just wondered what everyones preference was, i just cant choose  

Why a preference? They each had their own wonderful qualities with that, and that's why it's so hard to choose. I just have to ask myself which of the two I couldn't do without, in which case it would have to be our boys. But I would miss the others, too.

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys, hands down.

The Beatles had two part harmonies, the Beach Boys three, four or even five part harmonies. And they had SIX potential lead vocalists.

Quoted from Joost

The Beach Boys, hands down.

The Beatles had two part harmonies, the Beach Boys three, four or even five part harmonies. And they had SIX potential lead vocalists.

Agreed. Not even a contest.

Quoted from Joost

The Beach Boys, hands down.

The Beatles had two part harmonies, the Beach Boys three, four or even five part harmonies. And they had SIX potential lead vocalists.

Er, The Beatles also did three part. They were quite famous for it. But otherwise agreed. The BB's, hands down.

as far as harmonization, I don't think there's any question The Beach Boys take this one. This of course casts no aspersions on our beloved mop-tops, but I believe Brian Wilson, for as far back as I remember, took great pains to re-create that 50's Four Freshmen type of sound in his songs. The Beatles, on the other hand (in the early days before they started writing original material) identified more w/ "roots" rock & roll (e.g., Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran), which had less to do w/ harmony and more to do w/ beat. They would, as we know, make the occassional (and successful) foray into the Motown vault (or r&b)which is where they eventually became more proficient at arrangement subsequently, so when they began to write themselves, you'll notice the journeys into Beatle-brand harmonies really began..but the BB really mastered this art from the start. In fact, along w/ surfer girls and hot rods, the very first thing ppl think of when you say "Beach Boys" is impeccable harmonic vocals. This is not to say that The Fab didn't eventually give them a "run for their money" in this regard w/ tunes like "Girl" and later with the gorgeous strains of  "Because", for example. But as early as '60-'61, Brian, Carl, Dennis, Al & Mike got there first. Hooray for the U.S.A (sorry, couldn't resist the national plug)

all true but they had some great 3 way harmonising before then with songs like if i fell and yes it is

Quoted from fendertele

all true but they had some great 3 way harmonising before then with songs like if i fell and yes it is

yes, like I said, when they essentially stopped doing covers, they started to incorporate more complex harmonies starting w/ the early self-penned material. My contention was that the BB really mastered that style of singing even earlier..

Yea, barbershop quartets are cute. But 'Baby's In Black' has cajones.

I Like The Beatles harmonising there's something quite folky about it ?, it's a smaller less showy,  than The Beach Boys which always sounds exotic to me ?
So it's The Beatles harmonising for me ,even though the sound The Beach Boys make is beautiful.

DaveRam

I love The Beach Boys harmony like 'Our Prayer' and some later stuff, not just the early days. However, it is still The Beatles for me.

Both groups were brilliant at thier hamonizing!
But The Beach Boys had that unique classic sound that no-one can touch!

What makes the Beatles harmonies a hands down winner IMO is the beauty of the sheer unexpectedness of Paul's harmonies. Just off the top of my head, when he sings harmony in the lines ...

1) "I'm in love with you" , the 2nd line of "I'll get you in the End"
2) On the bridge of "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
3) "All I Gotta Do ..." in song of the same name ,

... it just blows me away - they are so original, and sound so great. True genius, IMO. That one on IWTHYH especially - his harmony is a C major chord, when the chord of the song itself is a Dm7. Who could think of trying that?

The BB harmonies have always seemed a tad overdone to me, and not as creative. But I must admit I don't know them as well, so there is lots of room for ignorance.

THanks for a nice thread!

