The Smiley Smile Message Board

In the interview with Steve Tyler in the new Time Magazine he lists Smiley Smile as one of 3 albums he considers essential desert island material, the thing he would want most if he were limited to a few albums that were essential for listening to endlessly if alone on a desert island.  Interestingly the other two were albums by the Stones and AC/DC.

( Mr. Moderator, feel free to delete this if it is too narrow a subject.  Just wanted to share this strong  endorsement of SMileySmile in a national magazine)

Are we talking Steve tyler from Aerosmith? I'd never have thought he'd be into Smiley in such a big way!

Does he explain how/why? i.e. is it something he was listening to when it was released or something he's got into later on?

I love it when unexpected musicians dig more obscure BB albums. Jim Morrison and Wild Honey was always a cool one too.

Can someone provide a link please?

"Brian Wilson" on Facebook shared it as a status on July 27th.

here's the quote from Brian's FB

"If I was on an island, just for melody, I would take albums by the Stones, AC/DC and the Beach Boys' Smiley Smile." - Steven Tyler

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2120479,00.html

You need to be a subscriber for the full article, but this preview has the Smiley quote.

Does that mean Smiley Smile gets his vote in the twofer thread of Smile vs. Smiley Smile??

Tyler is an admirer of the bbs. In the 60s his old band opened for the boys

Tyler has great taste. He is also a huge fan of the Shangri-Las and Yardbirds, and sang backing vocals on the second Left Banke album.

Which begs the question: how come Aerosmith are so awful?

They were great back in the day.

I'm going to invent a time machine and prove you wrong.

"You see! You see! GODAWFUL!"

"Shouldn't you be using this for more important things?"

"Jesus! Listen to them! Look at him prancing around like that, thinking he's so cute... yechhh."

I grew up in the 1990s so the one thing I distinctly remember about Aerosmith is Alicia Silverstone.

From today's perspective it seems pretty weird how incredibly well they did throughout the grunge era.

IIRC Alice Cooper is another big admirer of the Smiley Smile album.

They are only awful to pop pussi.es.

Someone here will tell you they sucked by then and they were brilliant in the 70s. That person, whomever they may be, is a liar.

Pandora's Box- Aerosmith's glory days.

I didn't even think of them as a 70s group back then. Haven't heard their 90s hit singles in ages but at the time they all sounded amazingly fresh and the band logo was certainly one of the most fun logos to draw.

Pussi.es eh? Or pussies even. Yeah, well this particular pop kitty loves the Beastie Boys, Nirvana and the Pixies as well as the Beach Boys. Aerosmith do suck though.

I remember seeing in some magazine, about maybe 12 years ago, one of those "what are you listening to now" columns with Tyler. He mentioned Wild Honey! That was a big step in getting me to check the entire catalogue (not that I was a big Aerosmith fan.) I just thought it was cool that he was giving THAT album props, which at the time I never heard.

Steven Tyler's first band while he was still in high school I believe was called "Chain Reaction".  They basically aped the popular musical groups of the day specifically The Beatles and The Beach Boys.  They recorded a couple of demo tracks one of which ("When I Needed You") was released on an Aerosmith box set put out in the early nineties entitled "Pandora's Box".  "When I Needed You" basically sounds like it could be a Beatles outtake off of "Rubber Soul" while another song entitled "The Sun" sounds like a hybrid between The Byrds and SMiLE era "Beach Boys.

Have a listen to both if you'd like:

When I Needed You:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tXXbQxOJns

The Sun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLEdNHIviww

It was the end of the line though and that is coming from someone who was once a huge Aerosmith fan.  They were still putting out quality material in the early nineties but fell completely off a cliff by the end of that decade.  Aerosmith were a huge part of my musical lexicon at one stage in my life and I held them in high regard.  While I will never discount their back catalog, where the band went to in the late nineties as far as betraying everything that was once brilliant about their brand still leaves a very sour taste in my mouth.

Does the Sun have the same melody as Run to me by The Bee Gees?

Check out this perfect song from "Rocks".http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsUUkvjliWU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsUUkvjliWU)

I used to own an Aerosmith album in the early 90s with the pierced cow on the front. I liked the song Livin on the Edge. I was like 14 or 15. I wouldn't say they suck. But I haven't really gotten that into them since.

Not so different than being a Beach Boys fan from 1968-1974 or so. Verbal abuse was nearly expected if you let on that you were a fan. ;)

Not to mention the complete paranoia of taking a BB record up to the counter for purchase and feeling that youwere being stared at by the cashier and others in the shop. :-[

Saw them perform live 10 or (15?) years ago.  A great rock concert by an original classic band with all members present and accounted for.  Not half a band with a few remaining members.   A real treat.  The real deal. People forget that this is one very good ROCK BAND, and as with any really good band, must be seen live to fully appreciate.

Smiley Smile has been used as therapy, to mellow out drug addicts in detox.  Coincidence that it's one of Mr. Tyler's favorite albums?  Perhaps not!

As I mentioned on another similar thread at the BW site-Steven Tyler was in a band called Chain Reaction that opened for the Beach Boys at shows in the Westchester, NY area on two occasions (July 66 and April 67) so there is also that connection....The band actually won the honor of opening for the BBs in 66 by winning a "battle of the bands" competition run by their school.  Must have been a thrill.  Kind of an amazing reality about the music business-for many bands the absolute pinnacle of their career was the time they opened for the BBs or the Who or the Stones, etc....So many bands never made it past that to being a big act on their own

Well, not SmileySmile but Jim Morrison was a fan of Wild Honey.