Recordings that inspired Smile

[Jay]

There has been a lot of talk lately about Smile and how innovative and influencial it was, and is. A lot of people are talking about The Beatles being influenced by it,  among other groups back then. I started to wonder about the recordings that may have influenced Smile, in one way or another. In this thread, I'd like us all to come up with a list of groups and/or songs that somehow inspired or contributed to the creativity that lead to the creation of Smile. Either old blues recordings(C.C. Rider and Easy Rider by LeadBelly somewhat resemble the Bycicle Rider theme), to contemporary music like "My World Fell Down".  I'd also like to talk about whatever literature that may have inspired Brian and/or Van Dyke in their song writing.

[The Heartical Don]

Literature? Let me guess:

Robert Frost
Ralph Emerson
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville
Mark Twain
Sherwood Anderson
Edgar Allan Poe (the surreal, 'scary' material)

perhaps Emily Dickinson (courage, hope, and humour in bad times)

[phirnis]

Listen to the guitar in This Could Be The Night. Could've been a huge influence on Smile, sound-wise that is.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I started to wonder about the recordings that may have influenced Smile, in one way or another... to contemporary music like "My World Fell Down". 

Given that "MWFD" was initially recorded January 1967, I'd have to say any influence on Smile would be minimal. 

[A Million Units In Jan!]

Charles Ives, William Woodsworth

Odd that Al Kooper once had an album called 'Child Is Father To The Man'. There was just a conversation on here about Al Kooper hearing H&V and about how far out it was. Do you think maybe Al Kooper listened to some tracks at Armen....uh, never mind 

[XY]

Ike + Tina Turner - "Save The Last Dance For Me" !
Indisputable musical inspiration for verses of "Heroes & Villains".

[Andrew G. Doe]

Edgar Allan Poe - check out "The Conqueror Worm" and then tell me that the first few lines have nothing to do with the "Surf's Up" lyric.  

As for recordings... Dick Haymes, anyone ? The Crows, perchance ?

[A Million Units In Jan!]

Ike + Tina Turner - "Save The Last Dance For Me" !
Indisputable musical inspiration for verses of "Heroes & Villains".

'River Deep, Mountain High' also has to be a direct influence....

[Mr. Cohen]

I think that, musically, good old Saturday morning cartoons influenced Brian a lot. The way the sounds mimic the actions or emotions on screen seems to be something Brian was trying to add to his own music during Smile, from the laughing horns of "George Fell Into His French Horn" (and also as evidenced by the musical pun of George falling into his french horn and talking through it) to wanting the sound of jewelry on "Surf's Up". On songs like "Cabinessence", with the sound of someone driving a spike, and "Barnyard", with animal sounds, Brian was trying to paint a picture with sound, "canvassing the town" to "brush the backdrop". He was making cartoons with music. "Heroes and Villains" is a lot like a cartoon, and the spooky chorus always reminds me of Walt Disney's Skeleton Dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkhxjzc9uuE). Actually, there is a link in my mind between some of those early Walt Disney "musicals" and Brian's Smile songs, but that might just be me,

Oh, and Van Dyke liked to say that Brian had a "cartoon consciousness".

[PongHit]

... wanting the sound of jewelry on "Surf's Up" ...

Are you forgetting the Woody Woodpecker horn thing in "Surf's Up" (that was later worked into "Fall Breaks")?

And this might be a stretch, but I always thought the bass-line in "Good Vibes" reminded me of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" that was used in so many classic cartoons...

[hypehat]

Ike + Tina Turner - "Save The Last Dance For Me" !
Indisputable musical inspiration for verses of "Heroes & Villains".

In Priore's book, it claims 'The Bells Of St. Mary' (the spector cut) as the inspiration for the bassline of H&V.

But then, people here wouldn't trust Priore as far as they could throw him... 

Also, Marty Robbins' 'El Paso' was another inspiration for the 'vibe' of 'H&V'. That western frontier thing...

[punkinhead]

speaking of Brian and tv, didn't Brian cry at the end of episodes of Flipper?

[?]

Ike + Tina Turner - "Save The Last Dance For Me" !
Indisputable musical inspiration for verses of "Heroes & Villains".

'River Deep, Mountain High' also has to be a direct influence....

Several Spector cuts have similarities to the H&V verses.  See also Do I Love You by The Ronettes.

[grillo]

Brian was really into the Lovin' Spoonful around this time, wasn't he? I feel like maybe John Sebastian's non-production style could have influenced the simpler songs on SMiLE and SS.

