The Smiley Smile Message Board

The cat is out of the bag!

http://youtu.be/Ot7vCQisW_4
 (http://)

OMG !!!!!!!!!!

Just came to post this!

When do we get the whole video!

No way.

Utterly fascinating.

Man I wish the box set had included a DVD.

They'll make one, I'm sure of it.  When they're playing Cabinessence, are they suggesting that footage, is footage of *that* song being recorded, too?  Can anybody tell by the bass footage? 

i can't believe i just saw them recording good vibrations - i am utterly speechless....

Just brilliant footage and interviews

In my opinion is "just" footage of the recording of the GV track

Great interviews, fantastic footage. Makes you wonder about all the treasures we still haven't been able to see.

This may be a stupid or already covered question but does anyone know if a documentary might come out about the SMiLE sessions now that it is being released? With these snippets of music, video and outtakes that most of us haven't come across before, surely it makes sense to come up with something like that now? I am sure all of us on this board would make it a must-see and would even pay a bit to see it (on DVD etc). I would love to have a definitive video guide to these sessions so that we can really get how it came about.

I also apologise in advance if something like this already exists!

In addition to this, it would be very interesting to hear what the Boys' families think of this release and also the views of those who worked with the Boys at the time. This just seems like it's a Brian release at the moment.

Nice to see the group being positive about this release. Brian and Mike were very open about talking about the album for a change. The vintage footage was amazing!

Please merge these topics:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,11427.msg222526/topicseen.html#msg222526

Amazing footage. Am I right in thinking that the other black and white photos that appeared in a previous video are actually stills from more footage?

I think that might just be the case.  I have the feeling there's much much more than what we have seen so far..

Somebody was alluding to that last week.  When the pictures popped up, they said "Now imagine, if they were moving!"  . Man there might be all kinds of stuff in the vaults.  Think about it.  They 'found' the 67 version of Surf's Up.  What the hell else has been hiding for 45 years???

Yeah, that was me!  ;)

Amazing footage though I had to kinda skip past it as there were some samples I'm trying to not hear until Tuesday  :lol

^ haha me too. I heard some dada and clicked off. Surf's Up sounded amazing though!

Awesome. Nice putting that down on the iTouch to help me get through the weekend and on to Tuesday

Jesus....  :o

I'm speechless!  I am without speech!! :happydance

Holy Crap - any ideas where this stuff has been for 45 year?  I want to see very bit.  Maybe the lost footage from 12/66 is out there as well.

Glorious!  With the release of TSS eminent, we've naturally witnessed a lot of discussion about the potential for "holy grail" unearthings.  Sure I would love to hear "Surf's Up (2nd movement)," but for my money, period film of the Beach Boys recording in the studio (particularly takes of "Good Vibrations") more than qualifies.

What a time, no?

 :happydance

Awesome footage -- 'nuff said!

There's that wide shot of the guys in the studio. Man Brian sure is tall isn't he?

Holy f*ck.  :o

This footage blows my mind. I sense a documentary coming..

Actually somebody posted that CBS were doing a story on SMiLE, Maybe this is from that

That's so cool!

And today I'm even allowed to play AGD: Didn't I tell you these never before seen black and white photos posted on Brian's site recently are film stills?

Will go well with 'The Beach Boys Present SMiLE Live' one- off reunion gig next year.

Go on Brian, Mike, Al and Bruce. You know you want it! :thumbsup

So great to see Brian, on his peak as producer, happy with the Beach Boys around a microphone. Now, the quesiton burns if this is silent footage or if a soundtrack could give more insight into this GV vocal session.
And to come up with Brian's famous shirt once again, the footage of him standing on the mixing console seems to come from a different session. There are also much published color photos of these filmed sequences.
Anyway, I'm blown away!

  :-X  <---

What does that mean?
That I should shut my mouth?
The footage is silent?
You know it but won't tell?
Life can be complicated...

My jaw is on the floor as well.  Perhaps this is some of the Bob Golden Good Vibrations footage???

Bruce Johnston on SMiLE: "We were going from Little Richard to Stravinsky as far as musically - the step".

That surely is a classic quote!

Well, given that the finished version has been dubbed over the footage, I'm guessing it's mute.

The real question is, when do we get to see it all?

