Bands where you can't tell who is singing lead

For real. There are some bands where I can't tell who is singing the lead vocal. The most obvious is the Beach Boys. There are times I can't tell if it is Carl or Brian.

Here are a couple others-

The Cars-Ben Orr and Ric Ocasek
Pink Floyd-All three of them.

Is it just my bad ear or do you have the same problem sometimes?

 

Well, regarding the heated discussions around here I'd say The Beatles (John and Paul)

Sometimes I'm not sure if Rick or Richard are singing lead when listening to The Band.

 

Sometimes I mix up Rick and Richard when they are singing high parts.

 

pink floyd??? wow, those guys are highly distinguishable!!

i agree with the richard manuel vs. rick danko, though i finally figured out the 2 of them.

 

I dunno, I can hear how someone might have trouble discerning between Rick and Dave (or even Rick and Syd on the debut [maybe less so, but I can still hear it]). Rick and Dave both have a relatively gentle higher pitch.

 

Actually, Sonny & Cher were one of the first I had trouble telling who was who since his voice was thin and nasally and hers was deep, the opposite of what you might expect (sexist, I know).

 

Re: PF--it's pretty obvious to me the differences between Roger, David and Rick.

The Cars--Orr would imitate Ocasek's lyric delivery per the demos but his voice is richer, warmer with less of a staccotto delivery. Ric's tends to be drier, has more of an ironic detachment to his delivery.

 

I agree Ric's delivery was different but they had some of the same qualities in their voices.

 

The Residents.

 

Great example.

 

Those are minor parts of songs up for debate - "ahhs" in "Day in the Life", one line in "Penny Lane". There's agreement on 99.9% of the vocals.

I've never had trouble distinguishing among the four Fabs, but a friend - a lifelong fan who saw the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan" when she was 9 - still can't tell the difference between John and Paul...

 

It was years before I realized Rick Wright and David Gilmour were trading lines on "Time".

 

Night Ranger. It was only when I saw the videos for "Sister Christan" and "When You Close Your Eyes" that drummer Kelly Keaggy was singing lead and not Jack Blades (the singer on "Don't Tell Me You Love Me").

 

Everly Brothers I was never really sure who was doing what until I saw the Royal Albert Hall Concert.

 

Gary Moore's "We Want Moore" live album. Keyboardist/guitarist Neil Carter's voice is identical to Gary, it wasn't until I saw a live video of the '84 that I was able to identify who sang what.

Also, when I began to listen to music by Yes I would confuse Jon and Chris.

 

for a while, the Beach Boys and Cars, but easily distinguishable now...Three Dog Night, at one time, because Chuck Negron is so versatile, I couldn't believe the same guy who sang "easy to be hard" and "pieces of April" could also belt out "the show must go on" and "joy to the world"

 

"There's nothing wrong with being sexy"

 

My point exactly.

 

Milli Vanilli.

 

Back before I became more of a fan, it was often unclear to me whether Roger, Pete or John was singing lead on various Who songs. I have to admit it seems pretty obvious now

 

U.S.A. For Africa

 

Ya think?

I'm sure all of us could relate "I couldn't tell the difference between..." stories from when we weren't that familiar with acts. It's more telling when you're an established fan and still can't figure out who's singing...

 

Here's one example that I still don't know the answer to: Who sings lead on "Wicked Annabella" from The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society? I initially thought it was Ray singing, but it sounds more and more like Dave to me now.

 

Beach Boys by far...
Usually it's Carl vs. Brian, but in the seventies there are some songs where Brian sounds more like Dennis.

 

The Moody Blues: Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Mike Pinder

I think I can tell Ray Thomas on most of the songs he Supposedly sings (ex Legend of A mind)

Phish: Trey/Mike/Page/Fish