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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2020 18:40:34 GMT -5
Hi all. I read recently that the MIC California Feelin has Brian on lead for 15 seconds followed by Carl for the rest of the song. I had thought previously it was all Brian but now I hear the Carl. Can anyone attest to the accuracy of this claim? Does Brian jump back in at any point? Any idea how it ended up this way?
Thanks
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2020 18:50:00 GMT -5
Brian returns at 1:44 to sing "california feeelin" and then it goes back to Carl singing lead.
TASTE A GRAPEFRUIT FROM A GRAPEFRUIT TREE
Edit: also, it was probably done by Mark & Alan because it sounded cool, like the boys were taking turns singing. Reportedly in the archives Brian does a runthrough of the whole track but all that's been released is that intro (and the earlier demo of course).
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Post by AGD on Mar 9, 2020 18:58:41 GMT -5
Hi all. I read recently that the MIC California Feelin has Brian on lead for 15 seconds followed by Carl for the rest of the song. I had thought previously it was all Brian but now I hear the Carl. Can anyone attest to the accuracy of this claim? Does Brian jump back in at any point? Any idea how it ended up this way? Thanks It's an edit of two recordings: the first 15 seconds is from Brian's 1975 demo, the rest is from the 1978 Criteria recording. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2020 21:45:52 GMT -5
Why is the verse taste a grapefruit from a grapefruit tree crossed-out in an earlier message?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2020 23:51:17 GMT -5
Why is the verse taste a grapefruit from a grapefruit tree crossed-out in an earlier message? Oh no reason, i just think the lyric is particularly silly both in context of the song and in general. Kinda like "if Mars had life on it, i might find my wife on it" from Solar System. |
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Post by AGD on Mar 10, 2020 1:25:20 GMT -5
They're both lead vocal attempts on the 1978 version. Nothing here is from Brian's 1974* demo. Memo to self: you're closing on 65, stop relying on memory and actually listen to the damn thing.  |
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Post by John Manning on Mar 10, 2020 1:34:33 GMT -5
Why is the verse taste a grapefruit from a grapefruit tree crossed-out in an earlier message? Oh no reason, i just think the lyric is particularly silly both in context of the song and in general. Kinda like "if Mars had life on it, i might find my wife on it" from Solar System. I think the “Mars” Line is brilliant. It’s like, “If there was life on Mars, I might bump into Marilyn, by chance”. Whereas the “grapefruit” line is just bad repetition. Like that line in Tidepool Interlude, the Alec Baldwin narration on Al’s album Postcards… “A beautiful majesty moves through me, majestically.” |
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Post by E on Mar 10, 2020 2:10:42 GMT -5
Nah. I like the alliteration in that one.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 2:15:38 GMT -5
Oh no reason, i just think the lyric is particularly silly both in context of the song and in general. Kinda like "if Mars had life on it, i might find my wife on it" from Solar System. I think the “Mars” Line is brilliant. It’s like, “If there was life on Mars, I might bump into Marilyn, by chance”. Whereas the “grapefruit” line is just bad repetition. Like that line in Tidepool Interlude, the Alec Baldwin narration on Al’s album Postcards… “A beautiful majesty moves through me, majestically.” try this one on for size: I like spendin' my money And I like havin' a good time Good times sure make me happy And i'm so happy cuz' i just got my pay |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 2:21:51 GMT -5
Well I suppose I was curious about that line because like several of you here I think, I know Steve, who wrote it ,and have given joint guest lectures with him. As he describes it, coming from Boston or somewhere in New England , he thought it was extraordinary that there were actually grapefruit trees were people got grapefruits from, which is something anyone who grew up shopping at the Stop & Shop in New England would never have had any acquaintance with. So he was expressing the wonderment of an East Coast person actually seeing grapefruit trees for the 1st time. so I think the line is just wonderful , but perhaps I'm biased because I had Steve explain it to me and being from the East Coast I share the odd sense of finally coming to California and seeing things like Orange trees and lemon trees and grapefruit trees and Date palms out there in the desert and all kinds of weird stuff that we never ever see in New Jersey where we pretty much just grow tomatoes and white corn in the garden state. I think the “Mars” Line is brilliant. It’s like, “If there was life on Mars, I might bump into Marilyn, by chance”. Whereas the “grapefruit” line is just bad repetition. Like that line in Tidepool Interlude, the Alec Baldwin narration on Al’s album Postcards… “A beautiful majesty moves through me, majestically.” try this one on for size: I like spendin' my money And I like havin' a good time Good times sure make me happy And i'm so happy cuz' i just got my pay |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 6:23:57 GMT -5
Thanks all for the info and replies! It makes sense to me now.
