Brian Wilson Presents Smile

File:Beachboys smile cover.jpg

Capitol Records had already created artwork for the album cover when the project collapsed

Perhaps the most famous unreleased rock and roll album of all time, The Beach Boys' Smile (sometimes spelled with the idiosyncratic capitalization SMiLE, derived from the lettering on the original cover art). It was intended as the follow-up to their influential 1966 album Pet Sounds, but was never completed in its original form. In an event unique in popular music history, the album was resurrected 37 years later; a re-recorded version of the work was released by Beach Boys composer and leader Brian Wilson in 2004. During the interim period, Smile acquired a considerable mystique, and bootlegged recordings were sometimes traded. Many of the tracks that were originally recorded for Smile were eventually placed on subsequent albums.

The conception of Smile

During the making of Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson started work on a new song, based on a statement by his mother, Audree Wilson, that dogs could feel "vibrations" from people. The result was the Beach Boys single "Good Vibrations", a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The most expensive and complex pop recording made up to that time, it still stands as a milestone in recording history.

Subsequently, Wilson began to construct what he famously dubbed his "teenage symphony to God" -- an entire album featuring a suite of specially written songs that were both thematically and musically linked, and which would be recorded using the kind of unusual sounds and innovative production techniques that had made "Good Vibrations" so successful.

Crucial to the writing of the Smile songs was Brian's meeting and collaboration with session musician and lyricist Van Dyke Parks in February 1966. They met through Brian's friends Terry Melcher and Loren Schwarz and Brian was so impressed with Parks' articulate manner that he invited him to write lyrics for the next Beach Boys LP, which at the time was tentatively named Dumb Angel. Wilson and Parks quickly formed a close working relationship and between July and Spetember of 1966 they co-wrote a number of major songs including "Surf's Up", "Wonderful", "Cabinessence," and "Wind Chimes".

Brian originally asked Van Dyke to write lyrics for "Good Vibrations" but he declined, perferring not to come in on a project that was already underway. The song "Heroes And Villains" was their first collaboration -- when Brian played him the song's descending melody line, Van Dyke reportedly devised the opening line on the spot. Their most acclaimed collaboration, "Surf's Up", was written in one night.

Studio techniques

With "Good Vibrations," Wilson began to experiment with radically editing his work. Now, instead of taping each backing track as a complete performance, he began to break the arrangments into sections, recording multiple takes of each section. He also recorded the same section at several different studios, to exploit the unique sonic characteristics or special effects available in each. He would then edit these different segments together to create a composite whole that combined the best features of production and performance.

Wilson intended to use the same approach for the songs on the new project. Working mainly at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles (which was Phil Spector's favourite studio), Brian began a long and complex series of recordings in mid-1966 that continued through most of the first quarter of 1967. He also frequently used Sunset Sound Studios on Sunset Boulevard, Western Recorders and at Capitol's own studio. Much of Smile was recorded in this piecemeal manner; each of the finished tracks is a heavily-edited composite recording and many of the unreleased Smile fragments are alternate versions of backing tracks, alternate sections of these tracks, or passages intended to provide a transition between tracks.

Wilson had already developed his "classic" production method over several years, bringing it to a high degree of perfection with the recording of Pet Sounds during 1965 and 1966. Armed with new Ampex eight-track recorders, Wilson had assembled tracks of unrivaled complexity and technical brilliance using a team of crack L.A. session musicians sometimes known as "The Wrecking Crew" (a name they were given retroactively in drummer Hal Blaine's autobiography). Brian's approach to recording the basic backing tracks was a refinement of Spector's methods, and it was built on the quasi-smyphonic effect that could be obtained by using multiples of instruments such as bass, keyboards, and guitars in a large rock ensemble, and then blending the sound with echo and reverberation.

