SMiLE Sessions box set!

[UK_Surf]

Yowza. Reducto ad absurdum, hyperbole, and selective adaptation also make the list of 'non-transactional-conversation-buster' bugbears, but maybe it's just the irrascible hippy canuck in me lashing out yet again...

[UK_Surf]

Hey, unrelated topic, but it's only been biefly dealt with elsewhere. Did anyone notice that in webisode #9, BW said he wished he could have told his younger smile-era self to just 'finish a tune, like his Dad taught him'? 

Another brilliant observations by one of the producers was that the avant-garde modularity of Smile proved its undoing.

And yet, many of the Smile songs VDP and BW wrote - CE, Wonderful, SU, CIFOTM, DYLW, even the Veggies Demo - had pretty sound structures in place in 66. H&V and the proposed Veggies single seemed to cause the trubs.

Not sure if this relates to Zen, but this strikes me as fascinating - that the pressure from the singles rather than the album tracks led to the April ' 67 crisis.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Looks to me like someone's misplaced their zen calm. I wasn't talking about them, Bill, but you.

Yes, you were talking about me (meaning me) and how stupid I was to be looking for meaning from a tape box spelling which you assumed (meaning assumed) was due to a spelling error on the part of the person who wrote it (who wasn't Brian). Perhaps you are correct about the person's spelling, but your reference to me making a fool of myself was aimed at my looking into the tape box spelling for a deeper meaning.

Correct. Say "psychedelic" out loud, then spell it phonetically - psycodelic. O, not e. Brian would have spelled it correctly, due to his reading matter of the period. Someone who asked Brian what the tape should be labelled and hearing him say "oh, psychedelic sounds" would spell it phonetically (doubtless remembering the Hitchcock movie, or the tape box would have said "sycodelic sounds"). Someone whose education stopped in high school, or more accurately, the Hollywood Professional School... and yes, looking for a deeper meaning - 'code' - in a simple spelling error is very foolish indeed. It's not up there with Harold Camping, but it's in that postal zone.

[Bill Tobelman]

Andrew said:

Correct. Say "psychedelic" out loud, then spell it phonetically - psycodelic. O, not e. Brian would have spelled it correctly, due to his reading matter of the period. Someone who asked Brian what the tape should be labelled and hearing him say "oh, psychedelic sounds" would spell it phonetically (doubtless remembering the Hitchclock movie, or the tape box would have said "sycodelic sounds"). Someone whose education stopped in high school, or more accurately, the Hollywood Professional School... and yes, looking for a deeper meaning - 'code' - in a simple spelling error is very foolish indeed. It's not up there with Harold Camping, but it's in that postal zone.

Andrew, your command of unknown reality proves how truly foolish I truly am.

[Bill Tobelman]

Steve Mayo said:

jesusf*ckinhchrist...i hope not...  Angry

Got good new for you Steve. I might not continue because there's only so far you can go with this.

Originally the idea was to find a way to make sense of all the SMiLE phenomena. Everytime one tried to make sense of things you ran into inconsistencies & roadblocks. So the idea was to find a way that everything made sense. If one were to find that path then it would the proper telling of that era. That's how I felt about it anyway.

The zen thing was pretty close & was even stolen for the SOT boxset liners (Bob Hanes congratulated me on getting the recognition only to discover I wasn't even mentioned in the notes) because someone likely thought it was the best explanation at the time.

I may not continue my "theory" because there isn't anything the current theory does not reconcile from the SMiLE era. So the original goal has been met & there's no need to continue.

Off the top of my head here's a sampling of things that all fit together no-problem under the bookstore riddle/Koestler/spiritual enlightenment umbrella:

Brian says it's spiritual music
Brian writes about spiritual enlightenment
Brian talks about spirituality in the sense of all religions
Brian's health comment infers he's interested in promoting spiritual enlightenment
Brian seeks out "enlightened" people
Brian & Van Dyke compose in private
Energy & health & vegetables related to spiritual enlightenment
Brain "destroys" the fire tapes episode
The David Anderle painting episode
The reaction to the film SECONDS
Brian being unhealthy while promoting health
Swimming being spiritual
The puns, the lyrics, the drawings for the album
Child is Father of the Man
The Zodiac signs
The "witchcraft music" claims
The "inappropriate music" claims
The "paradox not accessible in conscious reality" statement
The "psycodelic sounds"
The animal sounds
The mineral sounds
The vegetable sounds
Da da
mamamamamama
lalalalala (from H&V)
"now now now now now now"
"is it hot as hell in here or is it me it really is a mystery"
"out of the wild.....you'll achieve"
Humor, laughter, smile, and the connection to spiritual enlightenment
The "ahead of its time" claims
The "too advanced" claims
The "we did some heavy sh*t there" statement
The sandbox
The pictures of children at the beach
astronomy
Americana
Manifest destiny
Dams, coolies, sawmills, trains, the grange
The oriental mind going off on another track
laughter tracks
fighting tracks
fire hats
"The children of God are in their twenties" statement
The Act of Creation being Brian's favorite book
yin & yang
vibrations
The changeable track sequence
The modular nature
Making a "monument"
The lyrics aren't important
Brian as a revolutionary leader
The Beatles' REVOLVER as spiritual
The obsession with perfect
Why Brian's explanation of "Surf's Up" is "intellectual"
How hallucinations are comparable to Zen riddles
recording water sounds
the GV promo film
Why SMILE was presented without explanation
A mind-blowing unified concept album

All this stuff (what I could think of) can be explained without contradictions or caveats easily under the theory.

