Your favorite/hardest BB song to sing

[BBLB]

Favorite to sing:  Warmth of the Sun (hard to keep the emotions in check when singing this one)

Hardest to sing:  Let Him Run Wild (trying to sing along to the Stack-o-Tracks track is humbling experience)

BBLB

[Jay]

I've told this story before, but I'll do it again for this topic. My cousin and I once sang Little Deuce Coupe together, just he and I doing five part harmony. I did three parts simultaniously. It wasn't easy. 

[BJL]

I think Guess I'm Dumb is insanely hard to sing. Something about the way the melody fits over the chords, it sounds so amazing, but singing it is so hard.  I've often wondered to myself if Brian himself had trouble singing it to his satisfaction, and that that's why it didn't make it onto the second side of the Beach Boys Today. 

[Aum Bop Diddit]

There all hard pretty much!  I'll say "Wild Honey".  A step or two down, it would suit my voice, but even Carl sounds like he's straining as is!

[Runaways]

yah he sings that too angry for my tastes lol

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Wouldn't it be nice is also great for really stretching out those vocal chords (even brian has to shout it on the record!).

Yeah, but it's actually a very controlled shout.  If you listen to the single-tracked lead vocal by itself, you can tell he's not "actually" shouting, he's just so good he can make it sound like he is with good technique.


I'm about to do this Beach Boys gig, so I'll be singing a bunch of Beach Boys songs in public for the first time.

The one that I really don't want to sing is God Only Knows.  It's hard to sing properly--most people drive it too hard.  Carl just floated it.

I'm most happy singing Brian's very high leads.  Let Him Run Wild is awfully fun.

[seltaeb1012002]

Hardest to sing: Wonderful & Surf's Up. The way these songs go in and out of head voice.. you need some serious control to pull it off! Since I quit smoking cigarettes about a year ago, it's becoming a little easier. Imagine, Brian was a smoker when he cut these! Some people are just blessed like that.

Most fun: Little Deuce Coupe. Super comfy range, no strain. Also pretty easy to slide into the falsetto part in the chorus.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Okay, I shall preceed this post with a clear statement - I CAN'T SING!
However, this does not stop me enjoying the action of it, and multi-tracking my self is just so much gosh darn fun!
so, without futher ado, I present to you 'I Get Around' - Freddie version!

http://soundcloud.com/frederickjamesfrench-pounce/i-get-around-freddie

And if you find this comedic etc - feel free to explore my soundcloud!

[Cabinessenceking]

Cool that many people are interested in singing the songs!

I try to master GOK, SU and IJWMFTT, very hard all three of them.
I love singing most of the Love You tracks
I sing only post-Pet Sounds era songs, only!

The hardest songs to sing however are the ones from Wild Honey. How did Carl do that I wonder...

[Sea Devil]

We'll Run Away is super hard to sing without going all falsetto  (especially the bridge) and that's why I've been trying for the last 25 years to nail it. Still, I fail...
 Wouldn't it be nice is also great for really stretching out those vocal chords (even brian has to shout it on the record!).

i was going to put exactly those two!

[startBBtoday]

I find Wendy incredibly tough, just out of my range, I'd have to go almost full falsetto and that just sounds bad.

[Sea Devil]

I think Guess I'm Dumb is insanely hard to sing. Something about the way the melody fits over the chords, it sounds so amazing, but singing it is so hard.  I've often wondered to myself if Brian himself had trouble singing it to his satisfaction, and that that's why it didn't make it onto the second side of the Beach Boys Today. 

That took me ages to nail singing and playing on the piano, i think it was the E to F# (would that be called a diminished 6th??) drop in the first phrase.

[Amanda Hart]

I am not anywhere close to a good singer, but who doesn't love singing along to Beach Boys songs?

I've seen a couple of "I Can Hear Music" mentions as hardest to sing, but that's one I feel like I can stay in key on and have a lot of fun singing.

The hardest for me is "Wouldn't It Be Nice", so difficult. I feel like I can't keep my breath.

[Eireannach]

"Columnated ruins domino" always wrecks me, so I'd say Surf's Up.

I also have difficulty on one particular note of God Only Knows.  On the line, "Though life would still go on believe me", I almost always hit "on" flat.

[Ron]

I always sing along while I'm driving in the car.  Very fun.  I can't sing well, I'd be a fool to think I can, but I hit the notes good enough for my ears. 

