Brian as Harmony and vocal director

[donald]

Doe anyone know if Brian arranges or helps arrange the vocals and Harmony  with his band as he did in the old days with the Beachboys?  Mike love has said that Brian was....and still is, "quite gifted in that way".    Scott is said to do it with Mike's band.

I was just pondering the tremendous vocals of the BW band.

[Pretty Funky]

Don't know about the band on tour, but this Foskett quote leads me to think he coasts a bit.

http://www.timesleader.com/features/It_rsquo_s_back_to_the_beach_with_Wilson_11-08-2009.html


...On the day of this interview, he was picking up Wilson to drive him to a Hollywood studio for more work on the Gershwin project.

“We talk about the day on the way in, what songs we’re going to cut,” Foskett says. “I’m charged with making sure that everyone is on time. Brian looks to me to kind of run things. He’s certainly capable of doing it, but at this age, why should he?”...

[the captain]

I read that as being more in the role of administrative leader, which isn't the same thing as arranging vocal parts.

[adamghost]

I have heard that he still does a lot of the arranging and is still basically in charge of producing the background vocals.

[Wirestone]

We're talking about two quite separate things here -- live and studio.

In the studio, with new material, I think Brian is quite involved in dealing out parts or suggesting things for people to sing. I mean, he can still overdub an entire track of backing vocals by himself, so why couldn't he do that with the band? On something like TLOS, for instance, he had arranged and sung most of the backing parts on the demos (with Scott, of course) -- the band simply had to re-create them as a full group.

On the road, I think it's a different story. The songs have already been recorded and arranged. Darian and Jeff make sure everyone knows what to sing, and if Brian doesn't like something, he can always change it. But I think the notion of the live shows is that Brian doesn't have to rehearse the band personally unless he wants to (as he did on Monster Mash, for example, or "Let It Shine" a few years ago).

In terms of instrumentation, he's always -- back to the 60s -- been much more open to suggestion. The session guys contributed a lot to the arrangements in the PS days, as Carl and the group did before that. Brian can play a keyboard version of a song and knows basic accompanying parts -- he nearly always has a basic bass line sketched out -- but then whoever he's working with helps fill in the rest.

[Wirestone]

Please note, later in the same article:

He even continues to amaze Foskett. “When he sprung the Gershwin thing on me, I said, ‘Cool, that’s great.’ But I didn’t understand the extent of what it was,” he says, in awe of Wilson’s arrangements, which he calls nothing short of phenomenal. “I think the general public — and his fans especially — will be extremely happy.”

That's definitely Brian playing some sort of role in the studio.

[Amy B.]

Brian has also "put harmonies" on a few people's work, hasn't he? Richard Ashcroft comes to mind. I think what he does there is go in, ask how many parts the artist would like, and just put the parts on, very businesslike, as if he's building a house with a certain number of stories. So he still arranges, and I agree with others that he probably still directs vocals for his band on new songs.

[Runaways]

i'm pretty sure in studio harmonies from brian.  no way would Foskett or somebody else do it.  They just know whatev brian would say would be better.

[LostArt]

How about the great story that Linda Ronstadt tells in the IJWMFTT doc (I think) about Brian putting harmonies on her song (was it "Adios"?), and having a bit of trouble with the vocal arrangement, so he starts pounding out a boogie-woogie thing on the piano, in a different key, a different tempo, and obviously a different genre, until he stops, goes back to the arrangement, and nails it.  I love that story.

[Chris Brown]

How about the great story that Linda Ronstadt tells in the IJWMFTT doc (I think) about Brian putting harmonies on her song (was it "Adios"?), and having a bit of trouble with the vocal arrangement, so he starts pounding out a boogie-woogie thing on the piano, in a different key, a different tempo, and obviously a different genre, until he stops, goes back to the arrangement, and nails it.  I love that story.

Yeah that's one of my favorites too.

[donald]

One reason I ask the question is the impression given by some is that Brian is just taken along for the ride, told what to do, which part to sing, and then placed on the stool behind the teleprompter.

