The Smiley Smile Message Board

I understand Michael passed this morning. Condolences to his family and friends.

rip michael.

R.I.P. Michael.  :'(

Sad news

R.I.P., Mr. Vosse.

Another great one has passed . :(

RIP, great guy.

Rest in peace, Michael!  :-[

Oh man, I'm very sad to hear this. After Cam's post last week it didn't sound like the prognosis was good, I guess the bad news was inevitable. As I said in another post about another recent passing, time does march on and it is inevitable that news like this will come with more frequency as we all get older.

So again I want to offer advice that Warren Zevon handed down after he was diagnosed with a terminal illness and knew his days on Earth were numbered: "Enjoy every sandwich".

Words to live by.

And for Michael, his friends and family, my sympathy and condolences to you. His place in Smile history is fortunately well documented and his name will forever be linked to a truly terrific period of music and unbridled creativity. And he was a close and trusted friend to Brian Wilson at a very important and special time, and I can only imagine some of the fun times they shared together.

RIP Michael.

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/michaelvosse2_zps21f430de.jpg)

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/smileairport1_zps342d6024.jpg)

love that guy...

(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5rqh4BF8D1qg49moo1_1280.jpg)

(http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5rqh4BF8D1qg49moo2_1280.jpg)

(https://scontent-b-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/1533870_551910768239376_1722914426_n.jpg)

RIP. He seemed like a really fun guy and his role in the Smile era will never be forgotten.

Dammit...my condolences to his friends and family :(

We're losing to many good people connected to The Beach Boys. It's starting to hit to close to home.

I love sandwiches.

sad news...the circle gets smaller.  be still and know you are.  rest in peace brother Michael.

So sorry to hear this news.  Condolences to Michael's family and friends. 
On a personal note:  I always enjoyed his roles in Brian's Smile-era spoofs.

What was he sick with, if anyone knows and it's not too rude to ask? Also, what did he do after Smile? I remember vaguely that he did some work in TV production but am not sure of what else he did.

he worked a&r for A&M and was closely involved with Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers

If this is inappropriate please feel free to either tell me and I'll delete it, or just delete it. But this being the internet, Michael was on Linkedin and posted his full resume. It's here: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-vosse/42/515/6a6 (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-vosse/42/515/6a6)

Again if it's inappropriate to post that, please let me know and I'll take it down ASAP. But it is a public profile, hopefully not crossing the line of privacy.

The short history:

He won two Emmy awards for his work on television, a career that was nearly three decades long. That was where he sort of started in the LA scene, working as a production assistant where one of his accomplishments was getting rock acts onto the show he was working for. After that he freelanced as any number of things which included writing pieces-for-hire in magazines, a gig which led him to interview Zappa in 1966 and which also led him to Brian Wilson, whome he met over milkshakes at a local restaurant (if I recall the story), where they hit it off talking music and the whole scene, and where he eventually got hired on as Brian's assistant for the Smile era.

He did in fact work for A&M, getting there in 1967, after Smile collapsed and Brian cut ties with most of the crew, coming after A&M hired a business he had started with photographer Guy Webster and others, to run the A&M graphics dept. Wanting to get into the production gig he produced an album for John Braden after A&M didn't know what to do with the folk singer and his different voice. Vosse called in favors from prominent musicians he knew or had access to through his friendships and music connections, which is how some prominent names came to work on the Braden album, alongside engineer/producer Henry Lewy who was brought in to keep an eye on things as Vosse had never produced a record before. It's a decent record but it sold terribly.

Vosse continued with A&M in various roles, which got him involved with the Burrito Bros. He was assigned to their tour, ostensibly as a "chaperone" of sorts, but that tour with all kinds of debauchery, drug abuse, sexual escapades, and all the trappings of young 60's rock and roll animals became legendary for costing A&M a ton of money, as they funded Gram and the boys basically going wild on the road. One such escapade unfortunately saw the genius pedal steel player "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow dosed with a strong psychedelic, and needed medical care because he thought he had gone insane...Pete did not partake in that strong of a drug, and was holding down his job in animation as the band worked its way up.