It is a mark both of Brian's production skills and the high caliber of his musicians that most of the Pet Sounds backing tracks were recorded live in a single take, and often within one or two takes only. These backings were then dubbed down onto one track of an eight-track recorder, and although some of the fine detail in the arrangments was often covered by the group's distictive harmony vocals, Wilson's natural talent for arranging ensured that they interacted perfectly with the vocal tracks, often to the surprise of the musicians who performed the backings. The remaining seven tracks were used for the Beach Boys' vocals. These were usually recorded on to one or two tracks, with another track used for lead vocals, and then doubled or even tripled--"California Girls," for example, features all six band members triple-tracked.

Although Wilson often had entire arrangments worked out in his head (these were usually written out in a shorthand form for the other players by session saxophonist Julius Wechter), surviving tapes of his recording sessions show that he was remarkably open to input from his musicians, took advice and suggestions from them, and even incorporated apparent "mistakes" if they provided a useful or interesting alternative.

He also began to experiment widely with unusual instruments to add color--Pet Sounds is notable for its remarkable variety of instrumentation, including bass harmonica, theremin, accordion, koto, piccolo, flute, brass, strings, tympani, and a wide range of keyboards, guitars and percussion. He was also beginning to experiment with sound effects (an important element of Smile), as evidenced by the evocative closing section of the album, which combines the sound of a train thundering thorugh a crossing with the barking of Brian's dogs, Banana and Louie. One especially amusing fragment of studio discussion from the sessions features Brian asking his (obviously astonished) engineer Chuck Britz whether it would be possible to bring a horse into the studio.

In spite of the availability of complex multitrack recording, Wilson always mixed the final version of his recordings in mono (as did rival producer Phil Spector). He did this for several reasons; Wilson personally felt that mono mixing provided more sonic control over the result that the listener heard, regardless of the vagaries of speaker placement and sound system quality. It was also motivated by the knowledge that radio and TV broadcast in mono, and most domestic and car radios and record players were monophonic. Another, more personal reason for Wilson's preference for mono was the fact that he was deaf in one ear. It is often claimed that this was the result of childhood damage to his eardrum inflicted by a blow from his violent father Murry Wilson, but both father and son have repeatedly denied this.

The Recordings

Recording for the new LP began in August 1966 with the songs "Wonderful" and Windchimes". By September 1966, when "Good Vibrations" was released, the project had been renamedSmile, and with the new single finally out and racing up the charts, sessions for the new album began in earnest, and continued until mid-December.

In early December Brian gave Capitol Records a handwritten list of twelve tracks planned for Smile, for use on the LP back cover. This list is obviously crucial evidence of Brian's intentions for the piece, but, since the track listing (as printed) carried the standard advisory "see label for correct playing order", it can only be taken as confirming Brian's choice of songs at that time, and not their exact sequence.

Capitol began producion on a lavish gatefold cover with a 12-page booklet. Cover artwork was commissioned from Frank Holmes, a friend of Van Dyke Parks, and colour photographs of the group were taken by Guy Webster. 466,000 covers and 419,000 booklets were printed by early January, promotional materials were sent to record distributors and dealers and ads were placed in Billboard and teenage magazines including Teen Set.

Some time in December, Brian informed Capitol that SMiLE would not be ready that month, but he advised that ihe would deliver it probably "prior to January 15". Capitol scheduled January 13, 1967 as the release date for the next single, "Heroes And Villains"; in the event, this deadline was not met, and the single finally appeared until July, after SMiLE had been cancelled. It would appear that it was at this point that resistance to SMiLE from within the group brought recording to halt, the result of a difficult vocal tracking session for "Surf's Up" on December 15.

Brian's conception of the work evidently changed around this time, possibly as a result of pressure from within the band. Early in 1967 work was halted on all the SMiLE tracks except for "Heroes And Villains" and "Vega-Tables", with the latter briefly mooted as a replacement single for the unfinished "Heroes And Villains".

Although renowned for his efficiency in the studio, Brian clearly struggled for several months to complete "Heroes And Villains", but despite more than twenty sessions between December 1966 and March 1967, he was unable to complete it to his satisfaction. He composed and recorded several new songs including '"With Me Tonight'", "I Love to Say Dada", and an untitled instrumental, as well as a cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Little Red Book". Carl and Dennis also recorded and produced tracks on their own.

