Smile

I personally can't wait to get hold of Smile seeing as Smiley Smile is probably my favourite album of the sixties... It pisses on Pet Sounds and if it had been made in the way Brian Wilson had wanted I'm positive it would have kicked Sgt. Pepper to the ground. Maybe an odd choice, but i'm serious.

as it is it probably would have been wonderful, but people would still be sniping about how song cycle was better...

'Look' off 'Smile' sounds like the Mr Benn theme tune but is none the worse for it.

smile (at the above link): ***** Smiley Smile: ****1/2 (it was five till i heard the original) Wild Honey: ***1/2 Friends: ***1/2 20/20: ** Sunflower: **** Surf's Up: ****

I should mention, the single "Cabinessence / Wonderful" is available.

It's an insert in the "Mojo 60's" special.

Yes, actual Smile recordings, on a 7" single on the Capitol/Brother label.

(only, the mag is kinda dull and my copy of the single has the a-side pressed off-centre although the b-side is alright) (and, it's £9.99)

do they say when the alleged smile sessions box set is coming out? haven't heard a release date.

I havent seen anything in it as yet.

do the single versions differ at all from the versions on the Good Vibrations box set?

As far as I can remember, they are the same.

I've had 3LPs, 2CDs, single CDs and the rest of the Smile sessions, I doubt I could isolate them from memory, but I think so.

Looking for the same demo as Nathalie linked to years ago (second post on this thread) but I can't find it. Can anyone help?

what was it linking to? just a smile bootleg collection?

Yeah. I'm sure it was the Purple Chick version, but when I checked that one, it was ever so slightly different to the one I used to listen to.

there's a load of them at grooveshark so you could try and work it out from there

i had kind of a deep moment with the purple chick boot on my headphones very late last night, stoned on a beach on the opposite side of the pacific ocean

Here's the official tracklisting and all ...

Hollywood, California – August 30, 2011 – With the full participation of original Beach Boys Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Brian Wilson, Capitol/EMI has, for the first time, collected and compiled the band’s legendary 1966-’67 sessions for the never-completed SMiLE album. Today, Capitol/EMI and The Beach Boys are pleased to announce uk release date of October 31st as the release date for the long-awaited arrival of The SMiLE Sessions in multiple physical and digital configurations. Artwork and complete tracklists are also unveiled for the first time today for what Rolling Stone magazine recently called “the most famous unfinished album in rock & roll history.”

In numerous sessions between the spring of 1966 and the summer of 1967, The Beach Boys recorded a bounty of songs and drafts for an album, SMiLE, that was intended to follow the band’s 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds. The master tapes were ultimately shelved, and The Beach Boys’ SMiLE has never been released. Drawn from the original masters, The SMiLE Sessions presents an in-depth overview of The Beach Boys' recording sessions for the enigmatic album, which has achieved legendary, mythical status for music fans around the world.

The SMiLE Sessions’ 2CD lift-top box, double vinyl LP, digital album, and iTunes LP formats feature an approximation of what was intended to be the completed SMiLE album, compiled from The Beach Boys’ original session masters. Additional session highlights and bonus tracks are also included, including demos and stereo mixes.

An expanded, boxed edition of The SMiLE Sessions will also be released physically and digitally, featuring the main SMiLE album tracks, plus four CDs of additional audio from the legendary sessions, a double vinyl LP set, and two 7” vinyl singles. The deluxe box will also contain a 60-page hardbound book with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia from The Beach Boys’ archive and newly-written essays by Beach Boys Al Jardine, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, and Bruce Johnston, as well as by Beach Boys historian and author Domenic Priore and many other inner-circle participants.

Produced by Brian Wilson, Mark Linett, Alan Boyd and Dennis Wolfe in Los Angeles, all of The SMiLE Sessions’ physical and digital configurations include an assembled collection of core session tracks, while the box set delves much deeper into the sessions, adding early song drafts, alternate takes, instrumental and vocals-only mixes, and studio chatter. The SMiLE Sessions invites the listener into the studio to experience the album's creation, with producer, singer and bassist Brian Wilson's vision leading the way as he guides his fellow Beach Boys, singer Mike Love, drummer Dennis Wilson, lead guitarist Carl Wilson, rhythm guitarist Al Jardine, and newest member Bruce Johnston (who'd replaced Brian Wilson in the touring group during 1965), through the legendary sessions.

Artwork for all of The SMiLE Sessions’ physical and digital configurations has been created with and inspired by Beat-Pop artist Frank Holmes’ original 1967 LP sleeve art and booklet designs intended for the SMiLE album. With its three-dimensional shadowbox lid, The SMiLE Sessions box set offers a whimsical peek inside the storied ‘SMiLE Shop.’

Several special SMiLE Sessions packages will be available for purchase exclusively on thebeachboys.com, including:

- The SMiLE Sessions 2CD edition paired with a limited edition SMiLE t-shirt

- The SMiLE Sessions 2CD edition paired with a limited edition autographed lithograph

- The SMiLE Sessions limited edition box set with light-up SMiLE Shop window on lid, autographed

- The SMiLE Sessions limited edition box set with light-up SMiLE Shop window on lid, autographed, paired with a custom-made SMiLE surfboard by Hobie

The Beach Boys are embracing technology and crowdsourcing to produce the first official music videos for "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes And Villains" by partnering with Tongal, the leading creative social platform. In Tongal’s first-ever music video initiative, fans can now collaborate to create the official music videos, as the project begins today (August 30) on Tongal.com, and consists of two phases - a concept phase and a video phase. The concept phase calls for fans to conceptualize the music video for “Heroes and Villains” or “Good Vibrations” in 250 characters or less. In the video phase, Tongal users can select one of the five winning concepts from phase one and produce a music video based on it. The video can be animated or live-action, trippy or classic – it can be whatever the fans want, as long as it’s their own. Cash prizes and special items, including an autographed custom Hobie longboard, will be awarded to Tongal users for the top submissions.

The SMiLE Sessions box set will include details about Operation Smile, an international medical charity organization with a presence in more than 60 countries dedicated to healing children's smiles. Since 1982, Operation Smile - through the help of generous supporters and medical volunteers - has provided free surgeries worldwide for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lips and cleft palates. Every three minutes, a child somewhere in the world is born with a cleft. For more information on how to be involved or donate to Operation Smile, please visit www.operationsmile.org or call 1-888-OPSMILE (888-677-6453).

The best efforts have been taken by The Beach Boys, the producers, and Capitol/EMI to present the SMiLE album sessions’ most vital and fascinating elements. However, there will no doubt be some debate amongst Beach Boys fans around the world who, during the past four decades, have become familiar with a variety of widely-traded bootlegged bits and pieces from the sessions. As recently explained by the Detroit Metro Times, “No album, released or not, has generated a more personal relationship with its audience, since no two people can ever agree on its content and purpose.”

Beginning with “Good Vibrations,” The Beach Boys’ best-selling record in a long string of hits, Brian Wilson had begun to construct songs in a modular form, crafting individual sections that would later be edited together to form a coherent whole. In several intense bursts of creative energy, Wilson, drawing on the talents of the finest studio musicians in Los Angeles and utilizing the best studio facilities available on any given day, laid down dozens of musical fragments, all designed to fit together in any number of possible combinations. No one had done this before in pop music, and his next endeavor would be an album-length version of this unique and luxurious songwriting parlance: SMiLE.

In 1965, Brian Wilson met an up-and-coming session keyboard player and songwriter, Van Dyke Parks. Noticing Parks' conversational eloquence, Wilson felt that he could help to volley The Beach Boys’ songwriting into the wave of broader-messaged and socially-conscious rock 'n' roll that would come to define the '60s. They were soon collaborating on keynote songs for SMiLE, including “Heroes And Villains,” the band’s follow-up single to “Good Vibrations.” Wilson and Parks would also co-write “Surf's Up,” “Vega-Tables,” “Cabin Essence,” “Do You Like Worms,” “Wonderful,” “Wind Chimes,” and other pieces of the SMiLE tapestry. Parks also introduced Frank Holmes to create album sleeve art and a booklet interpreting the album’s James Joyce-mode lyrics.

The reason SMiLE did not see a release in 1967 had more to do with back room business that obscured the creative side of the program than anything else. In late 1966, The Beach Boys formed Brother Records, initially to produce outside artists. Soon, however, The Beach Boys would become embroiled in a court action with Capitol Records with the goal to become the top-selling artists on their self-owned, independent label. The group withheld “Heroes And Villains” and announced they would instead release “Vega-Tables” – recorded with the band’s own money in April of '67 – on Brother Records. By July of 1967, Capitol Records and The Beach Boys had come to terms, with Capitol agreeing to distribute the band’s Brother Records, and it was agreed that SMiLE was no longer to be the band’s next album.

The Beach Boys and Capitol/EMI will celebrate the band’s 50th Anniversary in 2012. Plans for commemorative releases and other anniversary activities will be announced.

“Surf's up, aboard a tidal wave, come about hard and join the young and often spring you gave. I heard the word, wonderful thing... a children's song...”