I think the Beach Boys stuff is too homogenized. There's something rather phony or unfeeling about their harmonies to me. I think Brian Wilson was so into getting things technically perfect that he had little time to worry about feeling. I think the Beatles blended together naturally because of who they were and how well they all fit together as people. It was a more natural thing and not forced or overdone or whatever you call it. But that's my very non-technical opinion and I'm also not a huge Beach Boys fan. Plus, couldn't you walk to the corner of any Brooklyn street back in the old days and hear harmonizing just as good as what the Beach Boys were doing? I don't find it all that original as I do the Beatles stuff. But again, not a huge BB fan.

The Beach Boys are all about harmonization, I think they do it better than the Beatles. Also, they were very distinctive. I love their  scatting/harmonies on Heroes and Villains. I've seen other professionals try to to Beach Boys harmony and failing miserably.

Quoted from Sandra

I think the Beach Boys stuff is too homogenized. There's something rather phony or unfeeling about their harmonies to me. I think Brian Wilson was so into getting things technically perfect that he had little time to worry about feeling. I think the Beatles blended together naturally because of who they were and how well they all fit together as people. It was a more natural thing and not forced or overdone or whatever you call it. But that's my very non-technical opinion and I'm also not a huge Beach Boys fan. Plus, couldn't you walk to the corner of any Brooklyn street back in the old days and hear harmonizing just as good as what the Beach Boys were doing? I don't find it all that original as I do the Beatles stuff. But again, not a huge BB fan.

Who put the bop in the bop-shoo-wop? Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong?
I love those old Brooklyn songs, but then I heard them all the time growing up in NY and NJ becuase they were on the radio stations that "grownups" played. For kicks I'll put them on my AOL radio station at work sometimes.

Oooo-WEEEEE-oooo!

Quoted from Mairi

I've seen other professionals try to to Beach Boys harmony and failing miserably.

Have you seen professionals trying to do Beatles harmonies and succeed then?

Quoted from alexis

The BB harmonies have always seemed a tad overdone to me, and not as creative. But I must admit I don't know them as well, so there is lots of room for ignorance.

THanks for a nice thread!

I'm not a Beach Boys fan so that's why I didn't want to post on this topic but I'm glad there are people like me who like more The Beatles' harmonies.

B. Wilson was/is as much a musical genius as Lennon or McCartney. Unfortunately, he was shackled with terrible emotional difficulties (thanks to his tyrannical father and the massive amounts drugs he imbibed) which eventually drove him into isolation...but also enabled him to create his masterpiece, "Pet Sounds". From what I recall, when he first heard "Rubber Soul" he panicked that he and the Beach Boys wouldn't be able to top this Lp (there was something of a cross-Atlantic rivalry between the BB & The Fab, albeit understated),and it was then that a reclusive Brian Wilson went to work dilligently on P.S., which was heralded critically--even though Mike Love later famously dismissed it as junk. Paul McCartney himself, as everyone knows now, was in love with Pet Sounds and excitedly recommended the album to everyone he met during this period. I'm sure there was also some latent jealously in the mix because shortly afterwards Sgt. Pepper exploded on the scene--putting an end to all the "one-upsmanship" between Brian and Lennon/McCartney. Even the massive "Good Vibrations" single--as long as it took to make and as cutting-edge as it was in it's time couldn't compete w/ what The Fab had up their collective sleeves. Brian felt defeated--he even shelved work on the Pet Sounds follow-up Lp "Smile", which only saw the light of day decades afterward in it's completed form. To an aweful lot of ppl from my generation, there's no question that Wilson was a latter-day Mozart, America's only answer to the Beatles musical "onslaught" to these shores(not counting the Dylan contribution which was also substantial). To this day Brian is nevertheless revered. For me, "God Only Knows" (which Paul once remarked, "is the greatest pop song ever written"), "Good Vibrations", "Wouldn't It Be Nice" "Caroline, No" are the Yank equivalents to "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day In The Life", "Penny Lane" "Lucy In The Sky" respectively.

That's right, 'Smile' should have been and very well could have been way bigger than Pet Sounds. Yet, Sunflower from 1970 has to be one of The BB's most overlooked works. I love that album all the way through, but it never gets the credit as the earlier 64-66 material.
   Anyhow, still it seems no one could pass the Beatles anyway. They were in a class all by themselves.  

