Here's a SMiLE Rearrangement Ive been working on. Feedback appreciated.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sJN8ql5htAM

^Link to the first "side."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o0_9DFQk3jI

^Link to the second "side."

So, as you can probably tell from the terminology, this is a two suite, "what would SMiLE have been had it came out in the 60s?" mix rather than the three suite "everything and the kitchen sink" mixes I've seen a lot of recently. My goal was to make a tight, flowing album. No mood or rhythm killing starts and stops like in the official 2011 release, and no BWPS fly-ins. I tried to give each side its own thematic identity, and I purposefully used a track order as different from the '04/'11 standard as possible.

I call it, SMiLE: Reflections, with Side One representing a look back on America and Side Two on Childhood. All audio is from the boxset except Look which I took from SMiLE AD 4.0, which is by far the best version of that song (in my opinion) and which I had no chance of topping. The pics in the video are by me. Please enjoy, constructive criticism is highly encouraged. If nothing else, it's a unique mix if I say so myself, and I hope it gives others ideas. Additional info is in the video descriptions.

Track List:

Side One
Our Prayer/Gee
Heroes and Villains
Cabin Essence
Do You Like Worms?
Mrs. O'Leary's Cow
Vega-Tables
Heroes and Villains (Reprise)

Side Two
You're Welcome/Whispering Winds
Wind Chimes
Child is Father of the Man
Wonderful
Look (I Ran)
Cool, Cool Water
Second Day
Surf's Up

[soniclovenoize]

No Food Gyrations!   

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Umm...what?

[kermit27]

I'm listening to the first side right now and I really like the bits added back into Worms and I love the intro to Vega-Tables.   

Good work!

[soniclovenoize]

Umm...what?

Foooood fooooood fooood
Food gy- ra- tiooooooons

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I never include GV in any of my SMiLE mixes. It was released way back in '66, with a b-side of a Pet Sounds rerelease, more or less exactly as Brian intended, and it doesn't fit, musically or thematically, into SMiLE at all.

I picture Side One to be a man looking back to how he lost the woman he loved in this chaotic "Heroes and Villains" society, built on the burning of the church of the American Indian. With Vega-Tables, he learns that yeah, life sucks, but live well and see the humor in life. We go back to where we started, "Heroes and Villains" and reflect.

Side Two is perhaps a century later, the (then) current one, the '60s. And it's Brian with that realization, lamenting on his lost childhood innocence, first with nostalgic fondness for some windchimes around the house. Then comes the realization that how you grew up determines what kind of man you'll be. A tale of such innocence taken away, and the healing (Wonderful) and a reprise (Look) transitioning to our narrator shifting his focus to the ocean, presumably in...dare I say it...blue Hawaii. This is Cool, cool water. This observation transitions into nostalgic memories of playing outside in the water as a child. Second Day's wa-wa-ho-wa chants are a merger of water and the crying of an infant. The flutes are the birds outside. A quick prayer for inspiration, and with these observations brewing in the mind, our musical guide churns out his analysis. Surf's Up. The album's clincher.

Anyway, bringing this back on topic, GV with its Mike Love, simple boy-girl lyrics doesn't fit into these sonic journeys. It'd sound hamfisted in and distracting. You're Welcome was released as a b-side so it's not that far-fetched as the Side Two opener, if Capitol insisted.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I never include GV in any of my SMiLE mixes. It was released way back in '66, with a b-side of a Pet Sounds rerelease, more or less exactly as Brian intended, and it doesn't fit, musically or thematically, into SMiLE at all.

When Brian Wilson finished SMiLE in 2004 - and he told us he FINISHED it - he closed the album with "Good Vibrations".

[Mikie]

Add Good Vibrations like it's suppose to be and I'll listen to it.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I never include GV in any of my SMiLE mixes. It was released way back in '66, with a b-side of a Pet Sounds rerelease, more or less exactly as Brian intended, and it doesn't fit, musically or thematically, into SMiLE at all.

When Brian Wilson finished SMiLE in 2004 - and he told us he FINISHED it - he closed the album with "Good Vibrations".