There is much debate over how many of the major songs intended for SMiLE were at or near completion when the project was abandoned, and speculation about the intended nature of the work has long been hampered by Brian's extreme reluctance to disucss it, and by the fact that a number of tapes have evidently disappeared.

It is generally agreed that the major songs slated for the album were "Heroes & Villains", "Good Vibrations", "Cabinessence", "Wonderful", "Wind Chimes", "Vega-Tables", "Our Prayer" and "Surf's Up"; there was also said to be a planned "Elemental Suite" featuring instrumental segments representing the traditional four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

"Good Vibrations" had of course already been released. It has been reported that Brian would have preferred to leave it off the album, but Capitol insisted on its inclusion (as indicated by the prominent use of the song's title on the SMiLE cover art). However, this claim has to be viewed both in the light of the release of 'SMiLE 2004' -- which includes "Good VIbrations" as the closing track -- and because of the song's close musical connections to the rest of SMiLE.

One of the most often talked-about tracks is "Heroes & Villains", a semi-autobiographical piece couched as a Wild West fantasy and featuring some of Parks's most intriguing lyrics. It is arguably the keystone for the musical structure of almost all the SMiLE songs, and like "Good Vibrations" it was edited together from several discrete sections. It is highly probable that SMiLE as a whole was intended as an extension of this principle -- that is, a continuous suite, in which the major songs would be linked by a number of smaller pieces that served as variations on the major themes. It is indisutable that all the SMiLE pieces are closely related, harmonically and melodically.

Like most of the SMiLE songs,"Heroes And Villains" is based around a simple alternating two-chord pattern. It encapsulates Brian's musical approach for the project, which was to create songs that were (for the most part) structurally very simple but which were overlaid with extremely complex and often highly chromatic vocal and instrumental arrangements, and capped by Parks' remarkable lyrics.

The considerable time and effort that Brian devoted to "Heroes And Villains" is indicative of its importance, both as a single and as part of SMiLE -- sessions for the various versions and sections extended over more than a year, from May 1966 to July 1967. It now appears that the song underwent many changes during its production and that several important elements, including the so-called "Cantina scene" and the segment commonly known as "Bicycle Rider" were taken out of the finished single and album versions, although they were included in other unreleased mixes. A single version of the song was released in mid-1967, but rumours persist of a far longer edit, and it is known that several alternate versions were put together. The Beach Boys frequently included "Bicycle Rider" when performing the song in concert (Brian Wilson included many more of these sections in performances of the song in 2002, as did Beach Boy Al Jardine's spin-off group Beach Boys Family & Friends).

"Surf's Up", the album's centerpiece, was written in a single night. It was certainly fully composed by November 1966, when Brian was filmed performing the song on piano for a CBS News special on popular music, hosted by Leonard Bernstein. An apparently complete backing track for the first (2:20) section was recorded and mixed in November 1966, but vocals and other overdubs were still to be added, and work on the middle and closing sections was either never undertaken, or never finished. It is notable that the flourishes played on muted trumpet in the verses of "Surf's Up" are almost identical to the familar 'laughing' refrain of the theme for the cartoon series Woody Woodpecker. This musical reference recurs in the instrumental piece "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter" on Smiley Smile, (which was in fact subtitled "Woody Woodpecker Symphony").

A full-length version of "Surf's Up" was eventually assembled by Carl Wilson and released on the 1971 Surf's Up LP. This added new group vocals over the original 1967 backing track of the first section. The second and third sections were built almost entirely on Brian's stunning demo recording of the song, taped one night in late 1966 with only Brian's double-tracked voice and solo piano. This basic track was then augmented with new overdubs made in 1970. The closing third section used the demo recording, combined with new harmony overdubs. The 1971 version concluded with another partially-completed 1967 song segment, "Child Is Father Of The Man"; this version was either newly recorded, or had new ovedubs added to an existing track. The addition of this segment as the coda was apparently made at Brian's suggestion, but he is reported to have had no other involvement in creating this version of the song.