I'd guess it might be made available in relation to a notable event in BB history. Any ideas, 'cause I can't think of anything right now.

Nope, me neither

Here's an interesting point about this footage of Good Vibrations. Much has been said about the lost vocals from the Columbia sessions and the subsequent inability thus to make a true stereo master of Good Vibrations. Seeing how the guys were around two microphones in this footage, how does one get the separation required for a stereo mix anyway? (Even if their background vocals were double-tracked, which no doubt they were)

The stereo separation would be solely available from the double tracking.  Theoretically, if the tape were found, we would have two separate mono leads on two tracks, and the remaining 5 tracks would be various backing vocals, double-tracked often.  This was not true stereo recording.  You pan one pass left and one right.

While the Badman book has a lot of errors-for what it's worth he mentions in his book (under October 1966) that the BBs filmed a few different promo films for GV including one of them "rehearsing" in the studio that he states aired on French TV at least once.  This footage could be what he is referring to

It is wondeful to see this. I especially love the ariel group shot, with Mike on his mic, and the other five packed in together. I'd read about it, but to see it. No wonder the vocals are so tight. It's real teamwork, packed in close. At 2:33 you can even see the black box Al is standing on!

Outstanding footage.

And also, check out the old 4-track recorder Mark loads the tape  in. Does anyone know the make and vintage of it?

Here's Brian talking about GV, with some great photos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEFEG3oVG10&feature=related

That's what I was suggesting a week ago - that this was one of the multiple "promos" mentioned in the Badman book for Good Vibrations. Badman's description of the group rehearsing in the recording studio matches this footage exactly...leaving out that it was at Columbia studios, the mics are AKG c12's, and that a full series of color still photos were shot at this same session.

Getting back to that film, another piece of info I don't believe anyone chimed in on when it was posted a week ago: I mentioned the still shot of Brian working the controls. In this new clip, we can actually see Brian on film working the controls on the board at Columbia.

Now...we were told Brian had his hand slapped down for doing the very same thing at the same studio, we were told it was strictly against Columbia policy for anyone but the union engineers to work that board, and Bruce Johnston this fall said it was forbidden for anyone to touch the board.

yet there we have film of Brian working the controls. Mythbusting, redux!  ;D

It's a Scully 280, mid/late '60s vintage.  Most of the reels visible are Scotch 201/202/203.

That film was shot at an instrumental session, not a vocal.

I've been soaking in this new Good Vibrations recording footage for a good amount of time now.  Just watching it and watching it.  I haven't posted yet 'cause I've been speechless.  I am in awe of the fact this never-before-seen or long lost footage is being shared with us at this moment in time.  Particularly I want to say something about the shot at 2:41 in right after Al says "We were passionate about getting it right."  Here's the link again, cued to the moment -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot7vCQisW_4&t=2m40s
 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot7vCQisW_4&t=2m40s)

That part where you see Al, Bruce and Brian around the mic.  It just strikes me to the core because it embodies what I visualize a golden era Beach Boys vocal session to look like.  They're swaying and moving to the music, Brian with his eyes closed seemingly in deep concentration and in another place locking in with the complex music.  You see Al point to Brian at one instance, perhaps acting out a line, hoping to query Brian, questioning his part... who knows.  Once again Brian's eyes are closed, so he's not even noticing.  Overall a very quick shot of three of the boys but a wonderful moment that I'm overjoyed I witnessed on video.  We've seen a good deal of footage in the past, but if you're anything like me you soak up any video footage you can find of this group and savor it.  To be given the gift of looking in on footage of this Good Vibrations session is something that legit makes myself and I'm sure most fans experience an almost euphoric moment of joy.  Sounds silly but don't lie to me, you know what I mean.  I have to say I'm very appreciative of the band and any strong forces around the band helping make this release possible and presenting the material this exceptional way. 

Another side thought.  I do think Al is magnificent in almost any interview I've seen him in.  Some people may not agree with everything he's ever done musically with the band (I honestly don't think I could say I agree with everything any member of the band released, so I'm not trying to single him out in that manner), but I'm a big fan of a great amount of his contributions and think he understands his band's legacy and accomplishments, yet he has never come off as a pretentious rock legend when speaking on them.  "We were passionate about getting it right."  A true professional speaking on the effort that went into some out of this world music.  In a promo video for their The Warmth Of The Sun compilation, he says "Each song, or each track selection is a special little message and they convey a certain optimism, and collectively they're extremely powerful."  Don't know about you but that's a very well crafted and concise statement I wish I could come up with when somebody asks me why I like the Beach Boys so much. 

