Al Jardine: Everything You Wanted To Know About SMiLE interview.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

He's always felt that way about Heroes & Villains. In this interview (like others) he's said that it sounds too muddled.

I don't understand what's wrong with the Smiley version of Heroes and Villains. It's essentially the "Smile" version of the track minus the cantina section...

Edit:
No wait. The Smile version is essentially the Smiley version plus the cantina section.

I am not looking at the session dates right now, but I believe the chorus using the Bicycle Rider tune was recorded after SMiLE was scrapped.

[TV Forces]

Wow.  Did Al say anything in this interview that is actually true?

[KittyKat]

One thing that's cool about SMiLE is that all 3 of the project's creators never have a single problem with any of the other creator's output. Brian has never spoken a bad word regarding Van Dyke's lyrics (tough I will give you that Van Dyke was a bit taken aback by at least one BWPS lyrical choice). Van Dyke never questioned Brian's music and neither Brian nor Van Dyke had any issue with Frank Holmes' art. Brian may question the scope or advanced nature of the project but never does he explain flawed thinking or thematic confusion or anything along these lines.

Basically all three creators have no qualms with the material that was created. SMiLE makes sense to the album's 3 artists.

Fans and basically all of those apart from the 3 creators, on the other hand, have loads of problems with SMiLE. What does this mean? What does that mean? How does this fit with that?

More often than not the fan perspective seems to disintegrate into Brian was doing this stuff that NOBODY understands. Van Dyke added his American viewpoint to the project and Frank was just somebody they found to illustrate Van Dyke's lyrics. Frank basically did his own thing. So it was just 3 guys doing their own thing and that's why Smile is the way it is.

Another fan favorite is to collect reference after reference disclosed by the 3 artists. Eventually they end up with a basket full of references that they cannot connect in any all encompassing sense. This seems to satisfy most fans likely because they believe the artists were all doing their own things.

But based upon the comments of the albums 3 main guys----SMiLE makes sense.

IMO, Smile does belong to the fans, because without the fans, Smile would never have been released in any form. There would be no bootlegs, no BWPS, no boxed set.  And no, I cannot agree that Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks, and Frank Holmes (?!) had a fully realized vision and were all on the same page and that they made this perfect one disc album that most fans just aren't hip to.

[runnersdialzero]

More often than not the fan perspective seems to disintegrate into Brian was doing this stuff that NOBODY understands. Van Dyke added his American viewpoint to the project and Frank was just somebody they found to illustrate Van Dyke's lyrics. Frank basically did his own thing. So it was just 3 guys doing their own thing and that's why Smile is the way it is.

Didn't Brian have something to do with the lyrics in Wind Chimes? It's interestingly credited only to Wilson on Smiley Smile. Maybe VDP just disowned the Smiley Smile version, haha.

I suspect Brian was always into the lyrics of his pieces, even if he didn't always write (all) of them. Maybe the nature of Tony Asher's writing relationship with Brian was different from that of VDP?

I think the BWPS credits are a case of incorrectly thinking they were Van Dyke Parks' work because he was so involved with the original project. A lot of things like this were glossed over for BWPS, and it was to be expected, I guess. Still, in this case, all they had to do was take a look at a copy of Smiley Smile. "Wind Chimes" feels nothing like anything else Van Dyke wrote around this time period and has Brian's name attached to it.

[The Song Of The Grange]

Thanks for this article Pretty Funky.

[Bill Tobelman]

Bossaro asked what lyric on BWPS didn't agree with Van Dyke Parks.

Yeah, if my memory serves me well VDP was uncomfortable with the "I'm in the great shape of the agriculture" line.

[Bill Tobelman]

Puggal suggested that Brian had lyrical input & I agree with Puggal.

[Bill Tobelman]

Runnersdialzero said:

I think the BWPS credits are a case of incorrectly thinking they were Van Dyke Parks' work because he was so involved with the original project. A lot of things like this were glossed over for BWPS, and it was to be expected, I guess. Still, in this case, all they had to do was take a look at a copy of Smiley Smile. "Wind Chimes" feels nothing like anything else Van Dyke wrote around this time period and has Brian's name attached to it.

