Carl wilson and Brian Wilson...voice comparisons

those punch in's I believe on GV's, are Brian doubling with Carl on those specifics lines to add some strength.
It was discussed somewhere before..

 

Haha. Was waiting for the first mention of Mike!

 

This clip rules. And Dennis is killin it! A shame he never got to let loose on studio recordings.

 

Thank god I'm not the only one who thinks they sound very familiar. I was doubting my ear for a few pages. My older brother whose musical ear I respect has a hard time telling certain john Lennon and George Harrison vocal parts apart. He struggled with I want to tell you from revolver and said it sounded like John which it certainly does not to me.

 

A good comparison is the early version of "Good Vibrations" with alternate lyrics. Also Carl, just singing with a little more nose than he does on the final product. He sounds similar on the "God Only Knows" alternate clip, closer to his speaking voice than his airy singing voice.



Of course, I'm sure someone will step forward and say this is also Brian, but I know better.

 

Both were great singers.
And not hard to tell apart.

 

Pretty damn good drum performance for a guy in the depths of alcohol and drug addiction. So much talent in that family!

 

Carl sings lead in the opening section while Brian "takes over" for the second, piano-based section.

 

Like Mickey Mouse with a sore throat?

 

I never paid much attention to this version but I assumed it was Brian, but now I realise it's Carl in his "Wild Honey" voice. And also, the strong "sh" sound is so Carl!
Later it's easy to tell them apart, but in the 60's they had really similar voices

 

Holy crap, you're right! Apparently the Pet Sounds Sessions are also riddled with errors...

 

Not quite sure how to say this, but I will give it a shot. I think more people have the same trouble than comments on this thread would indicate.

 

Once I spotted the difference, I learned I actually prefer Carl's voice.

 

I assume there are people here who know much more about the recording of Surf's Up than I do. But I seem to recall that the version Brian did when he first wrote it was used in recording the version found on the album Surf's Up, but did not have the opening verse. Which was written and added later, as they did the add on recordings, and that they had Carl do that added on opening verse.

 

Brian had a more beautiful voice pre Pet Sounds.

 

I think "nasal" infers relating to the nose. I think you're thinking of the Mickey Mouse who smokes cigars.

 

Carl is the verses on "Funky Pretty". "Leaving This Town" I recall reading is Blondie, but it could be Ricky I suppose.

 

No, I'm taking Mike's word for it on Cassius Love vs Sonny Wilson from Shut Down V2

 

Ha ha. Forgot all about that. I don't think I've heard that in years, probably whenever the last time I listened to that on vinyl that my dad had, so probably the 80's sometime. Is that on Shut Down?

Edit. @Doug Sclar didn't see your post above.

 

All of this talk about people not being able to identify who sang what is making me think that I'll get beaten up by everyone on the SHMF if I was to reveal that when I first became a fan, I incorrectly identified in photos everyone except for Mike and Dennis. I don't think I want to embarrass myself by saying who I thought was who.

 

I'm not an expert either but just to clarify, as I understand, the whole, more instrumentally rich opening section of "Surf's Up" as featured in the "Surf's Up" album has Carl on lead vocals. This vocal was recorded for the "Surf's Up" album in 1970 or 1971, although the backing track, IIRC, is from the original "Smile" sessions in 1966.

The second section, which begins with "Dove nested towers..", was taken from a recording made by Brian Wilson in 1966. Some strings were added IIRC.

 

On topic, I think Carl was the superior lead singer, better than Brian and possibly better than the other Beach Boys too.

I like Carl's singing better for the more tuneful, delicate songs. He's not so great with the rocking stuff though.

 

I totally agree. Carl's voice on God Only Knows may be my favorite vocal ever.

 

‘Leaving This Town’ is Ricky. The easiest way to tell is that his pronunciation of words is a lot clearer and smoother than Blondie, who excels as a soul shouter. Listen to ‘Here She Comes’ which has Ricky singing the lead for the majority, but Blondie takes the middle eight.

 

The vocal and phrasing sound unmistakably like Brian. I don’t think it’s Carl. Where is this recording from, the Pet Sounds Sessions? Does the booklet say that it’s Brian?