? It's hard to tell from just his wimpy Beach Boys ballads that he doesn't sing like the singer on HSBI, but being a fan of his early solo albums and the Rip Chords, I'd say I'm familiar enough with Bruce's voice to know that he is not the singer on HSBI.

Maybe it's Carl using Bruce's guide vocal?

[John]

I think it's Carl using Al's guide vocal.

[signum]

It's definitely not Bruce. Have you listened to his pre-BBs stuff? It's hard to tell from just his wimpy Beach Boys ballads that he doesn't sing like the singer on HSBI, but being a fan of his early solo albums and the Rip Chords, I'd say I'm familiar enough with Bruce's voice to know that he is not the singer on HSBI.

Maybe it's Carl using Bruce's guide vocal?

Man, I KNOW it's Bruce! It really is. I was wrong to say earlier that I was certain some lines were Carl, and equally you can't say it's definitely not Bruce (at least not accurately) unless you have certain knowledge of that. It's true I haven't heard anything by Bruce other than his Beach Boys recordings, but by comparing the accent on HSBI with Bruce's ballads I eventually can now hear Bruce singing HSBI, if you get what I mean. You know when you keep listening to something until you recognise the voice and it can't be otherwise. Admittedly, it's possible to be mistaken, but still probably every voice is unique and there must be a "minimum distance" between them so that they don't get confused. I'm sure about most lines, in fact all of them because I can hear there's no change in singer now.

I don't know how he sings on early albums, but he may be deliberately trying a new style. Isn't that possible? Of course Carl did that on Wild Honey too.

Some parts that most clearly to me show it to be Bruce are the third line ("Now my heart beat etc.), the fourth line (particularly the word "and", also the way he sings "way" and the rest of the line "aren't you glad we gotta way in here".

Another indication I think, although not a proof of course, is the line "the boys are with me to do some outta sight dancin'": it seems to me that he is referring to the other Beach boys as the "boys" as if he is not exactly a member of the group. Or perhaps not. But it might be that.

It's not that surprising to me now that he sounds different than on his other Beach boys songs, because they are all ballads.

[Andrew G. Doe]

It's definitely not Bruce. Have you listened to his pre-BBs stuff? It's hard to tell from just his wimpy Beach Boys ballads that he doesn't sing like the singer on HSBI, but being a fan of his early solo albums and the Rip Chords, I'd say I'm familiar enough with Bruce's voice to know that he is not the singer on HSBI.

Maybe it's Carl using Bruce's guide vocal?

Man, I KNOW it's Bruce! It really is. I was wrong to say earlier that I was certain some lines were Carl, and equally you can't say it's definitely not Bruce (at least not accurately) unless you have certain knowledge of that. It's true I haven't heard anything by Bruce other than his Beach Boys recordings, but by comparing the accent on HSBI with Bruce's ballads I eventually can now hear Bruce singing HSBI, if you get what I mean. You know when you keep listening to something until you recognise the voice and it can't be otherwise. Admittedly, it's possible to be mistaken, but still probably every voice is unique and there must be a "minimum distance" between them so that they don't get confused. I'm sure about most lines, in fact all of them because I can hear there's no change in singer now.

I don't know how he sings on early albums, but he may be deliberately trying a new style. Isn't that possible? Of course Carl did that on Wild Honey too.

Some parts that most clearly to me show it to be Bruce are the third line ("Now my heart beat etc.), the fourth line (particularly the word "and", also the way he sings "way" and the rest of the line "aren't you glad we gotta way in here".

Another indication I think, although not a proof of course, is the line "the boys are with me to do some outta sight dancin'": it seems to me that he is referring to the other Beach boys as the "boys" as if he is not exactly a member of the group. Or perhaps not. But it might be that.

It's not that surprising to me now that he sounds different than on his other Beach boys songs, because they are all ballads.

WTF, I'll ask.

[John]

EDITED.

[Andrew G. Doe]

This just in:

"It's Carl on the lead vocal and the song was written about a party we 
went to in Cleveland after one of our concerts in 1967

Bruce"

[Aegir]

I knew it wasn't Bruce.

[signum]

Who sang "How She Boogalooed It":

Bruce says Carl.
Al said he sang it himself once didn't he?- because it was too high for Carl.

For ages most people thought it sounded like Al.
Many now think it sounds like Carl.
Some even think it sounds like Bruce.

Truth doesn't change, but we see different bits of it, and people only say bits of it at a time.

Until a year ago I thought it was Al. I would put the track on, think "Who on earth is that and what on earth are they saying, and then hear that "sound of a party" and think-Al. Then I would hear that screamed out "outta sight dancin'" which would clearly break out of the mud of incomprehension and anonymity as Al, before the vocal fell back to its normal puzzling sound.

Now, starting from ignorance, I suppose anyone could be singing any line or word or whatever. The lead could be passed around, or different takes could be combined in an infinite number of possible ways.

Perhaps it is meant to be a difficult puzzle because the Beach Boys liked a joke. Even if not, the difficulty adds to the depth and enjoyment of the Wild Honey album, which at first listen sounds nothing like the Beach Boys, vocally or musically. It might be partly the production which takes brilliant passionate vocal performances and of course brilliant musical compositions and preserves them in stained glass like the cover, by squashing them with a steamroller. But I love the result. (My favourite album of all time, BTW, Sunflower is 2nd and then Friends maybe).