- from “Surf's Up” (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks)

The SMiLE Sessions (2CD; Digital; iTunes LP)

CD ONE

SMiLE

1. Our Prayer (1:06)

2. Gee (0:51)

3. Heroes And Villains (4:53)

4. Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock) (3:36)

5. I’m In Great Shape (0:29)

6. Barnyard (0:48)

7. My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine) (1:57)

8. Cabin Essence (3:32)

9. Wonderful (2:04)

10. Look (Song For Children) (2:31)

11. Child Is Father Of The Man (2:14)

12. Surf’s Up (4:12)

13. I Wanna Be Around / Workshop (1:23)

14. Vega-Tables (3:49)

15. Holidays (2:33)

16. Wind Chimes (3:06)

17. The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow) (2:35)

18. Love To Say Dada (2:32)

19. Good Vibrations (4:13)

Bonus Tracks

20. You’re Welcome (1:08)

21. Heroes And Villains (Stereo Mix) (4:53)

22. Heroes And Villains Sections (Stereo Mix) (7:16)

23. Vega-Tables Demo (1:46)

24. He Gives Speeches (1:14)

25. Smile Backing Vocals Montage (8:30)

26. Surf’s Up 1967 (Solo Version) (4:09)

27. Psycodelic Sounds: Brian Falls Into A Piano (1:30)

CD TWO

1. Our Prayer "Dialog" (9/19/66) (3:02)

2. Heroes And Villains: Part 1 (3:08)

3. Heroes And Villains: Part 2 (4:18)

4. Heroes And Villains: Children Were Raised (1/27/67) (2:07)

5. Heroes And Villains: Prelude To Fade (2/15/67) (3:42)

6. My Only Sunshine (11/14/66) (6:52)

7. Cabin Essence (10/3/66) (5:19)

8. Surf's Up: 1st Movement (11/4/66) (4:55)

9. Surf's Up: Piano Demo (12/15/66) (3:53)

10. Vega-Tables: Fade (4/12/67) (5:25)

11. The Elements: Fire session (11/28/66) (8:27)

12. Cool, Cool Water (Version 2) (10/26-10/29/67) (3:32)

13. Good Vibrations Session Highlights (8:20)

The SMiLE Sessions Box Set (5CD+Double LP+Two 7” Singles; digital)

CD ONE

SMiLE

1. Our Prayer (1:06)

2. Gee (0:51)

3. Heroes And Villains (4:53)

4. Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock) (3:36)

5. I’m In Great Shape (0:29)

6. Barnyard (0:48)

7. My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine) (1:57)

8. Cabin Essence (3:32)

9. Wonderful (2:04)

10. Look (Song For Children) (2:31)

11. Child Is Father Of The Man (2:14)

12. Surf’s Up (4:12)

13. I Wanna Be Around / Workshop (1:23)

14. Vega-Tables (3:49)

15. Holidays (2:33)

16. Wind Chimes (3:06)

17. The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow) (2:35)

18. Love To Say Dada (2:32)

19. Good Vibrations (4:13)

Bonus Tracks

20. You’re Welcome (1:08)

21. Heroes And Villains (Stereo Mix) (4:53)

22. Heroes And Villains Sections (Stereo Mix) (7:16)

23. Vega-Tables Demo (1:46)

24. He Gives Speeches (1:14)

25. Smile Backing Vocals Montage (8:30)

26. Surf’s Up 1967 (Solo version) (4:09)

27. Psycodelic Sounds: Brian Falls Into A Piano (1:30)

CD TWO

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

OUR PRAYER

1. Our Prayer "Dialog" (9/19/66) (3:01)

2. Our Prayer (10/4/66) (6:37)

HEROES AND VILLAINS

Heroes And Villains Session (10/20/66)

3. Heroes And Villains: Verse (Master Take) (0:57)

4. Heroes And Villains: Barnyard (Master Take) (1:12)

5. Heroes And Villains: I'm In Great Shape (10/27/66) (4:59)

6. Heroes And Villains: Intro (Early Version) circa 12/66 (0:35)

Heroes And Villains Session (1/3/67)

7. Heroes And Villains: Do A Lot (0:53)

8. Heroes And Villains: Bag Of Tricks (2:58)

9. Heroes And Villains: Mission Pak (0:55)

10. Heroes And Villains: Bridge To Indians (1:47)

11. Heroes And Villains: Part 1 Tag (1:19)

12. Heroes And Villains: Pickup To 3rd Verse (0:55)

Heroes And Villains Session (1/27/67)

13. Heroes And Villains: Children Were Raised (2:07)

14. Heroes And Villains: Part 2 (Cantina track) (1:21)

15. Heroes And Villains: Whistling Bridge (1:14)

16. Heroes And Villains: Cantina (1:36)

17. Heroes And Villains: All Day (2:19)

18. Heroes And Villains: Verse Edit Experiment (0:48)

Heroes And Villains Session (2/15/67)

19. Heroes And Villains: Prelude to Fade (3:43)

20. Heroes And Villains: Piano Theme (2:43)

Heroes And Villains Session (2/20/67)

21. Heroes And Villains: Part 2 (2:31)

22. Heroes And Villains: Part 2 (Gee) (Master Take) (2:36)

23. Heroes And Villains: Part 2 Revised (1:54)

24. Heroes And Villains: Part 2 Revised (Master Take) (0:48)

25. Heroes And Villains: Part 3 (Animals) (Master Take) (1:18)

26. Heroes And Villains: Part 4 (2:36)

27. Heroes And Villains: Part Two (Master Take) (2/27/67) (1:44)

28. Heroes And Villains: Fade (2/28/67) (6:35)

Heroes And Villains Session (3/1/67)

29. Heroes And Villains: Verse Remake (4:16)

30. Heroes And Villains: Organ Waltz / Intro (2:04)

Heroes And Villains Session (6/14/67)

31. Heroes And Villains: Chorus Vocals (0:48)

32. Heroes And Villains: Barbershop (1:50)

33. Heroes And Villains: Children Were Raised (Remake) (1:06)

34. Heroes And Villains: Children Were Raised (Master Take Overdubs Mix 1) (0:26)

35. Heroes And Villains: Children Were Raised (Master Take A Capella) (0:27)

Bonus Tracks

36. Heroes And Villains Piano Demo (incorporating “I’m In Great Shape” and “Barnyard”) Brian with Van Dyke Parks and “Humble Harve” Miller, KHJ Radio (11/4/66) (4:17)

37. Psycodelic Sounds: Brian Falls Into A Microphone (11/4/66) (1:10)

38. Psycodelic Sounds: Moaning Laughing (11/4/66) (1:09)

CD THREE

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

DO YOU LIKE WORMS (ROLL PLYMOUTH ROCK)

Do You Like Worms Session (10/18/66)

1. Do You Like Worms: Part 1 (5:21)

2. Do You Like Worms: Part 2 (Bicycle Rider) (1:55)

3. Do You Like Worms: Part 3 (2:43)

4. Do You Like Worms: Part 4 (Bicycle Rider) (1:10)

5. Do You Like Worms: Bicycle Rider Overdubs (Heroes And Villains Part 2) (1/5/67) (0:22)

MY ONLY SUNSHINE

(THE OLD MASTER PAINTER / YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE)

6. My Only Sunshine: Parts 1 & 2 (11/14/66) (6:51)

7. My Only Sunshine: Part 2 (Master Take With Vocal Overdubs) (2/10/67) (0:45)

CABIN ESSENCE

Cabin Essence Session (10/3/66)

8. Cabin Essence: Verse (2:14)

9. Cabin Essence: Chorus (2:28)

10. Cabin Essence: Tag (2:31)

WONDERFUL

11. Wonderful (Version 1) (8/25/66) (2:59)

Wonderful (Version 2 “Rock With Me, Henry”) Session (1/9/67)

12. Wonderful (Version 2) (3:25)

13. Wonderful (Version 2 Tag) (2:54)

14. Wonderful (Version 3) (4/10/67?) (2:41)

LOOK (SONG FOR CHILDREN)

15. Look (8/12/66) (4:52)

CHILD IS FATHER OF THE MAN

16. Child Is Father Of The Man (Version 1) (10/7/66) (4:57)

17. Child Is Father Of The Man (Version 2) (10/11/66) (5:38)

SURF’S UP

18. Surf's Up: 1st Movement (11/4/66) (4:54)

19. Surf's Up: Talking Horns (11/7/66) (3:42)

20. Surf’s Up: Piano Demo (Master Take) (12/15/66) (3:52)

I WANNA BE AROUND / WORKSHOP (FRIDAY NIGHT)

21. I Wanna Be Around (11/29/66) (3:08)

VEGA-TABLES (VEGETABLES)

Vegetables Sessions (4/4/67 – 4/11/67)

22. Vegetables: Verse (Master Take Track) (4/4 – 4/11/67) (2:02)

23. Vegetables: Sleep A Lot (Chorus) (2:34)

24. Vegetables: Chorus 1 (Master Take) (1:05)

25. Vegetables: 2nd Chorus (Master Take Track And Backing Vocals) (1:03)

26. Vegetables: Insert (Part 4) (Master Take) (0:37)

CD FOUR

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

VEGA-TABLES (VEGETABLES) (continued)