If anyone would like to share a finer theory that solves at least as much, please share.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Seriously, this has got boring, so I'll refute just two of your points then leave you to flail away in silence.

"Why SMILE was presented without explanation"

BW to VDP - "I'm writing a teenage symphony to God". I'd call that a pretty explicit outline.

"A mind-blowing unified concept album"

Unified ? It's all over the place - American history, nature/elements, humour, human life. It's also not unified in the most important regard: never finished.

Also, you cite a 1976 quote from VDP - "the lyrics aren't important" - after quoting lyrics in support of your premise. Oh, no, of course, I forgot - that's you using a zen thing to bug us squares. Har. har. har. How risable.

Oddly, I'm currently reading a 1956 book on fads and fallacies (i.e. dianetics, flat/hollow earths, pyramidology and the like), and much of what's said therein could be applied to your zen notion.

[Dunderhead]

Seriously, this has got boring, so I'll refute just two of your points then leave you to flail away in silence.

No you won't. You always have to be right, there's no way you could ever just let somebody be off on the internet when, in your infinite wisdom, you know him to be wrong.

[SloopJohnB]

Originally the idea was to find a way to make sense of all the SMiLE phenomena. Everytime one tried to make sense of things you ran into inconsistencies & roadblocks. So the idea was to find a way that everything made sense. If one were to find that path then it would the proper telling of that era. That's how I felt about it anyway.

Why try to make sense? Maybe it doesn't make sense. Maybe Smile doesn't rely on a single, hidden concept. Maybe Smile is just, you know, an album, with songs that deal with different things that aren't necessarily linked.

Your approach reminds me of many numerologists who'll find a number that links anything to everything else. "Oh my god, when I add this and that and divide it by the golden number and add the last two digits of my postal code, it makes 911, 9/11 you guys!"

Not saying your thoughts aren't interesting, but in my opinion you're trying too hard to find a link.

Da da
mamamamamama
lalalalala (from H&V)
"now now now now now now"

So "Help Me Rhonda" fits under the "bookstore riddle/Koestler/spiritual enlightenment umbrella"? Ah bow bow bow bow...  

[Mike's Beard]

Bill it's a good job you weren't in the room that day when Mike asked Van Dyke what that lyric meant. For I greatly fear you would have made his head explode with all your nonsense!! Does anyone remember that David Cronenberg film Scanners?

[Mike's Beard]

Originally the idea was to find a way to make sense of all the SMiLE phenomena. Everytime one tried to make sense of things you ran into inconsistencies & roadblocks. So the idea was to find a way that everything made sense. If one were to find that path then it would the proper telling of that era. That's how I felt about it anyway.

Why try to make sense? Maybe it doesn't make sense. Maybe Smile doesn't rely on a single, hidden concept. Maybe Smile is just, you know, an album, with songs that deal with different things that aren't necessarily linked

I did suggest this line of reasoning to Bill many months ago Sloopy. I think it may of fallen on deaf ears.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Seriously, this has got boring, so I'll refute just two of your points then leave you to flail away in silence.

No you won't. You always have to be right, there's no way you could ever just let somebody be off on the internet when, in your infinite wisdom, you know him to be wrong.

True, dat - usually, but this time, he's painted himself into a very small corner with his manic insistence that he's right and we're all wrong, and stupid too. You want to sway someone to your way of thinking, insulting them from the get-go isn't a very bright thing to do. About as sensible as basing parts of your premise on 'evidence' that turns out to have nothing to do with the matter in hand.

And my wisdom isn't infinite - true, it is vast, beyond mere human comprehension, but it does have limits. Probably. I've not actually reached them yet. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Da da
mamamamamama
lalalalala (from H&V)
"now now now now now now"

So "Help Me Rhonda" fits under the "bookstore riddle/Koestler/spiritual enlightenment umbrella"? Ah bow bow bow bow...  

Goes back much further than that - "bom bom dit diddit dada". Yes, it's true - Brian's great zen koan dates back to summer 1961 ! 

See, anyone can write this bollocks.

[Cam Mott]

From one crackpot theorist to another: Bill, well done. I may not agree but your case is well stated and you've weathered its scrunity with calm and grace.

I raise a glass to William Tobelman, long may you wave old friend.

Give my best to Maragret.

[bgas]

Whi is Maragret?

[Cam Mott]

Whi is that? That is a typo for Margaret. If that isn't a typo too.

[runnersdialzero]

Got good new for you Steve. I might not continue because there's only so far you can go with this.