This is the part where you link me to a bizarre 70s era interview with Al doing something ridiculous to prove me wrong.  And yes I've seen the goat jump on him in the NBC special.  Talk about possibly his weirdest interview sound clip ever.  It's where he's talking about trying to survive and the wilderness and some other hardcore sh*t.

Not from the 70's, but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slLIu5Yb1MI

Start around 3:00.

Gotta love Al.  He's the most 'respectable' Beach Boy left.  I'll bet he'd be pretty cool to hang out with too. 

I mean, imagine you're having a get together, you're going to watch oh... the Superbowl or something.  He just seems like the kind of guy who would bring the Beer. 

Man, it is SO great to see the guys singing around the mic like that, with soft and low Mike on his own. I guess the footage is staged but it is still amazing. There must be a documentary in the works...

How d'you think it'd be "staged"?

I think it's probably staged, too.  I mean when the boys recorded that song they didn't know it was going to be the biggest thing ever, they wouldn't have filmed just the vocal session or whatever.  So they probably shot it for a promotional thing or something.  The other side of it would be that they just happened to have a camera there, for the vocal session, of the biggest thing they ever did?  I guess it could be but I think it's probably staged. 

Kind of like how Brian STILL stages studio footage. 

Brian had been working on the song for months and whether it would be a big hit or not, it was the major single for the group for the 4th quarter of 1966.  The song was clearly a big milestone for the group and had cost a fortune to produce.  Also, Brian was the hot talent in Hollywood at the time...all eyes were fixed on what he would do next.  It's not unreasonable that someone would film him doing what he did in the studio at this point in time.

The footage feels very raw and authentic to me.  Just because it was shot for promotional purposes doesn't mean it was staged.  From the stills seen in the other video, Audree was present and the filming clearly spanned several recording sessions.

Well done, Bill Larson haha. "Be Veg, Go Green to save the planet!"  I knew somebody would post something bizarre.  This also cracked me up...

Oh, it might've been recorded at a vocal session, but if that bass guitar clip is from that same session it must've been staged since we know the bass was already recorded with the rest of the track. Some of the other footage just seemed staged to me, but either way (I honestly do not care) the footage is frickin amazing fuckin sh*t, man!

The bass clip, those two seconds of it, could have been flown in from anywhere - it definitely doesn't fit the vocal session.

I think the word "staged" might be a loaded word in a way, because what that film is would have been standard practice of the time: To show a band or artist recording an upcoming release. All of these coming from 65-66, I have or have seen film of Frank Sinatra at United recording "It Was A Very Good Year" in front of a full orchestra and spectators filmed for CBS, The Mamas And Papas inside Western #3 filmed for an ABC music special in '67, Sonny And Cher recording at Gold Star in 1966 for a newsreel series called Hollywood Insider, The Beatles of course with All You Need Is Love and the film for the Day In The Life orchestra session, various sessions for teen shows like Where The Action Is, The Stones recording Sympathy, naturally the Inside Pop crew recording Smile vocal sessions...

Whether it was "staged" or not, these were actual sessions in the actual studios featuring the actual musicians and studio staff who made the records. Perhaps what we see was done for the cameras while another take was eventually used, but what was filmed was actually the way it was happening that day.

Priceless, inspirational stuff, those films.

It's clear from the Good Vibrations video posted a few weeks ago that they've found video and still photos from several Good Vibrations sessions, including vocal and tracking sessions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEFEG3oVG10

I'd say aside from the HQ close-ups of the group that most of these shots are taken from moving footage.  The shots of Brian at the piano with Tommy Morgan and the wrecking crew look to be taken from video as well.  It's very likely that the bass footage is from a tracking session, not a vocal session...or as guitarfool said, flown in from somewhere else entirely.

Hopefully the entirety of this footage is released for the 50th.