1. Vegetables: Fade (4/12/67) (5:25)

2. Vegetables: Ballad Insert (4/14/67) (1:03)

HOLIDAYS

3. Holidays (9/8/66) (7:32)

WIND CHIMES

4. Wind Chimes (Version 1) (8/3/66) (6:46)

Wind Chimes (Version 2) Session (10/5/66)

5. Wind Chimes (Version 2) (5:00)

6. Wind Chimes (Version 2 Tag) (2:51)

THE ELEMENTS: FIRE (MRS. O’LEARY’S COW)

7. The Elements (Fire) (11/28/66) (8:27)

LOVE TO SAY DADA / COOL, COOL WATER

Da Da Session (12/22/66)

8. Da Da (Taped Piano Strings) (1:00)

9. Da Da (Fender Rhodes) (1:21)

Love To Say Dada Sessions (5/16/67 - 5/18/67)

10. Love To Say Dada: Part 1 (5/16/67) (1:22)

11. Love To Say Dada: Part 2 (5/17/67) (1:57)

12. Love To Say Dada: Part 2 (Master Take) (5/17/67) (1:21)

13. Love To Say Dada: Part 2 (Second Day) (5/18/67) (2:00)

COOL, COOL WATER

14. Cool, Cool Water (Version 1) (6/7/67) (2:21)

15. Cool, Cool Water (Version 2) (10/26/67 & 10/29/67) (3:31)

SMILE ADDITIONAL SESSIONS

16. You're Welcome (12/15/66) (6:41)

17. You're With Me Tonight (6/6–6/7/67) (2:46)

18. Tune X (3/3/67–3/31/67) (2:18)

19. I Don't Know (1/12/67) (3:03)

20. Three Blind Mice (10/15/65) (2:11)

21. Teeter Totter Love (Jasper Dailey) (1/25/67 & 2/9/67) (1:49)

Bonus Tracks

22. Psycodelic Sounds - Underwater Chant (11/4/66) (1:45)

23. Hal Blaine Vega-Tables Promo Session (11/16/66) (1:28)

24. Heroes And Villains: Early Version Outtake Sections (1/67 – 2/67) (5:04)

CD FIVE

SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

GOOD VIBRATIONS SESSIONS

1. Good Vibrations: Gold Star 2/18/66 (The “Pet Sounds” Session) (7:27)

2. Good Vibrations: Gold Star 4/9/66 (6:57)

3. Good Vibrations: Western 5/4/66 (First Chorus) (2:24)

4. Good Vibrations: Western 5/4/66 (Second Chorus & Fade) (3:28)

5. Good Vibrations: Sunset Sound 5/24/66 (Part 1) (1:20)

6. Good Vibrations: Sunset Sound 5/24/66 (Parts 2 & 3) (1:45)

7. Good Vibrations: Sunset Sound 5/24/66 (Part 4) (0:47)

8. Good Vibrations: Western 5/27/66 (Part C) (3:32)

9. Good Vibrations: Western 5/27/66 (Chorus) (3:04)

10. Good Vibrations: Western 5/27/66 (Fade Sequence) (1:56)

11. Good Vibrations (Inspiration): Western 6/2/66 (Part 1) (2:44)

12. Good Vibrations (Inspiration): Western 6/2/66 (Part 3) (0:57)

13. Good Vibrations (Inspiration): Western 6/2/66 (Part 4) (0:49)

14. Good Vibrations: Western 6/16/66 (Part 1) (6:24)

15. Good Vibrations: Western 6/16/66 (Part 2 & Verse) (1:06)

16. Good Vibrations: Western 6/16/66 (Part 2 Continued) (5:55)

17. Good Vibrations: Western 6/18/66 (Part 1) (1:10)

18. Good Vibrations: Western 6/18/66 (Part 2) (5:03)

19. Good Vibrations (Persuasion): Western 9/1/66 (1:49)

20. Good Vibrations: Western 9/1/66 (New Bridge) (3:39)

21. Good Vibrations: Session Masters (6:13)

22. Good Vibrations: Single Version Stereo Track (3:49)

23. Good Good Good Vibrations (First Version With Overdubs) 3/66 (3:41)

24. Good Vibrations: Alternate Edit 8/24/66 (3:32)

VINYL

Double LP

Side One

1. Our Prayer

2. Gee

3. Heroes And Villains

4. Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)

5. I’m In Great Shape

6. Barnyard

7. My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine)

8. Cabin Essence

Side Two

1. Wonderful

2. Look (Song for Children)

3. Child Is Father Of The Man

4. Surf’s Up

Side Three

1. I Wanna Be Around / Workshop

2. Vega-Tables

3. Holidays

4. Wind Chimes

5. The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)

6. Love To Say Dada

7. Good Vibrations

Side Four

1. You’re Welcome – Stereo Mix

2. Vega-Tables – Stereo Mix

3. Wind Chimes – Stereo Mix

4. Cabin Essence – Session Highlights and Stereo Backing Track

5. Surf’s Up – Session Excerpt and Stereo Mix

Two 7” singles

Heroes And Villains "Smile" single Vega-Tables single

A side: Heroes And Villains Part One A side: Vega-Tables

B side: Heroes And Villains Part Two B side: Surf's Up

The SMiLE Sessions (2LP vinyl)

Side One

1. Our Prayer

2. Gee

3. Heroes And Villains

4. Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)

5. I’m In Great Shape

6. Barnyard

7. My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine)

8. Cabin Essence

Side Two

1. Wonderful

2. Look (Song for Children)

3. Child Is Father Of The Man

4. Surf’s Up

Side Three

1. I Wanna Be Around / Workshop

2. Vega-Tables

3. Holidays

4. Wind Chimes

5. The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)

6. Love To Say Dada

7. Good Vibrations

Side Four

1. You’re Welcome – Stereo Mix

2. Vega-Tables – Stereo Mix

3. Wind Chimes – Stereo Mix

4. Cabin Essence – Session Highlights and Stereo Backing Track

5. Surf’s Up – Session Excerpt and Stereo Mix

oh look i have no saliva left.

lol that's the only adequate reaction DL

Actually, shit, do I really want a whole CDs-worth of Heroes & Villains outtakes? Hmmm... Maybe not all that exciting. Depends on whether it's stupid expensive or not.

hee hee, that looks fun to me. a whole disc of heroes and villains sessions!
lol xp

That's a whole lotta Heroes & Villains. But c'mon, it's Smile.

i really enjoy those pet sounds sessions excerpts on the box set, so ...

actually just listened to the brian wilson 2004 smile on the bus to work this morning. not w/o it's problems (sometimes the vocals sound a little cloying, not nuts about the pirate-y stuff going on the otherwise lovely holidays), but it flows together really nicely.

I'd rather a disc of Little Pad sessions.

It looks pretty amazing to me.
Looking forward to doing a compare and contrast between this "finished" version, the single vinyl Sea of Tunes "finished" version I have and the Wilson version.

yeah this looks as cool as a smile box set could look to me.

looks pretty nuts. dunno if I'll spring for it. gygax has some Japanese box set that has a bunch of those Heroes+Villains/Good Vibrations sessions, dunno if I really need multiple CDs worth

It's Sea-O-Tunes from Luxembourg^^^

RIP gygax!

Don’t know that I want or need to spend a three-figure sum on the box (especially since the nine-minute “George Fell Into His French Horn” is again absent, not to mention the classic “Somebody Get Me A Dildo”); the basic 2CD edition should be enough for my needs. Same order (unsurprisingly) as the 2004 reboot so the main interest will be how well it stands up, incomplete but with the original voices and players for which the music was intended, in comparison.

Would this, if finished, have stood up in’67 against Pepper (or overshadowed it) or would it have been abruptly eclipsed by things like Piper and Experienced? It seems to have influenced so much of what came after it (or at the same time as it) but how much would that have been appreciated by ’67 audiences?

IDGI. didn't brian wilson finally put this out as a solo album -- to great fanfare -- a few years ago (as smile)?

I honestly think it would have had quite an impact on the further history of pop music if it had been released. Smile is so much more focused and conceptually tight compared to Peppers, and arguably a much better album for it. The impact it would have had on (for example) the prog-rock '70s and the amount of Beatle-worship in the following decades that we saw largely thanks to Pepper would have been altered pretty drastically.

