Are The Beach Boys Going To Become Hip With The Smille Sessions Release?

[Bill Tobelman]

Come November "Good Vibrations" won't be the apex of the band's achievements.

[Aegir]

Will it make the band "hip"?...I don't know but it sure helps with their street cred.  Here is finally proof that they had something under their sleeves to follow "Pet Sounds."  Joe Public most likely doesn't own anything past "Pet Sounds" or "Smiley Smile" so this is really the first time they'll be hearing everything compiled in one package.  Not every Beach Boy fan necessarily follows Brian Wilson.  So there will be a lot of opportunity for so-so fans to turn into something else with this release....

I disagree with this entirely. If you have a casual hits + Pet Sounds fan, they're not going to buy the Smile sessions. if you have an obsessive fan, they've already listened to all the boots.  the release will change very few people's opinions.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Few people will buy the full deluxe set all-around, unfortunately due to the price and the fact that people just are out of the habit of buying physical product.

The double vinyl, however,  will probably sell quite a few copies at someplace like Amoeba Records, for example.

And when it comes to the hip kids of today: no one is cooler or more hip than The Beach Boys!

They're so hip that people in hipster bands are running around name dropping them as influences without having likely heard more than 20% of their recorded output.

The Beach Boy's bearded 70's days are right in line visually with what the hipsters right now are, by and large, going for. The very urban late 70's NY, garage-rock thing of the early 2000's has morphed into a sort of back alley Topanga Canyon of the late 60's early 70's. And kids who miss the tangible musical experience of fantasy (and of their own memories, if they're old enough) are fascinated by the Beach Boys internal dramas and struggles. It takes a great deal of courage to really mean it in today's landscape: therefore, The Beach Boys are Gods.

[puni puni]

They're so hip that people in hipster bands are running around name dropping them as influences without having likely heard more than 20% of their recorded output.

then they're probably not a hipster band...

[Shady]

Don't you think the Beach Boys are boss?

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

They're so hip that people in hipster bands are running around name dropping them as influences without having likely heard more than 20% of their recorded output.

then they're probably not a hipster band...

or they ARE a hipster band 

[hypehat]

 

I mean, a world where Van Dyke Parks gets incredibly enthusiastic reviews on Pitchfork is a world where people know Smile - BWPS is the highest rated album of all time on metacritic, after all. This side of the band is not ignored.

[Jason]

If you (or I) are confusing hip with a popularity contest then I agree with you. The weird thing about the mid sixties is that those two things met at the same time!

True, in that case we are in agreement. I don't know. I don't like to think of the Beach Boys in terms of "being hip". I listen to them because I like the music, the story, the personalities. I was quite happy to be "that kid who likes the Beach Boys" in high school, because years later people in my graduating class came up to me and told me they got into the band as a result of my talking them up.

But I can live without the popularity contest thing. Listen to what you like. In all cases.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I couldn't agree more about the silliness of hipness and what's considered cool and what's not: but I tell ya, it was really rough being a Beach Boys fan when I was a teenager. Goth, Punk, Metal, Rap and classic rock was what was cool and, though I was perfectly happy being a nerdy Boys fan, it was like being lost in a world of oldsurferdudes showing up with Wild Honey in my cassette walkman!

I'd imagine it's much easier now. Then again, maybe the Beach Boys aren't quite so special to kids today because of it. Who knows.

[SG7]

I mean, a world where Van Dyke Parks gets incredibly enthusiastic reviews on Pitchfork is a world where people know Smile - BWPS is the highest rated album of all time on metacritic, after all. This side of the band is not ignored.

As nice as it is, I know plenty of people who don't even know Kokomo. Will they ever be truly hip? Not really but Pet Sounds and Smile do bring out a nice group of appreciation. I think the Beach Boys will always be a well known secret.

[SMiLE Brian]

I mean, a world where Van Dyke Parks gets incredibly enthusiastic reviews on Pitchfork is a world where people know Smile - BWPS is the highest rated album of all time on metacritic, after all. This side of the band is not ignored.

As nice as it is, I know plenty of people who don't even know Kokomo. Will they ever be truly hip? Not really but Pet Sounds and Smile do bring out a nice group of appreciation. I think the Beach Boys will always be a well known secret.

The less people know about kokomo, the better.

[Shady]

I mean, a world where Van Dyke Parks gets incredibly enthusiastic reviews on Pitchfork is a world where people know Smile - BWPS is the highest rated album of all time on metacritic, after all. This side of the band is not ignored.

As nice as it is, I know plenty of people who don't even know Kokomo. Will they ever be truly hip? Not really but Pet Sounds and Smile do bring out a nice group of appreciation. I think the Beach Boys will always be a well known secret.

Come on, The Beach Boys hits are huge and are pretty much songs nearly everyone knows..

Their songs are unavoidable

[SG7]

I mean, a world where Van Dyke Parks gets incredibly enthusiastic reviews on Pitchfork is a world where people know Smile - BWPS is the highest rated album of all time on metacritic, after all. This side of the band is not ignored.

As nice as it is, I know plenty of people who don't even know Kokomo. Will they ever be truly hip? Not really but Pet Sounds and Smile do bring out a nice group of appreciation. I think the Beach Boys will always be a well known secret.