At least four other key SMiLE tracks -- "Our Prayer", "Cabinessence", "Wonderful" and "Windchimes" -- were substantially complete. "Cabinessence" needed to be edited together and was missing a lead vocal, and "Our Prayer" needed the addition of some vocal 'sweetening'. They were finished by the rest of the band -- primarily Carl and Dennis Wilson -- and were included on the 20/20 album in 1968. The SMiLE versions of "Wonderful" and "Windchimes" remained unreleased until 1990, but they were obviously more or less complete, and probably only required some final overdubbing.

A significant number of other tracks, track segments, and many beautiful vocal and instrumental fragments (some only a few seconds long) were recorded, and most still exist in the Capitol archives, but their place in Wilson's final design for the album remains uncertain. Major fragments that have emerged over the years include the pieces known as "Barnyard", "Holidays", "Tones", "I'm in Great Shape", "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" (aka "Fire"), "I Ran" (aka "Look"), "The Old Master Painter", "You Are My Sunshine" and "George Fell into His French Horn".

Although Wilson produced few finished recordings in this period, session bassist Carol Kaye (who played on most of the major Beach Boys recordings) has stated that in her opinion the Smile album was in fact quite close to completion -- the major songs had evidently all been written, nearly all the constituent parts (except the later sections of "Surf's Up") had been recorded, and most of the recordings were either complete or ready to assemble, awaiting only final vocal ovedubs, editing and mixing.

The central question about SMiLE is whether Wilson and Parks had sequenced the songs and linking segments as they were being composed, or whether the final decision was to be made after the recordings were complete. It would appear that (apart from completing the unfinished tracks) Wilson's main task was deciding which of the many link segments he wanted to use, and how they would be sequenced.

However, this question must now be viewed in the light of the album's recent completion. The majority of the songs recorded in 1966-67 had either no vocals, or a guide vocal only. While many believed that the album was to have been in large part instrumental, it is now clear that this was never Wilson's intention.

It is significant that it is the vocals that are missing from many recordings, and it is not unreasonable to assume that the band's known opposition to the project explains why so many tracks remained thus unfinished.

The project collapses

The project started to encounter problems around the time that Brian recorded the basic track for the "Fire" section of the 'Elements Suite' on November 28, 1966. He was by then beginning to exhibit early signs of depression and paranoia and during or just after the "Fire" session he became irrationally concerned that the music was responsible for starting several fires in the neighborhood of the studio. For many years it was rumored that Brian had tried to burn the tapes of this session, but this is not true. He did however, abandon the "Fire" piece for good. It has also been noted in several accounts that Parks deliberately stayed away from the session (during which Brian encouraged the musicians to wear toy firmen's hats) and that he described Brian's behaviour as "regressive".

Brian's mental deterioration and eventual breakdown was the result of a complex web of causes. As Beach Boys chronicler Timothy White has noted, Brian came from a troubled family background; there was a family history of mental illness, including suicide; his father Murry, although apparently never formally diagnosed, showed unmistakable signs of suffering from bipolar disorder. Brian had a fraught relationship with his troubled and sometimes violent father -- all three Wilson boys would, by today's standards, most likely be considered victims of domestic abuse. Brian finally sacked Murry as the band's manager following a violent argument during a recording session in 1965; they were estranged for the rest of Murry's life and Brian did not attend his father's funeral in 1973.

There were other signs of his growing problems which went untreated at the time. Brian was forced to withdraw from touring in December 1964 -- nearly two years before The Beatles -- after suffering a terrifying anxiety attack during an airline flight. He also began to exhibit obsessive-compulsive traits -- he became intensely obsessed with The Ronettes' single "Be My Baby", and accordfing to his daughter Carnie Wilson, he played it repeatedly, every day for months on end. Brian also did himself no favors during this time -- he was reputedly smoking large amounts of marijuana and hashish during the Smile period, as well as using speed and experimenting with the powerful hallucinogen LSD.

