The Smiley Smile Message Board

Seems like it may be an appropriate moment to take stock of what I consider to be one of the finest live DVD's in my collection (in full disclosure, I was peripherally involved with the pre-production and attended rehearsals and both performances). I know that some of you take issue with Brian's somewhat self-consciously forced "smiles" (he was over responding a bit to the producer's coaching and perhaps a general directive from Melinda to brighten things up from Leaf's earlier recording, make it more Smiley, as it were...). Some may have issues with the somewhat over determined editing (always directing our interest to a highlighted musical cue), but I think the camerawork and editing are mostly fluid and illuminating, close to the way that the best classical music DVD's are recorded and cut - the parts and then the whole. No extraneous cutaways to the audience (see McCartney, Paul), no restless leg syndrome cutting on the beat (see McCartney, Paul), everything in the service of visually interpreting the music. The set was simple, but elegant and apropos, the performance energetic and intimate (as far as I can tell, even though we are seeing some "non-sync" insert shots that were shot on other days for practical reasons  - you could never have those kind of camera moves and that kind of coverage with an audience present - the live performance SOUNDS pretty much as I remembered it, with very little - if any - sweetening in post. Mark's mix is subtly attuned to the editing and truly sounds fantastic in surround. This is a SMiLE that fills the room.

Brian and the band knocked it out of the park that night, even after watching him rehearse it over and over for a week. There are little vocal flourishes that I hadn't heard him do before, and Surf's Up in particular is terribly moving to me when you watch his pained, almost contorted expressions in trying to invoke the original intent of the song ("choke of grief, "etc.). Cabinessence rocks the house when you crank it up. Overall, I MUCH prefer this live version of BWPS to the studio one, which sounds relatively airless and studied. Watched it the other night and I simply never get tired of it - fantastic energy (ah, Jim, Bob and Taylor - you re missed!). This is the version that I play for friends when I tell them the 2004 part of the  SMiLE story.

Your thoughts?

Big fan. Performance -- live, doctored, whatever -- easily surpasses the BWPS album, which is already excellent.

A highlight.

it has the same wimpy bass as on BWPS but besides that it's great, i love watching it

Not seen the full dvd concert yet after owning it for a number of years but I must say your review PS makes me wanna see it :)

I love it.

I agree 100%!


I agree 110%!

Great points PS.  The camera always seems to be exactly where it should on this DVD, and no audience cutaways!  I'm a big Macca fan but I find his recent DVDs unwatchable.

The DVD is a worthy companion - and one could say equivalent - to the album.  The DVD shows SMiLE as a complete, unified composition capable of repertory performance as such.  It does not invalidate or replace the 1966 sessions.  Because it is a record of a live performance, I would recommend it to 1966 Smile purists as the way to enjoy the music in a concert setting, without having to confront the still-argued questions of "is BWPS the real/completed SMILE or not" or "would BWPS be Smile with unsampled harpsichords, real surviving BB vocals, or a different running order," etc. etc.   Also it is a nice game to note the little refinements made to the piece between its premiere and this recording.  And it is a fun watch.

...And you get a 5.1 surround mix, too. A very watchable performance that is as good as any to demonstrate what Brian Wilson and his band were/are like when they're at their best.

The director, John Anderson, had a 41 page shooting script, based his studies of the previous live shows and his knowledge and deep involvement with the music - every relevant musical moment was mapped out in advance to make sure they had proper coverage. I suggested that he look at Symphonic Yes in advance, another superbly shot and edited live DVD (if you shut off the horrid animations) with a young, good looking orchestral accompaniment who are clearly having a blast. That version of Close to the Edge - a wonderful piece of 'progressive rock' music - is the best I've ever heard - and seen.

Seeing BWPS live was a terrific experience, not only musically but also visually. I can remember that I didn't expect that there would be so much happening onstage, such as the fire hose, the vegetables, etc. And even just counting the number of instruments Probyn plays. Watching the DVD is a great reminder of that. And despite the forced smiles, Brian generally looks relaxed.

If I might add, Brian used to force smiles onstage even in 1964, at least according to the TV appearances I've seen. Some things never change.

Brian's smile during the Wahala lu lei part of Worms is genuine. He's smiling at Bill Tobelman.

 "the live performance SOUNDS pretty much as I remembered it, with very little - if any - sweetening in post."

A brilliant performance, reassuring to know that there was hardly any sweetening !

It's one of my favorite DVDs of my whole music DVD collection.   5.1 is really the only way to experience it...wonderful sounds coming at all directions--totally encapsulating you.  It's filmed perfectly...no fast cuts, no obnoxious swooping cameras...it stays on the subjects appropriately.  It's well done and with the excellent documentary "Beautiful Dreamer" as a fantastic companion. 