One of the unknown chapters in Michael Vosse's story is from the access he had to all of these legendary artists at just the right time. He was a behind-the-scenes guy, and in part through A&M was assigned to be at or report on a lot of legendary events. He was also given a film camera to capture some of these happenings, much like Brian gave him an expensive tape recorder to capture the whims of Brian's imagination for natural and found sounds. Some of this rare footage eventually turned up in a 1980's local documentary which aired once in San Francisco, was narrated by Michael, and unveiled some very rare and at that time unseen film he had shot of events like the Big Sur festival.

He worked for station KGO in San Francisco, the ABC TV affiliate.

Nearly 30 years in the TV news business, for one station...anyone who knows that business knows that is like an eternity and only the brighter talents and guys who knew their stuff would last that long in a big city market. The turnover rate is crazy high, and chalking up Emmys and other awards pretty much shows the man knew his trade, and did it very well in a cutthroat business.

We all know him from the Smile association, so in posting this and the link I hope folks who only know him as the guy in the floppy hat from the Smile shots can see what he was able to do with his career after his Smile association ended. In fact through syndication and repeats of news features around the country through the network, some of us may have seen his work or stories he produced for the news without even realizing it, that's quite a possibility.

Again, RIP Michael Vosse. Another one of the unsung, often unnamed figures from behind-the-scenes that we can raise a glass and drink a toast in his memory.

I just wrote that on the fly from previously reading about him, summarizing the credits from the resume, and the like, if there are mistakes or factual errors please correct.

Add to all that his involvement in Monterey Pop, and I also have read a story where he drove a friend to the festival that week in June 1967 in his Ford Mustang, the friend being a dancer, actress, and scenester named Georgiana Steele-Waller who wrote a book about her life in and after the 60's scene.

One of the better stories she told was that she had gone to a restaurant in a classic 60's natural-psychedelic setting called Nepenthe and had seen a six-toed cat there, of all things, which must have made an impression. Later on, Michael Vosse came to her house in LA and out of the blue gave her a kitten that also had six toes, which she of course named Nepenthe!  :)


EDIT: "Nepenthe" is still in business, should you ever make it to Big Sur. Here's their website too, just to connect the Vosse story even further...not sure if you'll find any six-toed cats wandering around though.  ;D  Link: http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/ (http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/)

R.I.P. Michael.

Such a household name in the BBs saga... indeed, inextricably linked to one of the most creative and 'alive' periods in all of pop music, with unbridled experimenting and sheer daring. Nothing seemed impossible way back then.

And thanks to those who posted the photos in this thread.

Many thanks for the info Guitarfool, illuminating and very much appreciated.

Rest in Posse, Michael.

(We also had a six-toed cat btw, called Dusty)

Don't want to sound stupid or offensive, but who exactly was Michael Vosse?

I've never heard of him until this thread

I think you can gather who he was by reading posts in this thread alone.


RIP Michael Vosse.
I can't imagine what it was like being part of Brian's inner circle at the time. He had some great stories...

Aaah... another of the company leaves us. God bless, Michael.

I believe that Ford Mustang was a perk from working for BRI. He was also involved with the Concert for Bangladesh and that design group associated with the Exile on Main Street album design [I think].

RIP, Michael.

Ahhhh man, a Smile legend has left us for the Great Gig in the Sky. My heart goes out

Michael is featured very heavily in any Beach Boys or Brian Wilson biography due to his presence in Brian's home and in the studio while Smile was being recorded. He was part of the inner circle, one who left after Brian accused Michael's girlfriend of being a witch who was reading his mind.

It was Jules Seigel's girlfriend who Brian was paranoid of, and he had Vosse blocking the door at one point to tell Siegel that he was no longer welcome because of his girl freaking Brian out. Siegel himself hinted at this in his own article "Goodbye Surfing Hello God". She and Siegel are both in the Oct. 66 airport photos, one of which is posted on page one in this thread. This board is also one of the few resources which actually named her and ID'ed here in the photo, check the archives.

Long story short: It had nothing at all to do with any girl Michael Vosse was with at the time. It was Jules Siegel. And some might say as much as there was paranoia, perhaps Siegel himself had overstayed his welcome and they just needed an excuse to keep him away. But that's up for speculation only, unfortunately both Siegel and now Vosse are now gone and we can't ask them, nor can they defend themselves. But the word on the street is that Siegel at that time could be overbearing, and you can hear traces of it on the "Smile Party" bootleg session.