It represents to me an opportunity lost. I believe if it had been released, art-rock/psychedelia would have retained its cachet and given that extra push to explore new ground instead of being replaced by the rootsy rock styles of the early 1970s. It's a completely different way of looking at pop/rock - there are few guitars present in the mix (unlike the Beatles who were always a beat combo at heart); take away the vocals and you've got something bordering classical, exotica, easy listening, big band, jazz etc. And sure, Pet Sounds was influential, but it was an emotionally internalised album dealing with feelings and relationships - very little in pop has ever come close to the birds-eye-view, macro-scale vision of Smile.

daniel, the brian wilson 2004 smile was a 2004 recording w/ his band. this smile box set comprises of the beach boys sessions from 66-67.

i was really excited about this

but i pulled out the brian wilson smile CD the other night

and i don't think i like smile anymore :(

like not the recording or that particular rendition of it, i just found the songs themselves kind of aggravating

The problem with this is going to be over-familiarity. Rather than being released with a momentous bang, we've already been exposed to countless bootlegs, Brian Wilson concerts, Van Dyke Parks interviews and documentaries. It's a tired old album, and it's never been released.

the classic “Somebody Get Me A Dildo

wait waht

Rootsy rock seemed to be a reaction to psychedelic/studio indulgence, so i don't see how a successful "Smile" would do anything to avoid that.

and i don't think i like smile anymore :(

yeah, i share this view.

based on the brian wilson's band's interpretation. maybe the new item is substantially different? (i.e., in arrangement, instrumentation, structure, etc.)

new item features arguably the greatest vocal ensemble of all time at their peak so in that sense yeah, it's "different"

"Smile is so much more focused and conceptually tight"

I like a lot of what you wrote, but of all the things to call the Smile project, focused and conceptually tight are not exactly at the top of the list. Even with hours upon hours of session material and four decades' time to think about it, fan mixers who know the project inside and out have trouble putting together a coherent, focused LP. The bird's eye view is all the things you said it is. The problem is that the quality of the songs did not, and likely could never, match up to the quality and ambition of the bird's eye view concept. Heroes and Villains has some nice ideas but it isn't the anchor of a history-altering musical piece.

Is this going to have vocals-only versions of the songs like the Pet Sounds box did? Because I could listen to those for days.

new item features arguably the greatest vocal ensemble of all time at their peak so in that sense yeah, it's "different"

okay, that intrigues me much more than the farm-animal/carnival sounds i heard on brian wilson's solo version.

well ... all of that will be there, at least for the most part. the brian wilson version used the beach boys version as a fairly strict sonic template -- there was very little in the 2004 version that didn't come directly from the 66-67 version. it was just patched together in a way that hadn't been done before.

that's true but the main difference I was noting is that the Beach Boys do not sing on the 2004 solo version. this is major.

yeah, i agree!
i mean, i'm totally excited about this. i was listening to the best smile bootleg i have and thinking that it sounded pretty thin -- looking forward to the improved sound quality on the official version.

here's what it looks like in case u guys haven't seen it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvB0glRsolw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asmWlyiccMI&feature=relmfu

lol, would be awesome if he opened the box and some novelty snakes jumped out at him.

love the invisible handshake at the end there lol

So THAT's what I'll get for $130!

i'm buying the shit out of this thing in a record store come tuesday.

i'm buying the shit out of the 2-disc version of this thing in a record store come tuesday.

i definitely want the big deeeeluxe-o version against my better instincts. i just NEED IT.

is it really coming out next week? crazy.
will mike love pull some 11th hour shenanigans to get it delayed?!

i will be downloading the shit out of this thing sometime in the next two months when this thread is randomly bumped

Must admit now I've seen that smileporn video, I'm kind of gagging for the full boxset. And to thing I wasn't even fussed.

assuming this leaks before tuesday (if it didn't already, and I guess it hasn't or this thread would be longer), it will be the first major release that I will keep myself from downloading in a long, long time; I need the 'open the box" experience on this thing. I'm going to open the shit out of that box.

Just curious, does Billboard and other charts treat this as three different releases, or are the CD, vinyl, and box set versions combined for charting purposes?

I'm going to be super pissed if Amazon doesn't deliver this on Tuesday!

Getting mine on monday, and opening the shit out of it might just reduce me to a gibbering maniac. I LOVE SMiLE....

The 2 CD edition of this seems to have leaked.

A couple of points: the sound quality on this thing is incredible - really crisp. The 'album' part of the collection still has a couple of tracks that are missing lead vocals/segues, but aside from that it's staggering how close to completion this album was - the more complete cuts especially highlighting just how much of a shame it was that Brian Wilson was unable to stick with the project for at least another couple of months or so. There's one or two moments that obviously needed more than a bit of work, though - the version of 'I'm In Great Shape' here is terrible, IMO.

Haven't listened to the additional tracks, but this is certainly something I will be buying. For me, this is not a case of preferring this edition of Smile to Brian Wilson's Smile: I'm honestly glad that both exist. I like the more "finished" nature of Brian Wilson's Smile, whereas this edition of Smile still is very fragmented but the versions of the more complete tracks obviously piss on Brian Wilson's solo versions from a great height. Owning both = the best of both worlds.

So how does this compare to the Purple Chick Reconstruction of Smile? I'm like AKM, steadfastly refusing the download so as not to spoil the unwrapping. But the assumption here is the sound fidelity of the official release will at least improve upon that of the fan compilations.

I wouldn't assume that this was close to completion just because it sounds close to the 2004 version - the 2004 version is what it is because it was made up of the pieces that existed at the time

I wouldn't assume that this was close to completion just because it sounds close to the 2004 version - the 2004 version is what it is because it was made up of the pieces that existed at the time

― iatee, Saturday, October 29, 2011 11:40 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark

Yes, but the 2004 version also features bits of music, lyrics and segues that don't feature as part of the original Smile sessions, so it really isn't literally just made up of 'the pieces that existed at the time'. There may have been different bits of music, different lyrics and different segues written if work had resumed on the album and the album could have turned out a million different ways if it had been completed in the '60s, that's true. However, when it comes to this particular project I'm not one for big 'what ifs...' because it only over-complicates what is already a very complicated and labyrinth project - therefore I can only deal in the facts. And the fact of the matter is that, even though these recordings are in many many ways far superior to the 2004 version, the 2004 version is the finished article.

So how does this compare to the Purple Chick Reconstruction of Smile? I'm like AKM, steadfastly refusing the download so as not to spoil the unwrapping. But the assumption here is the sound fidelity of the official release will at least improve upon that of the fan compilations.

― doug watson, Saturday, October 29, 2011 11:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

The sound quality of these versions beats any good quality 'Smile' bootleg hands down - as for song order, I'm really the wrong person to ask because I think the ultimate song order is actually on the 2004 release. I've heard some of the extra tracks since, and while I admit I've heard some of these before on bootlegs, there are still a few that I haven't. You'll get no further spoilers from me though, I don't wanna ruin your unwrapping!

the 2004 version also features bits of music, lyrics and segues that don't feature as part of the original Smile sessions
other than the pirate-y narration part of "holidays" what else is there that isn't drawn directly from the original sessions? i'm not sure i could pick anything out.

also, urgh, getting excited to hear this!

The fact that 'Roll Plymouth Rock', 'In Blue Hawaii', 'Holidays' etc. actually have words to them?

There's a few, mostly just resolving keys and things for the next song, but they aren't what was laid down in '66/'67 - Song For Children, Child Is The Father Of The Man, Wind Chimes, In Blue Hawaii all have extra modulations and things. The lyrics of Child, SFC, Holidays, Hawaii, are all new, too. The start of Great shape is a reworked 'Cantina' section of H&V, the end of H&V is a quote from Surf's Up, but they're not '67 vintage ideas. And so on....

Box arrives tomorrow. eeee.

this makes it sound.. scary. in a good way.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/oct/27/beach-boys-smile-sessions-review

"Barnyard" and the cool amazing end to "You Are My Sunshine" my favorite parts so far. This is definitely something I want to buy on vinyl!

This is really amazing. There are a LOT of parts I hadn't heard before, cool xylophone bits and things. I've heard maybe a dozen or two bootlegs. This is a whole new Smile and it sounds so good!

I think what I might do is:

1. Obtain the LP version
2. 'find' the extra tracks.

My boxset arrived today, am currently listening to it and FREAKING OUT. The 1967 version of Surf's Up on disc one is seriously beautiful. Much looser and passionate than the usual Brian piano demo.

streaming over here http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/spinner#/3

sounds great.
one thing i still can't quite get behind is "Surf's Up" in the middle of the album. having good vibrations at the end is a clever way to resolve the album, but I always got the impression that Surf's Up was supposed to be the grand finale...am I just thinking that because it ends the Surf's Up album?

This is pretty nice so far. I like the sequencing.

Nah, I don't have a problem with it - although bear in mind you're still listening to an unfinished album, even if this does seem to be intended to be the "last word" on The Beach Boys' 'Smile'. It works well on the only finished version (the 2004 Brian Wilson release), as part of a conclusion of the 'second act'. I think B. Wilson always viewed 'Good Vibrations' as being a bit 'apart' from 'Smile', but I'm of the understanding that Capitol pushed to have it included on 'Smile' even back in the '60s. Therefore, it works for me as a kind of "bonus" at the end of the record proper. I'm even like this with the 2004 version - that album for me actually ends with 'In Blue Hawaii', with 'Good Vibrations' being a nice kind of extra thing.

