Another possibility that I have never run across is that assembling SMiLE would yield a work akin to a dream. This would be one of the strongest clues as to what SMiLE was to reveal itself to be for consumers ripe enough for the "eureka" moment.

Keeping this dynamic from consumers was of importance to create the proper effect. The 12 track facade served this purpose.

Also, after Brian had doubts about the project he never tried to assemble it because to do so was to enable the proper effect.

Genevelyn might know.

Early on I was more of a Byrds & Beatles fan. The Beach Boys seemed like also rans but their early sixties look & sound was cool in a contrarian way.

What really hooked me on The Beach Boys was when I traded a copy of Dylan's Planet Waves for a beat up copy of The Beach Boys TODAY. Had moved away from home and played that album along with After School Session by The Milkshakes that whole summer long.

Later on the same guy who traded albums played the An American Band video & the live energy of the group really surprised me.

The 2fer CDs were also key. I'd try & get them the moment they arrived at the stores & then studied the liners.

Then Look!Listen!VIBRATE!SMiLE! really amped things up.

So it was a slow build but with many special moments.

Actually that quote may be completely Brian's idea.

the vocal clips were recorded specifically for the project

That's not to say that the quotes weren't 100% accurate as to what the speakers felt & believed was it?

Brian's Vosse Posse era recordings often centered around a "set of values." This may be an Arthur Koestler matrix type of thing brought into play via chanting (also cool with Koestler). The idea is to bring about the dream-like state of mind.

Brian's "everything's been so groovy" quote seems down with the direction of the late sixties. He's part of the movement.

Frank Holmes is to some extent in the same boat as Van Dyke SMiLE-wise but without any 2004 healing (though his wounds may be less deep).

The modular style was unique to the SMiLE project as was Van Dyke's lyrical style and Holmes' visual style. It was all part of the awesome album concept.

I have a guess that the only person ever present during the creation of any SMiLE music besides the 3 primary creators was Dennis Wilson during the writing of "Surf's Up." Other then that it was a pretty private creative matter.

Thanks for your article. Very thoughtful & well done.

When I hear incomplete Beach Boys versions of the material these days I fill in the missing vocals parts (in my mind) with the BWPS notes & lyrics.

If anyone want's to hear what Lee Dempsey was talking about where Brian says "And ever since I blew my mind everything's been so groovy" you can find it on this page:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/365_days_project/page/2/

It's on track 1 of Rock & Other 4-letter Words.

I hope you're right Andrew. I still wish "Let Him Run Wild" was on the GV box set.

As far as Brian & books go there is the matter of personal interest which attracts one to certain subjects: you're interested in a subject so you read about it.

But in the competitive world-wide social change intellectual climate of pop in the mid sixties Brian appears to have been using books to help him compete. On the other hand Brian was being introduced to new realm of sensibilities and possibilities by friends as well as his own personal experiences and his choice of reading material reflected this as well.

Then there's the matter of what one "pick's up on" from the stuff they read. Reading The Joyous Cosmology may be a totally different experience for one who has taken LSD then for one who hasn't taken LSD. It likely would be a different read for a philospher than a follower. A lot of what one takes from literature depends on where they're coming from.

If anyone has been lucky enough to see Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution TV program they will likely notice that there are two languages being spoken, one by one generation & the other by another. What likely separates these generations besides age & life experiences is also the drug experience (at least in this TV program). That's not to say every younger person was trying these new drugs by any means....but the folks chosen for this rock music documentary (for the most part) seem to have this quality. Perhaps David Oppenheim purposely sought out such people for his film. In any case it is apparent that one side does not understand where the other is coming from...words don't seem to have the ability to bridge the gap.

What I'm trying to say is that it's important to try and keep things in perspective when reading stuff & applying it to SMiLE. Perhaps I'm wrong for doing this, or my assumptions regarding the past are incorrect or out of focus, but that's the tact I've taken and one I'd encourage others to take.

Oh yeah, I love the orchestration of the Rock With Me Henry "Wonderful." That music blends seamlessly into "Look."

Thought that "Henry" might have been studio engineer Henry Lewy who was holding discussion classes that Brian was attending (apparently about spiritual matters). Not that I want to suggest that there is potentially another level of meaning going on any kind of spiritual level or anything.

French bread is awesome. Brian is right about that.

I think that reading Arthur Koestler is a very intellectual thing to do & so Brian gets kudos for that too.