Some time in early 1967, Brian was deeply affected by a viewing of the surreal and disturbing John Frankenheimer film thriller Seconds, starring Rock Hudson. In his increasingly vulnerable state, Brian convinved himself that the film's opening line "Good morning, Mr Wilson" -- and indeed the entire film -- somehow referred to him. He also apparently became obsessed with the notion that his rival/mentor Phil Spector was somehow trying to control, dominate or even kill him.

As well as Brian's mental problems, there were business and legal worries. These included Carl Wilson's call-up notice for the draft, and the group's contractual disputes with Capitol -- they were in dispute over royalty payments, as well as attempting to terminate their contract (a legacy of Murry's management) and establish their own label, Brother Records (predating The Beatles' Apple Records by a year or more).

Amidst his increasingly erratic behavior and his escalating use of drugs, Brian's mental condition began to become a concern for his friends, colleagues and family. Yet, although stories of his sometimes bizarre behavior have now become the stuff of legend, his session musicians have often stated that they never saw Brian behave in the studio with anything less than total professionalism.

It is arguable that the most significant reason why SMiLE was repeatedly postponed and eventually scrapped was the growing conflict over SMiLE within the Beach Boys, which evidently reached a peak during December 1966. It is believed that the December 6 session for "Cabinessence" was the scene of the legendary argument about the song's lyrics between Van Dyke and Mike Love, and matters evidently came to a head during the December 15 vocal sessions for "Sur'fs Up" and "Wonderful". The band was filmed by CBS during this session which, according to Jules Siegel, went "very badly". Later the same day, Brian recorded his now-legendary solo piano demo of "Surf's Up". Although there were a few more SMiLE sessions (on December 23, January 9 and January 23) work on the original tracks effectively stopped after December 15.

Brian was in a uniquely vulnerable creative position, compared to his major commercial rivals, and there is no doubt that he was under considerable pressure to compete. Spector routinely used professional songwriters and outside arrangers (as well as sharing most of the same session musicians). The Beatles boasted three world-class songwriters and could call on the vast experience and expertise of their classically trained producer-arranger George Martin. Brian (a totally self-taught musician) co-composed, arranged and produced all the Beach Boys music himself--a task which he accomplished in the face of increasing resistance from within the band.

It is arguable that the most significant reason why SMiLE was repeatedly postponed and eventually scrapped was this growing conflict over SMiLE within the Beach Boys, which reached a peak during December 1966. It is likely that the December 6 session for "Cabinessence" was the scene of the legendary argument about the song's lyrics between Van Dyke and Mike Love, and matters evidently came to a head during the December 15 vocal sessions for "Sur'fs Up" and "Wonderful". The band was filmed by CBS during this session which, according to Jules Siegel, went "very badly". Later the same day, Brian recorded his now-legendary solo piano demo of "Surf's Up". Although there were a few more SMiLE sessions (on December 23, January 9 and January 23) work on the original tracks effectively stopped after December 15.

The major source of conflict appears to have been the antagonism between Mike Love and both Brian and Van Dyke. Love -- who had written lyrics for most of the Beach Boys songs prior to Pet Sounds -- was probably resentlful of Parks' role as Brian's new writing partner, and was probably also concerned about the consequent loss of income from royalties. But he was also fearful of losing their audience by tinkering with the band's proven hit formula. Love became increasingly strident in his criticism of Wilson's experimentalism, which he is said to have derisively labelled as "Brian's ego music". It is also likely that Love was genuinely concerned that Brian's new music was too complex for the group to perform live.