If The Beach Boys had managed to complete 'Smile' in the '60s with all the music, lyrics, segues and song order that features on the 2004 version, it would have been amazing. Alas, they didn't. So what we're left with is an incomplete album that could have been great, and a complete album that will never live up to what fans demand from the work.

Before the 2004 Smile, without an official sequencing, many fans put it together in whatever order they thought sounded best. Mine started Our Prayer --> H&V ---> Wonderful --> Surf's Up.

Can't remember where I put Good Vibrations

beginning of side 2!

agreed on Surf's Up being at the end.

love brian falls into piano tbh

Before the 2004 Smile, without an official sequencing, many fans put it together in whatever order they thought sounded best. Mine started Our Prayer --> H&V ---> Wonderful --> Surf's Up.

― Everything else is secondary (Lee626), Monday, October 31, 2011 11:00 PM (54 seconds ago) Bookmark

I understand that, and I understand that speculation was part of the appeal of 'Smile' prior to the 2004 version coming out. The fact that there wasn't an official sequence, and fans were making their own sequences up from the material that had been 'made available' made the fans feel a little more involved with the album. I understand the appeal, I really do. However, since the 2004 version came out I've never really seen the point of speculating over track order. Even if the 'Smile' that came out in 2004 may not have been the 'Smile' that came out in the '60s - remember that time is linear, and there ain't no going back. The 2004 remains the only finished version out there, and therefore the last word (the only word!) in terms of song sequencing to me.

Of course, there's a lot of Beach Boys fans who have felt very 'involved' with 'Smile', through the speculation and the myth/making up their song sequences etc., for years and years, so I can imagine and understand why they'd find difficulty in "accepting" the 2004 version as the definitive version. The endless chase for the "perfect Smile" is what keeps them going as much as it drove B. Wilson mental in the '60s, and old habits die hard. I almost get the impression some people want 'Smile' to remain unfinished, because they enjoy the speculation. With that in mind, I fear it's not going to be long before people start convincing themselves that there's more "Smile" in the archives than what's presented on the box set. There's always going to be something.

I don't want it to come across as me having anything against that kind of thing, because I don't have anything against it at all. But as far as I'm concerned, the album was finished in 2004, and this box set is a glimpse into the far superior '60s version that could have been but never was.

I'm not sure I would've liked the "finished version" more than the fun and messy version that we're left with.

2004 album is a different thing, it doesn't use the original session material, and it doesn't feature the Beach Boys. calling it definitive is sorta weird.

2004 album is a different thing, it doesn't use the original session material, and it doesn't feature the Beach Boys. calling it definitive is sorta weird.

― clear as mud (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, October 31, 2011 11:17 PM (56 seconds ago) Bookmark

It doesn't use the original session material and it doesn't feature the Beach Boys, but it's still 'Smile', and the only finished version as far as I'm concerned. Like I've already said, the completed tracks they recorded in the '60s absolutely take a great steaming dump over the 2004 versions. Easily. Without question. But the '60s version of 'Smile' isn't finished.

5 CD version plus additional tracks (more or less the whole box set, I think) is on Spotify (UK).

But the '60s version of 'Smile' isn't finished.

well right, and it never will be. Dennis and Carl are dead.

this is just a language game at this point

the 60s version never was completed and never will be completed. they made something in 2004 from the pieces. they are clearly different things. beyong that 'smile' is whatever you want it to be.

beyong

I'm not sure I would've liked the "finished version" more than the fun and messy version that we're left with.

― polyphonic, Monday, October 31, 2011 11:16 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

When Brian Wilson scrapped the original 'Smile' in the '60s, and the 'Smile' sessions eventually got bootlegged - he had accidentally created one of the worlds first interactive albums. Therefore, there were people all over the world trying to make sense of the record in a way which its creator, at the time, couldn't. I imagine that was part of the appeal of 'Smile' as much as the music was, and I understand that appeal. I'll always find it a shame that the original '60s 'Smile' wasn't completed though, because I think the 2004 version is excellent and the '60s version could have been so much more. But that's not quite the way it turned out.

this is just a language game at this point

the 60s version never was completed and never will be completed. they made something in 2004 from the pieces. they are clearly different things. beyong that 'smile' is whatever you want it to be.

― iatee, Monday, October 31, 2011 11:28 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

It's not a language game.

To me it's this: the '60s version of 'Smile' would have been superior to the 2004 version of 'Smile' if it was completed. It wasn't. As such, there are individual moments which are breathtaking, but as an album it's no more than a title and a collection of recordings completed in varying degrees. The 2004 version of 'Smile', even if it isn't as good as the original 'Smile' would have been, is the only complete version of the album. The 2004 version of 'Smile' = 'Smile'. It just so happens that it came out as a Brian Wilson solo record instead of a Beach Boys record. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

this is so good

Isn't it!? The sound quality is great and the vocals and backing tracks that are there are just fantastic. The only one that sounds like it needs "re-doing" is 'I'm In Great Shape', IMO. Everything else could have been used in the '60s version that never was.

okay in your head there is this thing 'smile' and one thing 'achieved smileness' and thus 'became smile' when really, like I said, there are fragments of a 60s album and a 2004 brian wilson solo album that pieced together those fragments into a more finished work. there is no 'smile' crown that either wears, they are just things...that happened.

> The only one that sounds like it needs "re-doing" is 'I'm In Great Shape', IMO.

I've never heard a good version of "I'm In Great Shape". Is there one?

Yeah I remember reading for a long time that Smile was abandoned after being about 75% complete. Seems more like 90% to me.

okay in your head there is this thing 'smile' and one thing 'achieved smileness' and thus 'became smile' when really, like I said, there are fragments of a 60s album and a 2004 brian wilson solo album that pieced together those fragments into a more finished work. there is no 'smile' crown that either wears, they are just things...that happened.

― iatee, Monday, October 31, 2011 11:57 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

In my CD rack there is a complete, finished album called 'Smile' which Brian Wilson brought out in 2004, which uses all material intended for a '60s Beach Boys album which didn't get finished. I don't really need to reach into my head to come to that conclusion. When the creator of an album, regardless of his mental state, releases a final version of a product, I tend to treat it as such.

BW's mental state is an extremely important part of deeming it the "final version" of the Smile product, no?

True. In the sense that he wasn't well enough to complete the '60s version, but he was well enough to make the 2004 version.

Wow...

Sure, he's not the sharp young buck he was during the '60s, but y'know... he was well enough to perform both 'Pet Sounds' and 'Smile' to live audiences, and well enough to make the 2004 'Smile' and make further records after that. Unless what it is you're really saying is that anyone with the merest hint of a mental illness shouldn't be trusted, which is incredibly patronising. Sure, Brian Wilson has historically received some shoddy mental health treatment over the years, but medical science and awareness of mental illness had increased dramatically by the time he made the 2004 'Smile'. Therefore, he would have been receiving, and I assume still be receiving the right treatment for his ailments under the supervision of a specialist that knows what he or she is doing. If Brian Wilson were of any danger to himself or others, the last thing he would have been doing in recent years is performing live concerts and making records.

The question isn't about whether he's a danger to himself or others, it's whether he was in full control of his artistic faculties in 2003-2004 - both physically and mentally. Personally, I find his vocals problematic and the overall sound weak in Smile 04, but there is room to disagree on that. The trickier issue is determining how decades of mental illness and drug abuse have affected his day-to-day life and the extent to which he was "in control" of the Smile 04 sessions. When I have seen him perform live (twice), I got the distinct sense that he was simply along for the ride. And certainly, 1967 Brian would not have released a record in which he failed to hit the high notes - as he did multiple times in Smile 04.

So yes, I'll take a partially complete Smile sessions with the Beach Boys and Brian at their artistic and performance peak over the 2004 version that has a whole other set of imperfections and raises a whole other set of difficult, painful questions. I'm not sure how that is 'patronising' or mistrustful of people with mental illness. After all, Brian has exhibited signs of mental illness for the vast majority of his musical career. Anyone who feels that someone "with the merest hint of a mental illness shouldn't be trusted" should also question Brian's music in 1965.

The question isn't about whether he's a danger to himself or others, it's whether he was in full control of his artistic faculties in 2003-2004 - both physically and mentally. Personally, I find his vocals problematic and the overall sound weak in Smile 04, but there is room to disagree on that.

Most of the 'new' bits on the 2004 'Smile' were lyrics, which Van Dyke Parks was very much involved with on the 2004 'Smile'. As for the other new bits, the resolutions and the segues: they work. The 2004 'Smile' actually flows very well from start to finish and doesn't sound disjointed at all as far as I'm concerned - something that I honestly couldn't say about what's left of the '60s 'Smile'. Then there's the sound of the record: it sounds fine. I honestly cannot fault the production of the record, and The Wondermints (as much as they're no Wrecking Crew) do such a great job and are so faithful to the original tapes that it's honestly hard to tell the difference in places. Therefore, I can't fault the 'artistic faculties' of anyone involved in the 2004 recording.