Anyway I don't know who sings what.

Carl then Al then Bruce and then perhaps Dennis. Then back to Carl and Al (halfway through a line perhaps) and Bruce and Carl sings "Oh" handing over a bit sudden to Al who screams out the "outta sight" line. Then Carl, Al (I think it's him now singing "Aren't you glad we gotta way in here"- admittedly it sounds a bit like Carl at the start* but the end of the line is more like Al) and then ? is that Dennis? (the line about the record player).

It's very difficult and I've probably got it all wrong.

*but the word "glad" has a prominent "gl" like Al's line** in "Aren't you glad". Yes, I mean that. I always wondered why the chorus of "Aren't you glad" sounded like it was all Brian and hence double-tracked. Then I was surprised on this message board to find out Carl was singing there. But the middle line was not him-It is Al sounding very like Brian to me-and one of my favourite of his vocals. It also makes it more clear why the parts are divided up as they are on the live version.

**I call it one line that Al sings, because the second chorus sounds like the first one copied and pasted.

Anyway maybe enough is enough. Parties are not always a good thing.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Bruce was there at the sessions. He didn't inhale. Good enough for me.

[Aegir]

It's clearly one person singing the whole song.

[John]

Some even think it sounds like Bruce.

With all due respect, "some" appears to be just you. And you've posted on this thread quite a few instances where you claim something is Bruce, when it's not, with the exception of "Thing Or Two". It's one person singing. And it's Carl.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Some even think it sounds like Bruce.

Bruce doesn't think it sounds like Bruce. Kinda convincing, huh ?

[Jon Stebbins]

HSBI...For years I thought it was Al too...the first few lines give that impression...but it's definitely Carl. BW, CW and Al could all sound uncannily like each other, and this is a case of CW sounding very much like Al in places, but the grit of CW's tone and his enunciation is like a fingerprint. No possible way that its Bruce, his tone is nothing like this vocal.

[Chris Brown]

Jon said it perfectly...it would be really difficult to confuse Bruce with Brian, Carl or Al on a lead vocal.  Although Bruce did do a pretty good Brian Wilson falsetto impression in his day (as the top of a harmony stack, not by himself). 

[signum]

Some even think it sounds like Bruce.

With all due respect, "some" appears to be just you. And you've posted on this thread quite a few instances where you claim something is Bruce, when it's not, with the exception of "Thing Or Two". It's one person singing. And it's Carl.

John, thanks for your comments. There was however someone else who expressed the opinion that it was Bruce on "How she boogalooed it" way back when the "Wild Honey" album was being discussed possibly. As for the times I have heard Bruce while no-one else has said anything to agree with me, this does not prove I was wrong. I still think what I thought then.

Some even think it sounds like Bruce.

Bruce doesn't think it sounds like Bruce. Kinda convincing, huh ?

AGD, the point I would like to make is that I think Bruce may be joking or not saying everything. Perhaps he said it was Carl, meaning that Carl sang it live, or in some similar way he didn't make known that it was he himself. In my previous post on this thread I was trying to reconcile the statements of Bruce and Al with my ears.

However, I've changed my mind again from that last post. The lines I thought could be Carl or even Al or Dennis are not sufficiently different from the lines I know to be Bruce, and I even can see them as likely to be Bruce too.

In fact I agree with everyone who says it's clearly one person singing the entire song. Except that that one person is Bruce.

HSBI...For years I thought it was Al too...the first few lines give that impression...but it's definitely Carl. BW, CW and Al could all sound uncannily like each other, and this is a case of CW sounding very much like Al in places, but the grit of CW's tone and his enunciation is like a fingerprint. No possible way that its Bruce, his tone is nothing like this vocal.

It sounds like Al a little in accent, because Bruce does. It is also a bit like Al's way of singing and I wonder if Bruce is trying deliberately to sound like that. But in terms of timbre it cannot be Al because Al has a clear timbre. Bruce sounds more like Carl in timbre which is why in another way the vocal sounds like Carl. Anyway that's my opinion.

Lines that are most obviously Bruce are the third of the first verse, first of the second verse, third of the second verse and nearly all of the third verse. In fact the high second line "Don't have to worry about disturbing the peace" is very clearly Bruce. The corresponding line in the second verse is clearly not Carl and is a bit like Al except for timbre, and the word "dancin'" gives it away as Bruce. Actually the "sound of a party" line also must be Bruce, even if only because of the word "sound" which could not be Carl on that note: it just sounds totally wrong. The very last line is also clearly Bruce although it is the sort of line that sounds like a deliberate Al impression.

[Aegir]

One person is singing the entire song.

[Smilin Ed H]

Isn't it a rule of thumb that if it sounds like Bruce, it's gotta be Al... or Carl... or Brian... or, in the case of the 2007 GOK, someone from Brian's band? 

[Aegir]

That was Bruce on the 2007 God Only Knows preview clip!

[Chris Brown]

That was Bruce on the 2007 God Only Knows preview clip!

Definitely...I still can't figure out why they did that. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Small problem with your belief - I asked him. He said it wasn't. After listening to it.

[Aegir]

Andrew, are you referring to How She Boogalooed It or God Only Knows?

[Andrew G. Doe]

GOK, though I asked him about both when they were being debated.