Here are some additional photos, for those who may never have seen them:

First, this was shot by Guy Webster, who did a lot of the Smile era photography for Capitol and who in 1967 joined forces with Michael Vosse to form a graphics design company, which would later get them hired by A&M records to run their graphics department, and which got Vosse deeper into the behind-the-scenes areas in the music business, including producing the record I mentioned on page one. This is a much clearer color shot of him than I was able to post last night:

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/vosse1b_zpsa13c766a.jpg)

The photo was from a series of photos around the vegetables theme, and in the December 17 1966 issue of KRLA Beat, an article appeared that was supposedly written by Brian but more than likely was told by Brian and actually written by someone like Vosse or Derek Taylor, and it was a bizarre, loopy kind of fun psychedelic spin on a vegetables fable. Remember this was an exclusive from Brian Wilson - in December of 1966 at the absolute top of the record business with the number one song in the country - appearing in the KRLA Christmas issue...I can't imagine what fans thought when they read this! Anyway, Vosse, David Anderle, cousin Barry, and ol' Brian Gemini digging their vegetables, a clearer scan than appeared in LLVS:

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/vossevegetables_zps571cb835.jpg)

And finally, this one taken directly from LLVS' pages, an early 1967 shot from Columbia Studios with Michael Vosse and Dennis listening to some masterpiece over the playback monitors that we may or may not have heard, or may never hear, or which may be some version of Heroes or Surf's Up or Brian playing soda cans with heavy tape delay and reverb effects... ;D

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/vosse3_zpsc2a8963f.jpg)

So who is now left of the "Vosse posse?"  Besides Van Dyke. 

Mike's memories of the SMile era remain essential for anyone trying to understand Brian's mindset and the zeitgeist of the period.  The Fusion article is the most important artifact close to the SMile period and of course he has posted here as well.

Rest in peace, Mr Vosse. Gonna make me a sandwich now..

Rest in peace Michael Vosse.

Thanks Gutarfool for all the great biographical information. It was very enlightening to read (other than his being one of my favorite voices in the Smile-era skits, I hadn't know much about Mr. Vosse outside of his involvement with Brian) and as usual for you, very respectfully and interestingly presented.

David Anderle. Depending on how far out you want to go. Chrissie Jolly? Probably several people in the LAX photo maybe.

Mark Volman is definitely hale and hearty. As is the ex-Mrs. Van Dyke.

Oh, and Danny Hutton. I'm just counting people in the airport photo. Plus, all the Rovell sisters.

Thanks Guitarfool for all the information and pictures.

It's really sad to hear of michaels passing

I met Michael in the mid Seventies when I was in the record biz. He was a creative, funny, and whole concept kind of guy. Through the years I would meet him again a few times when I was in LA.  He was a primary source of some of the ideas about Smile that I have advanced. He was very protective of Brian and did not want to do anything that might make Brian's life more complicated than it already was.  To his credit, he always believed that Brian would have a creative rebirth. I will miss him. He was an advocate for the "little guys" in life, and believed in justice and despised what he called "trickle down hypocrites." He was a creative and versatile guy of the highest caliber.

Very sad to hear of Michael's passing...RIP.

RIP Mr Vosse

I will miss him. Not to say I knew him well, but I enjoyed his posts on Facebook. I loved the fact that he still wrote passionately about Brian and the Boys after all these years.

I don't want to make assumptions, but has there been any word from Brian's camp about Michael's passing? I'm only going on the official Facebook BW page, and nothing has appeared there as of noon today.

Sad news. RIP.

R.I.P Michael!

Michael was one of the best people I ever knew and will ever know. He loved me and my folks deeply and we loved him back so much. I'm jealous of the life he lived, and so grateful that I got to share in it. Like Peter said, he never stopped caring about Brian and always wanted and hoped for the best for him. He was and will always be my uncle Michael, and I miss him more than words can say.

A very creative guy. It's a shame that he wasn't able to stay "in the fold" with Brian in the aftermath of the Smile project. He was invariably supportive and protective of Brian's artistic endeavors and ambitions. He's going to a better place, and that batter place is itself better for havinh him. RIP, Mr. Vosse.

