Top questions you'd like answered about SMiLE

[Jason]

No, it was LA.

[hypehat]

Alrighty then. I think my addled and confused brain lumped it in with the vaultdigging activities on KTSA

[SMiLE Brian]

No wonder Brian was so secretive about SMiLE for so long, it was to keep it safe from Bruce trying to finish it in the worst way possible.

[punkinhead]

Alrighty then. I think my addled and confused brain lumped it in with the vaultdigging activities on KTSA

I think you might be thinking of the vault digging for KTSA for Can't Wait Too Long.

[Mikie]

1.  What is the number one reason Brian Wilson abandoned SMiLE?
2.  Regarding the ‘Truck Drivin’ Man’ lyrics sung by Dennis on Cabinessence. Was that section originally heard very clearly (up front) in the song or was it later mixed down behind the "Who Ran The Iron Horse" lyrics by Carl and Desper for the released version on 20/20?
4.  Were the ‘cornucopia’ lyrics seriously considered for the original version of Vegetables?
5.  Was a Heroes & Villains single consisting of part 1 (A side) and part 2 (B side) seriously considered?
3.  Why in Hell weren't the 'Cantina' and 'Three Score and Five' sections used in the released version of 'Heroes & Villains'?
6.   If, according to Brian, 'SMiLE wasn't Beach Boys music', then what was Smiley Smile?
7.   Does Durrie Parks really posess SMiLE acetates?
8.   At the church, did Mike Love?  Was Roger Christian?  Who did Gary Usher?  Did Van Dyke Park?
9.   Why do fools fall in love?
10. What good is the dawn that grows into day?
10. What would we do without Bgas monitoring this thread for excessive questions?

[Jason]

6. What would we do without Bgas monitoring this thread for excessive questions?

We'd have world peace.

[Mikie]

Or whirled peas....

[bgas]

6. What would we do without Bgas monitoring this thread for excessive questions?

We'd have world peace.

Nah, it'd be just like it is now, one mod overly full of himself, and utter chaos

[Tilt Araiza]

Bruce mentions DYLW in a 1978 interview (for some reason I'm thinking it was conducted and/or published in Australia, but I could be wrong).  What adds an extra layer of interest is that he refers to it as "Roll Plymouth Rock" .

[Jason]

6. What would we do without Bgas monitoring this thread for excessive questions?

We'd have world peace.

Nah, it'd be just like it is now, one mod overly full of himself, and utter chaos

You got me confused with someone else, mate. 

[punkinhead]

Bruce mentions DYLW in a 1978 interview (for some reason I'm thinking it was conducted and/or published in Australia, but I could be wrong).  What adds an extra layer of interest is that he refers to it as "Roll Plymouth Rock" .

NO WAY!


I have a curiosity of what Smile material was working on and what was done to it between Smiley and before the GV Boxed set was put out.

Obvious evidence is what was put out on Smiley, the layers added on Our Prayer for 20/20, putting together Cabinessence for 20/20 (or was it already linked together?), the Water section from Blue Hawaii added to Cool Cool Water, Carl's vocal overdub for Surf's Up lead plus adding the ending vocals with additional lyrics with "Child tag"...then after that is when I'm puzzled...We know Carl and Stephen Desper worked on putting together a Smile mix in 72 (I believe), Bruce's DYLW comments in late 70s along with Denny's claim to have found the Fire tapes in another interview, possible overdubs for Can't Wait Too Long for KTSA (if you wanna consider that), and Mark Linnet's and/or Brian's work on the material in the late 80s....what was done? are any of the additions/work done to the songs/mixes kept on subsequent releases such as the two-fers, GV boxed set, Hawthorne CA, b00ts, etc.

[Tilt Araiza]

A Google for the Bruce quote brought me right back to the Smiley Board

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,6867.0.html

And I was kinda wrong about him calling DYLW "Roll Plymouth Rock"

[Jason]

putting together Cabinessence for 20/20 (or was it already linked together?)

Acetates from November 1966 have the verse/chorus/verse/chorus/tag sequence with all backing vocals and lead vocals on the tag only; I still have doubts about reports of Carl's lead vocal and Dennis' buried "truck drivin' man" vocals being recorded in 1968 as the latter exists on 1966 session tapes and Steve Desper has also noted that Carl's lead vocal was from 1966.

We know Carl and Stephen Desper worked on putting together a Smile mix in 72 (I believe)

It was reported to be released in 1972, but the work performed consisted of making safety copies of "damaged" reels; many of these safety copies formed the basis for a lot of the bootlegs.

Bruce's DYLW comments in late 70s along with Denny's claim to have found the Fire tapes in another interview

Don't know what was overdubbed onto Worms in 1978-79 under Bruce's supervision, and no tapes have come to light. Dennis' claim of finding the Mrs. O'Leary's Cow tapes came around 1978 or so; allegedly Dennis was the source for the tape given to Byron Preiss around the same time (folks around Preiss deny this), which also became bootleg fodder - the tape contained a Worms acetate from December 1966 (with different vocals on the "Hawaiian tag"), two tracks of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow running 2:20 (with a very obvious edit around 1:55 and no "fire effects") and 1:37 (with "fire effects"), a rough edit of usable Can't Wait Too Long fragments running 6:29, The Old Master Painter (no vocals), and the "false Barnyard" fade from Heroes and Villains (not "Barnshine").

possible overdubs for Can't Wait Too Long for KTSA (if you wanna consider that)

Not Smile, but apparently some work was done in 1979.

