SMiLE Vega-Tables master

[Stephen Newcombe]

Hello, I come on here a lot but don't post, so I feel comfy just leaping in

I read on here sometime one of your honoured guests saying that they had hopes of the Vega-Tables master turning up, as portions of the mix session appeared on the SMiLE SOT.

I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat at night.

What if the master was cannibalized for the Smiley Smile version?

That SOT mix session, and the section incorporated into the Smiley fade sound like they come from the same version. They have that lap steel (?) overdub on them.

What if, on needing a fade, Brian just cut up the SMiLE version and threw the rest away....

They seriously need to invent time travel. I'll be back there with a little field recorder. Mini Disk is fine, obviously optimised for plugging into a mid sixties board. And some sort of invisibility cloak. I would follow Brian everwhere, even to the toilet in case he hummed something. I'd give you the best SMiLE bootleg ever

[Jason]

There never was a Smile-era master of Vega-Tables, or any other track from the sessions.

[rab2591]

Hello, I come on here a lot but don't post, so I feel comfy just leaping in

I read on here sometime one of your honoured guests saying that they had hopes of the Vega-Tables master turning up, as portions of the mix session appeared on the SMiLE SOT.

I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat at night.

What if the master was cannibalized for the Smiley Smile version?

That SOT mix session, and the section incorporated into the Smiley fade sound like they come from the same version. They have that lap steel (?) overdub on them.

What if, on needing a fade, Brian just cut up the SMiLE version and threw the rest away....

They seriously need to invent time travel. I'll be back there with a little field recorder. Mini Disk is fine, obviously optimised for plugging into a mid sixties board. And some sort of invisibility cloak. I would follow Brian everwhere, even to the toilet in case he hummed something. I'd give you the best SMiLE bootleg ever

 

I can't wait for when they invent a way for people to be transported to alternate universes. I'd spend my life trying to find that one alternate universe where Brian Wilson did complete SMiLE - total speculation, but some scientists say that this is very possible.

Now, back to the actual discussion...

[Stephen Newcombe]

There never was a Smile-era master of Vega-Tables, or any other track from the sessions.

OK, working mix then. I always presumed that as that was a mix session (tape rewinding, levels changing), and there was an overdub going on, that it was finished product. The fade on the Smiley Vegatables sounds finished to me.

And how do you know there was never a master? I think the only sure thing we can say about SMiLE is we're not sure of anything, not 100%.

[Jason]

There never was a Smile-era master of Vega-Tables, or any other track from the sessions.

OK, working mix then. I always presumed that as that was a mix session (tape rewinding, levels changing), and there was an overdub going on, that it was finished product. The fade on the Smiley Vegatables sounds finished to me.

And how do you know there was never a master? I think the only sure thing we can say about SMiLE is we're not sure of anything, not 100%.

Well, considering that the album was, you know, NEVER FINISHED, that seems to imply no master. Or at least that's what's been told to us ad nauseam since the project collapsed in May of 1967. The whole "mix session" thing does not denote a MASTER. Christ, by that train of thought, Heroes and Villains had a "master" too since some mix sessions appear on boot.

And then there are the Smile tracks like My Little Red Book...they're not masters either. There was NEVER a finished master for the Smile album or for any of the tracks.

[Stephen Newcombe]

I'm sorry, I'm going to type this in a light hearted, and friendly way, but you are being a tad pedantic

I'm quite sure you know what I mean when I say master, as in a mix of a song which sounds finished.

What is that SOT session if not a mix?

Sorry if I used the wrong terminology!

My original thought was, what if the Vega-Tables tape got junked when Brian edited in the fade for the Smiley version.

Does that pass the pedant-o-meter?

[Jason]

I'm sorry, I'm going to type this in a light hearted, and friendly way, but you are being a tad pedantic

Ok.

I'm quite sure you know what I mean when I say master, as in a mix of a song which sounds finished.

A master denotes a mix of a song that is FINISHED...there's a difference.

What is that SOT session if not a mix?

The SOT sessions for Vega-Tables covering tracking sessions and vocal overdubs with a few mono mixdown sessions that were evidently nonproductive as there is no master from said sessions.

Sorry if I used the wrong terminology!

That's cool.

My original thought was, what if the Vega-Tables tape got junked when Brian edited in the fade for the Smiley version.

Well, that brings up an interesting occurrence; in the Smiley Smile version fade there is an instrument (I believe it was some kind of a keyboard) present that isn't on the original multitrack tape or the stereo remix on Hawthorne as it was overdubbed during the mixdown for Vegetables during the Smiley Smile sessions.

Does that pass the pedant-o-meter?

Yes. Thank you very much and welcome to our fine forum. Sit back, relax, have a cold one, take a few snorts of your cocaine mountain and enjoy the show. It's all uphill from here.

[Stephen Newcombe]

Well, that brings up an interesting occurrence; in the Smiley Smile version fade there is an instrument (I believe it was some kind of a keyboard) present that isn't on the original multitrack tape or the stereo remix on Hawthorne as it was overdubbed during the mixdown for Vegetables during the Smiley Smile sessions.

I suggest you go back to your SOT

That instrument is being dubbed on  to that  mono mixdown.

Hence I presumed there was a finished mix from whence the Smiley fade came

[Stephen Newcombe]

Unless that mix session on SOT was for the Smiley Smile fade?

[Jason]

Well, that brings up an interesting occurrence; in the Smiley Smile version fade there is an instrument (I believe it was some kind of a keyboard) present that isn't on the original multitrack tape or the stereo remix on Hawthorne as it was overdubbed during the mixdown for Vegetables during the Smiley Smile sessions.

I suggest you go back to your SOT

I have.

That instrument is being dubbed on  to that  mono mixdown.

Yes, I know. It should be noted that the SOT sets, while an amazing audio companion to the legacy of the band, are not 100% accurate as far as the placing of certain sessions. That mono mixdown excerpt on SOT 17 for Vega-Tables is actually from the Smiley Smile sessions. Note how on the Mark Linett mix of Vega-Tables, the same section does not have said overdub. It should be noted, too, that SOT 18, the Smiley Smile volume, has takes 4 and 5 and a partial backing vocal overdub of the April 1967 version of Wonderful (a Smile-era recording).

Hence I presumed there was a finished mix from whence the Smiley fade came

Understandable.

Unless that mix session on SOT was for the Smiley Smile fade?

See my paragraph.

[JaredLekites]

That SOT mix session, and the section incorporated into the Smiley fade sound like they come from the same version. They have that lap steel (?) overdub on them.

Not a lap steel at all. It's vibes.

[Mooger Fooger]

There was ONE track from the Smile sessions which was completed, fully mixed down, mastered and released: You're Welcome

[Alex]

There was ONE track from the Smile sessions which was completed, fully mixed down, mastered and released: You're Welcome

2 tracks...Good Vibrations was the other one!!!

[Andrew G. Doe]

There was ONE track from the Smile sessions which was completed, fully mixed down, mastered and released: You're Welcome

2 tracks...Good Vibrations was the other one!!!

Technically, not from the Smile sessions. If you want to be picky. And I invariably do.