It would seem to be great PR to put out that Brian is very active with the group in terms of vocal arrangements and production.....if that is the case.

[Wirestone]

I think they do that with every album -- to the point of exaggeration. But again, the touring is different from the studio work. And the problem with documenting the studio work is that you don't always want to be in the way of Brian and the band cutting an album -- so you end up with staged scenes (as shown in Imagination and WIRWFC docs) that do no one any favors.

On tour, frankly, sometimes he is propped up behind the keyboard and goes along for the ride. It's a function of being bipolar and hearing voices all the time. The band has to be able to function with him being minimally active, simply because there's no way to predict how his brain chemistry will be one day or another, and because they have to perform an entire show. But at other times, he comes alive and is totally engaged on stage.

As AGD and others have suggested, fresh material for him to perform helps. But on this latest hits tour in the US, he's also been joyously present. Why? He just happens to feel like it. (And here, he does coach the band as they're putting together Monster Mash at sound check: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq2Lvp7E40U)

[donald]

I watch all of this closely, very closely, and have for many years.   But it seems as you say....staged.  Leaving even hard core fans and followers wondering.

I'd love to hear an interview with Darian or Jeff stating that yes indeed, Brian is very active in assigning or suggesting  the parts to those capable or best suited for a given part.

[Wirestone]

I think the ultimate proof is simply that he can do it on his own. There are loads of songs -- the Richard Ashcroft track, the Belinda Carlisle track, the Styx track, etc., that have a full chorus of overdubbed Brians. From multiple first-person accounts, he can go to a studio, sit down and record an entire backing choir in a matter of hours. He has the knowledge and ability. So how far is it from that to instructing his band? And if he had the knowledge and ability, why would someone else in the band want to do it?

That being said, I'm sure that there are times the group adds their own bits. And I suspect that Scotty and Darian had a role in some of the TLOS choral flourishes. But I think Brian likes being part of a group and not having to always play the auteur.

[Wirestone]

Mark Linett, interviewed about TLOS:

If Brian is doing his own backgrounds—as on the demos—he will build up a vocal stack equivalent to what he would do with his current band, or like he did with the Beach Boys. It’s like he’s a tape recorder, and you are just playing it back. Brian will lay down the first part, double and triple it, and then do the second part the same way. He will have the harmony structure in his head, and he will simply nail the parts. If others are doing the backgrounds, he directs each person—he has it all figured it out.

[adamghost]

I've had band members who are basically pretty trustworthy tell me Brian still takes a very large role in the studio with the harmony arrangements and production, and that he can be very demanding (in a good way).

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

The reason why I believe Brian is more involved in constructing the vocal harmonies than anything else, is because he does it so effortlessly.

I think that's the mark of a genius; he doesn't have to think about it too much, because he knows exactly what he's doing.

[donald]

I think it is important....PR wise, to let the record and ticket buying public know that Brian has written most of the songs and continues to lead the band in terms of vocal arrangements.

Many bad reviews seem to stem from some critic who is not aware of this, who report/describe Brian as a prop, and a not very good one.

No excuses necessary for his eccentric behavior....which is endearing to most fans.

[Ron]

When the Christmas album came out, they released a video on his site of Brian recording it.

Now, the entire thing could have been staged, but it showed in "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" Brian showing pretty much every member of the band what to sing.  Then he went to the Piano and worked on some stuff with them, then sang the background stuff with them. 

Again could have all been staged, but I don't think it's too far off the truth. 

[Wirestone]

Mark Linett, on the XMas clips (from 07):

Saw this thread and felt I should respond as I think calling the video clips "staged" is a bit harsh and unfair.....

Having a camera in your face while recording is extremely distracting for everyone and counterproductive , and even if it were not you would need a lot of cameras and a ton of tape to document a session properly.  Brian , myself and the band were there to make a record 1st and foremost not to perform for the camera.

The single camera video crew was only present at the sessions for a very short time, so some  (but not all) of the video filmed during the making of the Xmas album was done to playbacks. However they do show what the sessions were actually like,  with Brian in total control and very creative during the recording of  the album.