What if the Beach Boys had recorded "That Lucky Old Sun"?

[mikeyj]

Beach Boys = way better singers on record
Brian's band = way better singers live

Just my opinion anyway

[Sheriff John Stone]

IMO, one of the main reasons Brian's band sounds so "impressive" compared to some of The Beach Boys' incarnations is because of the numbers. Compare the number of voices singing in Brian's band to the number of "singers" in the Beach Boys' band(s). I don't mean to oversimplify, but sometimes, quantity can overshadow quality. In this case, it certainly hides mistakes and highlights important parts of songs.

[TdHabib]

Sometimes I think the post-Beatles breakup Lennon interviews should be daily required reading for everyone.

They are certainly bitter, but the Playboy ones I have in paperback and read frequently. I don't like the short shrift he gives Macca every now and then, but he does give Paul his due every now and then. I think his thoughts on most of the Beatles songs are spot on and his honesty is the exact opposite of the BS most entertainers give. That said, I do have to agree with some statements that John was more mature at 25 than 35. Hope I don't sound wishy-washy  

You know I don't care if my everybody shouts about what I am going to say, I'm going to say it. The blend of Brian's band's voices, to these years, surpases the blend the Beach Boys had without Dennis. NOT on the covers of BB material like "Breakaway" or "Fun, Fun, Fun," but on Brian's new stuff like "Lay Down Burden" on the Roxy album or "Midnight's Another Day" or something like "Love and Mercy," it's ten times beter than the post 1977 blend the BB had (knowing that Dennis passed on six years later). This is one of the main reasons why I'm so-so on a BB reunion; WITHOUT pro-tools, autotone, delay, echo, reverb windex and a very creative producer Mike, Bruce, Brian and Al probably wouldn't have the spine-tingling texture that Darian, Scott, Nicky, Probyn, Taylor, Foskett, Nelson, Mikey, Paul and Brian have on stage (even if Brian's flat sometimes). You can call be Blue, you can call be a Brianista, I don't care! I like their vocies better. However, if Carl or Dennis were still with us, I'd be all for it. Just needed to get that off my chest.

With that I'm making a swift exit of this stage and shouting "Goodnight, everybody!"

[KokoMoses]

Fair enough, but I'll be dammed if I can listen to Brian with his current band and single out a single member's individual voice, whereas, even while locked in the most intricate of harmonies, Dennis/Carl/Mike/Al/Bruce/Brian all sounded very unique and strong as individual voices which made their blend special, and what made them THE BEACH BOYS! Yell all you want that it was ALL Brian..... It was not.

Maybe Brian's current band are technically better singers than the BBs, but does it really matter? Pavarotti blows away everyone in the world singing-wise if we want to go down that rabbit-hole!

[Sheriff John Stone]

This is one of the main reasons why I'm so-so on a BB reunion; WITHOUT pro-tools, autotone, delay, echo, reverb windex and a very creative producer Mike, Bruce, Brian and Al probably wouldn't have the spine-tingling texture that Darian, Scott, Nicky, Probyn, Taylor, Foskett, Nelson, Mikey, Paul and Brian have on stage (even if Brian's flat sometimes.

That's 10 against 4; that's my point. You can hide a lot of clunkers and bring out a lot of interesting notes with 10 singers.

[KokoMoses]

 WITHOUT pro-tools, autotone, delay, echo, reverb windex and a very creative producer Mike, Bruce, Brian and Al probably wouldn't have the spine-tingling texture that Darian, Scott, Nicky, Probyn, Taylor, Foskett, Nelson, Mikey, Paul and Brian have on stage (even if Brian's flat sometimes).

[/quote


This begs the obvious comment: WITHOUT pro-tools, autotune, echo, windex.... The mere four Beach Boys (not including Brian) recorded all those great albums we love and performed tons and tons and tons of great shows. Sure, they had some vocal help from Billy Hinsche, Bobby Figeruroa, ect..... but can you make out any of those guy's voices on live recordings? No, but you can sure tell Mike, Carl, Brian, Al, Dennis, Bruce....

[MBE]

I agree the Beach Boys all have something special that no one can replace. Even when the group was together, nobody sounded as good singing Sail On Sailor as Blondie after he left, Brian's sixties and early seventies parts never sounded the same without him there.

There is much to enjoy about Brian's band but no none of them stand out like any of the Beach Boys at least to me. I have only once gotten to see a band with all the original members and that was Black Sabbath. There was just something kind of organically right about having them all there. It's not nostalgia for me because I am 32, it's just that the feel is right.

As far as the Beach Boys doing what Brian's band does, there are less people so in a way they couldn't. Yet (and this is important) they did have the talent to do it just as well. I saw the 93 box set tour and they were doing music ever bit as complex and faithful as Brian's solo group. Plus you had the real guys singing it. Solo l Brian is the easily the best but I saw Mike and Bruce with an orchestra and they were inspired. The Here Today with Mike doing his original lead knocked the hell out of Brian's solo version. So the talent was/is there. Sadly the Beach Boys from 1976-97 rarely did a setlist that showed that talent off properly so that is where they fail compared to Brian's group.