And nobody, not even Brian knows what it would have been like in 67. Good Vibrations was added to the setlist in 04 but that doesn't necessarily make it so for the original vision of the album.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Add Good Vibrations like it's suppose to be and I'll listen to it.

I understand there will be differences of opinion; that's the nature of SMiLE, and half the fun. And as I said, I encourage constructive criticism from you guys. But I ask that you keep an open mind. And not giving it a chance because I left off one particular song is not being open-minded, it's being ridiculous. When it comes to SMiLE, the only two things we can be 100% certain of are Prayer serving as an intro to the album and H&V appearing somewhere on there. Everything else is speculation. There's no "supposed to be." 

[Mikie]

Add Good Vibrations like it's suppose to be and I'll listen to it.

I understand there will be differences of opinion; that's the nature of SMiLE, and half the fun. And as I said, I encourage constructive criticism from you guys. But I ask that you keep an open mind. And not giving it a chance because I left off one particular song is not being open-minded, it's being ridiculous. When it comes to SMiLE, the only two things we can be 100% certain of are Prayer serving as an intro to the album and H&V appearing somewhere on there. Everything else is speculation. There's no "supposed to be." 

Frank Holmes told me personally that Good Vibrations was going to be on the Smile album. His front cover artwork reflects the song title. Rear cover slick mock-ups include it. Most Smile bootlegs over the years included the song. Good Vibrations was included on Brian's Smile album and live tour. The 2011 Smile Sessions boxe(s) included Good Vibrations. Even Priore talks about it in his Look Listen and Smile tomes. Recorded in a modular fashion like the Smile tracks. That's good enough evidence for me. It fit. Arguably the best song to be included on Smile other than Heroes & Villains and Surf's Up.

[SloopJohnB52]

There are some wonderful bits in there that don't seem to be part of the Smile Sessions box or any of the boots I've heard.  Can you be so kind as to list your sources?  Thanks!

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Add Good Vibrations like it's suppose to be and I'll listen to it.

There's no reason for GV to have to be included.

I understand there will be differences of opinion; that's the nature of SMiLE, and half the fun. And as I said, I encourage constructive criticism from you guys. But I ask that you keep an open mind. And not giving it a chance because I left off one particular song is not being open-minded, it's being ridiculous. When it comes to SMiLE, the only two things we can be 100% certain of are Prayer serving as an intro to the album and H&V appearing somewhere on there. Everything else is speculation. There's no "supposed to be." 

Frank Holmes told me personally that Good Vibrations was going to be on the Smile album. His front cover artwork reflects the song title. Rear cover slick mock-ups include it. Most Smile bootlegs over the years included the song. Good Vibrations was included on Brian's Smile album and live tour. The 2011 Smile Sessions boxe(s) included Good Vibrations. Even Priore talks about it in his Look Listen and Smile tomes. Recorded in a modular fashion like the Smile tracks. That's good enough evidence for me. It fit. Arguably the best song to be included on Smile other than Heroes & Villains and Surf's Up.

Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane fit Sgt Pepper too, and were seriously considered for inclusion at one point. I'd argue that they're better than most of Pepper's songs as well. Doesn't mean anything. I consider GV a precursor to SMiLE, not a part of it. Just because it was in the 04 setlist and some bootlegs doesn't necessarily mean anything either. So was Barnyard, so was Workshop, so was Little Red Book, Three Blind Mice and Can't Wait Too Long (the last 3 aren't even from the SMiLE Era.) If you include every song, every modular feel, the album becomes an overlong mess of disjointed segments which don't all fit, break up the flow and make the whole experience less than the sum of its parts. The bottom line? Some things, no matter how beautiful, just can't make the cut. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

[soniclovenoize]

That was a really good Child Is Father of The man! 

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

That was a really good Child Is Father of The man! 

Thank you. That was the first unreleased SMiLE track I ever heard. I was hooked on the album ever since. I just hate how must bootlegs and the '11 version keep it so short and treat it on the same level as Barnyard or I Wanna Be Around. That is, a short 'pitstop' and not as a fleshed-out core track on the same tier as say, Cabin Essence or Do You Like Worms. There was so much recorded for it, why keep it as just an intro to Surf's Up?