I had a second question about a track from around the same era. I have seen that Brian’s Back was written by Mike Love. However, there are some really nice harmonies on that track which sound more like Brians work to me. Anyone know if he played a role in the vocals on this song? Or was it all done without him? Were there other contributors to that one? Appreciate everyone’s knowledge!
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Post by andrewhickey on Mar 10, 2020 6:35:23 GMT -5
Thanks all for the info and replies! It makes sense to me now. I had a second question about a track from around the same era. I have seen that Brian’s Back was written by Mike Love. However, there are some really nice harmonies on that track which sound more like Brians work to me. Anyone know if he played a role in the vocals on this song? Or was it all done without him? Were there other contributors to that one? Appreciate everyone’s knowledge! The only other Beach Boy involved in the released version of "Brian's Back" is Carl -- it was actually recorded for a Mike solo album. The other vocals are Paul Faueroso, Ron Altbach, and David Sommerville. There is another version that was recorded which did have the other Beach Boys on (Brian, at least, is very audible), and which has been booted. That version (at least in the copies I have), doesn't have any of the lead vocals, and has a very different backing vocal arrangement -- the chorus has a sort of doo-wop feel to it with overlapping vocal lines, while the "coming up with Fun Fun Fun" bit sounds *very* like the "I'm gonna love you all night long" bit in "We're Together Again". |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 7:01:19 GMT -5
Thanks all for the info and replies! It makes sense to me now. I had a second question about a track from around the same era. I have seen that Brian’s Back was written by Mike Love. However, there are some really nice harmonies on that track which sound more like Brians work to me. Anyone know if he played a role in the vocals on this song? Or was it all done without him? Were there other contributors to that one? Appreciate everyone’s knowledge! The only other Beach Boy involved in the released version of "Brian's Back" is Carl -- it was actually recorded for a Mike solo album. The other vocals are Paul Faueroso, Ron Altbach, and David Sommerville. There is another version that was recorded which did have the other Beach Boys on (Brian, at least, is very audible), and which has been booted. That version (at least in the copies I have), doesn't have any of the lead vocals, and has a very different backing vocal arrangement -- the chorus has a sort of doo-wop feel to it with overlapping vocal lines, while the "coming up with Fun Fun Fun" bit sounds *very* like the "I'm gonna love you all night long" bit in "We're Together Again". Is The Beach Boys version the ‘alternate mix’ found on MIC? (shorter one with the key change and no instrumental solo) |
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Post by andrewhickey on Mar 10, 2020 8:00:21 GMT -5
The only other Beach Boy involved in the released version of "Brian's Back" is Carl -- it was actually recorded for a Mike solo album. The other vocals are Paul Faueroso, Ron Altbach, and David Sommerville. There is another version that was recorded which did have the other Beach Boys on (Brian, at least, is very audible), and which has been booted. That version (at least in the copies I have), doesn't have any of the lead vocals, and has a very different backing vocal arrangement -- the chorus has a sort of doo-wop feel to it with overlapping vocal lines, while the "coming up with Fun Fun Fun" bit sounds *very* like the "I'm gonna love you all night long" bit in "We're Together Again". Is The Beach Boys version the ‘alternate mix’ found on MIC? (shorter one with the key change and no instrumental solo) No, that's just another mix of the same track as on Endless Harmony. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2020 9:00:52 GMT -5
Is The Beach Boys version the ‘alternate mix’ found on MIC? (shorter one with the key change and no instrumental solo) No, that's just another mix of the same track as on Endless Harmony. Thank you for clarifying |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2020 19:38:54 GMT -5
Ok, after listening to Brians Back some more I have become convinced the backing harmonies were written by none other than Brian himself. They are very, very indicative of his style which is not successfully imitated by many (including other beach boys). It reminds me of Getcha Back, which is also credited to Love/Melcher despite Brian working on the harmonies. Perhaps I am wrong but I can’t really think of another song that does it better not written by Brian himself
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Post by E on Mar 12, 2020 2:12:45 GMT -5
I think the “Mars” Line is brilliant. It’s like, “If there was life on Mars, I might bump into Marilyn, by chance”. Whereas the “grapefruit” line is just bad repetition. Like that line in Tidepool Interlude, the Alec Baldwin narration on Al’s album Postcards… “A beautiful majesty moves through me, majestically.” try this one on for size: I like spendin' my money And I like havin' a good time Good times sure make me happy And i'm so happy cuz' i just got my pay They all pale in comparison to this: You need cooling Baby I'm not fooling I'm gonna send ya Back to schooling |