It's an amazing project, a few errors in the docu excepted (of course Macca wasn't a the first SMiLE show and Loren turns almost everyone's stomach), Brian is so genuine and so ON during the performance it's ridiculous. The band is of course spot on and seeing PS' amateur footage of the proceedings confirms that it wasn't much sweetened.

Okay, what is it about Lorren Darg that makes everybody's stomach turn?? The way I see it, he's just telling it like it was. And why on earth is he credited as Lorren Darg instead of Loren Schwartz??

I thought Loren seemed like a good friend who probably misses Brian's company. He was laughing at a good trip story, everyone does even if the experiences were negative. Trust me. If your friend entered Hell itself on LSD you'd laugh about it the next day not cry in sympathy.

The live DVD is incredible, but in my opinion the vinyl of BWPS trumps it.

I was blown away by this live DVD when I got it.  I thought the studio BWPS was decent, but I wasn't prepared by how thoroughly I enjoyed this production.  The audio is great (and I can't wait to hear it in surround), the editing is superb (agree, less crowd shots = better concert video experience), the performances are stellar, and everyone looks like they are having a great time.  Sure, once you find out a lot of the visuals were staged for closeups makes you think twice, but that doesn't ruin it for me at all. 

It delivers, and shows SMiLE as good as you could hope for.  Easily one of the best concert DVDs I have ever seen. 

The documentary is great too, and I love the little feature with everyone coming out of the Royal Festival Hall with their honest reviews.  The only negative of the documentary I have is that I wanted to show people the story behind the SMiLE saga without any previews of what's to come.  Then they'd hear Our Prayer for the first time and be blown away.  Since there a few rehearsals and clips during the documentary, it's a little tough to avoid that.  I've shown it to a couple of friends and my brother so far and all thought it was very good, but they weren't exactly blown away by the DVD.  They all liked Good Vibrations the most, though my girlfriend always loved Vega-tables (I think she only knew the Smiley Smile version all these years from a Dr. Demento show) and she was happy to hear it pop up in the show.  During Child Is The Father of Man, I commented to my brother "Can you believe this is The Beach Boys?!!"  He admitted that it was impressive.  I have some more SMilE virgins to show it to, and then the real thing on audio in a little over a month. :-D

Unlike everyone else in the documentary, he has nothing more to contribute than 'I got Brian Wilson into drugs', which no matter what slightly paranormal companions of ours might say, was probably a bad move. And he revels in that, despite knowing (speaking in the 21st century) that Brian and his drug abuse essentially destroyed him. His contributions seem crass in light of that. 

Oh, and he has some beef with the Jewish faith, so he changed his name to Daro, from Schwartz.

It wasn't a bad move at all. Wish all your favorite music from Brian Wilson away if you think the drugs were bad for him. You like Pet Sounds? Sorry man, Brian has confessed that it was written while high. California Girls is one of the first LSD songs same for The Little Girl I Once Knew.

It's tricky. Obviously he wrote the best music of his career under the influence, but talking strictly about his life and health? Didn't turn out so well.

By that logic, Danny Hutton should be taken out and attacked by a pack of wild wolves while ravens fly down and peck away at his eyes.


"Daro"??? That's supposed to be an "o"???!! What's with the serif, then??

I agree but is that the fault of the drugs or Brian's careless use of them? Can a chemical that requires your own will to take it into your body for activation be of any ill will to you? Even a deadly dose of heroin does not intend to harm you - it has no idea it is being injected into a body. It is your thumb that presses on the needle. Know what I'm saying here? There is nothing harmful about drugs of themselves, there is nothing harmful about bleach, unless you use it unwisely. If you smoke a lil cabinessence you'll feel groovy, if you smoke a brick of it you'll have a meltdown. It's all in how you approach it. Brian was just an indulgent little piggy.

I can't find much about Daro on the web, apart from some awful wiki which claims Brian wrote Good Vibrations about him  ??? The thread about the DVD here has some pertinent discussion.

Given that logic, ghost, it's an even worse idea to turn Brian Wilson onto drugs!

Unless you've been similarly indulgent as Brian there's really no way for you to understand that there's no need to pity the man or consider him damaged BY something other than himself. Almost all problems are non-existent mental mirages. Drugs... pssh, what harm do they do? These bodies are so intelligent, they heal repair diagnose treat themselves without any doctors or textbooks. I trust in nature and the intelligence in my organism not to ever be lastingly harmed by anything. I shed a skin every day like a snake. Every moment I'm born anew. How can the past stain me? This is the illusion we live in if we refer to the past - oh I did this and that so I'm like THIS now. Like what? You can be anything you want, right now. Total freedom. Forget the past, it's nonexistent to you now. Forget the future, it is nonexistent to you now. Forget the present, it depends on the other two nonexistents. Disappear.