Come on, The Beach Boys hits are huge and are pretty much songs nearly everyone knows..

Their songs are unavoidable

Trust me, you would be very surprised how many don't.

[Shady]

I mean, a world where Van Dyke Parks gets incredibly enthusiastic reviews on Pitchfork is a world where people know Smile - BWPS is the highest rated album of all time on metacritic, after all. This side of the band is not ignored.

As nice as it is, I know plenty of people who don't even know Kokomo. Will they ever be truly hip? Not really but Pet Sounds and Smile do bring out a nice group of appreciation. I think the Beach Boys will always be a well known secret.

Come on, The Beach Boys hits are huge and are pretty much songs nearly everyone knows..

Their songs are unavoidable

Trust me, you would be very surprised how many don't.

Man, those are people I never want to meet

[puni puni]

the only songs i knew up until the very beginning of this year were surfin safari and wouldnt it be nice

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I know several people: all massive Beatles fanatics who think "yeah, the Beach Boys were cool, but then they tried to beat the Beatles and have sucked ever since" .... But then if I ever dig a little deeper, all they've ever heard is all the early hits that get played on the radio, Pet Sounds, and Kokomo!

[buddhahat]

Honestly (and I'm not trying to stir the pot), who cares?

I dunno, I'm down with Bill's thread. Do You Like Worms is one of the tracks that really blows my mind. It is SO far away from other Beach Boys music. Very bold, very arty statement, if slightly flawed. I don't think the 2011 release will do anything to change opinions about The Beach Boys. Anybody with a reasonable knowledge of post 50s music knows that the Beach Boys made much artistically credible music. But Smile really shows the potential for Brian to move in a much more hip and avant garde direction. If only he'd pulled it off what might the next album have sounded like - the 'Smile was a triumph, now hear this!' album?! The Beach Boys' White Album! Sadly I don't think it was possible in this universe as the tide was turning against lavish and intricate productions.

[onkster]

They might become "hip" in some peoples' eyes for a while, then those same people will rush off to whatever the next "hip" thing is, and likely discard their last notion.

That's the whole problem with hipness. It's temporary and shallow.

Yes, be true to yourself (if not your school). Rah rah rah rah, sis boom bah.

[Mr. Cohen]

This won't make the BBs hip. Smile is really weird, but it would've given the BBs a cult following among the young intellectual cognescenti, a.k.a. the enlightened acid droppers that read Thoreau for fun. But not the average hip dude. The Beatles maybe have 3 or 4 songs in their whole catalog that truly approach the complete strangeness of Smile. And those 3 or 4 are the ones a lot of Beatles casual fans skip (see "Tomorrow Never Knows").

[jeffh]

The release of Smile will have little impact on anything! Oh sure it will chart very well on Amazon for a week or so. And then.....nothing

[letsmakeit31]

I think as long as their's a big piece review and background to Smile in NME & maybe Brian popping over to do big TV interview say with the likes of Jonathon Ross (Bear with me please) lots of radio play by "Cool radio Stations, Facebook, Twitter stuff then yes it will be hip esp here in the UK

[SamMcK]

While they are one of my favourite bands (If not my favourite) as a 17 year old I can understand how people my age would imagine them as the lamest group around, it's pretty hard to convince otherwise with a name like "The Beach Boys". I'll admit I used to be so embarrased by that name I used to label the artist on my ipod as Brian Wilson. The route between thinking of them as an old surfing band with a couple of hits and one of the greatest bands of all time is the route between discovering Pet Sounds, Smile, 67-73 work, Today, Sunflower etc. or just listening to 409, Be True To Your School or Kokomo. (and I don't mind those songs!) I just hope this gives them more respect if not with most of the general public but the music fans of the world.

[onkster]

Wouldn't it be nice if...once the box set gets released, some radio stations actually start playing the tracks as good music for people to hear, not just as a collectors' oddity or to promote Capitol's latest product for its own sake...

I would just love to be headed down the Sepulveda Pass, and have "Wonderful" or "Surf's Up" come on...

[P.J.]

Wouldn't it be nice if...once the box set gets released, some radio stations actually start playing the tracks as good music for people to hear, not just as a collectors' oddity or to promote Capitol's latest product for its own sake...

I would just love to be headed down the Sepulveda Pass, and have "Wonderful" or "Surf's Up" come on...

Yes, hearing it on radio would be very awesome. I know I am going to do my share in promoting this music. I am an instructor for Astronomy lab at UTPA and regularly play music for my students while they do their work. All November I will be regularly "spinning" this album.

[The Madcap]

Wouldn't it be nice if...once the box set gets released, some radio stations actually start playing the tracks as good music for people to hear, not just as a collectors' oddity or to promote Capitol's latest product for its own sake...

I would just love to be headed down the Sepulveda Pass, and have "Wonderful" or "Surf's Up" come on...

Yes, hearing it on radio would be very awesome. I know I am going to do my share in promoting this music. I am an instructor for Astronomy lab at UTPA and regularly play music for my students while they do their work. All November I will be regularly "spinning" this album.

I'm a DJ on my college's radio station. So I'll definitely be playing some tracks off of TSS. Hopefully other stations will pick it up too, because my college's station only broadcasts on campus and online.