Originally the idea was to find a way to make sense of all the SMiLE phenomena. Everytime one tried to make sense of things you ran into inconsistencies & roadblocks. So the idea was to find a way that everything made sense. If one were to find that path then it would the proper telling of that era. That's how I felt about it anyway.

The zen thing was pretty close & was even stolen for the SOT boxset liners (Bob Hanes congratulated me on getting the recognition only to discover I wasn't even mentioned in the notes) because someone likely thought it was the best explanation at the time.

I may not continue my "theory" because there isn't anything the current theory does not reconcile from the SMiLE era. So the original goal has been met & there's no need to continue.

Off the top of my head here's a sampling of things that all fit together no-problem under the bookstore riddle/Koestler/spiritual enlightenment umbrella:

Brian says it's spiritual music
Brian writes about spiritual enlightenment
Brian talks about spirituality in the sense of all religions
Brian's health comment infers he's interested in promoting spiritual enlightenment
Brian seeks out "enlightened" people
Brian & Van Dyke compose in private
Energy & health & vegetables related to spiritual enlightenment
Brain "destroys" the fire tapes episode
The David Anderle painting episode
The reaction to the film SECONDS
Brian being unhealthy while promoting health
Swimming being spiritual
The puns, the lyrics, the drawings for the album
Child is Father of the Man
The Zodiac signs
The "witchcraft music" claims
The "inappropriate music" claims
The "paradox not accessible in conscious reality" statement
The "psycodelic sounds"
The animal sounds
The mineral sounds
The vegetable sounds
Da da
mamamamamama
lalalalala (from H&V)
"now now now now now now"
"is it hot as hell in here or is it me it really is a mystery"
"out of the wild.....you'll achieve"
Humor, laughter, smile, and the connection to spiritual enlightenment
The "ahead of its time" claims
The "too advanced" claims
The "we did some heavy sh*t there" statement
The sandbox
The pictures of children at the beach
astronomy
Americana
Manifest destiny
Dams, coolies, sawmills, trains, the grange
The oriental mind going off on another track
laughter tracks
fighting tracks
fire hats
"The children of God are in their twenties" statement
The Act of Creation being Brian's favorite book
yin & yang
vibrations
The changeable track sequence
The modular nature
Making a "monument"
The lyrics aren't important
Brian as a revolutionary leader
The Beatles' REVOLVER as spiritual
The obsession with perfect
Why Brian's explanation of "Surf's Up" is "intellectual"
How hallucinations are comparable to Zen riddles
recording water sounds
the GV promo film
Why SMILE was presented without explanation
A mind-blowing unified concept album

All this stuff (what I could think of) can be explained without contradictions or caveats easily under the theory.

If anyone would like to share a finer theory that solves at least as much, please share.

lol

[SloopJohnB]

lol

iyo

[runnersdialzero]

lol

iyo

imo.

[18thofMay]

This thread is rocking

[hypehat]

If anyone would like to share a finer theory that solves at least as much, please share.

In 1965, Brian Wilson made some friends with some cool people on the LA scene, because he was successful and had tonnes of money. He ended up reading a lot, smoking a lot of pot, and laughing a lot. One of these new friends was Van Dyke Parks, who Brian thought was just the guy who would be able to write lyrics with him. He set out to record an album called SMiLE, with esoteric lyrics and advanced musical and compositional structure as Brian advanced in ambition. The album, reflecting the spontaneous nature of Brian Wilson himself, and Van Dyke's intellect, covers a lot of ground - from love to the Manifest Destiny, whilst never resorting to hokey cliche. Given Brian's increasingly scattershot nature, a lot of this got unrealised, such as a proposed 'Elements Suite'. But hey, lets record something else. He experimented with sound constantly, a natural progression from his fascination with arrangement, and also with what could be incorporated into pop records. He was growing exponentially in confidence.
However, Brian found he was unable to complete the project for numerous reasons that aren't 'lets play a joke on everyone', and subsequently avoided the topic by claiming it was 'weird' and that he 'burnt the tapes', despite obviously not burning anything. We are obviously able to take his word at face value as during 90% of those interviews he had been in the throes of severe drug abuse and/or mental illness and clearly wasn't bitter about the experience at all.


Hows that? My point is to say, SOLVE WHAT?

[UK_Surf]

More of an explanation than a theory, and all the better for it! One of the more cohesive precis I've read - hats off, Mssr. Hype.

[jeremylr]

A heads-up in case you haven't bought The Smile Sessions box set -- DeepDiscount.com is currently selling it for $89.  That includes free shipping (at least for U.S. residents).


http://www.deepdiscount.com/cd/BEACH-BOYS-SMILE-SESSIONS-5099902765822

[rogerlancelot]

I'm happy to see prices going down. Maybe it will encourage more people to buy it over the holidays?

[SMiLE Brian]

I'm happy to see prices going down. Maybe it will encourage more people to buy it over the holidays?

Can't wait to open my box on Dec. 25.....

[The Heartical Don]

I'm happy to see prices going down. Maybe it will encourage more people to buy it over the holidays?

Can't wait to open my box on Dec. 25.....

Sure that it doesn't contain merely some tiny confetti cannon?