Love -- who had written the lyrics to "Good Vibrations" after Parks turned the job down -- was a vocal critic of Parks' lyrics. The conflict reached a crisis point when Love vehemently expressed his dislike of Parks' lyrics during the infamous December 6, 1966 vocal recording session for "Cabinessence". Love reportedly denounced Parks' lyrics as "indecipherable", and famously harangued him over the meaning of the phrase "Over and over, the crow cries uncover the cornfield". Another and evidently more serious dispute took place during the sessions on December 15. Although recording and mixing continued for some time after this, it is clear that the group's opposition to the new material was a major factors in the eventual termination of the project.

Wilson continued to work on "Heroes & Villains", as well as other cues such as "Do You Like Worms" and "Vega-Tables"; he also taped numerous fragments that were probably intended to serve as musical links between the main songs. Through the first half of 1967 the album's release date was repeatedly postponed as Wilson tinkered with the recordings, experimenting with different takes and sounds, unable or unwilling to supply a completed version of the album.

Capitol evidently still hoped right up to the last that Smile might somehow appear, but on May 6, just weeks before the release of The Beatles' groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , the Beach Boys' press officer, Derek Taylor ruefully announced that the Smile project had been shelved and the album would not be released.

From famous to infamous

Following the failure of Smile, Brian Wilson retreated from the public eye, increasingly hampered by drug and mental health problems, but his legend grew and the Smile period came to be seen as the pivotal episode in his decline; Wilson would become tagged as one of the classic celebrity drug casualties of the rock era.

Had Smile been released as originally conceived, it might have been a dismal failure or it might have stood alongside Sgt. Pepper and Dylan's Blonde on Blonde as a landmark album that marked a turning point in rock history--but in its absence an almost magical aura grew up around the project and its legendary status was only heightened by Brian Wilson's tragic personal disintegration. By the beginning of the 1990s, Smile had earned its place as the most infamous unreleased album in the rock era and become a focal point for bootleg album makers and collectors.

Beach Boys fan sites on the Internet devoted themselves to discussion and analysis of the album; one such site attempted to reconstruct Wilson's original vision of the Smile album, including audio files of unreleased songs. The tracks were set in an order that had been carefully researched in what was thought to be closer to Wilson's intent. Eventually, those files were taken down.

Fallout and eventual releases

Despite SMiLE's cancellation, the group were still under contract to deliver an album to Capitol. So, over the months that followed, the Beach Boys re-recorded much of its music in drastically scaled-down arrangements. They released the results on the intriguing but less-than-groundbreaking replacement, Smiley Smile. The two fully produced remnants from the Smile sessions ("Good Vibrations" and "Heroes And Villains") stood out like proverbial sore thumb against the gentle, folksy character of the other recordings. Much of the album was recorded at Wilson's newly installed studio in his Bel Air home, and they were cut mostly with the other Beach Boys and without the aid of the session players on whom he usually relied.

The musical ghost of Smile is present throughout Smiley Smile. A version of "Heroes & Villains" opens Side 1, followed by a version of "Vega-Tables". "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter" is a folksy re-arrangement of the legendary "Fire" instrumental, interspersed with short breaks that quote the Woody Woodpecker theme. Although apparently not part of Smile, "She's Goin' Bald" is very much of a piece with Smile's humor, and the first section is beleived to be a variation of an unreleased SMiLE piece; it is also notable for its fairly blatant reference to LSD. "Little Pad" is clearly related to (or is a variant of) the Smile piece "I Love To Say Da-Da".

"Good Vibrations" opens Side 2, followed by "With Me Tonight", one of several products of Brian's interest in rounds and canons; "Wind Chimes" is a breathy, languid, harmonium-driven sketch of the original with a very slow tempo and liberal use of rubato; "Gettin' Hungry" is a loose AB arrangement; "Wonderful", like "Wind Chimes" is an almost whispered rendition of the original; "Whistle In" is another round, evidently one of numerous similar fragments and small pieces Brian composed at the time, including "You're Welcome", the B-side of the "Good Vibrations" single.

Compared to the originals, the extreme simplicity of the backing tracks on Smiley Smile makes it likely that these re-arrangements were an attempt to scale down the music of SMiLE to enable it to be within reach of the Beach Boys' actual abilities as live performers. The result is a group of songs that are unmistakbly linked to SMiLE, but which were at least feasible for the group to perform in concert.

