The Smiley Smile Message Board

Can any piano experts teach me how Brian plays I'm in Great Shape on the Humble Harv demo?

I'm a real novice at piano so the most layman explanation would be great.

these are apparently the chords

Ab9.................................Ab9/D
Freshnin' air around my head
Ebm7...........................Ebm7/G
Mornings tumble out of bed
Ab9..................................Ab9/D
Eggs and grits and lickety-splits
....................Ebm7..............Ebm7/G..Ab9...........Ab9/D..Ebm7
Look at me jump I'm in the great shape of the upper country

"Upper country". Is that really the words?

Thanks!

It always seems to me though that regular chords like that don't quite get it right. I think I may have tried them before and it didn't sound like it sounds on the demo. I feel like my finger placement on the chords is wrong...

yeah you always have to figure out the rhythm, inversions, and left hand yourself. they don't mark it down.

On the demo? Definitely.

Oh dear. I need more help.

yeah i can't figure it out either. i'm guessing it goes like:

          Freshnin air around my head /      Mornings...
   A     A#     A# A#  A#        A#          
   F#   F#     F# F#  F#         F#        
   D#  D#     D# D# D#          D#           Ebm7 inversion...  
   C    C       C   C    C           C
   G#  G#     G# G#  G#         G#

G#...                              D...

G#...                              D...

Thanks so much for the help!

i have a terrible ear though so that's probably not right at all

Upper country?!! no.

It's Open Country. It was even referred to as 'Open Country Song' in an article from the period.

Oh, sorry. I read the quote wrong. Yes, it is "open country".

I think the chords are just Ab7 and Ab9sus4 over and over

Ab9sus4 can also be interpreted as Ebm7/Ab ... that's an Ebm7 chord with an Ab bass

Thanks. Just tried it and it sounds good.

its alot easier and sounds a lot better in A on the guitar... not sure about piano.

Brian sure did like those flat keys dang it!

Yeah, that's what I thought! 

Which article is this, if you can dig out the info? Working on a new manner of compiling SMiLE facts and am intrigued to find out (if I haven't just forgotten reading it) that IIGS was mentioned specifically in the press, even if under a different name.

Many thanks
Will

EDIT: Googled it, as I should have done in the first place, and it looks like the "open country song" reference is from the Inside Pop reel notes. What a crying shame that footage was never found. I'd actually give a toe to hear VDP's original Child is the Father lyrics sung by a Beach Boy, even if just as a rough demo or outline.

To me, that clearly isn't what Brian sings in the Humble Harv demo.  Maybe the lyric was revised at a certain point?

For me, his voice gets too quiet on that word to figure out if it's "upper" or "open," but I've always leaned towards "upper."  But yes it's certainly possible that the lyric was changed at some point, or that he forgot the correct lyric and made up something different on the spot - he messed up "fresh clean air" too, so who knows?

I'm amazed we're still arguing about this.

Brian sings 'open country' on the demo. I've always heard it that way even before I saw it referred to as 'open country song'.

It's clearly NOT 'agriculture' and 'upper country' makes absolutely no sense.


I sure do love that demo version. Such a shame the song was never fully realized back in the day.

It really is.  Such a dynamic track and melody, and it would have been awesome to hear the Boys trade off those vocal lines a la BWPS.

Neither does "over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield".

I don't think that's what Brian's playing in the demo. The first two bars are two different chords. The first chord is on the first bar, then he stays on the second chord. There's two chord changes in every change, if you know what I mean. I'll try to pick them out when I get home.

I hear what you mean... I would describe them as chromatic "leading" tones, rather than full-fledged chords. the way you might "slide" into a chord on guitar from a fret below the actual position. the bass note never changes however.

the "transition" chords are diminished 7ths... the 4 chords are Fdim7, Abm7, Ebdim7, and Ebm7. i'm not positive these are the right inversions, but the notes i play are:

D   Eb  C   Db
B   C   A   Bb
Ab  Ab  Gb  Gb
F   Gb  Eb  Eb


the bass notes are Eb and Ab.  here's a little sample of the chords/notes and a snippet of me playing the song: http://soundcloud.com/adwolf16/im-in-great-shape-chords

hope that helps.

 I haven't heard the original demo for a while but it sounds to me like he is saying "of the agriculture" phonetecally on BWPS..I definantly hear an "R" in there unless it's just his accent or something but I was just listening to it a few times and to me I hear an"R" I don't hear a "N" or a "D".

this is spot on

thanks for the correction/clarification egon... sounds perfect.

josh-
are you talking about BWPS or the demo? the lyric was changed for BWPS

BWPS..

Yep, perfect.  I'd never quite been able to get those transition chords, so thanks Egon!

no problem! diminished sevenths are the best.

I was thinking about this wouldn't "of the agriculture" make since considering the fact that it now goes into "barnyard" a song about Agriculture..just a thought...also you must consider that since it's just a demo the singer isn't nessesarily going to say the words all the right way,,in fact sometimes the singer will just mumble words..I'm speaking in general terms here..because this isn't a studio vocal Brian wouldn't really focus specifically on the vocals he is singing..so it could sound like a number of things..

the song was referred to as 'Open Country Song' in the early days of SMiLE, so it's pretty clear what the words were... at least at that point.

I've always heard the words "open country" on the demo, since first hearing it on the Endless Harmony CD. Brian's voice gets low there, but he's not mumbling.
I can kind of understand them changing the lyric to "agriculture" but I honestly don't see how anyone can actually think that's what is being sung on the demo.

Upper Country makes no sense (unless you're British apparently). The song is about enjoying fresh air and wide open spaces. And grits!  :)

Perfect!