Tough to follow Craig's, Peters', and Mr. Anderle's nice posts, but here's my .01 ....

I met Michael Vosse and had a brief conversation with him in the lobby of Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco the night of November 4, 2004. This was a few minutes before the first Smile concert in the Bay Area. I was walking down the aisle looking for the entrance to our seats when I saw a small gathering of people huddled near a wall. I was wondering who the man was standing there with a circle of people surrounding him. I walked up and asked whoever it was (Les?) in the circle who the man was. "Michael Vosse". I thought, wow, I wonder if David Anderle is here too! I already knew Frank Holmes was going to be there. And I think I recognized his face from the Beautiful Dreamer video when he talked about the tent at Brian's house. Anyway, I knew Mr. Vosse worked as a Producer and Writer at KGO TV News in the Bay Area (a hop, skip, and a jump from Davies Hall) so I wasn't real surprised that he was there. I just thought it was real cool that he made it to this gig in support of Brian (along with Frank Holmes who also lived in the Bay Area at the time) and I told him so. There must have been a lot going on in his mind while he was watching the concert with family/friends. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy who obviously appreciated the attention he received that night.

Guitarfool, thanks for the pictures of "The Vosse Posse".  Good stuff.

The question was asked about who was still around from the Smile days: Watching the Grammys memorial segment reminded me that another name from that era had passed away in 2013, Paul Williams who founded Crawdaddy magazine, one of the best examples of the new rock journalism from that era, before rock journalism was really defined outside the fanzines.

Brian posted a tribute in March, saying he remembered Paul coming by the house where he'd play Smile acetates and works in progress and talk music with him. Of course Paul and Crawdaddy had some notable stories published about Brian and Smile in 1967 and 68 which we all reference.

Paul in '67 from his family's blog, looking like the "kid" Brian remembered when he'd visit the Wilson house at this exact time in history:

(http://www.boo-hooray.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/paul-williams1.jpg)



I have not checked, but has there been ANY word from the BW online camp mentioning Michael Vosse's passing? If not someone should as him during the Facebook chat later today.


I haven't checked

Maybe he doesn't remember Micheal well or remember him fondly. He was alienated from most of those people eventually. Paul Williams stayed in Brian's life more because he was a journalist and wrote a book about him. I don't think "Smile" is a part of his life Brian remembers that fondly because he wasn't well at that time or at least by the end of it. It's not Michael's fault, but from every book I've read, it's not that unusual for Brian to be very close to a person then have little or nothing to do with them ever again. He may also have memory problems or claim to not remember if he doesn't want to remember.

As to who's still around from the Vosse Posse, someone mentioned Mark Volman - he was in the LAX photo but I don't recall ever reading about him hanging with Brian at the house or in the studio with Michael, Van Dyke, Jules, and David (the Smile party tapes) during the Smile sessions.  What was his link with Brian that he was called to LAX for the "graduation" or "moving on" photo?

Volman definitely hung out at the house, he remembered Brian playing him acetates and rough mixes which they'd listen to through headphones at Brian's place. He's referenced it in at least two places. They lived very close to each other, but Volman at that time was also riding high with the Turtles' success, who were getting a lot of success and fame from Happy Together and the hits just before that. He most likely wasn't home in LA as much during the Smile era because it coincided with the Turtles' run of hits too, which called for appearances and travel and all of that PR.

But he was definitely in Brian's "inner circle" in the fall of 66 and beyond.

This wouldn't make sense considering Michael Vosse is featured prominently in photos that were included in the Smile Sessions box set, he's heard and featured on audio tapes and sessions from the Smile Sessions box, and he is also featured discussing Smile on camera in the Beautiful Dreamer documentary among others. And among those stories was Michael and Brian driving in a car when they first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever" on the radio, and how they both burst into laughter with Brian saying something like they did what he was trying to do with Smile.

If the claim is that Brian isn't aware of Michael Vosse especially in light of the Smile Sessions archival project where he's featured, I'd say hogwash.

If the claim is that Brian is ignoring the whole thing for other reasons, I hope that's not the case because it would be sad as hell if not pathetic.

