Are Brian's vocals actually Billy's? (Funky Pretty)

[adamghost]

Pretty sure the first 'On my way' is sped up, but the other two are not. Bri's voice does sound pretty bad here though, bad enough to have the group cover for him singing 'spend'. It's like he's wheezing his way through those two sentences, though he still has most of his old tone. Sound like his voice is really deteriorating at this point, which is the likely reason he felt uncomfortable with leads during these year

Exaggerate much? He sounds exactly like he does on "'Til I Die" or "Take A Load Off Your Feet". And why would the first "on my way" section be sped up but not the entire thing?

On that note, I will forever be pissed at this band for not having Brian sing what he sings in the beginning over every chorus. They just feel completely lacking without that lead part, so much so that I drove myself to insanity pasting it over those parts.

No, I'm really not exaggerating. He sounds like he can barely get the sentence out, and clearly muffs it enough for the other guys to have to sing 'send' to cover for him. Also, compared to the other "On my Way"s, the first one DOES sound sped up. Why would they do that for only the first one? My guess is that's all they had for the original recording, but when they decided to put it out on a single they remixed it and had Brian do a couple more 'On my Way's because they thought it was cool and he was willing. Maybe that day he had no trouble with the pitch, so it wasn't slowed, or maybe the entire song was sped up after his original vocals were put on, but he just sang it at that faster speed when it came time to overdub the later parts.

I think the reason that first line sounds sped up to you might be the nasal inflection on "suh--", but in the whole the line never struck me as sped up.  Anything's possible, of course.  I think those other "on my ways" ARE on the album version, but mixed so far back as to be barely audible.

[gsmile]

On that note, I will forever be pissed at this band for not having Brian sing what he sings in the beginning over every chorus. They just feel completely lacking without that lead part, so much so that I drove myself to insanity pasting it over those parts.

Care to share your remix with us runnersdialzero?  I'd love to hear this.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Also, compared to the other "On my Way"s, the first one DOES sound sped up. Why would they do that for only the first one? My guess is that's all they had for the original recording, but when they decided to put it out on a single they remixed it and had Brian do a couple more 'On my Way's because they thought it was cool and he was willing. Maybe that day he had no trouble with the pitch, so it wasn't slowed, or maybe the entire song was sped up after his original vocals were put on, but he just sang it at that faster speed when it came time to overdub the later parts.

Small problem with your theory - if you listen to the album version, Brian's parts on the single mix are there too. They're very faint, almost as if they're bleed from another track... but they're there. They weren't added for the 45, they mixed out for the album.

[grillo]

Also, compared to the other "On my Way"s, the first one DOES sound sped up. Why would they do that for only the first one? My guess is that's all they had for the original recording, but when they decided to put it out on a single they remixed it and had Brian do a couple more 'On my Way's because they thought it was cool and he was willing. Maybe that day he had no trouble with the pitch, so it wasn't slowed, or maybe the entire song was sped up after his original vocals were put on, but he just sang it at that faster speed when it came time to overdub the later parts.

Small problem with your theory - if you listen to the album version, Brian's parts on the single mix are there too. They're very faint, almost as if they're bleed from another track... but they're there. They weren't added for the 45, they mixed out for the album.

Damn. I guess I haven't listened to the album version in a while ( I put the single on my Holland mix, and got rid of Beaks of Eagles), but I sure never noticed those vox there before. Still, it was a good theory, just didn't stand up to reality. Also, Bri really does sound wheezy to me.

[Curtis Leon]

Also, compared to the other "On my Way"s, the first one DOES sound sped up. Why would they do that for only the first one? My guess is that's all they had for the original recording, but when they decided to put it out on a single they remixed it and had Brian do a couple more 'On my Way's because they thought it was cool and he was willing. Maybe that day he had no trouble with the pitch, so it wasn't slowed, or maybe the entire song was sped up after his original vocals were put on, but he just sang it at that faster speed when it came time to overdub the later parts.

Small problem with your theory - if you listen to the album version, Brian's parts on the single mix are there too. They're very faint, almost as if they're bleed from another track... but they're there. They weren't added for the 45, they mixed out for the album.

Damn. I guess I haven't listened to the album version in a while ( I put the single on my Holland mix, and got rid of Beaks of Eagles), but I sure never noticed those vox there before. Still, it was a good theory, just didn't stand up to reality. Also, Bri really does sound wheezy to me.

I think the single mix might've been tampered with as far as the vocals go, yes. It sounds like some effect was placed on his voice to make it sound more even. On the album version, it's much more quiet and off center.

We don't really have many records of him singing modal though, so there's not much frame of reference as to how his non-falsetto usually sounded back then.

Listening to one of the live versions of "Calfiornia" with Brian was rather mind opening though. He sounded just about like he did on the album, only with a lot more rasp (and, of course, weaker).

Also, I merged the entire California Saga into one track, with one version containing the album mix, and the other containing the single mix, added on as a "bonus track".