Brian Wilson's "Smile"

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

I just got this, and all I can say is that it's truly amazing.

Everybody knows Brian Wilson is a true musical genius. Everybody also knows that he is seriously mentally damaged as a result of years of drug abuse combined with a traumatic childhood, and possibly because of his problems with Capitol records.

In my opinion, this CD reflects both his genius, and his mental problems, but I'd say the ration is 90% genius, and 10% the ravings of a disturbed mind.

I must admit that I'm bothered by the fact that he changed Heros and Villains and Good Vibrations, and I am so used to hearing the original recordings by the Beach Boys that these new versions seem wrong to me, but it may be that these versions will be judged superior to the orignals by others who are more objective.

This is not a 100% perfect recording, but the 90% that is right is absolutely brilliant. This is truly a work of art.

I'm gpoing to be listening to this CD A LOT on the next few weeks.

I wish all the tapes of the original recordings by the Beach Boys had survived. (Some did and the songs were released on albums like 20-20, Freinds, and Surf's Up. Others did not. Wilson is alleged to have burned some of them.)
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Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

I got a copy of this DVD right after reading the latest Biography. I also thought it was brilliant. Can you imagine the furor over this if it would have been released in 1967 or 8 as planned? Mercy me!!! Whoa!

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Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Hey Mike! Where can I get a copy of Wild Honey?I can't find it anywhere...I like the way they did "I was Made To Love Her"
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scott murray · From: Asheville, NC

those versions of "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes & Villains" are actually closer to Brian's original vision for those songs.

The lyrics on GV were written by Brian back in '66, and H&V is the original extended version that he had planned for SMiLE.

I highly recommend the Beach Boys box set '30 Years of Good Vibrations'... it contains a lot of the original SMiLE recordings (including the extended H&V and some of the early sessions for GV with Brian's original lyrics.)

Brian Wilson was given a Kennedy Center Honor earlier this month. The show airs on Dec. 26.

I am such a fan, and it's just great to see this renaissance Brian is enjoying with concert tours, the SMiLE CD/DVD, and all of the accolades he has been receiving. He deserves it.

'Wild Honey' is available on a "two-fer" CD along with 'Smiley Smile'... it's one of my favorite Beach Boy albums, along with 'Friends' which followed it and features Al Vescovo's wonderful steel guitar instrumental "Diamond Head".

You can find 'Friends' on CD coupled with '20/20'
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Joe Butcher · From: Dallas,Texas, USA

While I love Brian Wilson and have always dug the Pet Sounds/Smile era of the Beach Boys, I think alot of people dont realize that Van Dyke Parks was largely responsible. He more than co-wrote "Heores and Vilians", "Surfs Up" and a few others. His influence was not appreciated by the other band members, who eventually ran him off......classic case of a "lack of vision", but what else is new?

If you listen to Parks' 1968 masterpeice "Song Cycle" I think you can hear the evidence for yourself. (Red Rhodes played steel on one track too!)

After "Song Cycle", Parks started venturing into calypso music for some strange reason, which is where I lost interest.

Marc Jenkins · From: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

I find the versions on Smile to be somewhat sterile in comparison to the older recordings. Of course, Smile is complete song-wise, but there is something else missing to me! I'd call it 'balls.'

There is a bootleg? CD out called Unsurpassed Masters Volume 16 (1966-67) that is a mostly-complete compilation.

I find myself choosing the bootleg everytime.

Mark Eaton · Posted 22 Dec 2007 12:14 pm

As with a few other threads here on the Forum in the past, it's good to know there are fellow "Wilsonophiles" here.

Brian Wilson, even with all of his well-documented problems, remains my ultimate musical hero.

I took my son to see the final performance of Pet Sounds (in its entirety) earlier this year at Oakland's Paramount Theater.

And then over a year previous to that, we saw Smile performed at the San Francisco Opera House.

Pretty cool stuff.
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Mark

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Those Capitol 2 for 1 Beach Boys CDs are terrific!

A few years ago I was being unwillingly dragged around Downtown Disney in central FL when I happened on a section of Beach Boys' CDs - there it was!!! What I'd been waiting for since forever - a CD with 'Surf's Up' and 'Sunflower' on it! I eventually got them all, of course.

Wilson is probably my favourite pop-musician. I can't explain it, but the delicacy of his arrangements simply transports me, and I often find myself with tears in my eyes as I listen.

In case you haven't heard it, listen to Linda Ronstadt's 'Adios' - the song is written by Jimmy Webb, and Brian Wilson has arranged (and sung) the vocal backing. It's exquisite!

Even 'though I'm transplanted from London, I always far preferred the Beach Boys to the Beatles. Maybe it's an unrealistic comparison, but they both flourished at the same time.

