The Smiley Smile Message Board

No time to listen at the moment but just found this. Might be interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tl382/episodes/guide

I really enjoyed these!  Thanks for posting.   :)

Six hour BBC Radio 1 series narrated by Bob Harris and interviewing absolutely everyone - except Brian. An excellent primer, even now. It was updated in 1976, but very slightly.

I believe they used parts of this for last year's documentary that was broadcasted along with the BBC show.

Great series.  Incredible how they were so much more influential in the UK at the time, American radio probably never would have given a presentation like this in the '70s.

it did air in america in 1974. and 1976.

my friend gave me the 6 reel to reels after he played it on air in 1974.

Interesting that Mike says "Warmth of the Sun" was written the night before the JFK assassination as Brian has said in the past that it was written after and in reaction to Kennedy's death.  I've always thought it was the latter, certainly makes sense.  Anyone want to weigh in?

Mike's told the same story in recent years, so I doubt it was a gaff. Brian has said they wrote it in his office which would've been quite a feat considering they were touring in an entirely different state at the time. For consistency and accuracy reasons, I'm more inclined to trust Mike's recollections here over Brian's, even if Brian's do make the better story.

I'm more inclined to believe Fred Vail, who was there in the hotel room when they wrote it the night after the assassination.

Gigs & sessions 1963 (http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/gigs63.html) - footnote #19.

The Warmth of the Sun has such a "crushingly heavy" feel and tone, which is consistent with the shocking disbelief of the news of JFK 's assassination. (and/or break-up grief)  November is such a "heavy" dark month of the year (Northern Hemisphere) anyway. Consistent also, with an, "All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray," thing.

But, I could believe that it was a contemporaneous hybrid, with some emerging melody line already on paper.  And, the devastating news that our "royalty" was taken, might have helped formulate the rest.  The only other event that even compares was the similar shockingly violent death of Lady Diana, for those who would not have experienced that earlier horrid event, which was carried live on TV, with all other programming pre-empted. (analogous, perhaps to the re-written Sir Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" - "Goodbye England's Rose.)

If the Boys were in a hotel room, (as indicated) with a TV, they would have experienced that event, really a captive audience, with the rest of the States, with all the shocking events that followed.  It may have been come type of convergence of time, season (very short and weak daylight time) and events.  For those days, time just stopped, (in the States) with little certainty of much else except the constancy and, perhaps comfort, of the sun rising and setting.

Thanks for tipping this to me! It is truly great to get the 1974 perspective, a fairly pivotal point in their history. However, the first episode, Beach, Boards, and Buggies, is no longer available. Could someone please PM and  help me out? Your generosity would be greatly appreciated...

mb

Please disregard... I tracked it down! I'm excited to hear this!

Just saw this topic and none of the episodes seem to be available now. Will have to check it out again when its repeated on BBC iplayer radio.

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