The one thing I do agree with you on is the vocals, but y'know - time can take its toll on the voice just as much as excesses - and Brian was 61 years old when he was putting together the 2004 'Smile', rather than the 25 year old young buck that he was when he attempted (and failed) to make it the first time around, so I'm quite willing to give him a pass on that. The Beach Boys in the '60s were one of THE finest, if not THE finest vocal harmony groups ever, so it's a bit of a no-brainer that I'll prefer the vocals on the '60s 'Smile' compared to the 2004 'Smile'. It's such a shame, then, that vocals, especially lead vocals, are one of the things what are missing from what's left of the '60s 'Smile', because as I've already said, the completed tracks on the '60s 'Smile' piss all over the 2004 version.

However, the '60s record, as imperfect as it is, isn't finished. While the 2004 version, equally as imperfect as it is, IS finished.

The only way to contest your final point is to argue that Brian wasn't mentally capable of "finishing" the project, and that's not a case I can make. On that note, damn US Tuesday release dates!

I was incredibly excited that Brian finished Smile in 2004 -- it's not something I return to that much but the vocals are really the only thing that disappoint in any meaningful way.

I wonder if the Beach Boys would ever consent to a mash-up of the original tapes and the re-recorded material.

There's no getting around that Brian's voice has deteriorated since 1967, but I can't attribute that in any way to "mental illness". Look how long it took others to put together the new Smile release even when the material had already been recorded. Not that mental instability makes for bad records anyway (I don't think anyone in prime mental fitness could have dreamed up "Busy Doin' Nothin'" or the entirety of The Beach Boys Love You, and I wouldn't want to be without either). BW's recent records - one of Gerswhin works, and the new one of Disney songs, seem like he's calling the shots - this is obviously the music that influenced him from the get-go ("Surfer Girl" was inspired by "When I Wish Upon A Star"). I saw him on the Smile tour, and though he was at times propped up by his backing band, the same was even more true of Elvis in the '70s and I didn't hear anyone blaming it on mental illness.

I take it nobody here is buying the statement in the press release above blaming the Smile project being shelved primarily on the Capitol/Brother lawsuit....

I'm looking forward to reading plenty about this in the coming week. Hope some of you post some killer links.

Beach boys noob here but that extended Good Vibrations is amazing; just having that extra 30 seconds or so of such a famous track is 0_o. i'm presuming it's already very familiar to BB heads but i had no idea of it's existence until late last night.

The slivers I heard were similar or the same as the GV bonus sessions included on the 5 disc Good Vibrations box set isuued about 12 years ago, be forewarned I haven't heard it all yet

The problem with this is going to be over-familiarity. Rather than being released with a momentous bang, we've already been exposed to countless bootlegs, Brian Wilson concerts, Van Dyke Parks interviews and documentaries. It's a tired old album, and it's never been released.

You've already been exposed to countless bootlegs, Brian Wilson concerts, Van Dyke Parks interviews and documentaries

No, you've already been exposed to countless bootlegs, Brian Wilson concerts, Van Dyke Parks interviews and documentaries

I'd rather have enjoyed the bootlegs and Brian Wilson concerts for 8 years instead of having had to wait for the magical moment (tonight!) when I open the box set. And of course, without the groundswell of interest in the Smile project all these years that was generated and sustained by the bootlegs, leaks and documentaries, the box set may never have seen the light of day.

For that matter, the album wouldn't have been finished either. There is no doubt in my mind that it was the Wondermints who carbon copied those arrangements for the 2004 album.

Isn't it safe to say Brian's 2004 tracklisting was influenced by the mp3s Darian brought to Brian?

Also, WOW!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asmWlyiccMI

BTW, I'm in awe of some of the bits here, and that's despite all the bootlegs I've pieced together and the 2004 version.

i'm not gonna get too wrapped up in "definitive" arguments about Smile -- seems to me that after all these years, that's not the point. the whole experience is just a beautiful jigsaw puzzle. this new box is another (huge) piece.

I've been looking for a link for a while, it was posted in one of these threads I think. Some blog where the guy interviewed the audio engineer or something, and was doing a series on the SMiLE sessions. Any links?

this one? http://www.iconfetch.com/great-music-interviews/2011-shows/406-mark-linett-beach-boys-smile-interview.html

great interview!

sounds like, as i suspected, the 2004 is the template for this...never thought about the fact that this version never could have been done in 67 for the simple fact that doing a 3 sided vinyl record never would have flown in the record biz

I am buying the 9cd box after work today, whoop whooooop.

9cd?
i've read a lot about the smile sessions over the years, and while there are many many reasons the album didn't come out, i wonder if one of the big ones was the piecemeal method of recording that wilson had gotten into. today it'd be a lot easier to mix n match all of those disparate bits of music, but i can see how you'd just get overwhelmed back in 66 with trying to fit it all together.

http://www.amazon.com/Smile-Sessions-Box-Set/dp/B004RFYEEC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320182489&sr=8-1

Number of discs: 9

Pardon me: discs not CDs.

oh i think they're just counting the 2 lp + singles ...

Box Set Content

- 5 CDs / 2LPs / 2 7" singles

xp!

today it'd be a lot easier to mix n match all of those disparate bits of music, but i can see how you'd just get overwhelmed back in 66 with trying to fit it all together.

yeah Linnett alludes to that in the interview. cutting all that shit together with a razor? gtfo

right, it just seems like the more you do, the further down the rabbit hole you go in terms of the editing you'd have to do.
pretty jealous of those of you getting the deluxe thing. don't think i can swing the $$ this month. OR CAN I.

i'm totally content w/the double LP

i honestly don't need to sort through all the outtakes and different bits and bobs...

after just saying i didn't like smile anymore, now i like it again :)

i want the bits! i want the bobs!

I want the packaging more than I even want the music, I think. It looks gorgeous.

yeah Linnett alludes to that in the interview. cutting all that shit together with a razor? gtfo

― clear as mud (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, November 1, 2011 9:53 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark

And if something doesn't work having to do it all over again. They must have had shitloads of back-up tapes just in case something went wrong. But christ, thinking of painstakingly editing all of that stuff together in the 'old way' gives me a migraine...

Background: i have never heard any Smile bootlegs

Q: is the stuff from the Smile sessions different from the songs that appeared on later BB LP's? iows were the songs re-recorded?

most (all?) of the smile stuff that showed up on BBs albums was fiddled with after the fact. don't think there's anything that was just straight up smile. maybe cabinessence is basically the same?

Smile sessions all sounds pretty new, compared with the previously released recordings and many bootleg releases as well!

The Beatles suck because there will never in a million years be a Revolver Sessions box set.

you don't think? i can maybe see them doing something like that, you know for the 50th anniversary? would prob be sgt pepper though.

Q: is the stuff from the Smile sessions different from the songs that appeared on later BB LP's

These versions make the album feel more like a song suite than individual tracks.

thx, seemingly the info on every subsequent album would contain a phrase like "this song was from the aborted smile sessions" and the song itself would sound out of place production and arrangement wise

sound quality on this is amazing!

iirc Cabinessence and Our Prayer were probably the closest to their original Smile form... stuff like Surf's Up and Cool, Cool Water were messed with

xp

y'all are kinda making me wish I had hundreds of dollars to blow on this....

Vegetables is a bit iffy but everything else sounds great. Surf's Up's timing is JUST a tad off, will need to compare to the Unsurpassed Masters 16 version. The vocal montage is like a more stoned version of the Pet Sounds session vocals and sliced up into digestible pieces. Amazing packaging, though the 7"s fell out while opening it and the H&V sleeve bent.

and I would be surprised if the Surf's Up demo on disc 1 isn't the best damn thing in the whole set.

the Beach Boys official facebook page asks for photos of bootlegs:

www.facebook.com/thebeachboys?sk=app_264044756974029

holy shit @ those hummed harmonies on the left channel a 7:05 on the track "Smile Backing Vocals Montage." I've heard that a million times in vega-tables but never really heard what they were doing there.

iirc Cabinessence and Our Prayer were probably the closest to their original Smile form... stuff like Surf's Up and Cool, Cool Water were messed with

xp

http://distilleryimage7.instagram.com/6e8f3b8204f311e19896123138142014_7.jpg

yessssss

The backing vocal harmonies are probably my favorite track on this that I've heard. There's one where one channel is saying "boys...and...girls...and...boys..." over and over again and it's amazing and I never had any idea that was in "Heroes and Villains".

Not a single copy of either version of this in sight at B3st Buy tonight. Asked for it at the counter and was told "online only". The sales for this thing are going to suck if they can't get it into the big chains. Approx 45,336 copies of both versions of that U2 thing though.

btw, the whole set is on spotify for those who haven't received their box yet.

I see that amazon.ca has exhausted all of their available copies. 1-3 months shipping now offered, feh

Canada: Wait ur turn 4 health care and Beach Boys.

True, that.

LOVE the pauses between the piano lines at the beginning of I'm In Great Shape, i dont think i've ever heard it that way in any of the bootlegs. took me off guard

Someone give me £130. Please?

listening to this on spotify this morning is really making me happy. SMILE!

Someone give me £130. Please?