 I don't get why it's so important for Brian to send out a statement expressing what he feels about one of his friends passing away. Perhaps it simply saddens him to a degree where he doesn't want to talk about it? If someone, ANYONE, doesn't want to share their feelings with the world, WTF is wrong with that, and why is it anyone's business but theirs? 

I'm just asking in light of similar expressions of sympathy that were posted just in the past year, including Paul Williams and just in the past weeks Phil Everly, and similar postings for other notable people who have passed who had nothing to do with the Beach Boys. Not judging necessarily, just thinking out loud that it's curious not to see something similar for Michael.

Seriously, isn't it the least bit curious that nothing has been said, even an RIP type of post? I don't expect anything from anyone, but what I will respond to is the idea that Brian wasn't aware of Michael or any similar sentiments.

Don't blame the messenger, I'm just asking.

Not blaming you

Phil Everly was a famous person. Paul Williams was known by many people due to Crawdaddy. Both men got obits in several newspapers and "Rolling Stone." Maybe Brian figures that people would only want to hear an RIP for assuredly famous people? Did Michael Vosse even get a public obit outside of this and perhaps other Beach Boys message boards? Even though Michael may have attended some Brian concerts here and there and met him backstage, there may not have been much of a relationship. Plus, Michael was not a creative person. He may have been around Brian and done some of the comedy material that wasn't intended for the actual Smile LP, but he didn't write "Smile" and he wasn't a fellow musician or fellow creative type. Michael Vosse wasn't a public figure, really. I also doubt Brian personally put together the Smile Sessions booklet in which Michael was featured.

Perhaps if Brian heard about Michael and he did have some acquaintance relationship with him still, he expressed his feelings in private by communicating with Michael's family. That's more important than a Facebook or Twitter posting, which may actually be generated by Brian's management, webmaster (is it still Michael D.?), or wife.

To post some of that in this thread, after reading the man's story and history and what he accomplished, and to say definitively "Michael was not a creative person" says enough. It's not my place to say but consider reading some of the basic history of the whole scene before making statements which are so far from the truth as to be almost ridiculous. I'm trying to be fair yet again but it's hard not to question the motivations for making these blanket statements.

Tell me that a man who spent nearly thirty years in television production, and who won two Emmy awards doing it, and who was hired by Brian Wilson in part in 1966 to head up the proposed Brother Records film division is NOT a creative person. That's just off the charts of sensibility to say someone wasn't creative whom you've never met and obviously don't know anything about, not only did he just pass away and he is being remembered, and praised here, but it has no basis in fact in light of what he accomplished.

Consider too that most everyone who in any way at any time has considered themselves a fan of Smile knows the name Vosse immediately, alongside the names Parks, Hutton, Anderle, Volman, Britz, Siegel, et al, and consider in these circles which have existed for decades his name is more than well-known and part of the story. And also in those circles, as others have posted here, he is well-remembered as both a friend to Brian and someone who for decades basically kept Brian's interests at heart and is someone we'd consider close to both the man and the project, even if the actual hands-on relationship lasted a brief time.

Opinions are fine, but again at least try to get enough of the background to make an informed opinion before stating it. That's all.  :)

Guitarfool, thanks for making me out to be a troll. What is your problem that you call people names who don't agree with you? People who don't hang on everything ever written about Smile? As it is, did Michael Vosse create Smile? No, he did not. I'm not sure of the reverence assigned to people who were basically hangers-on. Brian and Van Dyke Parks and even the vilified Beach Boys themselves, along with the Wrecking Crew, created the music. Not Michael Vosse. Not David Anderle. Not Danny Hutton or any or the other people who were hanging out at Brian's house or dong various tasks for him. Fanboys starting with Jules Siegel promoted a myth about those people being "muses," but fact of the matter is, I don't hear a damn thing they contributed to Smile. Whatever Michael did with his life after Smile may have been creative, but it wasn't anything to do with Smile or the creativity that Brian produced.

I'm still not sure why exactly you're castigating Brian Wilson for not RIP'ing him. It's not even Brian's gig to do that, as you damn well know other people post on his behalf, and Brian is disabled as it is (why do people keep acting like Brian is just like everybody else when you know he's not). As I said, the only indication the guy died is this message board; show me one obit written about him in a major publication online or off. No one even knows what he died of! Yet a few of you act like you were Michael Vosse's close personal friend. Give it a rest.  Brian didn't RIP Tandyn Almer, either, but no one made a fuss about that.

