Brian Wilson Presents Smile

File:Beachboys smile cover.jpg

Frank Holmes' original 1967 cover artwork for SMiLE

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) was was intended to follow up (and surpass) their influential 1966 album Pet Sounds, but was never completed in its original form. In an event unique in popular music history, the project was resurrected in 2003 and a newly recorded version was released by Beach Boys composer and leader Brian Wilson in 2004. During the 37 years since its cancellation, 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

Towards the end of the sessions for 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 became the Beach Boys' biggest ever hit, the single "Good Vibrations", which went to #1 in both Britain and the USA. The most expensive and complex pop recording made up to that time, it still stands as a milestone in recording history.

Around the same time, Brian began to create an ambitious new work. In a famous interview, he dubbed the project "a teenage symphony to God and laughter". His plan was to take his work on 'Pet Sounds to a new level, creating an album-length suite of specially-written songs that were both thematically and musically linked, and which would be recorded using the unusual sounds and innovative production techniques that had made "Good Vibrations" so successful.

In light of the work's recent completion as a three-movement suite, and given that Wilson had at the time referred to "Good Vibrations" as a 'pocket symphony', it is probable that SMiLE was indeed planned to mimic the three-movement, theme-and-variations structure of the traditional symphonic form, albeit filtered through the sensibilities of late Sixties popular music and culture, and Brian's own musical and lyrical preoccupations. His declared aim for the work was to create what he described as having a "white spiritual sound".

It is not unreasonable to describe SMiLE as pop art, and its postmodernist genre-blending approach mixed Wilson's own remarkable compositions with snippets of significant songs of yesteryear, such as "You Are My Sunshine", Johnny Mercer's jazz standard "I Wanna Be Around" and "Gee" by noted '50s doo-wop group The Crows, as well as 'samples' from other pop-culture reference points, such as the Woody Woodpecker theme.

Brian's experiments with LSD were undoubtedly a significant influence on the texture and structure of the work, and one of the strongest intellectual influences on his thinking at this time was his new friend Loren Schwartz, who is said to have introduced Brian to both marijuana and LSD. SMiLE's cut up structure was certainly unique for the time in mainstream music and also suggests a familarity with the use of chance operations in making art -- an approach which author Ian MacDonald argues was also exerting a strong influence on The Beatles at this time. Writer Bill Tobelman argues that SMiLE is filled with coded references to Brian's life and his recent LSD experiences, and that it was heavily influenced by his interest in Zen philosophy, notably the way that Zen teaching uses the paradoxical riddle, the koan, and absurd humour, to liberate the mind from preconceptions.

Crucial to the writing of the Smile songs was Brian's February 1966 meeting and collaboration with session musician, composer and lyricist Van Dyke Parks. When introduced by mutual friends Terry Melcher and Loren Schwartz, Brian was so impressed with Parks' articulate manner that he immediately invited him to write lyrics for the new project, tentatively titled Dumb Angel. Wilson and Parks quickly formed a close working relationship and between July and September of 1966 they co-wrote a number of major songs including "Surf's Up", "Heroes And Villains", "Wonderful", "Cabinessence," and "Wind Chimes".

Brian originally asked Van Dyke to write lyrics for "Good Vibrations" but Parks declined, preferring not to walk in on a project that was already underway -- although he did suggest the use of the cello section in the song's chorus. Wilson and Parks' first collaboration was "Heroes And Villains" -- it is reported that when Brian played him the song's descending melody line, Van Dyke devised the opening line on the spot. Their most acclaimed work, "Surf's Up", was written in a single night.

Studio techniques

Brian Wilson 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. Using the new Ampex eight-track recorders, Wilson assembled tracks of remarkable 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 recording approach was a refinement of Spector's methods, and was based on the quasi-symphonic effects that could be created 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 calibre of his musicians that most of the Pet Sounds backing tracks were recorded live in a single take (often within one or two takes). These backings were then dubbed down onto one track of an eight-track recorder, and while some of the fine detail in the arrangments was often covered by the group's distictive harmony vocals, Wilson's talent for arranging ensured that they interacted perfectly with the vocal tracks. 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 Brian typically had 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 very 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.