Eat beans for a month?

surf's up solo demo is (i think) new to me -- and amazing. it's not the same one on the good vibrations box is it?

No, and it's not on any of the bootlegs either (at least not the ones that I have).

yeah, that's what i thought -- i haven't heard it on bootlegs. really nice version.

lol during the "fire" sessions, brian: "hey, man, listen just remember, there are no rules." cue woodblocks, slide whistles, dissonance.

Oh man...!

*gets knife, starts ripping under the sofa for loose change*

cue woodblocks, slide whistles, dissonance, Mike Love

man's son

"hey, man, listen just remember, there are no rules...except my rules." - Mike Love
http://s.dsimg.com/image/A-150-372789-1299106564.jpeg

listening to these sessions, i can imagine how the rest of the beach boys might be just like wtf are we doing here. all of these ridiculously complicated harmonies for songs that they hadn't even really heard in any stage of completion. starting to identify w/ mike love, u know?

totally, listen to the Cabinessence vocals-only segments. That doesn't mean they were right though...

mike love syndrome

This is the only version of it I can find, but I loved this bit of Walk Hard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTKqDqdfEBA

haw, i should probably see that movie ... did they get Van Dyke Parks to do the arrangement? really does sound like him in bits.

it is interesting though -- even with the "you feel the acid yet" bits and the stories of Wilson going nuts, he sounds pretty assured/together in these session tapes.

That bit is LOL. It's there in the Beatles Anthology 2, also. During the "Mr. Kite" sessions you hear someone ask if acid has been put in the tea yet, or something like that.

which version of the lyrics do they use on Good Vibrations? Weren't the lyrics on the 2004 version different?

I was struck by how LITTLE new stuff there is in the final mix - though not all that surprising if you have waded through the Unsurpassed Masters stuff.

listened to the double LP this morning. great quality vinyl, mastering, etc

man this sounds fantastic

i will never listen to the 2004 brian wilson presents smile ever again

yeah, i like the 2004 smile, but this pretty much kills it dead dead dead.

i should get this

I still like the song sequencing on the 2004 version - the way that it all flows together to form a complete whole. I like listening to stuff like 'Child Is The Father Of The Man' with the lyrics added too.

isn't the song sequence the same on this new one? (pretty much, though they call some segues by different titles and pull them out of the main songs)

Nah. 'I'm In Great Shape' comes much earlier on this new Beach Boys version!

douglas wolk interviews the producers http://www.emusic.com/listen/#/music-news/interview/the-smile-sessions-the-story-behind-the-box/

Curious to know what bootleg:

Yeah, there are a couple of missing tapes — we had to pull some early “Heroes and Villains” mixdown pieces from a bootleg

i need to know- does it really light up?

It does, I boinked mine by accident and it lit up!

Also, has anybody seen this clip before?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI2EyfF3kQQ

holy shit!

Now THAT is impressive!

A Teenage Symphony to GODDAMN!

He's a bit out of tune but nice effort.

Dude has olympic standard musicians autism up the wazoo, even changed his shirt for each clip.

I doubt I'm gonna shell out for this, can someone shed some light on what the following tracks are...?

18. Tune X (Carl Wilson) 3/3/67 - 3/31/67 [SMILE ADDITIONAL SESSIONS]
19. I Don't Know (Dennis Wilson) 1/12/67 [SMILE ADDITIONAL SESSIONS]
21. Teeter Totter Love (Jasper Dailey) 1/25/67 & 2/9/67 [SMILE ADDITIONAL SESSIONS]
22. Psycodelic Sounds - Underwater Chant 11/4/66 (Bonus Track)

tune x is a great little instrumental w/ strings. sounds a little more pet sounds than smile.
i don't know is another instrumental. some cool fuzz guitar (bass?). not sure if B. Wilson is involved here.

these appear to be the only things I haven't heard or otherwise come across before...

yeah, not essential or anything but kinda cool.

My Barnes & Noble isn't carrying this either.

who the hell is Jasper Dailey btw

Yeah, struck out there too myself. Going to have to break down and order from Amazon.

(xpost)

i've got business near a couple of indie stores on Friday, so i'll check then. this is ridiculous tho.

Jasper Dailey was a photog who took a lot of the studio photos of the BBs during this period. "Teeter Totter Love" is probably the worst thing on this set!

The 2 CD set is in the Amazon top 10 (with the box set around #20) .... ridiculous that they're not prominently featured at big retailers. I'm going shopping tonight & will look.

cutting tape with a razor is madness. couldn't they have just made a copy of the original reel and if they made a mistake oh hey we've got a backup right here no problem

#tapesolutions

or at least used the copy to practice on

#moretapesolutions

disappointed the Beach Boys never sought my advise tbh

I'm sure they copied reels but that doesn't make the process any easier, just longer

also quality degrades every time you copy a reel etc

yes, all true

i used to record on 8track reel to reel (i still have it somewhere) and it was just frustration after frustration. invariably the tape would run out after everybody got warmed up

they would have been editing stereo or mono mixdowns, not the multitracks. I think it was probably more of a logistical nightmare than a technical impossibility. even just listening to and comparing different takes is a lot easier digitally than having to sort through dozens of reels recorded in multiple studios on different days.

For some reason I never noticed the similarity between Good Vibrations and the Sesame Street theme song before.

ok I haven't bought the shit out of this yet. I did listen on spotify though. the surf's up mix on this is lovely.

what are Mike Love's liner notes like...? the more I think about it, the more I suspect that this whole package came out because Mike filed that lawsuit about not getting any of the Smile 2004 money.

Mike Love's essay is an epic digression on why Country Love is in fact the greatest unreleased album of all time. He makes a convincing case.

I honestly read that as Courtney Love 3x before realizing...

picked up the 2xLP last night; and to echo already stated sentiments...the sound is pretty excellent. it feels & sounds essential.

Man, was thisclose to finally buying this today, but no dice.

enjoying the "good vibrations" sessions more than i thought i would -- that seemed like the least appealing part of the big box. but it is a fun listen!

Does the 2-CD set include a repro of the booklet that was intended to be included in the 1967 LP?

Got my box today. This is pretty much the coolest packaging ever. I didn't realize the shop was actually 3D. I thought that was just the $700 version. The regular version isn't supposed to light up though is it?

I wasn't really excited about this since, like many of you, I had various bootlegs and 2004 smile but got the 2CD anyway and... I haven't listened to anything else since !
reminds me how much I loved brian's music as a young guy who was starting to make songs... 15y ago !
there's not much that's completely new but somehow the spell works. the vocal sessions are great indeed.

When I have seen him perform live (twice), I got the distinct sense that he was simply along for the ride.

his engagement varies I think - when I saw him do That Lucky Old Sun in full before it came out, he seemed totally present and into it. Two days later, I saw a Pet Sounds plus hits show, and during the latter part the band were totally watching him the entire time, just waiting to cover when he got bored and checked out minute-to-minute.

Dropped by Barnes & Noble tonite, they had the 2 CD set but not the box or vinyl. I didn't buy it because it's nearly $10 less at Amazon (are they always that much less expensive? I haven't bought a CD in a long time). It still felt strange walking into a mainstream record store and seeing Smile on the shelf after a lifetime of official unavailability. Although I'll probably pass on the box set and stick with the 2CD for now, I still want to see what it looks like before I buy. I'll try an indie record store tomorrow and check availability and price.

I just learned there's a single-CD Smile available in the UK but not the US, wonder why?

I'm a bit confused by the different versions of this. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=the+beach+boys+smile&tag=googhydr-21&index=music&hvadid=9191650550&ref=pd_sl_63e0vyak14_b

...also, would you guys say the big box is really worth the extra dosh compared to the double-disc?

I would, the sessions are really incredible. Even stuff that has been booted, the quality is up and the bootleggers didn't get everything on those sessions. So there are new things in the old things, if that makes sense.

$10 less at Amazon (are they always that much less expensive?

Yes. B&N is notoriously expensive for the majority of their music. Not quite as bad as Borders and the sale prices can be decent, but especially box sets are always more expensive.

Expanding on my story from yesterday about why I didn't buy this, I called up a B3st Buy and asked if they had this. They said yep, they had three copies and would hold one for me. Got there and they had no clue what I was talking about and couldn't find any. So they called another nearby store, confirmed that they had several copies, and asked them to hold one for me. I drive 20 minutes over to that store. Same fucking thing. They can't find their copies anywhere. Two employees claimed they saw them, but they were nowhere in the store. I'll give the employees at both stores credit for being super helpful, but I was so fucking irritated.

