The Smiley Smile Message Board

Hi all,
I was wondering what the overall sound quality is like on the Japanese b**tleggy CD (T-2580-2) which I believe was released in 1991?  
What was the source of this release?  Does anyone actually own a copy of this?  

I got this in 1990, but I think it appeared the year before. Great quality.

I got mine in '89. Sounds fab. Still haunted by the little vocal section at the start of Can't Wait and wonder why this hasn't been officially released.

Is that what is now known as 'I Believe In Miracles'?

I picked mine up in 1989. One of the best sounding boots ever.

I don't have it, never listened to it, boots are morally reprehensible.

That said, I happen to know that it is a wonderful recording, great quality and sequencing, and the packaging is fine too. It is a great thing to own. I am told.

Whoever told you that really knows what they're talking about.   I mean about how boots are morally reprehensible.

After "I Believe in Miracles" there is also another brief upbeat piece that starts off with 8 bars of basic Wild Honey-ish instrumentation with handclaps and crude percussion accents, then 8 bars adding wordless vocal harmonies.  While it is likely a piece of "Can't Wait Too Long," it sounds like a rough rehearsal, and the clip on the Japanese CD (I'm told) has a very echoey ambience that doesn't really fit sonically with "I Believe in Miracles" and the other "Can't Wait Too Long" sections it's edited with.  But IMO it's a beautiful, memorable piece that should have ended up in their released catalog in some form.  

When will they ever release the "Can't Wait Too Long Sessions" CD???

Edit:  I have heard that someone paid $75 by mail order for the rumored Japanese CD circa 1989, which was an outrageous amount of money (and still is for one CD).  And at the time, to a certain SMiLE fanatic, it was well worth it.

Edit: oops, double post.

Very good, Mikey, I see you are a ethically upright, infallible citizen, just like I am.

I think tonight I will play that Japanese SMiLE try to imagine what it's like to own such an illegal artefact that honest people will disapprove of.

It's nice to know we can discuss these things openly on a message board without the chance of being prosecuted for possessing them. I get too nervous just talking about them - I'm not sure how I would express my thoughts if I had possession of it. I'd be stuttering and stammering and sweating all over the place, worried that someone might discover that I actually had one of these. Good thing I don't! I admit that I was lieing above about having the Japanese Smile bootleg.

Look at Les P for instance. He's so nervous talking about the Japanese Smile bootleg that he's stumbling and bumbling and double posting....

 ::)
okay, so it's obviously good.  now to devote all my energies in doing something utterly legal like not seeking it out.  thank you for the moral support everyone.  i sometimes stray from the path... 

Japanese bootleg?  What?  Did I say Japanese CD?  I meant The Smile Sessions box set. In 2011.  Yeah, that's what I meant.

That boot was a revelation when it came out, first appearance of Smile Wind chimes.  But it's been superceded by the sea of Tunes four smile CDs, archaeology! the smile sessions box set.  Still a great historical collectible.

There was also the reissue which had the Smile Bits and Pieces bonus disk. First time I heard the full Holidays and Barnyard. It also had the Ant Bee version of Worms, which had me fooled for years.

Are we talking about the one in a card sleeve that usually had a slip of newspaper between the discs to stop them getting scratched?


(not that I've ever heard of it, let alone possessed it…)

Not me, John. An 'acquaintance of mine' showed me his copy yesterday evening in some sleazy bar. It has a regular jewel case, and comes with the catalogue number ST-2580. And it has the photo of young Brian at his piano, with a candle, on the inside.

Not that I visit such pubs on any regular basis, mind, or deal with such shady people oftentimes. I feigned interest in said item, because I wanted to see it, but never would I purchase unlawful recordings just to satisfy my personal needs.

Allegedly, this is a straight dub of the tape Mark prepared to show Capitol what was possible regarding a potential release. That said, I've also heard an entirely different story that involves one of the collaborators on Brian's first solo album.

I heard there's a real cool acapella section on this CD - the intro to "Been Way Too Long". And there were a couple of rumors that surrounded the Japanese Smile release - that when Jeff Lynne was working with Brian on his solo album in 1988, he kept bugging everyone for Smile stuff, so they gave him a tape of it. Supposedly it's the same or close to the one Linett compiled for Capitol back then. Another rumor was that one of Landy's henchmen leaked it. Andy Dean or whoever it was.

Gotcha. Appreciated Don, my confusions arise because I've heard - heard you understand - that plenty of Smile boots have the serial number ST-2580. And if I had any such boots, it would take me frickin' age to work out which ST-2580 was the ST-2580 I was ST-2580ing for! Not that I have so I haven't but if I had I would have.

Pretty sure this is the disc that was cloned to be disc 1 of "Smile (Bits & Pieces)" 2 disc set a few years later - so I hear.

Similar packaging, but incorporating an extra disc showcasing some (at the time) more obscure or recent "finds".

 >:DI have it and think the rest of you that say you don't do to.  >:D

and editon is spelled edition.

My humble apologies for the spelling error but I was overly excited about the subject of discussion...

Man, this thread has taken me back to the early 1990's, when "product" such as this was surprisingly easy to come by. Well, in the area I live in at least.

I'm quite interested in this "acapella" reference that Mikie made. I may need assistance in acquiring this. To turn it over to the proper authorities, of course.  :police:

What subject? Never seen one… never heard it…

I was thinking of approaching Santa this year with the suggestion that he manufacture something like this for me but alas, he doesn't deal in things that could possibly force closure of his factory.  Even the north pole isn't safe these days...  and I certainly wouldn't want to be the reason for massive unemployment in the "Little Helper" population.

The Japanese Smile Ostrich Thread.  ;D