Brian also began to experiment widely with unusual instruments to add color. Pet Sounds is notable for its varied instrumentation including electric and acoustic bass harmonica, theremin, accordion, koto, piccolo, flute, brass, strings, tympani, keyboards, guitars and percussion. He was also beginning to experiment with sound effects, such as the evocative closing track 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 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.

On "Good Vibrations" Brian began to experiment with radical editing of 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 took this "modular" approach for the songs on SMiLE. Working mainly at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles (Phil Spector's favourite studio), Brian began a long and complex series of sessions in late 1966 that continued until early 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 transitions between tracks.

In spite of the availability of stereo recording, Wilson always made his final mixes in mono (as did rival producer Phil Spector). He did so for several reasons -- he personally felt that mono mixing provided more sonic control over what the listener heard, minimising the vagaries of speaker placement and sound system quality. It was also motivated by the knowledge that pop radio broadcast in mono, and most domestic and car radios and record players were monophonic. Another, more personal reason for Wilson's preference was that he is deaf in one ear. It is often claimed that this was the result of a childhood injury to his eardrum inflicted by a blow from his 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.

But 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 "deliver the goods", creatively speaking. Phil Spector routinely used top-notch 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. By comparison, Brian (who was totally self-taught) had co-written, arranged, engineered and produced almost all the Beach Boys music -- a task which, from Pet Sounds onwards he had accomplished in the face of increasing resistance from within the band.

The growing conflict over SMiLE within the Beach Boys, which reached a peak during December 1966, was arguably the single most significant reason why SMiLE was repeatedly postponed and finally scrapped. 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 increasing antagonism between Mike Love and both Brian and Van Dyke -- although Bruce Johnston has since commented that there was wider opposition to the project, and specifically named Capitol Records and Brian's father, Murry Wilson.

Love had written lyrics for most of the Beach Boys songs prior to Pet Sounds and was understandably likely to have been resentlful of Parks' role as Brian's new writing partner; he was probably also concerned about the consequent loss of income from royalties. But he is on records as saying that he was fearful that the band risked losing their audience if they tinkered with their 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". On a more practical level, it is also likely that Love also had a real concern that Brian's new music was far too complex for the group to be able to perform live.

Love -- who had written the final lyrics to "Good Vibrations" -- became th most 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 poetic phrase "Over and over, the crow cries uncover the cornfield". Another and perhaps more serious dispute took place during the sessions on December 15. Although recording and mixing continued for some time after this, it seems likely that the group's growing opposition to the new material was a major factor 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. The final blow came some time in early March 1967 when, after gradually distancing himself from Brian and the group, Van Dyke Parks finally quit the project.

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' then 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. MMrrr.

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 results was the intriguing but less-than-groundbreaking Smiley Smile. The two fully produced remnants from the Smile sessions ("Good Vibrations" and "Heroes And Villains") stood out against the gentle, folksy sound of the other recordings. Much of the album was recorded at Wilson's new home studio in his Bel Air house, and it was cut mostly with the other Beach Boys rather than his usual team of session players.

The ghost of Smile is present throughout Smiley Smile. "Heroes & Villains" opens Side 1, followed by a new 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; the first section is beleived to be a variation of an unreleased SMiLE piece, and 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 A-B arrangement; "Wonderful" 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.

Compared to the originals, the simplicity of the backing tracks on Smiley Smile makes it likely that this was an attempt to scale down the music of SMiLE and place it 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.

A notable recording from this period (unreleased at the time) was "Can't Wait Too Long", which 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".

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 also solved a basic logistical problem. They had relied almost entirely on Brian for their songs, but as he became increasingly withdrawn and unproductive, the other Beach Boys were 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.

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 Pet Sounds collaborator Tony Asher'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; it is possible that this session was intended as a 'warm-up session' for the horn players, to familiarise them with the expressive flourishes Brian wanted on songs such as "Heroes And Villains")

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