Quoted from alexis

I love those old Brooklyn songs, but then I heard them all the time growing up in NY and NJ

same here.

"joisey" boy

Quoted from 829

(not counting the Dylan contribution which was also substantial)

Isn't that a bit of an understatement? I mean, I know we're not talking about Bob, but "was also substantial" doesn't quite cut it I think.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Beach Boys and think that their harmonising is great, but the Beatles' harmonies and voices touch me the most. I think that their voices couldn't go together more perfectly than they do, and I especially think that's true with John and Paul's voices. And those three part harmonies are fantastic. People who cover their songs just can't do it to make that special sound, but I'm sure this is true with the Beach Boys as well.

I think this is still on topic, sorry if off a bit but ...

I always have the hardest time picking out George's harmonies. I figure it's either because I'm bad at hearing middle harmonies, or George Martin mixed him really low volume, or it was so perfect that it blended in to sound like it was part of J or P's voice.

Anybody have any thoughts on that? I've been a bit frustrated for a LONG time because I can't hear him well!

Quoted from Sandra

Have you seen professionals trying to do Beatles harmonies and succeed then?

Yes.

i always thought georges and john voice was kinda similiar so i also have problems picking Georges voice out

I think it's partly because John and George's vocals disappear into each other that you get that unique "Beatles" sound. They really do have a similar sound, which is strange, because I think they sound unique as a lead vocalist.

One fun bit for me is watching John clown around with "I'm Down" at the Shea Stadium concert. He deliberately goofs his harmony, once singing it a full octave down, and other times forgetting to sing at all. So you can hear what George is singing because John is in happy land!

Quoted from Mairi

Yes.

How about an example. I'd like to hear it. I'm not quite sure what the standards you're going by are, but Beatles harmonies are something very unique to that band so I'm actually very curious to hear how others actually did capture it. No sarcasm is inteneded here. I hope that's clear.

Oh, you didn't come off as sarcastic. Don't worry about that, that's my department. Hehe.

Examples... well, there's the obvious tribute bands. I saw Abbey Road and they did the harmonies very well, especially those on Paperback Writer. My only complaint is that the accents were off.

Other than that, I tend to keep company with a lot of professional musicians (not like, world-famous of anything, but it is how they make their living) and we have the occasional jam session. They seem to pull off the Beatles harmonies quite well.

Quoted from harihead

I think it's partly because John and George's vocals disappear into each other that you get that unique "Beatles" sound. They really do have a similar sound, which is strange, because I think they sound unique as a lead vocalist.

One fun bit for me is watching John clown around with "I'm Down" at the Shea Stadium concert. He deliberately goofs his harmony, once singing it a full octave down, and other times forgetting to sing at all. So you can hear what George is singing because John is in happy land!

Hi HH - This is one of my favorite things to watch/listen to also! I love it, first of all because they're having so much fun, and also because like you said it is almost like a clinic in their harmonies because of the way that John drops in and out.

The Beatles, all the way.

No doubt in my mind. I muchhhh preferr the beatles. *luff <3<3<3*

Quoted from Sandra

Isn't that a bit of an understatement? I mean, I know we're not talking about Bob, but "was also substantial" doesn't quite cut it I think.

wasn't meant to demean Mr. Zimmerman. I've been a major Dylan devotee since 1965. We were talking about harmonies, not the lyrical superiority of the man from Hibbing.

Quoted from Andy Smith

....But The Beach Boys had that unique classic sound that no-one can touch!

There's something very special about "sibling harmony."  The Everly Brothers is another example.

Love Phil and Don...(no accident Paul mentioned them in "Let 'Em In")

best harmonizing (IMO) belong to Beach Boys, Everly Bros. and Hollies.

The Mamas and the Papas were also very good.