Glimpses by Lewis Shriner

[rogerlancelot]

It is now available as a free pdf file by the author here:

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/30/shiners-glimpses-bac.html

I just read it all for the first time today and it totally blew my mind. Definitely worth a look!

[Andrew G. Doe]

One of the more interesting points about this excellent book is that Shiner didn't hear any of the Smile music until after he'd written it.

[rogerlancelot]

One of the more interesting points about this excellent book is that Shiner didn't hear any of the Smile music until after he'd written it.

That's interesting because the story takes place 1988-1989 and was published in 1993. Surely Smile tapes were leaking out back by then. And then the SS/WH 2-fer and the box set in '93.

[Andrew G. Doe]

One of the more interesting points about this excellent book is that Shiner didn't hear any of the Smile music until after he'd written it.

That's interesting because the story takes place 1988-1989 and was published in 1993. Surely Smile tapes were leaking out back by then. And then the SS/WH 2-fer and the box set in '93.

Just going by what the author said in a 1995 issue of Pulse about OCA.

[buddhahat]

Thanks so much for posting the link. I have been wanting to read this for a while.

[rogerlancelot]

Thanks so much for posting the link. I have been wanting to read this for a while.

I wasted most of my day today reading it instead  of doing other things I needed to do. Once I got started though I couldn't stop until it was over. That must mean it is very good.

[The Shift]

Loved the book -  turned me on to other music too.

[rasmus skotte]

Can someone explain why this great book by Shiner was never picked up for cinematic treatment???
At least the SMiLE rescue scenarios were incorporated into the 'Daft Beach Movie' - for what it's worth... Oh  yes I know:
NOT a whole lot.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I'm thinking the licensing would be a complete nightmare: Beatles... Doors... Beach Boys... Hendrix...

[rogerlancelot]

Can someone explain why this great book by Shiner was never picked up for cinematic treatment???
At least the SMiLE rescue scenarios were incorporated into the 'Daft Beach Movie' - for what it's worth... Oh  yes I know:
NOT a whole lot.

Possibly because for a cinematic treatment it would require a large budget like the kind that Hollywood blows freely, and let's face it, Hollywood only RE-makes movies these days. When is the last time you've seen anything original come out of here???

[buddhahat]

Can someone explain why this great book by Shiner was never picked up for cinematic treatment???
At least the SMiLE rescue scenarios were incorporated into the 'Daft Beach Movie' - for what it's worth... Oh  yes I know:
NOT a whole lot.

Funnily enough I was thinking last night whilst reading it, that he effectively wrote an unfilmable book! How would you realise the music he's reimagining? For instance, the Beatles Get Back stuff - you could use existing Let It Be outtakes, but then trainspotters like us are going to know it's genuine session material, so the whole premise would already be on shaky ground. Unless you got a modern band to fake it, which would undermine credibility of the the whole thing. I think some books work best as books and this is a good example.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Can someone explain why this great book by Shiner was never picked up for cinematic treatment???
At least the SMiLE rescue scenarios were incorporated into the 'Daft Beach Movie' - for what it's worth... Oh  yes I know:
NOT a whole lot.

Funnily enough I was thinking last night whilst reading it, that he effectively wrote an unfilmable book! How would you realise the music he's reimagining? For instance, the Beatles Get Back stuff - you could use existing Let It Be outtakes, but then trainspotters like us are going to know it's genuine session material, so the whole premise would already be on shaky ground. Unless you got a modern band to fake it, which would undermine credibility of the the whole thing. I think some books work best as books and this is a good example.

'xactly - the best pictures are on radio.

[Reddiwhip]

Also found it interesting that Shiner said that Brian sang a high interweaving falsetto part to the Child is Father of the Man acetate, which we didn't find out about until 2011 with the boxset. 

Either he got lucky or...


 

[CosmicDancer]

I bought this book about 12 years ago on the recommendation of my brother-in-law who knows that I'm a big Beach Boys geek.  This is a terrific read.  Anyone that hasn't already read it should jump all over this opportunity to enjoy it for free.   

[Andrew G. Doe]

Also found it interesting that Shiner said that Brian sang a high interweaving falsetto part to the Child is Father of the Man acetate, which we didn't find out about until 2011 with the boxset.  

Either he got lucky or...


 

Shiner stated in a 1995 interview that before writing Glimpses he'd not heard a single note of Smile. Like I said in the 2nd post of this thread: jeez, and folk wonder why i get cranky sometimes...

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

I have an old recording from my CIFOTM cover back in 2010 where I sang a random falsetto part that sounds a ton like the acetate one, and same with DYLW and the melody.

[runnersdialzero]

Also found it interesting that Shiner said that Brian sang a high interweaving falsetto part to the Child is Father of the Man acetate, which we didn't find out about until 2011 with the boxset.  

Either he got lucky or...


 

Shiner stated in a 1995 interview that before writing Glimpses he'd not heard a single note of Smile. Like I said in the 2nd post of this thread: jeez, and folk wonder why i get cranky sometimes...

Obviously, he's just saying it's an eerie coincidence that Shriner gave a specific detail about "Child" that wasn't on any known version of the song until the acetate used on a mix of the song 22 years later was found and used. Like, what are the odds?

[Reddiwhip]

Also found it interesting that Shiner said that Brian sang a high interweaving falsetto part to the Child is Father of the Man acetate, which we didn't find out about until 2011 with the boxset.  

Either he got lucky or...


 

Shiner stated in a 1995 interview that before writing Glimpses he'd not heard a single note of Smile. Like I said in the 2nd post of this thread: jeez, and folk wonder why i get cranky sometimes...

Obviously, he's just saying it's an eerie coincidence that Shriner gave a specific detail about "Child" that wasn't on any known version of the song until the acetate used on a mix of the song 22 years later was found and used. Like, what are the odds?

Bingo.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Wow. Reading that was as amazing as hearing Smile for the first time on TSS. No joke.

I have a pretty strange problem with my hearing, according to the doctors, I hear too well do to a problem with the auditory nerve that normally tightens, I've always had these weird "ghost sounds" I hear "bangs" and "booms" and sometimes someone yelling.

However, sometimes I hear music, it's SO strange, you know when you hear a loud sound randomly, your hairs stand up, and you feel a shock? That's what it feels like.
This is actually how I write songs sometimes, its weird, but when I was reading the end... I could almost hear it... The Bicycle Rider theme... swirling... horns... the dominoes... wow.

Thank you so much for this. If I hadn't have read this I would have never heard it. It was the single most amazing 10 minutes of my life, reading those words so slowly... and "hearing" them.

Wow.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

I'm trying to recreate it... Oh My God...

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

I Tried really hard to get this as close to what I heard as possible, but some things don't exist and fitting it together was iffy...

http://soundcloud.com/mikeleroymusic/smile-coda

Imagine that, over the Surf's Up Coda, it wasn't fitting well enough to do it all justice.

[ontor pertawst]

What a fantastic book, if you're in the right mood it'll tear you apart. 

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Just bought a copy, one of the old ones with the cool cover.

[seltaeb1012002]

Damn that was awesome. Great writing, I felt like I was there with him. Thanks OP

http://soundcloud.com/mikeleroymusic/smile-coda

Good stuff man  

[ontor pertawst]

You'd think they'd have given Ray a credit on the Smile Sessions boxed set.