mid-voice in God Only Knows bridge

can anyone answer me for sure if the voice between the high and low Brians at the bridge which sings "doo doo doo doo doo da hih" is Carl or another Brian?
This is very important to me, cause, if it is another Brian, it would prove that a harmony cell can sound good recorded in separate channels. That Don't Talk demo is beautiful but sounds awful

 

Well, I'd bet the "bah-bah-bah bah-bah bah" right after it is Brian. I'd guess that it's one phrase, all done in the studio by Brian.

 

OK, now maybe this is amateur hour, but can someone please confirm/deny the voices I am hearing on this track in two different sections on the 1966 Pet Sounds version?

First section: the part the OP is referencing. I think all three parts (huuuuuuuh, do-do-do-do-do-do-do, and bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah) are all Brian.

Second section: the end.
The first "God only knows what I'd be without you" (mono - Brian, stereo - Carl). All subsequent ones in both mono and stereo: Brian
The second "God only knows what I'd be without you": Bruce
The third "God only knows what I'd be without you" (starting with "what would I be"): Brian

Yay or nay?

Now, what about the 1967 Lei'd In Hawaii rehearsal version? Since that's live, it can't all be Brian.


First section: the part the OP is referencing.
Huuuuuuuh: Bruce (though it sure sounds like Carl or Brian, but can't be because of the live recording)
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do: Carl
Bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah: Brian

Second section: the end.
The first "God only knows what I'd be without you": Carl
The second "God only knows what I'd be without you": Bruce
The third "God only knows what I'd be without you" (starting with "what would I be"): Brian

Help!
If I'm right, Mike does not sing on this track at all. I ALWAYS thought it was Mike doing the "bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah" part until earlier today when I listened to the Lei'd In Hawaii rehearsal above and realized it was Brian! What a trip.

 

To answer your last quote: You might just be right. That "ba ba ba" interlude might just be Brian and not Mike.

I interviewed Bruce in 2007 and he went on a big digression about "God Only Knows," because he felt it was wrong they used Carl's voice on the coda of the stereo version when it was Brian's on the mono. I couldn't use this digression in the article I was writing, which was a concert preview for the Washington Post Express. But here is what he said (pertinent sentence in bold):

"(During) the round-robin fade, Carl was tired because we spent the evening putting the lead on. It took a while to get the real soft sound out of him -- that breathy, great thing. Then we did the center section, with Brian, Carl and myself. And then Carl was so tired and he was signing a little flat and we didn’t have the machinery we do today, like Autotune, so we could fix that. It was 11 p.m. and Brian sent Carl home, and Brian sang (the fade)."

All that said, Bruce could have just left out that Mike (or Al, even) was there and for a definitive answer, I would go to Beach Boys authority Jon Stebbins on this one. He's the author of "Grateful Dead FAQ," which has a full chapter on who sang what. And, finally, it sounds like Mike to me, but then again so did the bass voice in "I'm Waiting for the Day" and that's said to be Brian.

 

Regarding Carl's vocal in the sereo version as opposed to Brian's, Mark Linett said, in 1996, "Brian's vocal at the start of the fade of "God Only Knows" is missing on the multi-track, having been sung by Carl sometime after the mix Brian used on the original record had been created."

Is that really Brian doing the bass part on "I'm Waiting For The Day"?? Sure doesn't sound like him.

 

I think this is correct. I wrote a score for "God Only Knows" a year ago and read everything I could about the track and this was my conclusion.

 

Awesome. Thank you.

 

I think I read in the Pet Sounds box set liner notes that Brian is the only Beach Boy on "I'm Waiting for the Day." However, over the years I've read so much stuff on them that I might be wrong about the source. But I know I read it somewhere. Again, I recommend people buy Jon Stebbins' "Beach Boys FAQ" for accurate "who sings what" info, and/or email him through his Web site for details.

 

I actually have that book, but it's in the attic. I should get it.

In your earlier post, you mentioned a Grateful Dead FAQ by Jon Stebbins. I was wondering what that had to do with Beach Boys.

 

It clearly means I'm losing it! It's zero degrees here on the East Coast and I'm distracted by space heaters...or something...

 

Hey, I'm just glad I'M not losing it!

 

Mike is on "I'm Waiting For The Day" for sure...he does the bass vocal during the chorus/fade, and he also pops up at the end singing "No!", and "Uh uh" during the fade between Brian's parts (and there were tryouts of him singing parts of the chorus and the whole song as well). I also believe that the harmonies during the chorus/fade contain at least Carl and Mike...you can even hear Brian telling the harmonies to stop singing at the end of the vocal only track on the Pet Sounds Sessions box. These harmonies were evidently added before a tape bounce, so I guess it's possible Brian was doing them though I'm not sure what the evidence beyond that is. All of the band was in town and doing vocals for other songs at the same vocal session on March 10th: http://esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs66.html

The only tracks on Pet Sounds with just Brian's voice are "Caroline, No" and "Don't Talk".

 

Really?! I always thought that very nasal "God only knows what I'd be without you" toward the end could only be Mike.

 

Isn't it true that the so-called "Rehearsal" for 'Lei'd In Hawaii' was actually recorded a month or so after the Hawaii concerts?

 

Yes.

 

Amazing recording detail level.

 

So.....why do they call it a "rehearsal" when it so obviously was anything but?

 

The plan was actually to generate a fake Lei'd In Hawaii concert or to augment the real concert which was considered too sloppy for release. This is apparently the reason for the thank you's to a non-existent audience after several of the recordings. I don't know how it got to be called a "rehearsal", but that sounds a lot better than "after the fact attempt at deception".

 

It sounds like something a bootlegger made up to fool fans into thinking it was something that it wasn't. You would think that knowledgeable fans like us wouldn't continue the deception...

 

Yes. Note the August 25 date which was the actual concert date. The "rehearsal" was actually on September 11. It could be deliberate, but I suspect it may have just been an error.

 

Bruce Johnston is audible in the "rehearsal" but opted out of going to Hawaii for the actual concerts.....a very strange decision in hindsight. They needed all the instrumental and vocal bolstering that they could get.

 

So did I, until I gave this a ton of thought. It's Bruce. Not only did Bruce say that he, Carl ,and Brian did the vocals in the fade, but if you listen to the vocal-only track in the Pet Sounds Sessions box, at the very end, they stop singing and you can hear Bruce say something from the same placement in the stereo image where his vocal was.

 

And in the end, he didn't go to Hawaii, but was OK with traveling to LA a few weeks later. At least they had Brian. That's good enough (better) for me.

Tracks from this session have been released on a few different BB comps, but the most recent one (Made in California) calls them "Lei'd in Hawaii Studio Recordings," which is exactly what they are.