I'm off to listen to 'Don't Worry, Baby'....

Smile

RR

Craig Stock · From: Westfield, NJ USA

Mark, I also took my 11 yr old son and 9 year old daughter to sse the final Pet Sounds in Concert at the Beacon Theatre in NYC. Al Jardine was there that night also, it was magical. I also saw Smile done live in it' sentirety and PS with an orchestra.

The Brian Wilson All Star Tribute at Radio City was also a highlight.

Brian's voice has gotten better over the times I have seen him and he relies on Jeff Foskett less often than the first time I saw him.

In my opinion Brian's band sounds exactly like the records and stays very true to the original recordings.

Mike P., The Smile DVD has a great documentary on the making of the finally released version of Pet Sounds and Brian finally being able to overcome the demons that had plagued him with the project. Much credit goes to Darien Sahanaja, who really helped Brian piece together along with Van Dyke of what they had originally planned. The DVD is really worth it.

What I liked were the missing songs that had not been heard on most of the bootlegs and albums before the final product was released.
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scott murray · From: Asheville, NC

Van Dyke is an amazing songwriter for sure. 'Orange Crate Art' is one of my favorites... Parks wrote all the songs and Brian sang and arranged all the vocals.

but I've never heard Van Dyke claim any credit for the SMiLE music, only the lyrics. In fact, he has gone out of his way to say that Brian wrote all the music. He does say that he suggested certain things like the cellos playing triplets on "Good Vibrations" and also that he basically wrote "Sail On Sailor" a few years later.

It's so great that Brian and Van Dyke were able to get together and finish SMiLE after all those years. And it got Brian his first Grammy... what took so long?
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Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

I was in Palm Springs, Ca. in October. Brian's upcoming show was selling for almost $300.00 a seat!! I think it was $294.00 or $296.00. I couldn't believe it. But then some of those people down there don't think twice about paying $500.00 or more for a motel room.
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Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

Brian Wilson is a genius. The Beach Boys lyrics are bottled up in their time period forever but the music and arranging is timeless.

Jason Odd · From: Stawell, Victoria, Australia

Just glad Leonardo Da vinci didn't get the chance to re-do his artworks.. "just how they were meant to be."

John Lennon was obsessed with re-recording 'Strawberry Fields,' George Lucas has butchered most of his old films, even Coppola totally screwed Apocalypse Now with the Redux version, Zappa twiddled with song lengths and drum tracks on his CD reissues of some of his 60s albums.. and this Smile revisionism...

Exactly why is it a good idea that a 60-something artist is attempting to recreate something he envisioned in his early 20s, something he was unable to actually finish at his peak and may not have even existed in his mind as a finished project?

When will this horror stop?

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

Read the latest biography. It's a tragic story. His failure to complete this in the '60's was not an artistic failure. It was a personal failure. He paid a very high price for that failure. It's a story of a fall and redemption that is very inspiring to many of us. The guy is not just a genius musician. He is a man who has overcome the loss of THE DEFINING WORK of his life. I don't know what else to say. It is said that the measure of a great prize fighter is when he can get up after being knocked down and still have the potential to win the fight. Brian Wilson was about as far down as you can go. Now he's flying high again. And I'm glad....glad. Do you hear?
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Jason Odd · From: Stawell, Victoria, Australia

Therein lies my problem with the whole process, ie: artist who is unable to seperate from 'finished' product, it's bad mojo.

I know the story, I get his motivation, for my ten cents.. like the other examples I cited, not cool.
Not trying to shoot out the lights, just never been a big fan of "what ifs.." kinda struck me as the moronic opposite of critical analysis.

Mark Eaton · Posted 24 Dec 2007 12:10 pm

Jason - I'm assuming that you have actually listened to the Smile album, and aren't just commenting on the general concept of older artists attempting to recapture past glories?

What made the live concert of Smile work, is that Brian Wilson, along with bandleader Jeffrey Foskett, has put together one of the finest music groups I have ever seen or heard.

It was a profound musical experience.

But even greater, for me, and my 19 year old son as well, was seeing the final performance of Pet Sounds earlier this year (this night in Oakland literally was the final performance, and Al Jardine was there as well. There was supposed to be a performance a couple nights later in Malibu, but for some reason that venue was cancelled).

I think the finished Smile CD is great (but there is some quirky stuff on there), but it isn't in the same league as Pet Sounds. I think Pet Sounds has become part of my DNA!

During that concert, the standing ovation at the conclusion of "God Only Knows" went on for almost five minutes before the band resumed playing!