[The Song Of The Grange]

Edgar Allan Poe - check out "The Conqueror Worm" and then tell me that the first few lines have nothing to do with the "Surf's Up" lyric. 

Very interesting point, Mr. Doe.  I wonder if this poem could be an influence also on the title "Do You Like Worms" (Do You Like Conquering Heroes?).

Lo! 'tis a gala night
    Within the lonesome latter years!
  An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
    In veils, and drowned in tears,
  Sit in a theatre, to see
    A play of hopes and fears,
  While the orchestra breathes fitfully
    The music of the spheres.

Mimes, in the form of God on high,
Mutter and mumble low,
And hither and thither fly--
Mere puppets they, who come and go
At bidding of vast formless things
That shift the scenery to and fro,
Flapping from out their Condor wings
Invisible Wo!

That motley drama--oh, be sure
It shall not be forgot!
With its Phantom chased for evermore,
By a crowd that seize it not,
Through a circle that ever returneth in
To the self-same spot,
And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
And Horror the soul of the plot.

But see, amid the mimic rout
A crawling shape intrude!
A blood-red thing that writhes from out
The scenic solitude!
It writhes!--it writhes!--with mortal pangs
The mimes become its food,
And the angels sob at vermin fangs
In human gore imbued.

Out--out are the lights--out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with the rush of a storm,
And the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"
And its hero the Conqueror Worm.

[The Song Of The Grange]

Literature? Let me guess:

Robert Frost
Ralph Emerson
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville
Mark Twain
Sherwood Anderson
Edgar Allan Poe (the surreal, 'scary' material)

perhaps Emily Dickinson (courage, hope, and humour in bad times)

Gotta ad James Joyce to the list.

[Jay]

I started to wonder about the recordings that may have influenced Smile, in one way or another... to contemporary music like "My World Fell Down". 

Given that "MWFD" was initially recorded January 1967, I'd have to say any influence on Smile would be minimal. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Brian heard a test pressing or something like that. Some of the similarities between that song and Smile are eerie. You yourself mentioned that it spooked Brian.

[Jay]

Thanks everybody for all the posts and info. Andrew mentioned Dick Haymes and The Crows. Are there any specific songs? What about specific books and poems? Or is it just the overall "feel" of certain authors?

[grillo]

Thanks everybody for all the posts and info. Andrew mentioned Dick Haymes and The Crows. Are there any specific songs? What about specific books and poems? Or is it just the overall "feel" of certain authors?

The Crows=Gee

[A Million Units In Jan!]

I started to wonder about the recordings that may have influenced Smile, in one way or another... to contemporary music like "My World Fell Down". 

Given that "MWFD" was initially recorded January 1967, I'd have to say any influence on Smile would be minimal. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Brian heard a test pressing or something like that. Some of the similarities between that song and Smile are eerie. You yourself mentioned that it spooked Brian.

It spooked Brian because he was sure that 'MWFD' was a copy of what he was doing. All the talk about The Beatles hearing SMiLE music has sort of overlooked the fact that Brian was, by some accounts, upset that Gary Usher had heard some of the SMiLE music without permission.

[Roger Ryan]

I started to wonder about the recordings that may have influenced Smile, in one way or another... to contemporary music like "My World Fell Down". 

Given that "MWFD" was initially recorded January 1967, I'd have to say any influence on Smile would be minimal. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Brian heard a test pressing or something like that. Some of the similarities between that song and Smile are eerie. You yourself mentioned that it spooked Brian.

It spooked Brian because he was sure that 'MWFD' was a copy of what he was doing. All the talk about The Beatles hearing SMiLE music has sort of overlooked the fact that Brian was, by some accounts, upset that Gary Usher had heard some of the SMiLE music without permission.

Yes, it doesn't matter if Brian ultimately heard a test-pressing or not; "My World Fell Down" was recorded in Jan. '67, well after the majority of the SMiLE sessions had taken place (and, given that the sessions that followed were primarily for "Heroes & Villains" and "Vegetables", the stuff that sounds most like MWFD was definitely in the can).

As to inspiration for SMiLE, I agree with the Disney film influence; "April Showers" from BAMBI has always struck me as SMiLE-like.

[onkster]

Might be cool to assemble an alternate-SMiLE-type album, just using pieces that sound like SMiLE or influenced it...!