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Post by John Manning on Mar 12, 2020 3:26:44 GMT -5
try this one on for size: I like spendin' my money And I like havin' a good time Good times sure make me happy And i'm so happy cuz' i just got my pay They all pale in comparison to this: You need cooling Baby I'm not fooling I'm gonna send ya Back to schooling I like this game! Tutti frutti, oh rootie Tutti frutti, oh rootie Tutti frutti, oh rootie Tutti frutti, oh rootie Tutti frutti, oh rootie Wop bop a loo bop a lop ba ba! |
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Post by andrewhickey on Mar 12, 2020 5:23:40 GMT -5
Ok, after listening to Brians Back some more I have become convinced the backing harmonies were written by none other than Brian himself. They are very, very indicative of his style which is not successfully imitated by many (including other beach boys). It reminds me of Getcha Back, which is also credited to Love/Melcher despite Brian working on the harmonies. Perhaps I am wrong but I can’t really think of another song that does it better not written by Brian himself The difference is that "Getcha Back" is a Beach Boys track, recorded at a Beach Boys session, with Brian present and in the vocal mix and involved in making the album. "Brian's Back" is a Mike Love solo track, recorded at a Mike Love solo session, with absolutely no Brian involvement whatsoever in any way. It's not a matter of the songwriting credit -- Brian did vocal arrangements on *many* songs he didn't write, over the years -- it's a matter of Brian just not being involved at all. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2020 6:23:18 GMT -5
Ok, after listening to Brians Back some more I have become convinced the backing harmonies were written by none other than Brian himself. They are very, very indicative of his style which is not successfully imitated by many (including other beach boys). It reminds me of Getcha Back, which is also credited to Love/Melcher despite Brian working on the harmonies. Perhaps I am wrong but I can’t really think of another song that does it better not written by Brian himself The difference is that "Getcha Back" is a Beach Boys track, recorded at a Beach Boys session, with Brian present and in the vocal mix and involved in making the album. "Brian's Back" is a Mike Love solo track, recorded at a Mike Love solo session, with absolutely no Brian involvement whatsoever in any way. It's not a matter of the songwriting credit -- Brian did vocal arrangements on *many* songs he didn't write, over the years -- it's a matter of Brian just not being involved at all. I’ve been wrong before, and I’ll be wrong again. But perhaps there is more to the history of this song than is currently known. If not this is the best Bw style impression I’ve heard. |
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Post by andrewhickey on Mar 12, 2020 8:24:55 GMT -5
But perhaps there is more to the history of this song than is currently known. No, there really isn't. We know exactly who was involved in the recording, and exactly what it was recorded for. It was recorded for Mike's unreleased solo album "First Love", which is full of tracks that sound just like that, like "Viggie" and "Daybreak". I don't get why you're so insistent about this. We all hear things sometimes that can't be backed up by the facts -- I remember for a while I wondered if there are some subtle backing vocals on "Let's Go Away For A While", because there's a weird resonance thing in some of the string parts that makes it sound to my ears *spookily* as if Marilyn Wilson was singing along with them. But she wasn't, and once I found that out -- fair enough, no vocals there. My ears are playing tricks on me. It happens. I don't continue to insist that she must secretly have been involved. And as saltymarshmallow says, there's nothing about the backing vocal arrangement there that couldn't have been done by any competent vocal arranger. Bruce, and Curt Boettcher, and Tony Rivers, and Adrian Baker, and Jeff Foskett, and dozens of others have knocked out hundreds of arrangements that are at least as Brianesque as that. Almost every choice made in that arrangement is the obvious choice, and it sounds nothing like any of the arrangements Brian was doing in the late 70s. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2020 13:11:32 GMT -5
I acknowledge again that I appear to be wrong on this issue, but I plan to do a deep dive into listening to brian knock off harmonies and determining why this one feels more authentic to me. Thanks to all who have corrected my misinformation.
Salty, I’ll reply specifically as to why I feel these vocals are superior to most brian knock offs. It has mostly to do with the melodic movements in the vocals and specific chords.
Thank you all for indulging me.
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