Mark Linnet's and/or Brian's work on the material in the late 80s....what was done?

Going through available tapes and making rough edits; these ended up on the Vigotone 2-CD set and were later booted from a copy of Mark's actual tape; these included Cool Cool Water and a different edit of Can't Wait Too Long (this did not appear on the Vigotone set).

are any of the additions/work done to the songs/mixes kept on subsequent releases such as the two-fers, GV boxed set, Hawthorne CA, b00ts, etc.

On the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey two-fer, the Cantina version of Heroes and Villains was sourced from a safety copy of the mix; Brian had destroyed or erased the master copy long beforehand. As far as any of the "additions", if you mean in terms of Worms in 1978-79, as far as I know they have not been aired in any form, including on official releases.

[Jonas]

6. What would we do without Bgas monitoring this thread for excessive questions?

We'd have world peace.

Nah, it'd be just like it is now, one mod overly full of himself, and utter chaos

You got me confused with someone else, mate. 

I'll literally slap the sh*t out of both of you.

Someone quick, put that in the form of a question.

[Jason]

6. What would we do without Bgas monitoring this thread for excessive questions?

We'd have world peace.

Nah, it'd be just like it is now, one mod overly full of himself, and utter chaos

You got me confused with someone else, mate. 

I'll literally slap the feces out of both of you.

Someone quick, put that in the form of a question.

What will we do without Joe threatening to slap the feces out of us?

[Jonas]

6. What would we do without Bgas monitoring this thread for excessive questions?

We'd have world peace.

Nah, it'd be just like it is now, one mod overly full of himself, and utter chaos

You got me confused with someone else, mate. 

I'll literally slap the feces out of both of you.

Someone quick, put that in the form of a question.

What will we do without Joe threatening to slap the feces out of us?

We dance!

[Jason]

6. What would we do without Bgas monitoring this thread for excessive questions?

We'd have world peace.

Nah, it'd be just like it is now, one mod overly full of himself, and utter chaos

You got me confused with someone else, mate. 

I'll literally slap the feces out of both of you.

Someone quick, put that in the form of a question.

What will we do without Joe threatening to slap the feces out of us?

We dance!

The feces-slapping dance (Python geeks should get the reference)!

[Chris Moise]

Exactly who wrote the Smile "song list" that was given to Capitol.  It obviously isn't your handwriting?

I don't see how it is relevant considering the titles on the list came from the producer of the album--some guy named Brian Wilson  

Was "You're Welcome" EVER intended for the Smile album??

Plenty of evidence shows it was not intended for the LP.

Was Smile to be individual tracks of a normal album length - or were there "link" tracks and "everything but the kitchen sink" to press the bounds of a 1967 album length?

Without doubt Smile was going to be an album comprised of 12 distinct, separate tracks with no segues, links or crossfades (save for within "The Elements"). There is no compelling argument to be made contrary to this.

[Chris Moise]

13. It's generally presumed that "Can't Wait Too Long" isn't a SMiLE track yet...one version seems to contain recorded bits at the end from H&V, if I recall correctly. "Wait" was never finished. What's the story on that track, and does it actually have any connection to the SMiLE project?

What makes you think Can't Wait Too Long was a Smile track? It was first recorded during the Wild Honey sessions. Was Had To Phone Ya a Smile track because bits of it sound similar to Love To Say Da Da?

2. What really is "Air"? Did you do a demo? Did the piece get recycled into anything else?

I'd love to be wrong but it seems clear no one remembers what Air was.

[Mikie]

Thought this was a good thread. Any more questions?

Anybody wanna compile all of these intelligent questions into one list? I'm too lazy to do it.

[Jason]

2. What really is "Air"? Did you do a demo? Did the piece get recycled into anything else?

I'd love to be wrong but it seems clear no one remembers what Air was.

Didn't Brian make the comment in '76 that it was a "piano piece. We never finished that."?

[The Shift]

Thought this was a good thread. Any more questions?

Anybody wanna compile all of these intelligent questions into one list? I'm too lazy to do it.

Thread originator doinnothin offered to do that when he/she originated the original thread…  back to bed Mikie! 

[doinnothin]

Just waitin' til the 14th in case anyone has more questions. And as reminder the idea was people to offer up one question, so that the poll wasn't so long as to be unenjoyable to read. There are a lot of good questions out there, and I'll try to use my best judgement in sorting through the posts of people who posted more than one, using as many as I can without overloading the poll.

And I'll add one of my own:

Murray Wilson has been quoted as referring to people who mess up their brains with drugs as "vegetables" [Nolan; Rolling Stone, No. 94; "The Beach Boys: A California Saga"]. Was this part of the inspiration behind the song "Vega-Tables"?

[The Heartical Don]

Did you guys shelve the project because you thought is was shite? So why will you be releasing it now, then?

[Jason]

Did you guys shelve the project because you thought is was shite? So why will you be releasing it now, then?

Not to play devil's advocate or anything (LOL) but where does this "you guys" come in? Last I checked Brian shelved the project.