The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hi everyone.  I have been a Beach Boys fan for a long time.  My favorite song when I was a high school freshman in 1988 was Don't Worry Baby.  I was a pretty casual fan then, having only the Made in the U.S.A. compilation (on cassette)  :-D until picking up the CD version in the early 90s.  Anyway, even as a casual fan, I knew there was so much more to the group than 'beach music', and I would usually skip right past 409, Surfin' Safari, etc.  However, I also recall that I didn't "get" Heroes and Villains or Caroline, No either, and I'd skip those as well.   About 8 years ago I picked up a copy of Pet Sounds when I was in Hawaii on vacation and needed some CDs for when we were in the car.  I picked Pet Sounds because I remember hearing that it was well regarded.  I knew I liked God Only Knows and Wouldn't It Be Nice, but at the time I just didn't get the rest of the album - yeah.  I even saw Brian Wilson in concert (opening for Paul Simon) a few years ago, but didn't appreciate how good his music was.  The Beach Boys' Christmas Album was always one of my favorite Christmas albums.

Anyway, within the last year, I put in Pet Sounds again and started to realize just how brilliant it was.  I would just listen to it over and over.  I started poking around on Wikipedia reading about how the album came to be and discovered that Good Vibrations's Genesis was during the Pet Sounds sessions and intended for the next album.  After finding a great alternate mix of Good Vibrations on youtube, I learned about SMiLE, and was intrigued.  I bought the GV 40th Anniversary EP CD, and I found some bootlegs mixes of SMiLE online, settling on Purple Chick's excellent compilation/mix.  About that time, news of The SMiLE Sessions release broke, and I was anxious for its release.  I ordered the 5-CD set and the DVD and CD of BWPS.  Needless to say, I was hooked.  I picked up Today/Summer Days and was blown away by the "side two" of both albums.  I've been adding to my collection ever since - one album at a time - so I now have Little Deuce Coupe/All Summer Long, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, The Beach Boys Today!/Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!), Pet Sounds, The SMiLE Sessions, GH1, GH2, and Made in the U.S.A, along with BWPS, Imagination, and Live at the Roxy from Brian's solo catalog.  It's exciting because I am still in the mode where I can "discover" some really great songs from a classic band.  (I went through similar phases with Boston, Tori Amos, Bruce Springsteen, and ABBA, all of whom are among my favorite musicians.)

Anyway, I am excited to find a board that seems to be pretty drama free and like to discuss some great music.  I've lurked here since I got my SMiLE Sessions set and finally got around to registering/posting.  I am hoping to be able to see the Red Rocks concert here in Denver in July!  Anyway, I look forward to posting here.

Welcome to the board! If I may suggest some CDs to pick up, I would try the Sunflower/Surf's Up 2-fer and either In Concert or Carl and the Passions "So Tough"/Holland 2-fer. The second great era of The Beach Boys awaits you.

Nice.  I have all of them in my Amazon shopping cart, but I am going slow so I can appreciate each album fully.

I'm way too new myself to be able to welcome you without sounding like I'm putting on airs (one week seniority!), but can I just say how jealous I am that you get to see them at Red Rocks?  I flew out there for a Stevie Nicks show last August and was completely blown away by that venue.  If I lived in Denver, I'd see a lot more shows!

Welcome! And happy shopping!

Thanks!


Thanks for the welcome.  We are really spoiled in Denver having Red Rocks.  The only drawback is that it can't hold more people - ~9450 tops.  That makes it hard for big draws who only play a single show.  It's worth the heartburn trying to get tickets just to go there though.  I can't wait.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

My story is similar to yours....I was a casual fan since I was 7 years old, then after college I really got into them after listening to Pet Sounds. I picked a great time to start being a fan!

Definitely check out Friends sometime!

Welcome aboard. Fairly new here myself. Like alot of people got into the beach boys through a hits comp (20 Golden Greats) without knowing much about the band, who sang which song or whatever. Then picked up Pet Sounds on cassette from a bargain bin from Our Price. Listened to it and it didn't make much of an impression until I put it on a couple of months later and it blew me away. Its still my favourite album twenty years later. Around that time the twofers came out on cd and i dived right in. It's been the best experience I've had of discovering an artist and the pleasure their music has given has been priceless. I'm envious of you starting your journey of discovery; you're going to have lots of treats along the way exploring a wonderful body of work. Enjoy :)

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.  I am looking forward to exploring the catalog, but I definitely plan on taking my time.

Welcome! Would definitely second my esteemed colleague Rab's recommendation of checking out Friends, it's my favourite post Pet Sounds album on some days.

Welcome to the madhouse!

I strongly recommend approaching Still Cruisin' and Summer in Paradise with extreme caution, and not touching Stars and Stripes with a 100 foot pole! :lol

Yeah, I'll be honest.  I am approaching the post-Pet Sounds albums with trepidation.  I mean, I am sure there are some great songs in there, but I had to turn off the Amazon music sampler (30 seconds from each song) for Smiley Smile after hearing how Vegetables, Wind Chimes, and Wonderful turned out.  I realize I have the benefit of hindsight to hear what those songs would have been like on SMiLE, but I just wasn't ready to hear those versions.  :shrug  :-D

"I realize I have the benefit of hindsight to hear what those songs would have been like on SMiLE, but I just wasn't ready to hear those versions."

You'll be back!

But I second Friends/20-20 as the next place to go.  There are some clunkers, but the best songs are like songs from Smile, on a smaller canvas.

Two words: Ding Dang.

wat

;)

Ding. Dang. Ding. Whoo! Ding and a ding dong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw3JBwfJP-s

 :lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygBT4nMw-Zg

Welcome!
If there is one thing you will learn from this board, it is that Brian Wilson has recoded around 10 versions of Shortening Bread / Ding Dang.
He recorded it obsessively in the 70's and 80's and claimed to Iggy Pop it was the greatest song of all time ^^

There will be many jokes flying around involving this song   >:D  :lol

Have fun!  ;)

Greatest of all time!  Nice.   :-D