"Diamond Head" intended for SMiLE?

[Sheriff John Stone]

Yes, it's time to work on a new SMiLE fan mix CD, so....

I've been listening to "Diamond Head" lately, and realizing what a nice fit it would've made on SMiLE. Then, I remember reading (on this board?) that "Diamond Head" popped up on an early SMiLE setlist of Brian's in 2004. So, my questions are:

1. Did "Diamond Head" in fact appear on a setlist for Brian's 2004 SMiLE concerts?
2. Does anyone think it was ever considered for SMiLE back in 1966-67?
3. Does anyone include it on their personal SMiLE fan mix? If yes, where?

 

[Wilsonista]

1. Did "Diamond Head" in fact appear on a setlist for Brian's 2004 SMiLE concerts?.
Never performed in concerrt but it was part of the SMiLE set. I imagine VDP being asked to contribute made DH unnecessary

2. Does anyone think it was ever considered for SMiLE back in 1966-67?
Maybe not considered, but I would think it was composed during that period (nased on nothing concrete or anything. Those 2003/4 SMiLE sets was supposed to be everything that was composed and cosidered "The SMiLE" Era. For example, Time To Get Alone was included as well (which makes sense because there is a lick from GV and Holidays in TTGA)

3. Does anyone include it on their personal SMiLE fan mix? If yes, where?
I don't do SMILE fan mixes because, really, what's the point? The lineup on BWPS is SMiLE enough for me.

 

[punkinhead]

i wish time to get alone was on the smile set

[Sheriff John Stone]

1. Did "Diamond Head" in fact appear on a setlist for Brian's 2004 SMiLE concerts?.
Never performed in concert but it was part of the SMiLE set. I imagine VDP being asked to contribute made DH unnecessary

I'm curious where it was positioned, if in fact there was a specific sequence worked out at that time.

[Dancing Bear]

according to Al Vescovo, the pedal steel guitarist on Diamond Head (and Little Pad), he came up with the music for Diamond Head almost on the spot.  Brian's main contribution was the song concept and all the different sound effects...

Al's a good guy, he's played a lot of sessions, and he is an amazing jazz player.  I have every reason to believe him on this.  It IS a complex tune played on a complex instrument.

There you have it.

[MBE]

Brian was heavy into the Hawaiian sounds from 66-68 kind of an interesting thing.

[XY]

1. Did "Diamond Head" in fact appear on a setlist for Brian's 2004 SMiLE concerts?.
Never performed in concert but it was part of the SMiLE set. I imagine VDP being asked to contribute made DH unnecessary

I'm curious where it was positioned, if in fact there was a specific sequence worked out at that time.

Between "Bicycle Rider (Link)" & "Do you like worms?", so it was part of "Roll Plymouth Rock". 

[Andrew G. Doe]

i wish time to get alone was on the smile set

It was, originally.

Has to be said, the setlist I saw had at least one song duplicated and, if performed as written, would have lasted maybe two hours. 

[matt-zeus]

I got the idea that Diamond Head was more of just a studio jam?

OT - AGD isn't your signature that Aleister Crowley quote which is inscribed on the inner groove of Led Zeppelin III?

[Bicyclerider]

My impression of the original "Smile" setlist was it was a possible set list of "Smile era" songs spanning 1966-1968 - so songs composed during this period in the "Smile" artsy style were included, like Can't Wait Too Long, Diamondhead, Time to Get Alone.  I don't think their inclusion meant anything about being orignally part of circa 66-67 pre Smiley Smile Smile.

[Sheriff John Stone]

My impression of the original "Smile" setlist was it was a possible set list of "Smile era" songs spanning 1966-1968 - so songs composed during this period in the "Smile" artsy style were included, like Can't Wait Too Long, Diamondhead, Time to Get Alone.  I don't think their inclusion meant anything about being orignally part of circa 66-67 pre Smiley Smile Smile.

Which is interesting, if Brian (or whoever) considered 1968 as STILL part of the SMiLE era.

Dancing Bear, thanks for that quote from bossaroo. Can I assume that the session with Al Vescovo was during the 1968 Friends sessions?

[Dancing Bear]

My impression of the original "Smile" setlist was it was a possible set list of "Smile era" songs spanning 1966-1968 - so songs composed during this period in the "Smile" artsy style were included, like Can't Wait Too Long, Diamondhead, Time to Get Alone.  I don't think their inclusion meant anything about being orignally part of circa 66-67 pre Smiley Smile Smile.

Which is interesting, if Brian (or whoever) considered 1968 as STILL part of the SMiLE era.

Dancing Bear, thanks for that quote from bossaroo. Can I assume that the session with Al Vescovo was during the 1968 Friends sessions?

If it weren't, we'd be very aware of it by now.

[Mahalo]

The lineup on BWPS is SMiLE enough for me.

Right on, brother.


However, if I did make a SMiLE! mix, DH would not appear on there. Doesn't fit, sounds too much like a "jam", while Brian's songs were real "compositions".

[bossaroo]

I think Diamond Head (and Little Pad) both fit nicely with the whole SMiLE concept.

It did come together in the studio during a Friends-era session according to Mr. Vescovo.  He said Brian was banging the reverb unit and splashing water in a washtub and knocking rocks together... just looking for creative ways to make it sound more tropical and alive. And let's not forget the great Lyle Ritz on ukulele.

apparently Al plays jazz every Thursday at an L.A.-area club called Casey's.  I'd love to check that out.

[LostArt]

While Diamondhead was indeed a studio 'jam' in '68, I could certainly believe Peter Reum's theory that the idea of the evironmental sounds incorporated with some sort of Hawaiian sounding music came directly from the Smile era.  I, too, find it interesting that Time To Get Alone and Diamondhead and Can't Wait Too Long were considered for inclusion in '03-'04.  Did Brian include those songs because he considered them to be Smile material?  Was it because he was remembering a post-Smiley Smile lineup, such as the 10 song 'Capitol memo' Smile?  Well, TTGA and CWTL were first recorded just two or three months after Smiley, and Diamondhead was recorded just five months after those two, so all three of those songs were recorded less than a year after Derek Taylor's 'Smile has been scrapped' comment. 

Ahh, all this stuff has been discussed before, but I miss these Smile theory discussions.   

 

 

[Roger Ryan]

Keep in mind that when that initial live set list was being put together the idea of finishing SMiLE was not the goal. The proposal to Brian was that a concert could be performed highlighting this period of music including material originally intended for SMiLE and rare or unreleased material from the same era. Eventually, as the project rolled along and Brian grew more comfortable and/or got excited about the material, the concept changed to performing a completed version of SMiLE. At that point the songs that weren't directly related to the 1967 SMiLE sort of fell away.

In other words, one shouldn't infer from the initial set lists that Brian considered all of this material to directly relate to SMiLE in 1966 or '67, or '68 for that matter.

[The Shift]

I, too, find it interesting that Time To Get Alone and Diamondhead and Can't Wait Too Long were considered for inclusion in '03-'04.  Did Brian include those songs because he considered them to be Smile material?  Was it because he was remembering a post-Smiley Smile lineup, such as the 10 song 'Capitol memo' Smile?

My own understanding was that the list was compiled by Darian and others in order that BW could point out which were genuine SMiLE tracks and which weren't.