The Smiley Smile Message Board

Maybe I've become damaged from too much Beach Boys music, but right now, I'd trade all of Smile for a couple more songs in the style of "Rock and Roll Music" and "It's OK". "Rock & Roll Music", in particular, might just be my from favorite Beach Boys song.

First, you have Mike sounded the most like Mick Jagger he ever would in his career. He kills it. And you'll quickly notice how Brian's retooled the group's harmony sound around his gruff voice. Whereas before the Beach Boys tended to have a smoother sound, here the harmonies have a sharper punch. Those "Ah's" in the verse are almost screams! The vocal arrangements as a whole sound like the awesomeness you'd expect when Brian comes up with parts over his boogie woogie lines. "Rock, roll, rockin'  & roll!" C'mon, that is catchy as hell!

The production is ace, too. That must the craziest blend of guitars and saxs ever heard in rock. Honestly, I'd kill for an instrumental take just to figure out what the hell is going on. Some other great touches: the reverb on the cymbals during the breaks during the verses is perfectly goofy, THAT ORGAN, the cool "Fun, Fun, Fun"-era wail that creeps into the chorus around 1:23, the proto-fart bass.... say what you want, but this is a full, awesome Brian production. Whoever did that terrible mix on Best of the Brother Years was a MONSTER!

For me, it's got to be some of that rock and roll music!

I love the 15 big ones-love you years. So much crazy music after the early 1970s stuff got stale.

That 45 mix sounded good on the radio of my single speaker 1964 Ford Falcon. Same with It's OK, but I heard that one far less than R&R M.

RnR Music is not among my favorites, but it's a pretty good one to be sure.  I have never understood the pounding it gets around here.

I agree for the most part with the OP's descriptions above, however I must add that Mike's vocal in this one has always struck me as...er, lazy for want of a better word.  It used to put me off just a bit, but now I find it to be fitting, especially in contrast to the punchy backing vocals.  Keeps the song laid back AND in yer face at the same time!  Brilliant!

 

I think Mike's delivery makes sense. These were decadent, rich white dudes in their thirties. The performance could only be so earnest, as it were.

The 45 version of RnRM is 1000x better, and probably ranks somewhere in my top 60 bb songs!

The 45 version of its ok is 100x better, and probably ranks in my top 25!

Rnrm is probably one of my favorites to hear live, there have been a few shows when it was THE highlight for me.

The speed of the 45 Mix of It's OK is great, but I'm not overly thrilled with the sped up vocals, especially Mike's. He sounds even more nasal than usual. ;)

"Rock And Roll Music" is kind of unique. Back in the day, I preferred to hear it on the radio rather than sitting and listening to it on 15 Big Ones. I agree that the 45 single mix is superior to the album mix. But, I think "Rock And Roll Music" works best live - but only at a fast(er) tempo. If it is performed too slow, which it has been over the last few years, it drags. But, when the beat is faster, it rocks. The live version that best makes that point would be the 1979 Midnight Special performance - with Brian on bass!

I'm so stoked that we're getting new mixes of "Rock and Roll Music" as well as "It's O.K." on Made in California. I'm reinforcing my house to brace myself and my family for the storm of fat, bloodthirsty moog I expect... nay, demand in these mixes.

I agree. I thought they did a decent job of it last year too. It had a bit of an edge to it which pleasantly surprised me.

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Amen.  It's Beatles and Berry for me on this one.  The Beach Boys version to me is more of a novelty than anything else.

I love the so called "hot mix" with the extra verse. It jumps....

Me too, Pete.  Never thought it'd see the light of day after it was broadcast on the "Best Summers Of Our Lives" radio special, but it's finally coming out next month!

No it's not. It's a 2012 remix of the track containing the extra verse. Not as "hot."

I think I'd just as soon respond with a "No Comment" when considering these two stinkers - 15BOs & LY. Interestingly, I was coming off a rather heavy immersion in jazz when the Big 15 came out. And I particularly recall how profoundly Coltrane and Hartman had moved me in "Lush Life" - "romance is mush, stifling those who strive, I'll live a lush life in some small dive..."

To turn from that to this was a dive indeed. 4 - 5 years earlier these guys were delivering the rockingest shows around. Here, well just look at the portraits on the cover. They look like they're sitting for their 5th grade class pix back at Hawthorne Elementary. But that's nothing compared to the infantile gurrglings sitting in the grooves.

But there's growth here. Yeah, from 5th to 6th Grade judging by the back cover portrait on Love You. There they all are - Giggy, Bubby, Fluffy, Skippy and Skooter. Our Gang. Careening in the grooves from flat out clown car - slap, bam, boom - to full fetal-gothic-regression - pap, pat, pat'er on her butt. 

Just take one second to glance back at the confident young men on the cover of say, Today. Whew! The inspiration of the 60s is here all played out and we're left with the husk - like a fish out of water wreathing desperately on the dock.

But, to be fair, John Lennon by this point had slapped a Kotex to his forehead and Mick Jagger was claiming to be a goat!

Oh, what a falling off there was. As from Hyperion to a satyr.

It's a very good production that has certainly grown on me over the years. As an album opener it works really well! Once heard the "hot mix" and absolutely loved it. Still kind of unfortunate they chose to release this as the first single after Brian's long absence if they could've issued "It's OK" (the amazing single version no less!) instead. It's a no-brainer, isn't it? Was this decided in an attempt to make Brian feel safe perhaps? Like, "don't panic, the first one is not going to be an original"?

I love how Dennis beats the sh*t out of his drums in the live version of Knebworth 1980 ;D

It`s a sack of wank.

:thumbsup :thumbsup

Amen brother. I am deeply shocked that anyone could like this apart from a coked up mentally ill Brian. I've already slated it in the 15BO thread. It doesn't rock, it doesn't roll and it's not music.  It lies very near the bottom of the pile of their entire career.  I absolutely hate it. In that previous thread someone posted an alternate mix. I listened to 45 seconds of it and got rabies. Those stomach injections hurt like nothing on earth except listening to this track. It should be destroyed and never spoken of again.
Chuck Berry and The Beatles do it properly. Just take those two versions and be done with it. I'm begging you please.

I'd probably give my life for "Johnny Carson," but helluva post. You've got quality snap crackle pop.

It beats me how they keep using the 15 Big Ones version of this track which is quite miserable IMO.  At the very least use the single version where, to my eyes, the synth and backing vocals are upped and the guitar/lead are pulled back.

R&RM would have been 100 times better with Carl on the lead and Mike joining the other BBs on backup. JMHO.

I am going to jack up the volume on my subwoofer until my wife screams to turn it down.  :p

People who can't "get" these albums are the real loosers.

Brian invented "new wave" years before it became official.  Farty synths rule!

He did that with "My Solution" 5 years earlier and Sail On Sailor's got moog too right? Funky Pretty and Mt. Vernon & Fairway

Yes, thats true - Brian the Innovator.  ;)

I agree completely. R&RM is awful. It's so beyond lame and terrible that I don't even have a word for it.  Why it stayed in the setlist so long is beyond me. I know it was a hit but that's no excuse.

:h5