Which leads me to this question, are you ilxors stealing all these copies from B3st Buy? ;)

About 75% of Worst Buys in my area are shown having the 2 CD set in stock - go to bestbuy.com -->store locator --> enter your postal code, then search for your album. It will show nearby store availability; click on "Check More Stores" for several more choices. You can reserve a copy at the store online. If they can't find it at the store, give them:
"SKU 3624733" (or "model: 276632) for the 2CD set ($24.99)
SKU 3624833, model: 276582 for the box set ($139.99) (two stores in my area have it in stock)
SKU 19570219 for the vinyl which is backordered 1-2 weeks locally ($25.98)

Trust me, the two stores I went to went through all of that, entering all that info into their computers. The issue was that the computers said they had multiple copies, but they couldn't find them anywhere.

aaah sucks.... maybe trying calling the stores in advance, ask for it (by SKU if necessary) and see if they'll hold a physical copy for you

Picked up the 2 CD set at Dusty Groove yesterday, and they had more. Amazon still has not gotten my LP pre-order to me.

aaah sucks.... maybe trying calling the stores in advance, ask for it (by SKU if necessary) and see if they'll hold a physical copy for you

This is exactly what I did and have verbal confirmation twice(!) that wuold hold a copy for me, so I'm guessing that they looked in the computer, saw the inventory listed, and promised to hold one without actually looking for it until I got there. Whatever, at this point I'm not spending my money there, I'll order it from Amazon.

There's an industrywide joke about how Best Buy is turning into Amazon's showroom, but it looks like they can't even manage that anymore if they can't find their own stock

The time I saw Brian Wilson do "Pet Sounds" with an orchestra he frankly may as well have not been there. Same with Arthur Lee/Love and "Forever Changes." And Brian WIlson in that "Smile" doc getting bullied into going forward with the project is one of the saddest things I've ever seen.

I do love how the death of record sales is finally getting all these people off their ass and into the archives: Springsteen, "Smile," remastered Smiths, expanded Pink Floyd ...

kind of cool interview w/ one of the behind the scenes wondermints dudes: www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2011/10/12/the-ad-interview-darian-sahanaja-behind-the-smile-sessions/
guess that previously unheard solo surf's up is from the wild honey sessions! interesting. i would love to hear a whole record of brian during this era playing solo ...

Anyone seen this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lei1FFjb4k

ha, yeah. kind of awkward, but charming too. i want to skype w/ VDP!

Amen.

I interviewed him over the phone once. I maybe got to ask five questions, but he spent half an hour talking. Very easy to interview actually.

hope this smile stuff will get people to listen to VDP's new stuff -- it really is pretty stellar.
http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/2011/10/van-dyke-parks-on-wall-street.html
sounds on top of his game...haven't heard B. Wilson's new Disney album, but I'm fairly certain it can't touch VDP's recent work.

It doesn't touch very much at all. I was quite keen to hear it after the Gershwin album (quite liked it), but even the decent Disney songs are delivered really blandly.

so the box is worth the bucks ? I find it kinda expensive (since I don't care for the LPS and the singles) but I love the 2CD so much that I start to hesitate.
I love "you're welcome" after "good vibrations". for me it's a perfect ending for the album.
the "GV" sessions in the 2CD are identical to those of the pet sounds sessions, right ?

Good interview, particularly when you consider Sean O'Hagan was set to collaborate with the real Beach Boys in the late '90s.

I really wish O'Hagen and Darian can get together and pull some strings for a final Brian outing, at some point.

Listening to this now on Spotify. First impression, I'm not sure the demo of "Surf's Up" is as revelatory as I was expecting. I mean, the solo piano version of it is amazing, and if you're really wanting to hear him perform it live, the version from the Bernstein special is pretty great. Also, the version of "Surf's Up w the Brian vocal spliced on to the orchestral backing track feels a little funny, but that may just be familiarity...

Must listen more...

Ok, feel the same about the spliced "Barnyard" demo onto the backing track. It's not that I don't appreciate hearing these things together, but they kind of feel like mp3 mashups to my ears...

And Brian WIlson in that "Smile" doc getting bullied into going forward with the project is one of the saddest things I've ever seen.

Which Smile doc is this?

re: that surf's up demo, i just love that piano sound. song feels much more lived in than the other solo versions, some nice little pauses, vocal inflections. don't know if it's different enough to be "revelatory" but I think it's great.

I didn't realize Sean O'Hagan was such an old dude!

Just picked up the 2 CD set from Best Buy (they claimed to have the box set online, but it wasn't in the store), and just opening it now. Nicer packaging than I expected - no annoying jewel box, rather a cardboard single-disc sleeve with the front and rear cover intended for the original LP, photos of the studio tape boxes on the 2nd CD cover (whoever labelled those old tapes couldn't spell), correct period labels, a 36-page booklet with lyrics, a cardstock poster, and a little "Smile" button. I would have liked the original LP booklet reproduced to full CD-size pages rather than (mostly) as thumbnails though.

I'll listen to it as soon as I get myself to a decent CD player...

I didn't realize Sean O'Hagan was such an old dude!

― Moodles, Saturday, November 5, 2011 9:05 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

he's been around a while -- microdisney made their first recordings in the early 80s.

I don't think he's that old. He just looks like shit. I'd guess he's like 45-46.

microdisney formed in 1980 - 31 years ago! def not while he was 14.

in an interview he said late-teens w/r/t microdisney so I guess he's prob about 50

Well I went for the 2CD edition, I guess I'll have to find the 'other' CD tracks 'somewhere'...

...

Audio interview with Brian 1968

"Ever since I blew my mind everything has just been so groovy"

cool. he doesn't sound very crazy tbh, sounds pretty relaxed and together.

in an interview he said late-teens w/r/t microdisney so I guess he's prob about 50

Pretty sure he was a lot older than that. Certainly looked it.

He sounds like David Lynch w all the meditation stuff! They should do an album together.

link is broken...?

http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=6313

I love young Brian's talking voice.

dude sounded with it, completely engaged and enthusiastic.

this giant box set really is fantastic.

huh, never knew that the vocal refrain in Fall Breaks and Back To Winter was from the Fire sessions. So many strange details in this box.

Well, the melody is anyway. Were the vox actually recorded then?

I suspect the Smiley Smile vocals were re-recorded. Fall Breaks and Back To Winter is a good deal slower than the Fire track...

one thing about this - it is REALLY heavy on the instrumental stuff, kinda wish there were more vocal outtakes. The 8-minute vocal montage track is great, just wish there was more.

soooo, i got this! just now digging into it. had listened a bit on spotify, but not too much.
beginning to be convinced that the first disc's version of the album really *is* the definitive version. or whatever, the best version.

I wish I liked the actual BB version on disc 1 of the Smile box as much as the 2004 BW version. But sorry, the latter is the only complete version out there, while the former is still what-might-have-been and sounds it. As you would expect from a compilation of unfinished tapes, it never stays long enough within the realm of the fully realized. I think I still expected it to somehow cohere like the excerpts we've long heard don't, but it gains less from the new sequencing and the addition of previously unrel. bits and pieces than one might hope. And I can't un-hear 2004 either, which benefits markedly from stereo sound, finely orchestrated segues, a full set of lyrics, fleshed-out backing vocal arrangements, etc. I can't be alone on this, can I? Do BW's vocal deterioration and a collective pining for the genuine artifact (whatever its deficiencies) really detract that much from Smile '04?

i dunno, i like the BW version, but i do think that there's a particular magic to the sound of the 1966-67 recordings. the big rooms, the orchestras, the beach boys' vocals themselves, it all coheres for me in a way that the BW version doesn't. no matter how much wilson and his collaborators tried to re-create the sound of the original sessions, there are just some things that are going to be impossible. i might be guilty of "pining for the genuine artifact", I don't know.

For me the 2011 version is much better than the 2004 BW version. Not even close.

gotta say that the " heroes & villains" disc is a lot more entertaining than i thought it would be. just so much fun stuff.

the "Vege-Tables" demo sounds like a Sgt Pepper outtake---I don't think it's just the Paul connection that's giving the vibe, either, but more the music hall piano + the sound effects, like a "Good Morning Good Morning". But Smile was started before Sgt. Pepper, so I dunno the line of influence, if any.

ok, back to falling inside a piano now, brb

I can't stand the mashup of "I'm In Great Shape/Barnyard"'s demos and backing tracks. It sounds like some cut-rate thing off the Internet.

Been listening to the thing on Spotify. Somewhat surprisingly I find some of the sessions to be hypnotic -- particularly all the "I'm In Great Shape" variations, with the mallets melting off into tape echo feedback. Thing is a total studio clinic -- arrangement, performance, mixing for depth of field. And it has this classic Brian line: "The overtones on that celeste are just so uncool."

So, serious question: how is the Mike Love essay? I ask bc, like it or not, Mike is a big part of the Smile story (plus, he wasn't *totally* wrong). And forty-plus years is a long time.

Love's essay is fine, he seems pretty honest about still not really feeling the psychedelia of the lyrics. talks about how neat "good vibrations" is.
i'm really enjoying the session stuff too, just such fun sounds coming out. all edited together in highly listenable fashion. dig the "child is the father" sessions where the trumpet player suggests the mute sound that ends up on the finished track. really interesting to hear how together and serious wilson sounds when directing the musicians -- one expects him to be this rambling stoner, but he seems to have a hold on everything that's going on. seems that the sessions themselves really weren't the thing that caused Smile to remain unreleased -- it was just editing it all together that was too much for him. too many possibilities.