[smile-holland]

Might be cool to assemble an alternate-SMiLE-type album, just using pieces that sound like SMiLE or influenced it...!

try this       (I'm sure BigGrin won't mind quoting this great list)

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,6144.0.html

I made this tracklist with songs from my iTunes Library and infos I collected on the web, specially from Van Dyke Parks web site;
All the songs had had a big influence in the begining of SMiLE.


- "Gee" by The Crows/Jan & Dean
- "El Paso" by Marty Robbins
- "Peace In The Valley" by The Patuxent Partners
- "Roll Columbia Roll (Gran Coulee Dam)" by Woody Guthrie
- "Old Mc Donald" various versions
- "Barnyard Blues" by Original Dixieland Jazz Band
- "The Old Master Painter" by Dick Haymes
- "You Are My Sunshine" by Jimmie Davis
- "Waiting for a train" by Jimmie Rodgers
- "I've been working on the railroad" by The Tinseltown Players
- "Home on the range" by Gene Autry/Roy Rodgers
- "Frere Jacques/Brother John" by Fred Koch
- "Long Ago Tomorrow" by Burt Bacharach
- "I Wanna Be Around" by Julie London
- "In Old Chicago" (the story of Mrs O Leary's Cow) 1937 MOVIE by Henry King *
- "Cool Water" by The Sons Of The Pioneers
- "Blue Hawaii" by Henri Mancini/Elvis Presley
- "Ukulele Lady" by Duke Kamoku
- "The Pirates Of Penzance: I'm A Pirate King" by D'Oyly Carte Opera Company And Orchestra
- "Long Long Ago" by Jerry Gray And His Orchestra/Ellen & John Wright

* During the scene of the great fire, you can hear bells and whistles, really close to "Fire intro"!

[Jay]

Might be cool to assemble an alternate-SMiLE-type album, just using pieces that sound like SMiLE or influenced it...!

try this       (I'm sure BigGrin won't mind quoting this great list)

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,6144.0.html

I made this tracklist with songs from my iTunes Library and infos I collected on the web, specially from Van Dyke Parks web site;
All the songs had had a big influence in the begining of SMiLE.


- "Gee" by The Crows/Jan & Dean
- "El Paso" by Marty Robbins
- "Peace In The Valley" by The Patuxent Partners
- "Roll Columbia Roll (Gran Coulee Dam)" by Woody Guthrie
- "Old Mc Donald" various versions
- "Barnyard Blues" by Original Dixieland Jazz Band
- "The Old Master Painter" by Dick Haymes
- "You Are My Sunshine" by Jimmie Davis
- "Waiting for a train" by Jimmie Rodgers
- "I've been working on the railroad" by The Tinseltown Players
- "Home on the range" by Gene Autry/Roy Rodgers
- "Frere Jacques/Brother John" by Fred Koch
- "Long Ago Tomorrow" by Burt Bacharach
- "I Wanna Be Around" by Julie London
- "In Old Chicago" (the story of Mrs O Leary's Cow) 1937 MOVIE by Henry King *
- "Cool Water" by The Sons Of The Pioneers
- "Blue Hawaii" by Henri Mancini/Elvis Presley
- "Ukulele Lady" by Duke Kamoku
- "The Pirates Of Penzance: I'm A Pirate King" by D'Oyly Carte Opera Company And Orchestra
- "Long Long Ago" by Jerry Gray And His Orchestra/Ellen & John Wright

* During the scene of the great fire, you can hear bells and whistles, really close to "Fire intro"!

Thanks a bunch for that list.  What about literature? Is there anything specific to look out for?

[Mr. Cohen]

Literature... here are a few, going outside of th classic American authors:

The Joyous Cosmology, Alan Watts.
How To Speak Hip, Del Close and John Brent (actually a spoken word comedy album, not a book).

We have this excerpt from his autobiography, although no one knows what was made up for the autobiography and what Brian actually said:

"Moving slowly into the aisles, I concentrated on reading the book titles and their authors. In the philosophy section, I paged through books by Sartre, Camus, Kant. I tried the religion section and picked up the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and the I Ching. I stared at the pages, tried to read, but the letters all vibrated on the pages and I couldn't make sense of anything....The moment was completely surreal. Then I saw the books melting down the shelves, dripping like wax down the side of a candle."

There were a lot of weird alternative books being published in the mid-60s about LSD, Zen, spirituality, and etc., some of which Brian undoubtedly read, but it's impossible to say which books he specifically read. The books on this page: http://pages.cthome.net/tobelman/page001.htm, will give you a good idea of the climate around the time.