When Beach Boys sound like other Beach Boys.

[Emdeeh]

I used to imagine that the magical effect of the vocal harmonies of the beach boys was due to the fact that each individual voice was related to another....

I think that's very much the case. Family vocal harmony is a wonderful thing, and the beauty of the BBs is that, not only did they have family members with great voices that blended well together, but they also had other non-family members (most especially Al) with voices that pigeon-holed beautifully into the blend.

[runnersdialzero]

That's Mike on HGS?

Again, mind blown. Was sure it was Brian doing a softer voice and then overdubbing.

No way is that mike. Brian all the way. Sorry global moderator but yer wrong!!!!

Agreed, that's definitely Brian doing the lead and backing vocal.

Wow...just realized my tape player 's jacked up. Listening to the mp3...I've been hearing it at the wrong speed. Yeah, it's Brian.

Brian sings "I Love to Say Da Da". PEOPLE WHO SAY OTHERWISE ARE FULL OF LIES AND PIE.

[Don_Zabu]

Guess what? I just figured out that the chorus of "Break Away" is sung by Al and not Carl! I always just thought it was Carl going nuts.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Truth is, it's all Carol Kaye - she did everything. Bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, horns, vocals, composing, arranging, producing - hell, she even put the discs in the sleeves and loaded the trucks. She was everything, The Beach Boys were nothing. Believe it. 

[CenturyDeprived]

Guess what? I just figured out that the chorus of "Break Away" is sung by Al and not Carl! I always just thought it was Carl going nuts.

Me too 

[adamghost]

I've been listening to "Full Sail" a lot recently, and I keep hearing the line "adventures on the high seas..." at 1:45 being sung by Brian.

But this is crazy talk, right?

This is Carl singing this part (and the entirety of the song), right? Likely just another example of a Wilson brother momentarily sounding like another Wilson brother methinks...

Not crazy talk at all...I asked a few people about this same question, including Alan Boyd, when we were trying to gauge just where Brian is to be found on the LIGHT ALBUM.

The best answer I got is that that vocal part is Carl and the song's cowriter, Geoffrey Cushing-Murray.  It doesn't rule out Brian being in there (or someone else), but it does explain why the difference in vocal timbre.  

The rest of the background vocals are Carl and Bruce multitracked...I've heard the isolated tracks.  There's some question if Dennis or Bobby Figueroa aren't in there in some spots, but the general consensus of the experts is that they are not.

[summerinparadise.flac]

There are a few songs that sound like Brian but are actually Mike (atleast to these ears). Mostly early songs, I'll try and think some examples later.

[Menace Wilson]

One song that I always thought was one lead singer throughout was 'It's Over Now'. Blown away to find out there are 3. Carl, Brian and Marilyn!

What gets my goat is the line, "Shades of blue and purple haunt me".  It sounds as if Carl morphs into Brian over the course of that one sentence!     

[adamghost]

I thought that one line WAS Brian?  I haven't heard it in forever though...

[summerinparadise.flac]

Its definitely Brian.

[summerinparadise.flac]

Hows this for embarassing I thought Brian was singing the "You need good timin" part for at least 3 years. I was also convinced it was Dennis saying Going On. This is despite knowing that they weren't prsent at the sessions for these songs!

[pianoman]

When I was younger, I always thought  Blondie sang the verses with Carl in Marcella, you know, the "one arm over my shoulder" part.

[Wirestone]

Listen to the demo for MAD and tell me Carl doesn't take a few lines. "A flag without the wind" in particular.

[Don_Zabu]

Does anyone else think Bruce sounds like Al? This whole time I've listened to Wonderful, I thought it was Bruce doing the "daaa-da-da-da-da" part, but according to Wikipedia, it's actually Al. Or is Wikipedia getting their information wrong?

[Chris Brown]

Does anyone else think Bruce sounds like Al? This whole time I've listened to Wonderful, I thought it was Bruce doing the "daaa-da-da-da-da" part, but according to Wikipedia, it's actually Al. Or is Wikipedia getting their information wrong?

Always sounded like Bruce to my ears.

[Runaways]

for a while i thought "if i'm the one you love" was brian in please let me wonder.  now it's so obviously mike when i hear it.

[Jay]

Does anyone else think Bruce sounds like Al? This whole time I've listened to Wonderful, I thought it was Bruce doing the "daaa-da-da-da-da" part, but according to Wikipedia, it's actually Al. Or is Wikipedia getting their information wrong?

I thought it was Mike.

[Chris Brown]

Does anyone else think Bruce sounds like Al? This whole time I've listened to Wonderful, I thought it was Bruce doing the "daaa-da-da-da-da" part, but according to Wikipedia, it's actually Al. Or is Wikipedia getting their information wrong?

I thought it was Mike.

That's what I thought too, before I became more familiar with Bruce's voice.

[adamghost]

I swear, Al is Brian's illegitimate brother. Murry Wilson must've fooled around on Audree with Mrs. Jardine and it produced the slightly-more-edge-having Brian Wilson sound-alike we know today.

Have you heard him singing Brian's part on God Only Knows at the Knebworth concert? It's phenomenal.

Hmm....

And "cool it on the monkey jokes!"

[adamghost]

Truth is, it's all Carol Kaye - she did everything. Bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, horns, vocals, composing, arranging, producing - hell, she even put the discs in the sleeves and loaded the trucks. She was everything, The Beach Boys were nothing. Believe it. 

LOL...Andrew's been hanging out with Hal Blaine!

[grillo]

for a while i thought "if i'm the one you love" was brian in please let me wonder.  now it's so obviously mike when i hear it.

I think it's actually both of them, at least according to the SOT sessions that I've never heard.

[Don_Zabu]

Based on the data I've gathered, the thick black lines represent voices that sound similar to one another:



For it to come together this perfectly, I suspect black magic is involved.

[bgas]

Based on the data I've gathered, the thick black lines represent voices that sound similar to one another:



For it to come together this perfectly, I suspect black magic is involved.

Good thing you used a black line, then.

[jabba2]

Al sounds alot like the Wilsons on "Be Here in the Morning" though I suspected it was his vocal. Im not sure what other track besides Cotton Fields he does lead in the 60's to compare his voice with, but even "Cotton Fields" could easily pass for Brian, at least to my ears. 

Wild Honey album is confusing for me to tell apart different leads usually.

[jabba2]

"Then I kissed her" on Summer Days sounds very much like Carl or Brian but its Al.