(http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnyx1kTk0f1qa27d1.gif)

 :lol

To me, one value of having him there is that you get a sense of who Brian was hanging out with/who might have been influencing Brian during that era. For better or for worse. It's just too bad the BBs didn't participate, because then you would have had more perspectives. I kind of hope in the future someone will make a definitive documentary about BW with a range of people--Mike, Al, David, Marilyn, Lorren, Anderle, Parks, Asher, Carnie and Wendy, etc, and maybe archival interview footage from Dennis and Carl. I'd rather have that than the biopic.

You so need to hear BWPS on vinyl...

And the DVD certainly doesn't have wimpy bass...at least not when pushed through a halfway decent 5.1 system.

It is a fine concert DVD. Having attended a SMiLE gig I find the DVD brings back lots of memories. It presents quite accuratley what  a SMiLE show was like. It is therefore a document of a moment in time that cannot be repeated.....it is also an entertaining concert DVD that will stand the test of time because the editing is not too gimicky.

the very playing of the bass is wimpy compared to the original Smile sessions

just listen to BWPS or BWPS dvd version of Child - the bass is NOTHING compared to what the smile sessions recordings of it sound like

believe me i've turned up the bass on BWPS plenty of times trying to get a more satisfying bass, something like how the the gotta keep those thudding bass sounds in Good Vibrations... but it's just a little thud in BWPS and live.

Anyone noticed the beautiful female playing violin? She outshines Taylor without even trying. Brunettes ftw.

She was as beautiful in person. And preggers at the time, if memory serves.

I never liked Lizik's bass playing and he adds nothing to the BWPS stuff.
He played with his fingers most of the time and on a 5-string bass no less. Ugh.

Save that for R&B and jazz fusion not the Carol Kaye/palm-muted bass lines all over the 60s tunes.
The new guy is much better and more in tune with the feel/vibe of the basslines.

THANK YOU.

myself and a few others have been hung up on the shitty bass sound and weak playing for years now. if bwps had the booming bass of the original smile stuff i might really like it a ton more.

Despite what the cosmically conscious would believe, Brian was obviously happy with Bob Lizik's playing on BWPS.

or did he just not want to hurt the dude's feelings? brian seems like that sometimes now, that he's become very very sensitive to other people and he sacrifices many things for it. like when on that video on his website or facebook, melinda joked "let's fire jeff" and brian said so innocently and sweetly like a child "what? fire jeff? noo..." [paraphrased] and it broke my heart to hear it. i think that even if jeff ate brian's dogs he wouldn't get fired. maybe given a raise. less barking.

Yeah where's the fuzz? And why can't you hear the VITALLY IMPORTANT bassline on "Mrs Olearys Cow"? This guy even plays the wrong notes in the "Roll Plymouth Rock" chorus, even if it's almost impossible to hear. And I'd also like to mention how he doesn't give a sh*t about playing the original bass notes in the IWFTD chorus. He just skips the dirty ones.
So disappointed that no one in the band cared about the bass. Miss the Wrecking Crew <3

I'm not sure Brian still remembers all the old groovy bass notes. And I think he doesn't Care that much about the sound of the bass which he obviously did in the 60s and 70s.
I think he just trusts his band.

on the vinyl the bass on Mrs O Leary's Cow can be heard better - there's a youtube of it if you look around. but still, BWPS suffers in the bass department BIG TIME. songs it is most obvious on to me - cabinessence, child is the father of the man - goodness how these suffer.

Nothing wrong with trusting his band, unless you're an ethereal spirit from beyond the grave.  

there's everything wrong with trusting your band if they make awful artistic choices in your own creations.

Bingo. Let me guess, give him a moog, some cocaine and a bathrobe and BWPS would have been what Brian really wanted, right.

i bet the band had something to do with those cymbal rolls

they happen like a million times throughout the album, it's terrible!

wait, it only happens in child and in blue hawaii. but on the live DVD it happens during cabin essence and sounds really cheesy. i'm just going to assume that the parts i don't like are the band's fault and the good parts were brian's compositions.

maybe if the surviving wrecking crew got together and brian produced it, it would have been what he wanted - but there's no way that BWPS is what brian wilson of 1966 would have thought the sound of his Smile masterpiece would be like. whether he REALLY does now or not is un certain.

Agreed. I love BWPS, but let's not forget that it was a studio document of the live show. It is not and was not ever intended to be THE Smile.

Exactly. Just belted at 5 in the morning and trying to get a rise out of the paranormal, so don't mind me...

but that's a fact a lot of people tend to ignore. and I feel like that was in the back of Darian and co's heads the whole time. let's get Brian to agree to playing the songs live. if it goes well, we'll record it-- but say it's just a studio version of this live presentation. but we'll have released Smile... mwahahahaha

Now let's not get into THAT again. There are folks who get quite angry when discussing what exactly is "the" SMiLE...  :o

I am trying to extract the audio from the DVD so that I can play the live performance in my car. Is there a free program that someone would recommend to use? The ones I've tried don't seem to work.

Thank you in advanced.