The Smiley Smile Message Board

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/mar/14/beach-boys-smile (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/mar/14/beach-boys-smile)

Interesting to hear somebody on the other side of the fence

Haven't we been here before? News that the the Beach Boys' Smile is to be released later this year is both confusing and something I really wish they wouldn't do.

Every pop fan knows that the greatest record ever made – or rather, the greatest ever record almost made, which would have shown Sgt Pepper to be a bit "meh" – was the the follow-up to Pet Sounds. But then Brian Wilson lost his way in the sandbox and never got round to finishing it, although Good Vibrations and fragments of other songs surfaced on subsequent Beach Boys albums.

Then, in February 2004, 37 years after it was conceived, Wilson performed a complete version of Smile at the Royal Festival Hall in London. I was there, and yes, it was heaven to hear the likes of Mrs O'Leary's Cow as – presumably – it had always existed in Brian's head.

Next came a record titled Smile. Or rather: Brian Wilson Presents Smile. This was a newly recorded studio album with the keyboard player in Wilson's new band, Darian Sahanaja, together with arranger Paul Mertens and composer Van Dyke Parks basing the arrangements on the original, unreleased Beach Boys tapes. And that, you imagined, was that, with critics by and large loving the record.

Now, however, Capitol Records is planning to release an album called The Smile Sessions, co-produced by two longtime Beach Boys associates, engineer Mark Linett and archivist Alan Boyd. Inevitably, there'll be a limited-edition boxed set containing four CDs, two vinyl LPs, two vinyl singles and a 60-page hardbound book written by Beach Boys historian Domenic Priore. Linett describes the release as "the whole piece as close to as it was envisioned, or as is envisioned, as possible ... and obviously with input from Brian and from everybody else. We have gaps where we are missing some vocal parts. But all the music was recorded, which is heartening."

Here's my problem: it's never been difficult for anyone interested to track down bootlegs of those sessions. I've got the two-disc Vigotone set that, if memory serves, I bought via mailorder, although I've often seen it on market stalls. Now, it's likely that an official release will be of better quality; and, possibly, will feature more material – although probably not the 54-second radio ad for the record on my bootleg, with this cheery announcement: "Smile is the name of a new Beach Boys album which will be released in January, 1967, and with a happy album cover, the really happy sounds inside and a happy in-store display piece, you can't miss ... we're sure to sell a million units! In January."

Not hard to track down, but the delight I felt when I did was immense. Surely some things in life should be worth the extra effort to seek out? A culture in which all music from all eras is instantly available all the time has its upsides, but sometimes it's nice to have to work at things at bit.

Then there's the problem of any release that claims to be definitive. Wilson never did finish the record in 1967 as his mental health deteriorated. (One of the most dismaying stories in his autobiography involves a visit from Van Dyke Parks, who sees that Wilson has built a sandbox in the studio, in which he's placed his grand piano: "'What's that?' he asked ... I looked around ... My dog Banana had relieved himself in the sand ... It wasn't the easiest times between Van Dyke and me.") The album that he produced in 2004 purported to fill in the gaps, but no one really wanted that. It's not yet clear whether The Smile Sessions will see things touched up, but I suspect I'll still far prefer my bootlegs, incomplete and fragmentary as they are, featuring tantalising annotations such as "Barnyard (the real one)". Because the best version of Smile, a really happy record but also one of numinous beauty, a record that did make Pepper sound "meh", is the one that will always exist in our imaginations.

I disagree with him, but see his point.  He shouldn't have quoted the autobiography though, it lessens his credibility.

Meh there will NEVER be any definitive word on what SMiLE is or isn't.  This is due to the fact that the argument will always exist that Brian never was able to formulate a definitive concept in which his album could be brought to completion in 1966/1967.  Hundreds (thousands?) of Beach Boys and Brian Wilson fanatics have tried their hand at presenting Brian's lost masterpiece using their own concepts and tracklists for years now.  I don't see there being any harm at having Mark Linett and Alan Boyd have their shot at presenting this material in the best sound quality possible.