RIP Michael.

I apologize if the above post seemed a bit harsh, but I did a Google search and I can find nothing about Michael Vosse's passing other than this thread on this board. Do people have confirmation of his passing, and if so, why not post it in other places? For example, I also checked Brian Wilson's message board, and no one, so far as I can see, has started a thread there about Michael. Perhaps Brian isn't even aware of it, due to the news not being widely circulated. If Brian or his managers/wife don't see fit to mention it even if they are alerted to it, perhaps it would be fitting if a thread were started on Brian's message board for fans there who may not be aware of it and remember seeing Michael in the books and documentaries about Smile.

I tried to interview Volman a long time ago about his experiences, he said he was saving it for his book. Does he have a book yet?

Agreed

I think its stored in the Scranton landfill

Where did I call ANYONE  a name? Show me.

What I'm saying is this: Take the time to read and discover what actually happened. The stuff you posted above is along the lines of what some on the Smile Shop used to post to get a rise out of people, opinions based on nothing but faulty logic and false conclusions, not at all related to the truth.

The biggest misconception is that those around Brian, in the airport photo among others, during the Smile era were hangers-on, coattail riders, interlopers, no-talent opportunists, and other blatantly false and slanderous crap like that.

If you want to believe the Mike-and-Stamos version as shown in that libelous TV movie, which reduced Van Dyke Parks to a drugged out interloper and the music to banal lyrics about Geronimo leaping set to weird music, all set within a 60's drug orgy, I guess that's anyone's choice but it's simply not true.

Hangers on? Take a minute and look what those "hangers on" did with their lives and careers. Take another minute and see what these non-creative types accomplished in the field of CREATIVE ARTS.

Success, gold records, fame, respect, Emmys, Grammys, world-wide popularity...again, let the actual facts speak for themselves.

Believe me, I know the game being played here. And who is playing it despite the screen names and whatnot.

Just play it respectfully.

Accept, for one, that some of the messages posted here were in fact from people who knew Michael Vosse, who had contact with him, and others who didn't know him personally but have a lot of respect and want to honor what he has done and how he lived his life. That's simple respect.

If anyone wishes to diminish him or those others who were part of the story, that's pretty tasteless and low-class.

If that sounds harsh, it is. I can tolerate a lot, I can see message boards and fan sites for what they are, but some things like this go too far. You have in this thread a full list of someone's accomplishments in the creative arts field, and suggest they're not a creative type? That doesn't make sense, nor should it go by unnoticed.

Again, if I called anyone a name here, point it out because I can't see it. I call out someone not paying attention to what's directly in front of them, spelled out in plain English.

Take it anyway you want, just base it on fact.

That Scranton landfill is like Treasure Island.

There was an episode of "The Office" where Michael and Dwight go to the Scranton landfill to dig through trash and find a stack of business leads that got accidentally thrown away, then end up throwing trash at each other during a fight. It was all Hollywood green-screen backgrounding, not *the* actual Scranton landfill, but as I watched it I thought about the legend of all those Smile items supposedly buried there.  ;D

Somebody needs to do a documentary about searching landfills for SMiLE LP covers that were tossed. I guess we're probably a few decades late for that, but maybe not...

After all, there's a movie in the works about the search for the Atari E.T. videogames that were allegedly buried at a New Mexico landfill. Maybe the landfill movie craze is just starting.

http://kotaku.com/someones-going-to-dig-up-ataris-infamous-new-mexico-l-510830049

What was landfill then is probably a residential subdivision or business park now.

Well, that is kind of a name, isn't it? Oh, noes, not a total Brian Wilson/Smile fan, as defined by Dominic Priore. Must be a secret Mike Love fan who goes to all the Beach Boys shows and sings along to every verse of Kokomo.

I don't think the "Smile" creation was as portrayed in "American Family." But I don't think people like Michael Vosse and David Anderle were either the creative forces sometimes portrayed in Smile books. They were there as witnesses to a piece of Brian's history, they weren't making the history in terms of producing the final product. They were lucky to be there, and they were grateful to be there. They were doing what a lot of young people in show business do, which is making contacts and learning before they went on to do the real work of their lives (a form of networking and internship). I'm not sure they were even being paid by Brian, except for David Anderle for the Brother Records start-up. I find it weird that those guys were sometimes accused of "abandoning" Brian, because they all had to go on to find paying jobs that would fulfill their own potential, and they did.