[TdHabib]

This is one of the main reasons why I'm so-so on a BB reunion; WITHOUT pro-tools, autotone, delay, echo, reverb windex and a very creative producer Mike, Bruce, Brian and Al probably wouldn't have the spine-tingling texture that Darian, Scott, Nicky, Probyn, Taylor, Foskett, Nelson, Mikey, Paul and Brian have on stage (even if Brian's flat sometimes.

That's 10 against 4; that's my point. You can hide a lot of clunkers and bring out a lot of interesting notes with 10 singers.

You have a good point there, I admit.

[Jim McShane]

This is one of the main reasons why I'm so-so on a BB reunion; WITHOUT pro-tools, autotone, delay, echo, reverb windex and a very creative producer Mike, Bruce, Brian and Al probably wouldn't have the spine-tingling texture that Darian, Scott, Nicky, Probyn, Taylor, Foskett, Nelson, Mikey, Paul and Brian have on stage (even if Brian's flat sometimes.

That's 10 against 4; that's my point. You can hide a lot of clunkers and bring out a lot of interesting notes with 10 singers.

Except the BB live shows had a lot more than 4 people.  And in the studio they used lots of echo, reverb, and multiple overdubs, etc.

[Jim McShane]

Fair enough, but I'll be dammed if I can listen to Brian with his current band and single out a single member's individual voice, whereas, even while locked in the most intricate of harmonies, Dennis/Carl/Mike/Al/Bruce/Brian all sounded very unique and strong as individual voices which made their blend special, and what made them THE BEACH BOYS! Yell all you want that it was ALL Brian..... It was not.

Maybe Brian's current band are technically better singers than the BBs, but does it really matter? Pavarotti blows away everyone in the world singing-wise if we want to go down that rabbit-hole!

I can easily pick out Darian's voice, it's very distinctive. I'm CERTAIN you can often pick out Taylor and Jeff without any difficulty. I can usually pick out Nick and Scott easily. And Brian of course... But there are times when the BW band's blend is so precise I can't tell who it is for sure.

The BW band can't ever have the same place in history as the BBs, since they weren't around. They can't replace your memories, nor should they. But for me, who's seen both bands live a number of times - the BW band can do things even the "augmented" BBs couldn't approach. That includes performing TLOS live, which was responding to the original subject of the post.

[KokoMoses]

Very well put!


The original post was asking what if the Beach Boys had recorded TLOS and I started all the fracas by saying it would have been better with the Beach Boys, and my only real reasonaing was that it would have been better simply because it would have sounded like THE BEACH BOYS, which, alas, Bian's band does not sound like.... They have their own unique sound (Taylor helps this in a major way) which I think is really special and impressive., but they're not the Beach Boys. It's not a matter of who's better and can pull off this or that on stage vs who can't, it's just a by-product of being a Beach Boys fan rather than just a Brian fan.... We can't go back in time..... Though I do think the original Smile tracks with The Beach Boys singing is better than the 2004 version!

You just can't beat Carl!!!!!!

[Pretty Funky]

Good points about picking out Brians band-members voices but to be fair The Beach Boys all sang leads on record so the listener knew what they sounded like. Most of Brians band do just get lost in the mix on stage.

I also think if you were to ask Jeff and co in 1999 what they would be doing in the next 10 years I doubt they would have guessed the BW gig would have lasted this long and recorded, so called, new material. From memory the band was put together not to sound like the live Beach Boys but to replicate the band on record. Hence the high numbers on back up vocal plus the skilled musicianship.

I guess to make a real interesting vocal mix on Brians TLOS and SMiLE albums he could have got some Mike, Carl, Dennis, Al stand-ins and multi tracked them as he did in the old days but the intention was to tour those albums so it made sense to keep the recording in-house I guess. 

[Autotune]

Brian's band is great to be sure.

But, lead vocals aside, the vocal sound on Stars & Stripes beats the hell out of  the 'Mints & Co. The mature BBs, with Matt and Carl, well recorded and rehearsed, still had this matchless blend.

[the captain]

The mature BBs, with Matt and Carl, well recorded and rehearsed, still had this matchless blend.

And with all the "studio magic" that people around here constantly, publicly abhor. There's a lot more going on there than some guys standing around a mic.

[TdHabib]

The mature BBs, with Matt and Carl, well recorded and rehearsed, still had this matchless blend.

And with all the "studio magic" that people around here constantly, publicly abhor. There's a lot more going on there than some guys standing around a mic.

Definitely, the difference in the Nashville film of the natural singing during a rehearsal of "I Can Here Music" and the filmed shots of the backgrounds for almost every shot are immense. Judging by Youtube clips, anyway.

[SG7]

There is a place for all of them. You can't really compare The Beach Boys and Brian's mind really.  Brian's band is not made to replace The Beach Boys. They are not trying to be The Beach Boys at all. They are just replicating the sound live and paying homage in their own way. I don't understand the attacks on them, as I think they are exceptional musicians and great people (well, most of them anyway.) I can't even imagine myself The Beach Boys doing this album lol.