The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does anyone know the origins of the Brother Records logo?  It's a dramatic image - is it the one Carl enigmatically referred to as the last horizon?

(http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g280/LolaJW/brotherlogo.jpg)  I'm intrigued to know why this image was chosen.

(Ha ha, I'm just listening to All Summer Long at the end of American Graffitti.  It sounds great).

Artists breaking free from tyrannical record labels?

"Brian chose the logo for Brother Records. The logo united the spiritual, via the Ute American Indian image, to the Beach Boys."

http://pages.cthome.net/tobelman/page18.htm

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/46/Cyrus_E._Dallin%2C_Appeal_to_the_Great_Spirit%2C_Boston_MFA%2C_August_2005.JPG/525px-Cyrus_E._Dallin%2C_Appeal_to_the_Great_Spirit%2C_Boston_MFA%2C_August_2005.JPG)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_E._Dallin

It's funny how in that visual, the guy on the horse is raising himself into the air in a most spiritual way while the horse is most likely thinking about how good a hefty chunk of grass would taste.

(http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1387/2882/320/ScreenHunter_115.jpg)

http://but-seriously-folks.blogspot.com/2006/05/appeal-to-great-spirit.html

Wow, thankyou Mr LePage. It is certainly a powerful image, and Brian was definitely into spiritual thing at that time (1966?).  I wonder what Brian was appealing for?
Liberation?
Inspiration?
Blessing?
I wonder if Van had anything to do with it, seeing as he enjoys this sort of stuff?

This may help:

http://pages.cthome.net/tobelman/The_Out-Of-Sight_SMiLE_Site.html

Such confusion, all these years he wasn't talking about LSD trips, he was talking about LDS trips to "Salt Lake City" where he saw the temple there and the sculpture atop it.  His "LDS" trips expanded his mind and made him more creative, so he tributed it by choosing another sculpture by the same artist.  It's all so clear now!

So what's the meaning of the "Surf's up"-front cover then? That guy doesn't look as happy on that... When I first saw it, I thought this ould be the devil dying. I was frightened by that picture....

BTW I have to say how much I love the artork to the "Brother years"-Best of. It's awesome....

Yeah from the SMiLE cover to this: (http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g280/LolaJW/SurfsUp.jpg)

One was all about being optimistic about American society and the other...?  Personally I can see loads of Brian's personality in the first art cover and almost none in Surf's Up.  An art cover can say as much about the album as the songs IMO (for arty people like me, anyway) and is what you remember visually.  Do I have to mention Sgt Pepper, White album... ha ha even Like A Virgin (B&W tart in bed).  SMiLE was nicely memorable for all the right reasons.  Surf's Up for all the wrong ones.

Actually, regarding that Surf's Up cover - look at this:
http://www.goldmountainmining.com/endoftrail.html

The Surf's Up cover is the complete anthesis of the term "surf's up". It's dark and depressing. No one is surfing, it's a man riding a horse. Compare to the Surfin' USA cover.

Cool, thank you !