Once about 5 or 6 years ago, I was sick with the flu, and had a little thing going on with my voice that week.  I always sing along like an idiot with everything on the radio,.... and they played "Jailhouse Rock".  I couldn't resist.  So I'm singing along with Elvis, and I can just hear my voice shredding to pieces, which at the time I thought was cool "Hey! This is how Lennon sang Twist & Shout!". 

So the next day, my voice was completely gone, I couldnt' even whisper properly.  I have no clue what I screwed up, but for about a week I couldn't speak.  for the next YEAR! I had no falsetto voice.  If I sang false, no sound came out.  I figured it probably wasn't permanent, but it was the strangest experience... after a year or so my falsetto slowly came back.   I wasn't aware though that you could just completely lose the ability to sing falsetto. 

Again I'm not saying I lost the ability to sing falsetto GOOD, I'm saying I couldn't actually make any sound at all falsetto. 

[Eireannach]

Same thing happened to me, but only for about 10 days, last winter.  I was actually worried that I wasn't going to get the falsetto back.  I can't imagine going a year without.

[NHC]

I've been singing along with the records since the early 60's, but have lost a lot of range so if it's not in the right key for me . . . . and even then . . . . .

One of the hardest for me is Sail on Sailor, not because of the key (I play it on the piano in G like I found it on a chord chart, a very easy key and the chords stack up well for the melody, but because I simply can't hit the right notes for the "sail on sail on sailor" part.  I know what they are (I THINK) but struggle with it every time.  When I do hit them they sound too low.  Please don't tell me I should change the key, because everything else fits very well.

[Eric Aniversario]

Favorite to sing: "Surf's Up"
Hardest to sing: "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (although I can do the Live In London version)

[Amanda Hart]

I've been singing along with the records since the early 60's, but have lost a lot of range so if it's not in the right key for me . . . . and even then . . . . .

One of the hardest for me is Sail on Sailor, not because of the key (I play it on the piano in G like I found it on a chord chart, a very easy key and the chords stack up well for the melody, but because I simply can't hit the right notes for the "sail on sail on sailor" part.  I know what they are (I THINK) but struggle with it every time.  When I do hit them they sound too low.  Please don't tell me I should change the key, because everything else fits very well.

I think all of the Blondie leads are really hard to sing with. He can do something with his voice that I just cannot. I always end up with a sore thought when I try to sing those songs. Hold On, Dear Brother seems to be the main culprit.

[Ron]

A really hard one to sing for me is "Let Him Run Wild".  I can sing the high part, I just can't the normal, pad in the background that the rest of the guys are singing.  I can't figure out the notes.  Everytime I try to sing along with it I'm off, it's a very strange song... I don't know what the hell's going on there.  There's a couple others that don't come to mind right now... but they also have something similar going on, it's like each voice is singing something you wouldn't expect, so it's hard to sing along and be 'on'. 

[freedomaspirer]

For me it's don't worry baby. I can get it full voice, but using falsetto in the verses is a nightmare.  There's a trick to Surf's Up. Go into falsetto in the "ins Do-OOmino" and you'll hit it. And yes wouldn't it be nice is hard. Put it this way, it's never been done in its original key live, even now it's in E (Original F). Same with I can hear music. I remember hearing it in Db once, but its stayed in C whenever performed. (Original D)

[Ron]

It's a touchy subject... but I think Brian had an uncanny ability to switch between head voice into falsetto and back into head voice... mostly illustrated by Don't Worry Baby.  Without the ability to sing falsetto with the strength you can sing in full voice, it's almost impossible to sing that properly, if you're not female.  A woman can sing her full scale in full voice so they can easily sing a song like that, Brian had to switch into false and then back, very hard to do. 

(BTW, I realize many people will come on and say he's not singing any notes in falsetto on Don't Worry Baby, we'll just have to disagree)

[Sea Devil]

Same thing happened to me, but only for about 10 days, last winter.  I was actually worried that I wasn't going to get the falsetto back.  I can't imagine going a year without.

eesh this happens to me often, as i am a full-time (poor) musician who drinks and smokes a lot.. starting to become such a concern that i might have to pack the vices in

[Chris Brown]

I used to struggle a lot with "Wouldn't It Be Nice," but oddly enough, as I've aged, it's become easier.  I can do "Don't Worry Baby" decently depending on the day, but that "columnated ruins domino" is by far the toughest thing in the whole Beach Boys canon for me.  I have to be having a really good voice day to get that one.

[jamsvet]

I think my favorite to sing is Somewhere Near Japan.