As far as Beach Boys lyrics, sure - a lot of the songs about surfing and hot rods are obviously dated - but many of the songs that aren't centered around those themes are timeless.
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Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

Yes, Jason, I get what you're saying. And you're right, of course. I just can't help rooting for the guy. And I see him as having eventually got his project, his life and his career on track. His accomplishment is definitely greatly diminished by his earlier failure and the subsequent delay in its completion. But it is a great personal triumph. And it's more music than most people can do today.
Brian Wilson has overcome great personal difficulties and professional failure for which as I said he had to pay a very high price. I think part of the reason I'm so sympathetic is that I went through an extremely bad period myself. Like Brian, I recovered. But it would have been much better to do things right the FIRST time.
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Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

I loved the Beach Boys' "Smiley Smile" LP when I was a teenager. I like it better than the new "Smile" CD. Maybe it's just that the LP arrangements are etched in stone in my head. They seem, to me, to be more of a finished product, where the CD tends to ramble.
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Jason Stillwell · From: Caddo, OK, USA

I really liked the new vocals on the "Child Is the Father of Man" coda to Surf's Up.

b0b, now I gotta go dig out my Smiley Smile/Wild Honey two-fer and drive my wife crazy.

Fall Breaks, and Back to Winter...

Jason Odd · From: Stawell, Victoria, Australia

Okay, I gotta say that you guys have a positive approach, we should be rooting for Brian, I really can't help my strong reservations in this sort of process, ..not that I'm being particuarly reserved in my opinion.

My thing is, most of these guys worked in a commercial medium, Da vinci, Coppola, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Wilson, you name it.. they were making product for a price, in most of those cases they had to compromise, which is great.

Brian's was probably the toughest, mostly brought about by his own persona and the brutal demands of a 1960s record contract (2 albums a year!) mixed with the demands of working with family and a band waiting for the next record, a process which they had been partially excluded from, but had become very reliant on. A double edged sword of tension right there.

Hendrix, in interviews of the period often complained or lamented the lost version of Purple Haze, he claimed that the song had been trimmed quite a bit, and that the original had more lines.
I'd argue that the format of shortening the song actually helped trim it to a fantastic little rock number, a classic.

His later recordings, the ones cut in his own studio, seem to suffer from endless overlayered guitars and overproduction to the point where the guts of the song were washed right out.

Anyway, I guess where I'm going is.. thus, Coppola, I assume, really believes that the studio and running time demands, were why he trimmed his film, why else put in 40 plus minutes of footage.
All the trimmed scenes seem forced and kind of trite, but here's the visionary adding all this material.
Like Brain, I salute his need to bring some closure, still reckon the universe could have done without it though.

The original version by the Beach Boys might not actually exist, I mean, if you don't fully record something, then it exists in a state of flow, in Brian's head in fragments.

Brian's head has changed, so it's not really a representation of what he was doing at the time.
It's not like there was a sequenced album with all finished songs, so uh.. unlike some of the press that has come out during this album's release.. it's not really Smile, it's re-creating a Smile that he thinks should have existed.

But, this is all moot really, because, when it comes to the crunch.. I don't like the new album. Sorry, there it is..I said it.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

This isn't new, is it? Seems to me that I've had it for two or three years. I just want to be sure we're talking about the same thing.

Mark Eaton · Posted 24 Dec 2007 9:22 pm

Yeah - it's been out ballpark 2 1/2 years.
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Brian Herder · From: Philadelphia, Pa. USA

I'd say that it's kind of insulting to BW, Van Dyke Parks, Darian Sahanaja and the rest of the band to say that this record is not SMiLE, or to compare it to remasters, "directors cuts" etc. The original project was scrapped, but was pretty much all there in pieces. I first heard snippets of the new CD online before it was available and wasn't sure what to think. I saw SMiLE live the next week and it was by far and away, better than any live musical performance I had seen/heard before or since.... including Pet Sounds (with full orch) and the Pet Sounds last year with Al Jardine. I like the sound of the Beach Boys voices doing the originals, but I also like the new version because it is a fully realized piece... I like the positive vibe and ownership that comes from a project where everyone is on board and not fighting against it. I have different "pieced together" versions of an "original Smile", but I prefer the REAL Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE.. I can't even listen to any of those tunes now without wanting them to segue into the next one.
As for Brian Wilson's mental state, he looks very uncomfortable in situations such as the Kennedy Center Honors, but check out the making of Smile DVD. He's a different person in the studio, to say the least.

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

Well, as far as I'm concerned, the best thing about the Beachboys was the way their voices sounded together. There was only one real musician in the bunch, to wit, Brian. The band Brian is working with now is much better in terms of talent, skill and motivation. The results couldn't help but turn out far better.
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