Although the SMiLE songs were never released in their original form, they continued to exert a powerful influence on the Beach Boys' output over the next few years, and much of their later material was recorded in the shadow of the SMiLE legend.

One notable recording from this period (unreleased at the time) was "Can't Wait Too Long". According to David Leaf's liner notes for the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey 'twofer', the song was assembled from various sections recorded in late 1967, after the Smile sessions. But the entire sequence is clearly part of the general Smile milieu and is built around the two-chord alternating pattern and the rising-falling bass line from "Heroes And Villains".

"Mama Says", which closes the Wild Honey album, is clearly a variation of a SMiLE fragment that (it now appears) was intended as a section of "Vega-Tables".

Carl Wilson, who had initially been one of the album's detractors, became increasingly keen to bring as much of it to completion as possible, and tantalizing extracts from the Smile sessions, assembled by Carl, gradually surfaced on Beach Boys albums over the next few years, including Wild Honey. 20/20 (1968) included reworked versions of both "Our Prayer" and "Cabinessence"; Sunflower includes "Cool, Cool Water", which is an expanded and re-recorded version of the 'Water' section of the Smile Elements Suite; Surf's Up contained a version of that track.

The group's own re-assessment of the Smile recordings was one factor in this process, and the continuing interest of the media, the public and the record companies was also a strong influence. But their completion and release was also the solution to the basic logistical problem that confronted the band as Brian became increasingly withdrawn and unproductive. Having relied almost entirely on Brian for their songs, the other Beach Boys were now faced with the choice of either filling the gap with their own songs -- and it would be several years before Carl and Dennis began to hit their stride as a songwriters -- or to fall back on the SMiLE material, which as they well knew, was still eagerly awaited by fans.

As a result, The Beach Boys' albums from Smiley Smile on were decidedly mixed in quality. While Brian contributed several superb new songs to the various LPs, most of the tracks composed by the other band members were relatively speaking, of a much lower standard, and it is fair to say that, with some notable exceptions, the reworked SMiLE material stood head-and-shoulders above the other tracks on the Beach Boys LPs on which they appeared.

During the Seventies and Eighties Brian's physical and mental condition and his substance abuse problems worsened to such a degree that he is lucky to have survived, but his gradual recovery and re-emergence in the 1990s, sparked renewed worldwide interest in his oeuvre.

The interest of fans was piqued when a substantial collection of original Smile recordings were finally released on the 1993 box set Good Vibrations (compiled by Brian Wilson's engineer of choice, Mark Linett, although with no input from Brian himself). But Smile as a unified whole envisioned by Wilson and Parks remained unheard by the public at large.

Brian's return to the public eye was marked by the award-winning documentary film I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, in which he was equally lauded by his peers, including Graham Nash, and by younger musicians such as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth.

Wilson revisited the Smile theme and some of the album's most significant stylistic devices on "Rio Grande", the closing 8-minute suite which appeared on his 1988 solo debut Brian Wilson.

Smile resurrected

Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE
File:Brian-wilson-smile-cover.jpg
LP by Brian Wilson
Released	September 28, 2004
Recorded	April 13-17, 2004, at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California)
Genre	Rock
Length	47m 1s
Record label	Nonesuch
Producer	Brian Wilson
AMG	4.5 stars out of 5	link

On February 20, 2004, 37 years after it was conceived, a complete version of Smile was performed by Wilson along with his backing band, which includes members of The Wondermints, in a live performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London. This performance was made whole by the addition of either lost or newly-composed lyrics that filled the gaps left open by the original 1966-67 Beach Boys sessions. This show was followed by subsequent performances in Britain.

Recording of the new version of Smile began in April 2004 with his ten-piece touring band, augmented by a ten-piece string section and an acoustic bassist. The basic tracks were taped at Sunset Sound in just four days, with overdubbing and mixing continuing through April, May, and June.