So, that's why I went out of my way to separate it from Surf's Up. To let it stand on its own. And I put Look after it so I wouldn't have to butcher the opening piano part to keep the flow going. Then I noticed the piano intro of CIFOTM matches up well with the piano fade of Wind Chimes. I added "I'm in Great Shape" between CIFOTM and Wonderful to smooth the transition to both songs. I think it fits thematically as well, leading into Wonderful. I always took that song to be about an innocent girl who's been hurt recently by a "nonbeliever" but, despite the damage, she'll move on. In this context, IIGS fits as the beginning because that's when she's fine. Wonderful tells her story, and then Look is the musical reprise of her life and the revelation we've been presented with in CIFOTM. The idea that your childhood and the events therein determine what type of person you become later.

TL;DR: It's a personal fave track of mine, and the song most in need of a rearrangement. That was my favorite one to work on.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

There are some wonderful bits in there that don't seem to be part of the Smile Sessions box or any of the boots I've heard.  Can you be so kind as to list your sources?  Thanks!

All of Our Prayer, Heroes and Villains parts 1 and 2, Do You Like Worms, Mrs. Olearys Cow, and Vega-Tables are from the box-set. I spliced two separate tracks from disk two to form the fade out of H&V part one. For 'Cow I spliced in a repeat of the fire crackling noises from Disc 4 in the background. Cabin Essence I edited in the last vocal chant from a SMiLE mix I found on YouTube but don't recall the name of

You're Welcome, Wind Chimes, CIFOTM (except the last two notes which are from a long since deleted mix on Youtube I downloaded) IIgs, Wonderful (the piano fade is from disc 3 material spliced together), are all boxset. Look is from SMiLE AD 4.0, which uses material from the boxset, Cool, Cool Water...the water chant, I Love To Say DaDa (the flutes are from the alternative mix renamed "Second Day" on Disc 4) and Surfs Up are all boxset.

[RBennett123]

I love it.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I love it.

Thank you!

[seltaeb1012002]

I like! Great work, my friend.

[soniclovenoize]

That was a really good Child Is Father of The man! 

Thank you. That was the first unreleased SMiLE track I ever heard. I was hooked on the album ever since. I just hate how must bootlegs and the '11 version keep it so short and treat it on the same level as Barnyard or I Wanna Be Around. That is, a short 'pitstop' and not as a fleshed-out core track on the same tier as say, Cabin Essence or Do You Like Worms. There was so much recorded for it, why keep it as just an intro to Surf's Up?

So, that's why I went out of my way to separate it from Surf's Up. To let it stand on its own. And I put Look after it so I wouldn't have to butcher the opening piano part to keep the flow going. Then I noticed the piano intro of CIFOTM matches up well with the piano fade of Wind Chimes. I added "I'm in Great Shape" between CIFOTM and Wonderful to smooth the transition to both songs. I think it fits thematically as well, leading into Wonderful. I always took that song to be about an innocent girl who's been hurt recently by a "nonbeliever" but, despite the damage, she'll move on. In this context, IIGS fits as the beginning because that's when she's fine. Wonderful tells her story, and then Look is the musical reprise of her life and the revelation we've been presented with in CIFOTM. The idea that your childhood and the events therein determine what type of person you become later.

TL;DR: It's a personal fave track of mine, and the song most in need of a rearrangement. That was my favorite one to work on.

Well i don't know, it seemed complete to me (aside from a lack of lead vocals of course haha).  There are existing test-edit acetates of CIFOTM from 1966 that mimic the structures of both the 2011 and 2004 versions... We have two verses and two choruses...  Maybe the song was short by design?  Wind Chimes and Wonderful were both finished, and are both short. 

I don't really have any opinion on the meaning of the song, since there's no indication that the lyrics found on BWPS were from 1966 and not completely new.  I guess I just always think of it as an unfinished song. 

But regardless you did throw some cool stuff into it! 

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I like! Great work, my friend.

I appreciate that. It was a joy to work on.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

That was a really good Child Is Father of The man! 