They've already admitted what we've all have known for years that although the tracking sessions for the album are basically intact, the vocal sessions were never brought to completion.  That alone makes compiling a definitive "SMiLE" album impossible.  The best we can hope for is as Brian Wilson put it in 2004, "a presentation of the SMiLE material".  There are just too many variables for it to be taken as anything more than that

Well, let's take a look at both sides of the debate here.

For one, consider the Pet Sounds Sessions set and then compare it to the bootlegs. The bootlegs are generally more in-depth although the sound quality is very slightly below the official release. It will be the same with the Smile box, although the bootlegs are all over the place with regards to sound quality. Needless to say, will the Smile box set be the final word? In a way, yes AND no. There will always be that niche fanbase (like us here) who digs listening to hours upon hours of session tapes. There will be new stuff to hear, official or bootleg, either way.

I already said it: the writer is a frat boy in golf trousers.

He is welcome to listen to his 156th generation cassette dubs of Holidays on scratchy 20 year old vinyl, I guess. I'll just have to resign myself to the fact I'll finally be able to own a fresh, fully mixed version of Smile. Somehow, I'll just have to live with that. Somehow.

Yeah this is the sort of philosophical musing that works well in the blogoshphere but doesn't stand up very well in real life. I'm sure if he's as much of a smile fan as he makes out that he'll be first in line for the deluxe package come release day.

Hehe. Astute and very funny  :lol

I don't get his problem with the 2011 SMiLE release. Besides, the author clearly overemphasizes the official "definitive" nature of the new release for the sake of his reasoning. He doesn't quote anybody involved with 2011 SMiLE, people who allegedly "claim" the new release to be "definitive". In spite of all the happiness going on in the fandom everybody knows this is "just" another SMiLE in a long line of SMiLEs and not the album that might have been released in 1967.

Perhaps this is the last we'll ever hear from Lewis Shiner.

Exactly.  This release isn't going to be "the definitive word", only a '66/'67 release could have been that, but it will be as definitive as we're ever going to get in that it will be the official release by the Beach Boys themselves.   Best possible sound quality, cool vinyl copies, a spiffy book to go along with it - gee, it's gonna suck putting up with that  :p
I am so psyched for this release, i really hope nothing goes wrong to screw it up somehow.  

He probably had a deadline to reach, was out of ideas, so decided to bitch about something that nobody else is bitching about. 

He's Mr Controversy. In his own mind...

And "no one really wanted that"...? Really? Is he speaking for all of us on the SMiLE board that were drooling with anticipation for reports as the London show debuted?

He will still have his bootlegs, and his fanboy fantasies of what SMiLE "should" be.

But I will be perfectly happy to have a nice, clean fully-sanctioned box set!

Some fans I will just never understand.

It's all SMiLE, it's all good. Cheeses crepes.

That's what I was thinking. I hate it when people try to pass a personal opinion as a generally accepted truth. Especially if it's an opinion that I don't agree with.

UHHHHHHHHHH So what is it, are the releasing SMiLE? Or a box-set called Smile Sessions? Because last time I checked, they're the Smile Sessions, not the end-all be-all Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys' completed vision that is SMiLE. This guy sucks.

Seeing as this is a silly thread, I'm going to pose this question: would you divorce your wife [if you were married] for a completed 1966 SMiLE? Including vocals and everything else?

That would depend on the wife. On the other hand, if an actual SMiLE would exist I would be happy and wouldn't need to marry, presumably. Brian has that effect on me.  :shrug

You monster! Nobody could navigate this kind of ultimatum!

A Kafka-esque existential quagmire, to be sure.... ??? :P

He could have just typed "I AM THE BEST AT LIKING SMILE." and would have saved me the 2 mins I spent skimming that blog entry.

Interesting how no-one told the reviewer that he simply doesn't have to buy the set if he doesn't want to hear it. Or are buyers going to be forced at gunpoint to acquire the set?

Congratulations sir - you have rumbled Capitol's marketing strategy for the release !

I respect that point of view but it just drives me batty when somebody cites Brian Wilson's "autobiography" as their source for information, particularly on the subject of Smile.

Flimsy argument.
He wrote the article for the sake of having an opposing view to the release.

Because the best version of Smile, a really happy record but also one of numinous beauty, a record that did make Pepper sound "meh", is the one that will always exist in our imaginations.

I think this line pretty much sums up my feelings overall about the project.