BTW, did Van Dyke Parks make any note of Michael's recent passing? I didn't see it on Twitter. Maybe someone should ask Van Dyke his thoughts on Michael. Of course, I could find almost nothing at all on Twitter about Michael, either, except for one tweet from Sid Griffin, who said he was a close personal friend of Michael's in recent years.  I'm not sure how people can be expected to mention him and give him an RIP when they don't even know what happened.

The L.A. landfill that the Smile covers were buried in was covered by the Century Freeway. Same one that was built over the old Wilson house in Hawthorne. Brian had input to the location of the freeway, supposedly to wash away old memories.

I googled Michael Vosse and there's no obit anywhere that I can find.  Can somebody verify that he's indeed deceased?  It would be embarassing to find out that he's still alive.  I HOPE he's still alive.

WOW!!  You're saying that Brian personally picked the location so as to forever hide  all the Smile covers and booklets in the LA area?

Uh huh.

So Bgas, do you really think Michael Vosse passed away or not?

I found another reference to Michael from a blog written by a woman who was a personal friend of Michael and went into some detail. Sid Griffin, who used to be in the Long Ryders, also mentioned it on his Twitter, but again, he said he was a personal friend. Only people who were recently close to Michael seem to be aware of it.

Just verified that Michael Vosse is indeed no longer with us. He went into Kaiser Hospital In Oakland around the middle of January for an operation. He was resting comfortably afterwards and received visitors, then took a quick downturn for the worse and passed away. I just confirmed this via e-mail with a news anchor woman (Carolyn Tyler) from KGO News. He seemed to have a LOT of friends in the Bay Area. RIP.

Thanxx for clearing that up, Mikie. I'm certain Cam feels better knowing your source has backed him up. 
Can you have Carolyn confirm that Pete Seeger has passed also, so I'll know it's really true? 

Hardly surprising. At a charitable guess, of the 1137 posters registered on the Bloo, I'd say maybe 25 would have heard the name, much less have more than the vaguest notion as to who he was.

That could be applied to any number of names which could be called "household names" around here, yet outside of this segment of fans and followers the names aren't known. Pick any of the behind-the-scenes people from the history of the band who are discussed every day on this board among others, and I'd bet the same ratio would apply, from friends to musicians to collaborators who have been involved in the history. And I'd say that also is the difference between a lot of the folks here who seek out the information and look for more of the story versus those who just like the music and buy the music with nothing beyond that. There is room for both, yet there is a divide.

At the same time, considering all of the information that is out there beyond message boards and fan communities and forums, and instead coming from the dozens of official books and documentaries and all that, you'd have to *not* read or not have seen even the most basic histories to be unaware of some of these people.

And my 2 cents...assuming that is the case, and there are genuinely people who are fans but who might ask "Who was Michael Vosse?", this thread was important not only to let them know who he was and how he fit in, but also convey some sense of what he did in the history of the group.

And in a thread where people who have direct family ties to the names being discussed came on and posted their thoughts and condolences, I thought it was inappropriate if not distasteful to post things which are not only untrue and can be proven so if time is taken to dig deeper into the story, but which seek to diminish a person's or group of people's legacy and reputation rather than pay tribute to someone who had passed away.

I'm tired of losing people, period, it's hit me too often in recent years and it will only get more frequent with age It's a part of life, it won't change, it happens to all of us, but it also reminds us that when each of us are gone, all that's left is our legacy and reputation, and along with that the effect we each have on those around us who will be saying our name decades after we've passed. And it's not my place or any others to act as a defender for anyone, but at the same time let's not put forth an incorrect *perception* or *opinion* of who someone was in a place where that person is being remembered and celebrated for living an accomplished life, and for the effect they had on others, even if only for a short time, or for decades.

So there is my motivation: If there are that many people asking "Who is Michael Vosse?", let's try to respect him and his legacy enough by telling those who are asking an accurate version of the story.

That doesn't seem too much to ask, for Michael Vosse or anyone for that matter.