On September 28, 2004, Brian Wilson released his newly recorded studio version of the Smile album, to critical praise. For the new version, Wilson, Wondermints leader Darian Sahanaja, woodwind player/string arranger Paul Mertens, and lyricist Van Dyke Parks based their arrangements on the original, unreleased Beach Boys tapes to give Smile a coherent and fresh, updated sound.

Interestingly, although Brian was reported to have only included "Good Vibrations" in the original Smile track listing at Capitol's insistence, a new version of the song--featuring Wilson's original lyrics, rather than the later Mike Love lyrics--was included as the closing track of the album.

The new Smile recently completed a U.S. tour, including its featured stop in San Francisco. A December 2004 Australian tour has also been scheduled.

The Showtime cable network released a documentary film about the making of Smile in the fall of 2004.

A DVD of a live version of the new Smile (shot in an L.A. studio) is slated for release in 2005.

Track listing

The songs that might have been

(based upon a handwritten note that Wilson gave to Capitol Records in 1967)

• "Do You Like Worms"
• "Wind Chimes"
• "Heroes and Villains"
• "Surf's Up"
• "Good Vibrations"
• "Cabin Essence"
• "Wonderful"
• "I'm in Great Shape"
• "Child Is Father of the Man"
• "The Elements"
• "Vega-Tables"
• "The Old Master Painter"

Other tracks and fragments from the sessions

• "Look"
• "Barnyard"
• "Holidays" (sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Tones" or "Tune X", which were actually different tracks recorded during the sessions)
• "He Gives Speeches" (which was later re-recorded as "She's Goin' Bald" for the Smiley Smile album)
• "You're Welcome"
• "George Fell into His French Horn" (a recording never intended for release, consisting of horn players talking into their instruments)

Suite 1: Americana

• "Our Prayer"
• "Gee"
• "Heroes and Villains"
• "Roll Plymouth Rock" (previously known as "Do You Like Worms?")
• "Barnyard"
• "The Old Master Painter"
• "You Are My Sunshine"
• "Cabin Essence"

Suite 2: Cycle of Life

• "Wonderful"
• "Song For Children" (previously known as "Look" or "Holidays")
• "Child Is Father of the Man"
• "Surf's Up"

Suite 3: The Elements

• "I'm in Great Shape"
• "I Wanna Be Around"
• "Workshop" (previously known as "Friday Night")
• "Vega-tables"
• "On A Holiday" (previously known as "Holidays", "Tones" or "Tune X")
• "Wind Chimes"
• "Mrs O'Leary's Cow" (previously known as "Fire" or "The Elements")
• "Water Chant"
• "Blue Hawaii" (previously known as "I Love to Say Da Da")
• "Our Prayer (reprise)"
• "Good Vibrations"

The set order for the 2004 re-recorded album

• "Our Prayer/Gee"
• "Heroes And Villains"
• "Roll Plymouth Rock"
• "Barnyard"
• "The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine"
• "Cabinessence"
• "Wonderful"
• "Song For Children"
• "Child Is Father Of The Man"
• "Surf's Up!"
• "I'm In Great Shape/I Wanna Be Around/Workshop"
• "Vega-Tables"
• "On A Holiday"
• "Wind Chimes"
• "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"
• "In Blue Hawaii" (medley consisting of "Water Chant", "I Love To Say Da-Da", and "Our Prayer (reprise)")
• "Good Vibrations"

Further reading

One of the principal sources of original information on Smile, and the basis for much of its legendary status, was Jules Siegel's article http://www.cafecancun.com/bookarts/wilson.htm "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God!" which appeared in the first issue of Cheetah Magazine in October 1967. Almost equally influential was Dominic Priore's 1987 book Look, Listen, Vibrate, Smile.

External links

• http://www.smilethealbum.com
• http://www.thesmileshop.net
• http://dumbangel.keenspace.com
• http://www.brianwilson.com
• http://www.vandykeparks.com