The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does anyone have any info on this beautiful masterpiece?
this possibly may be Denny's best song that he wrote and sang on...Was he going for a pet sounds type of feeling on it? Did Brian or anyone ever acknowledge the song?

I wouldn't be surprised if secretly there was some Manson involvement, or at least his influence is there. The track has a very creepy vibe. I agree it's one of his best, though. The vocal is so relaxed, it perfectly fits the sound of the track. And the last 20 seconds or so is insanity....

Charles Manson was a huge influence on Dennis huh? That would've been cool if the boys did a whole album covering Manson songs...Didn't Manson approach Dennis about re-doing his song?

Probably my favorite Dennis Wilson-led track. The orchestration is breathtaking. The paucity of backing vocals is an interesting choice that works out very well. To me, the arrangement is a overall bit more majestic in style than anything on Pet Sounds (not to say better, just a bit more pompped up with the trumpets and such), although the cello parts sliding up to the fourth at the end certainly are reminiscent of "Let's Go Away for Awhile". There are hints of  darkness here that are certainly not characteristic of Brian Wilson...this is definitely pure Dennis. My guess is that while Dennis was very much under Manson's influence ("sometimes the Wizard frightens me" he said around this time if I recall correctly) he wrote this on his own. My wife once remarked that this track reminded her strongly of Curtis Mayfield's work (another great orchestrator), and the horn charts especially sound like vintage Mayfield. Check out the instrumental backing from Hawthorne Ave. (disc 2, track 16). Soooo good.

Isn't Curtis Mayfield the man who did shaft theme song?(pardon me if I'm wrong) Dennis had more soul than Carl in my opinion :) seems like Brian was the white bread one out of the family..
It has a dark yet beautiful sound..and the chorus is triumphant....If there was a Pet Sounds 2 that included work from all the guys this would totally be on there..I remember the first time heard it I was shocked that I didn't notice it at first. To be honest I don't even think I checked it out the first time just skipped right over it because it was a Dennis composition (shame on me) but it was merely because I wanted to check out all the bw compositions first since I knew he was the main writer for Pet Sounds...this was before I even knew about him turning into a recluse..well anyways i was swept away and i kept replaying it..it's one of those songs that i could never get tired of...it reminds me of an ancient under water city for some reason.like when I close my eyes and listen to the song that's a place I imagine myself at.

I think this one should have been an instrumental. The lyrics are really poor and drag the song down but the backing track on the Hawthorne comp is excellent.

No.

To be honest, I don't know what the f*** it means to "have soul."

Curtis Mayfield is the extraordinarily gifted singer, songwriter and composer who scored "Superfly" and led The Impressions. Here is an example of why the comparison to the orchestration in "Be with Me" is apt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNV1Y01xNk8

"Shaft" was scored by Issac Hayes, who is another extraordinary arranger. Check out his version of "Walk on By", one of my favorite all-time covers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqR4CZj0mJQ

I think my bro tried to show me Curtis Mayfield's music before I'm not too sure :)
Ok I heard Isaac Hayes before too he's a talented musician..and he did an awesome job doing the voice of chef on south park "chocolate salty balls" lol
Check this out ...now this is the same type of music right? i totally love this type of sh*t http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWwHN3V8cYU

I think the lyrics are great on this song. They project a very direct and human emotion, typical Dennis. There's been rumors of a Manson connection to the song, but I'm not convinced. BTW the fantastic string arrangement was done under Dennis' direction by the brilliant Van McCoy...who had a giant dance hit in the '70's with a song called "The Hustle". Dennis, always ahead of his time, fuses a future disco icon with late the '60's Beach Boys style and nails it. Beyond this Dennis became enamored with some of Marvin Gaye's sweeping productions. I think there's a orchestral-soul thread in Dennis' work that continues into Pacific Ocean Blue, and it started with Be With Me.

Do you think Marvin Gaye influenced Dennis? Because I hear alot of soul influence in his music.

Think you may be overcooking it there. Van McCoy Also worked on The Nearest Faraway Place I believe.

The lyrics do have emotion but they also prove again that Dennis wasn`t verbally facile.

Most definitely, Dennis has said so himself. Apparently he was obsessed with Trouble Man!

Yep, "Trouble Man", and also the album "Diana & Marvin", with Diana Ross.

I've still got the 8-track tape of Trouble Man that Dennis & Carl practically burned out in the RV we toured in one summer.

This is a really cool song. if Dennis made a whole album like this it would've gone multi-super-platinum. Pet Sounds for the Altamont generation.

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Manson didn't help but Kalinich did.

what's goin on, let's get it on,i want you and here, my dear are masterpieces :)

you're absolutely right :) a little something for everyone...it's very diverse and it's clearly the most underrated bb album of the 60's hands down..

I think it`s the very diversity of the album which causes it to be rated lower than some others of the era.

It sounds like what it is which is a collection of thrown together songs intended fulfil a contract. Now several of the songs are excellent but they don`t flow together in a cohesive way at all.