The Smiley Smile Message Board

I hope you guys don't mind me sharing this with you. I found this a few weeks ago when I unpacked my CD collection, and it brought back a lot of memories. Here goes...


The year: 1998.

I was 14 years old, and just that past Christmas my parents had bought me my first multitrack recorder: a Tascam 424 mkII. I started experimenting with recording at 11 years old. The way I had to do it back then was fairly primitive. I would record myself playing an instrument on one cassette, then I'd play that cassette back & overdub myself playing something else onto another cassette, and the process would continue until I was at the end of both tapes. The hiss levels were crazy (I'm sure other home musicians coming up at this time can relate) but that's how I first got my feet wet with recording. Needless to say the Tascam 4-track was a huge step up for me at the time, even though you could only milk 15 minutes out of each tape. The massive upgrade in quality was well worth it.

That 4-track was my life. As soon as I'd get home from school, I'd run right to my room and start recording. At that time I was learning recording, producing + the art of making music in general by recording "albums" of Beatles, Beach Boys & other 60's covers mixed in with maybe 3 or 4 originals per "album". I think I made it up to my 8th "album" before I got my first job in the music business. Even though the aesthetics of my own production changed to more current commercial sounds, I'll always maintain that Brian Wilson's catalogue was an absolutely essential part of my musical education.

At the time I just bought the GV Box Set, and when I made it to disc 2 I immediately locked in with the song Wonderful. I hadn't even heard the Smiley Smile version yet, so hearing the song for the first time in its' SMiLE form was truly mind blowing. The chord changes. The arrangement. Brian's effortless lead vocal sweeping in and out of falsetto for the entire duration of the song. I was hooked! So, of course, that was something I had to cover for my then upcoming.. umm "album".

My Dad was friends with a guy named Elliot Stein, and Elliot had what was probably one of the first online radio shows on the internet. He interviewed a bunch of celebrities, including Carnie & Wendy, and I guess he mentioned to my Dad that he had an exclusive coming up with Brian Wilson. Honestly, I don't remember whose idea it was, but somehow the wheels started turning and my Dad approached Elliot about possibly playing one of my covers for Brian. Elliot took a listen to my version of "Wonderful" and flipped out over the fact that I was recording full songs at such a young age, and he happily obliged.

I remember the day of the interview. July 15th 1998. My little brothers were in their rooms, watching TV. My Mom was running around the house like a mad woman: cleaning up, doing laundry, etc. And I was in my room listening impatiently, waiting to hear my musical idol Brian Wilson take a listen to something that I recorded. Talk about being nervous! I was a wreck! Especially considering the fact that Brian wasn't especially talkative during the interview. When the moment finally came, and I heard Brian say the words "Boy Genius?" I remember taking a victory lap around the house. I was high, way before the first time I actually got high.  :smokin Best moment of my life up until that point. And I'm proud to share it with u all now - in all its late 90's era RealAudio-quality glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AUILvhf6DM

Listening back to it years later, all I can say is that I wish Brian could hear what I'm capable of musically & vocally now. But, that's where I was at the time, and I'm truly grateful that I had this opportunity to cross paths with my idol whose commercial success & muscial prowess I still try to emulate to this day.

Thanks for reading + listening.

J

PS - I'd be glad to post the full hour long interview if anyone wants to hear it. There's nothing too out of the ordinary, and again as you can hear from the clip, Brian wasn't especially talkative. But there's some pretty fun conversation and Elliot's positive vibe keeps Brian in a good mood thoughout.

Thanks.  That was great!  :3d

Great story!
And very good cover!

Ha, that's brilliant, what a rush!  ;D

I actually got the same 4 track machine in 97 I think. I was 18 and recording rubbish teenage angst songs though.

Cool story. Thanks for sharing!

Brian Wilson called you a boy genius.
What else is there, really?

wow this is the coolest! what a rush that must have been. nice cover too!

Very cool, thanks for sharing!  That Tascam was my first recording unit as well, right around the same time as it happens.  Your version of "Wonderful" was a hell of a lot better than I was capable of at 14 though, that's for sure - easy to hear why Brian was so impressed.

SOOOO LUCCKKYYY! Great cover BTW!

Damn... i'm 15 can I sign up? (jk!) Hahaha...


.....

 ::) :-[

True. A heart-warming story. And a great cover!

(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6wagp45r11r0g5qqo2_500.jpg)

Heck, I still have a Tascam 424 sitting about 6 feet away from me as we speak. Dormant....but still there. It really was a nice unit back in the day.

Very cool story, btw.

Nice to see all the Tascam love! I might buy one again one of these days for old times sake.

I'm glad u guys like the story. I don't mean to be so "me-centric", but at this point it's been so long that it's almost like looking at it from someone else's perspective, and I figured it'd better be shared then collecting dust in my closet.


At first I clung to the whole "boy genius" thing. I even used it as part of my resume early on. Those two words muttered out of Brian Wilson's mouth, in regards to something I recorded?? Haha. But the thing is.. now that I listen to this again, the part that moves me more is BW's reaction to Elliot telling him how young guys like us were (and are) emulating his style and what HE did as a young dude. He's clearly pumped about that, and to know that he appreciates what we do is really what stands out to me now. It totally confirms that BW is appreciative of all of us fans/musicians following his lead and attempting to make records like he did.

Man, i wish i sounded that good at 14!

I once bought a Tascam 488 mkII (like the one in the picture) off of ebay. It was around 2003 when I was 19. Unfortunately since a few weeks ago there's something wrong with the casette deck and I don't know how to fix it. But those boards are a lot of fun.

(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss340/KGGeorgiou/Tascam%20Portastudio%20488%20MkII/100_1234.jpg)

The 424 really was a nifty little unit. My favorite thing...probably the vari-speed pitch control. In fact, I used the unit to do my very first stereo mixes of California Girls (using Stack-O-Tracks + the box set bonus disc) and Wouldn't It Be Nice on it. As I'm sure many others here did at the time.

I even bought the pedal to go along with the unit so I could do punch-ins while my hands were tied up (i.e. with guitar and keyboards).

Wow---fantastic!  Great story.  Way to go, fellow "Justin'!" :hat

Oh wow, I think I might've done the same thing with CG! Never messed with the pedal, although I think I had it. But yeah, that 4-track is a ton of fun, and I think they're going for pretty cheap on eBay now. This conversation is gonna make me take the plunge and pick one up.


Thanks dude! Your BW encounter was pretty awesome too. Foskett's a trip, lol.

I remember listening to that web interview back in '98!

As I recall, this was the one where the interviewer implies that the Beach Boys did not have the interest/ability to compete with the "art rock" that the Beatles were producing in '66 and '67, a statement that irks Brian who brings up "Heroes & Villains" and "Surf's Up" as examples of the band attempting more arty material. Am I remembering that correctly?

All the same, thanks for sharing the story...as well as all those wildly inventive SMiLE remixes.

If that's so I'd like to hear the whole thing...

My god! It's like I'm reading my own childhood! I did the exact same thing!