The Smiley Smile Message Board

So in trying to pass the time until SMiLE arrives I have been going through the ol' LLVS book and on page 147 DP says about Wonderful "Missing from the October version is the Hey-bob-a-rebop bridge heard after the third verse in the Smiley Smile version. However, session worksheets indicate Brian produced an insert for the original version of the song on January 9th"  Is he referring to "Rock With Me Henry" or something else?

I believe he's referring to the "mamamama" insert.

I've always thought the harpsichord version of Wonderful is absolutely perfect as is, and I'm glad it's been presented on TSS sans any of the supposed inserts.

Oh, and hello everyone :)

Greetings Lookit!

Smile era Wonderful is indeed a a sublime recording but in the last year or so I've come to think it would benefit from a bridge as per the Smiley version. The insert just works as a great counterpoint to the rest of the song, and makes it feel more like other Smile/smiley songs that suddenly veer off in unexpected directions such as Cabinessence or, well, most of them I guess.

only thing that original recording was missing was the yodels. which are in there now, weeee

Personally, I think a jarring "mamamamamamama" in the middle of an otherwise pretty ballad sounds pretty cool...I loved it with Tallahassee Lassie being thrown into the middle of Talk to Me.

...but surely it's a big mistake to assume that the first version of Wonderful, the one with the harpsichord from August 66, should have ANY kind of insert just because later versions (Rock With Me Henry, the Smiley Smile version) have one.

I mean, the Smiley Smile version of Heroes and Villains has a chorus (twice), but we know that the early version of H&V from February didn't. At least not in the same way. And the Smiley version of Wind Chimes is TOTALLY different to any of the various SMiLE versions... so who says the early versions have to follow the later ones?

Projecting Smiley versions and templates back onto SMiLE material is not necessarily wise. Which is not to say that I haven't done it many times in the past, but still... tread with care.

All we know for sure is that an insert was produced in January, on the same day as the Rock Me Henry version. So the insert was probably for that version, not the original August session. We also know that the Smiley version of Wonderful has a Bicycle Rider progression bridge played on a piano ('hey baba ruba...' etc etc) which the August 66 harpsichord version doesn't. But that doesn't mean that a similar insert was ever planned for that first, August 66 version of Wonderful. Maybe, back then, it was going to remain just like that.

Welcome, Lookit, to the confusing world of SMiLE, where reality is oftentimes reflected through fractured prisms of crazed crystal... if ye doubt your sanity, LEAVE YE NOW!!!!!

Sorry, I don't know what came over me there. The bottom line is: this stuff can sometimes get very confusing.

MattB

What is now the Vegetables tag is the nearest-sounding SMiLE recording to what was the bridge in the Smiley Wonderful. And to me it still sounds wrong as a Vegetables ending. It has more in common with Heroes sections/Bicycle Rider to my ears.

In full agreement that there's no reason why the harpsichord Wonderful has to have an insert.

This is a very circuitous way of saying we can't wait to see what the box has to offer!!!!  ;D

Interrupting the harpsichord version of Wonderful with the mamamama bridge, Roll with Me Henry, or a random chunk of H&V, would be about as welcome as putting in "Don't Worry Bill".

OH MAN a studio version of Wonderbill would be amazing! Someone make a fanmix STAT!

I don't think a bridge was planned for the 1966 Wonderful. Still, it would have benefited from a bridge, if it suited the song - which "mamamamama" does not.

However, I did create a bridge that satisfies me... PM me if you want to hear it. ::)