Thank you. That was the first unreleased SMiLE track I ever heard. I was hooked on the album ever since. I just hate how must bootlegs and the '11 version keep it so short and treat it on the same level as Barnyard or I Wanna Be Around. That is, a short 'pitstop' and not as a fleshed-out core track on the same tier as say, Cabin Essence or Do You Like Worms. There was so much recorded for it, why keep it as just an intro to Surf's Up?

So, that's why I went out of my way to separate it from Surf's Up. To let it stand on its own. And I put Look after it so I wouldn't have to butcher the opening piano part to keep the flow going. Then I noticed the piano intro of CIFOTM matches up well with the piano fade of Wind Chimes. I added "I'm in Great Shape" between CIFOTM and Wonderful to smooth the transition to both songs. I think it fits thematically as well, leading into Wonderful. I always took that song to be about an innocent girl who's been hurt recently by a "nonbeliever" but, despite the damage, she'll move on. In this context, IIGS fits as the beginning because that's when she's fine. Wonderful tells her story, and then Look is the musical reprise of her life and the revelation we've been presented with in CIFOTM. The idea that your childhood and the events therein determine what type of person you become later.

TL;DR: It's a personal fave track of mine, and the song most in need of a rearrangement. That was my favorite one to work on.

Well i don't know, it seemed complete to me (aside from a lack of lead vocals of course haha).  There are existing test-edit acetates of CIFOTM from 1966 that mimic the structures of both the 2011 and 2004 versions... We have two verses and two choruses...  Maybe the song was short by design?  Wind Chimes and Wonderful were both finished, and are both short. 

I don't really have any opinion on the meaning of the song, since there's no indication that the lyrics found on BWPS were from 1966 and not completely new.  I guess I just always think of it as an unfinished song. 

But regardless you did throw some cool stuff into it! 

     Thanks. I must say that surprises me. There was a plethora of material recorded for it that all sounds great, why not use it?

[The Demon]

Add Good Vibrations like it's suppose to be and I'll listen to it.

There's no reason for GV to have to be included.

I understand there will be differences of opinion; that's the nature of SMiLE, and half the fun. And as I said, I encourage constructive criticism from you guys. But I ask that you keep an open mind. And not giving it a chance because I left off one particular song is not being open-minded, it's being ridiculous. When it comes to SMiLE, the only two things we can be 100% certain of are Prayer serving as an intro to the album and H&V appearing somewhere on there. Everything else is speculation. There's no "supposed to be."  

Frank Holmes told me personally that Good Vibrations was going to be on the Smile album. His front cover artwork reflects the song title. Rear cover slick mock-ups include it. Most Smile bootlegs over the years included the song. Good Vibrations was included on Brian's Smile album and live tour. The 2011 Smile Sessions boxe(s) included Good Vibrations. Even Priore talks about it in his Look Listen and Smile tomes. Recorded in a modular fashion like the Smile tracks. That's good enough evidence for me. It fit. Arguably the best song to be included on Smile other than Heroes & Villains and Surf's Up.

Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane fit Sgt Pepper too, and were seriously considered for inclusion at one point. I'd argue that they're better than most of Pepper's songs as well. Doesn't mean anything. I consider GV a precursor to SMiLE, not a part of it. Just because it was in the 04 setlist and some bootlegs doesn't necessarily mean anything either. So was Barnyard, so was Workshop, so was Little Red Book, Three Blind Mice and Can't Wait Too Long (the last 3 aren't even from the SMiLE Era.) If you include every song, every modular feel, the album becomes an overlong mess of disjointed segments which don't all fit, break up the flow and make the whole experience less than the sum of its parts. The bottom line? Some things, no matter how beautiful, just can't make the cut. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

I won't argue with you to include "Good Vibrations" because it's your mix and you can do what you want.  I think it's cool you didn't include it.  It's never been one of my favorite Beach Boys songs.  But I don't think there's any reason to think it would not have been on Smile.  Why have the title plastered across the cover artwork if it wasn't going to be on there?  The cover doesn't say "Barnyard, Barnyard, Barnyard!"  For better or worse GV's inclusion definitely seems part of Brian's plan.  It fits less on Smiley Smile and he included it there.  He's given indications it would be on there, and I've never bought into fan theories about Capitol meddling with his tracklists, either.