It's interesting when Brian gives his "intellectual" explanation of the "Surf's Up" lyrics to Jules Siegel & Co.. It's very much in line with Koestler's documenting of the famous Night Journey motif (or the Death & Rebirth motif for those who remember my claim that "Surf's Up" is an ego death song).

18th of May said:

Bill you really really need to place a mirror next to your bed and wake up to yourself!

First off--I really like the mirror reference. It's very SMiLE era stuff. The "mirror of the mind" and hypnosis & things of this nature were on Brian's mind at the time (Koestler even mentions Plotinus & the mirror(or is it plot-in-us?)).

I'm honestly not trying to con people or spread non truths. I've placed hundreds of quotes online over the years & I promise they are all accurate and not taken out of context. Feel free to put each & every one of them to the test.

I've asked various people over the years if I should stop in the pursuit of this viewpoint (as it might cause problems for certain people). Typically I received either no response or was told "no way, keep going." But just so you know, efforts were made in that direction.

One thing that's I have found that's of great interest is a Michael Vosse quote about Brian's SMiLE era viewpoint on laughter.

"He told me that he felt laughter as one of the highest forms of divinity and that when someone was laughing, their connection with the thing that was making them laugh made them more 'open' than they could be at just about any other time."

What's really cool is the "their connection with the thing that was making them laugh" part.

So then, if the thing that is making you laugh is the discovery of a spiritual experience---then you're 'open' to having a similar experience.

Andrew apparently read Watts' The Joyous Cosmology & dismissed the whole thing. That book was the one Bob Hanes claimed Brian had requested prior to his dabbling with SMiLE & BWPS. Bob felt the book had significance SMiLE-wise.

The deal was that Andrew was going to tell folks what the book was about, but apparently that part of the deal fell through.

The book is about the LSD experience. Watts describes a number of experiences as best he can using words. Timothy Leary & Ram Das wrote the intro.

The whole point of this was to give a more accurate picture of the times & environment from which SMiLE arose.

Also Andrew, I was not being disingenuous.

The more unlikely or ‘far-fetched’ the...more unexpected and impressive the achievement!!!

That's correct Andrew. Domenic's concern with ending of one track vis a vis the beginning of the following track is like a pun. It leads you down one road only to be also a different road, the same music has two different meanings.

That's not saying that Domenic's track line-up is perfect. It's just to point out that his appreciation of that track to track quality could also be seen on BWPS and fits into the pun idea.

That's correct bgas. You got it right.

Andrew B. Doe said

:
Actually, we don't - I've been there, read the 'guide' book, had a laugh, moved on.

You are a freakin' genius Andrew.

Hypehat & A Million Units:

Sorry if I didn't explain my comment well. All I was pointing out was that Domenic valued the flow from one track into another. BWPS did the same.

When the rhythm stays the same and the tools from the workshop turn into the percussion of Vegetables--this is what I mean by a musical pun. Or the end of Wonderful becomes the beginning of Song For Children. Same idea.

These little triggers were to indicate that there are two layers of meaning in SMiLE. Pet Sounds is on one level but SMiLE is on two levels.

And all this see see and done done & pun stuff was to get you to pick up onto the two in the one. Dig?

Domenic Priore has been onto this since day one. His track sequencing was largely based upon how one track flowed flawlessly into the next.

That's what I mean by a musical pun.

Or rather, I should say, one ting is, at the same time, something else.

It will be interesting to see whether Boyd & Linett try & rearrange the old tracks a la BWPS or they simply sequence the older stuff "as is."

My understanding was that that even the 1988 (I think) tape box stuff was largely compiled and pieced together by Mark Linett, as was stuff on the GV box set. If that's the case then perhaps something closer to BWPS should be in order.

What I find consistent about BWPS and the project in general is the idea of the pun. Frank Holmes has made mention of, and pointed out, the visual pun in his SMiLE artwork. Van Dyke Parks wrote pun filled lyrics for SMilE. And the musical sequencing for SMiLE often had the ending of one song becoming the beginning of another song sometimes in a slightly different way. In this fashion there is a musical pun....one thing becomes something else.

Heck the idea of dominoes is like this. Each domino has two values.

I like the sequence Brian & Co. came up with for BWPS. The only thing that didn't appeal to me were the composed pieces that began the 3rd movement and joined "Father of the Man" to "Surf's Up."

The BWPS sequence was written with Brian involved using actual SMiLE era sections. That's as good a SMiLE sequence as you're ever going to get and the only way it's going to get better is by using the original recordings from 66-67.

That's what they're doing for the SMiLE Sessions & so, to me, that's great news.

Then we can care about what it's actually about......maybe.