I agree with you. If Van Dyke had a hand in the "Wind Chimes" lyrics it sort of shows that SMiLE wasn't the all about Americana thing it became.

[Bill Tobelman]

Al is great. But there is a great disconnect between those who know what's going on and those who don't when we speak about the psychedelic experience. From Al's point of view he's accurate and we all should respect such honesty. No one could ask for anything more. Al is great.

The viewpoint of the album's 3 creative artists is different from Al's in a creative sense. They were more experimental and were privy to an alternate state of consciousness, reality, or what have you.

By virtue of that their art, reflective of that insight, is not easily recognizable to those who have no such experience.

[Jim V.]

Bossaro asked what lyric on BWPS didn't agree with Van Dyke Parks.

Yeah, if my memory serves me well VDP was uncomfortable with the "I'm in the great shape of the agriculture" line.

Really? Where did VDP say this? I've never heard of this.

The viewpoint of the album's 3 creative artists is different from Al's in a creative sense. They were more experimental and were privy to an alternate state of consciousness, reality, or what have you.

So unless you do acid you're not cool and you don't get it, right?

[Iron Horse-Apples]

No that's not what he's saying. It's not about being cool, he's saying acid gives you a different outlook and perspective, creatively. Sorry if you don't like it, but its true. That's why psychedelic music exists, because people took psychedelic drugs.

[Bill Tobelman]

I said:

Yeah, if my memory serves me well VDP was uncomfortable with the "I'm in the great shape of the agriculture" line.

SweetdudeJim said:

Really? Where did VDP say this? I've never heard of this.

I was given that impression from a November 2004 Endless Summer Quarterly interview with Van Dyke Parks. Now I reread the piece it may be that VDP wasn't comfortable with the sequencing of that section. Here's the part of the interview.

ESQ: Were you involved in the sequencing decisions?
VDP: No. I thought that it was important for Brian to make the decision. I don't take any credit at all for the big picture. I'm not saying that I approve of all the results. When I heard "I'm in the great shape of the agriculture . . . " I wasn't so sure I was going for it.

[Sam_BFC]

I'm pretty sure I've read an article from the Smile 2004 period where the authorship of the Wind Chimes lyrics was brought up between Van Dyke and Brian/Melinda.  Please somebody correct me if this is wrong, but I think Van Dyke questioned why his name was not on the credits for the original Smiley release and requested this be amended for Smile 2004.  I think the article described it as a sensitive subject for Brian particularly in light of Mike's lawsuit.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

I'm pretty sure I've read an article from the Smile 2004 period where the authorship of the Wind Chimes lyrics was brought up between Van Dyke and Brian/Melinda.  Please somebody correct me if this is wrong, but I think Van Dyke questioned why his name was not on the credits for the original Smiley release and requested this be amended for Smile 2004.  I think the article described it as a sensitive subject for Brian particularly in light of Mike's lawsuit.

Yes, you're quite right. I remember being surprised, as I always thought the Wind Chimes lyrics were very Brian, in that "so simple it's disarming" way he does so well. Obviously not though.

[The Shift]

I'm pretty sure I've read an article from the Smile 2004 period where the authorship of the Wind Chimes lyrics was brought up between Van Dyke and Brian/Melinda.  Please somebody correct me if this is wrong, but I think Van Dyke questioned why his name was not on the credits for the original Smiley release and requested this be amended for Smile 2004.  I think the article described it as a sensitive subject for Brian particularly in light of Mike's lawsuit.

Yes, you're quite right. I remember being surprised, as I always thought the Wind Chimes lyrics were very Brian, in that "so simple it's disarming" way he does so well. Obviously not though.

I recall it too… was it m=not in the Beautiful Dreamer doc?

[Bill Tobelman]

“We went shopping one day and we brought home some wind chimes. We hung them outside the house and then one day, while Brian was sitting around he sort of watched them out the window and then he wrote the song. I think that’s how it happened. Simple. He does a lot of things that way.”
-Marilyn Wilson (“The Beach Boys” by Byron Preiss. 1979)