Thanks for the post, I look forward to listening.  So far it sounds great.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Add Good Vibrations like it's suppose to be and I'll listen to it.

There's no reason for GV to have to be included.

I understand there will be differences of opinion; that's the nature of SMiLE, and half the fun. And as I said, I encourage constructive criticism from you guys. But I ask that you keep an open mind. And not giving it a chance because I left off one particular song is not being open-minded, it's being ridiculous. When it comes to SMiLE, the only two things we can be 100% certain of are Prayer serving as an intro to the album and H&V appearing somewhere on there. Everything else is speculation. There's no "supposed to be."  

Frank Holmes told me personally that Good Vibrations was going to be on the Smile album. His front cover artwork reflects the song title. Rear cover slick mock-ups include it. Most Smile bootlegs over the years included the song. Good Vibrations was included on Brian's Smile album and live tour. The 2011 Smile Sessions boxe(s) included Good Vibrations. Even Priore talks about it in his Look Listen and Smile tomes. Recorded in a modular fashion like the Smile tracks. That's good enough evidence for me. It fit. Arguably the best song to be included on Smile other than Heroes & Villains and Surf's Up.

Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane fit Sgt Pepper too, and were seriously considered for inclusion at one point. I'd argue that they're better than most of Pepper's songs as well. Doesn't mean anything. I consider GV a precursor to SMiLE, not a part of it. Just because it was in the 04 setlist and some bootlegs doesn't necessarily mean anything either. So was Barnyard, so was Workshop, so was Little Red Book, Three Blind Mice and Can't Wait Too Long (the last 3 aren't even from the SMiLE Era.) If you include every song, every modular feel, the album becomes an overlong mess of disjointed segments which don't all fit, break up the flow and make the whole experience less than the sum of its parts. The bottom line? Some things, no matter how beautiful, just can't make the cut. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

I won't argue with you to include "Good Vibrations" because it's your mix and you can do what you want.  I think it's cool you didn't include it.  It's never been one of my favorite Beach Boys songs.  But I don't think there's any reason to think it would not have been on Smile.  Why have the title plastered across the cover artwork if it wasn't going to be on there?  The cover doesn't say "Barnyard, Barnyard, Barnyard!"  For better or worse GV's inclusion definitely seems part of Brian's plan.  It fits less on Smiley Smile and he included it there.  He's given indications it would be on there, and I've never bought into fan theories about Capitol meddling with his tracklists, either.

Thanks for the post, I look forward to listening.  So far it sounds great.

Appreciate the kind words. While I concede there's a strong argument for its inclusion, I believe there's valid reasons for leaving it off as well. And since most mixes tend to go the former route, I wanted to be different and show that a mix could exist without following the BWPS blueprint that nearly all mixes (and Disc One of the boxset) have blindly adhered to since.

As for the album cover, personally I always took it as a play on words (it's advertising the good "vibrations" or songs within the album, not necessarily GV itself) and a reminder to buyers that this isn't the 'fun in the sun' beach boys of 63. They made the far-out, psychedelic symphony, GV. And there's more of that to come within the album.

I read that GV being included on Smiley was because of Capitol, not Brian. It sounds laughably out of place, so if Brian did include it there it was a very bad misstep on his part. I assume he would've been more receptive to the idea of GV on SMiLE, though.

[buddhahat]

When it comes to SMiLE, the only two things we can be 100% certain of are Prayer serving as an intro to the album

I'm not even convinced of that. Siegel describes a piece that must have been Our Prayer being played last when BW demos the smile acetates for him. And vosse also describes a piece very similar to op as closing out the album after surfs up. Granted, neither of the are a smoking gun, but the point is I don't think any part of smile is 100% certain not even our prayer as intro. I struggle to hear it as a good precursor to heroes which is the accepted first main track of most smile mixes. I do think our prayer moves exceptionally well into GV which makes me wonder if GV was to be the first track of the album after Prayer IF that was to be the intro. Definitely feel GV is smile through and through. I think the lyrics throw people. Each to their own.