Geez! I have never thought one day I would watch footage of the boys recording Good Vibrations and Brian working on the control room, it is beyond fantastic!!I wonder what other unseen treasures they have been keeping unveiled for so many years. Unbelievable :o :o :o

(http://www.thebeachboys.ch/Galerie/albums/userpics/MikeAl.jpg)

Just noticed that the color photos from a vocal session at Columbia are probably from another session.
Mike is wearing a white shirt and a pullover on the photos, on the film it seems to be a dark, squared shirt. Al on the other hand seems to wear the same trousers and maybe same shirt.
So it would make sense the pic and film date from two sessions close to each other, except Al never changed clothes of course. Sorry, I just love these detective-speculations.
The GV vocal sessions took place on September 12 and September 21, 1966 according to AGD's timeline. But I guess there were more sessions not documented on this site. If not, the film + photos were probably taken in October when the boys did days of vocal-work at Columbia and indeed staged singing GV, but I doubt that. It looks like the boys were really working on the GV vocals and I doubt they had enough time to stage things at the studio.

(http://atlantasrockstation.com/Portals/8/99X_Jocks/Lewis-Alston/99x_Blog_Lewis_BeachBoys_150x150_09022011.jpg)

Your logic doesn't work, though.  You're saying he worked on the song for months, but just happened to have cameras on when he *finally* got around to recording the legendary vocals?  Huh?  Also there's no other film from any of the other sessions?  Why not?  If he was important enough to have film crews filming the song being recorded, wouldn't they have recorded other sessions?  

It's staged.  By 'staged' I mean, in my opinion the song was done already going to be released as a single or whatever, and they re-sang to the track for the cameras.  It may have been while they were in the studio working on something else or whatever, etc.

BTW I don't think anything's wrong with it, just like I don't think anything's wrong with Brian staging footage for his solo albums.  It's part of the business and is actually a pretty cool thing, that they want to let their fans see how they do what they do.  Either way, it's great footage. 

 ::) If you actually study the footage from the recent video and the stills from the earlier video, the filming obviously spanned several sessions including at least one of the tracking sessions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEFEG3oVG10#t=1m56s


I don't even understand why you would form this opinion in the first place, much less defend it to the hilt.  Fact: the footage in both videos was shot at different recording sessions (one at a different studio), with the group wearing several different outfits.  If this footage was staged they went to a whole lot of trouble to make it seem authentic.

Staged. 

and there's also the fact that the vocals don't completely sync up with the video...

There was film shot at other GV sessions, tracking sessions, and short of having the actual film to view I can point you to exactly where you can hear proof of a camera rolling in the studio as Brian worked on the track. Whether this is footage which the recent stills with Tommy Morgan were captured from remains to be seen, I just wanted to clarify that Brian was filming tracking sessions for GV other than that vocal session.

Sync issues weren't considered as important with promo clips of the 60's, in some cases: Ever see the "I Get Around" promo where the Boys are clapping their hands in front of a woodie station wagon, miming the song? Not an instrument in sight, but who cared at that point? Remember the Beatles released a promo of them supposedly recording "Lady Madonna" at Abbey Road, when it was revealed later that the song they were filmed recording was "Hey Bulldog", which they apparently decided to record after "staging" a session at Abbey Road just for the cameras. Why waste a few hours of studio time, let's record my new song!

Or the Beach Boys' promo for "I Can Hear Music", where you can see them recording "Time To Get Alone" at Brian's home studio.

But why would the boys film different promos for "Good Vibrations" anway? I mean, they did one in color with the firehats.
The now released footage looks semi-professional to me, like a private person filmed it. The mixboard-scene seems to date from the same day the Dennis darkroom/piano-footage on 'An American Band' comes from.

FYI...That clip is actually a mimed TV performance not a promo (Red Skelton Show). Also, there are two instruments in sight, Carl and Al are miming the performance with guitars in hand.

Here's part ne of a 10 part webseries just posted on facebook. Some more studio footage of Brian in the booth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw09zOhZ_Ck (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw09zOhZ_Ck)

This is definitely true, the clip is in AB, I guess I was thinking of the lack of drums, and weren't the guitars left unplugged? It just didn't seem to matter in a lot of cases what the band was doing and whether it was accurate, let alone being synced up with the track. Some of the clips, non-Beach Boys, are so bad in production value, but yet where else can you see the original band members when those records were new and not "oldies"?

Though this is a bit earlier this is just how Desper has decribed the 1967-71 vocal sessions. Amazing.