The Smiley Smile Message Board

Here is a list of SMiLE sessions, in order by date, that I have compiled using Darren Lawrence's SMILE JUST THE FACTS, Lou Shenk's SMILE PRIMER, and my own judgement.  What would you add to the list, and why?  What would remove from the list, and why?  What would you leave on the list but change, and why?

11-May-1966 – 14 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
24-May-1966 – 9 Musicians – Sunset Sound – Good Vibrations.
25-May-1966 – 3 Musicians – Sunset Sound – Good Vibrations.
27-May-1966 – 13 Musicians – Western Recorders – Good Vibrations.
02-Jun-1966 – Western Recorders – Good Vibrations
12-Jun-1966 – Western Recorders – Good Vibrations
13-Jun-1966 – Western Recorders – Good Vibrations
16-Jun-1966 – 8 Musicians – Western Recorders – Good Vibrations.
18-Jun-1966 – 9 Musicians + Carl – Western Recorders – Good Vibrations.
03-Aug-1966 – 13 Musicians + Carl – Goldstar Recorders – Wind Chimes.
12-Aug-1966 – 11 Musicians – Western Recorders – I Ran (AKA Look)
24-Aug-1966 – Sunset Sound – Good Vibrations
25-Aug-1966 – 5 Musicians + Brian & Dennis – Western Recorders – Wind Chimes.
01-Sep-1966 – 5 Musicians + Carl, Dennis, Brian – Western Recorders – Good Vibrations.
08-Sep-1966 – 9 Musicians + Van, Brian, Carl & Dennis – Western Recorders – Holidays.
12-Sep-1966 – Western Recorders – Good Vibrations
19-Sep-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – Prayer.
20-Sep-1966 – Dennis – Columbia Recorders – unknown.
21-Sep-1966 – 1 Musician – Columbia Recorders – Good Vibrations.
22-Sep-1966 – Columbia Recorders – unknown.
23-Sep-1966 – Columbia Recorders – unknown.
03-Oct-1966 – 13 Musicians + Van & Carl – Goldstar Recorders – Cabin Essense.
04-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Prayer.
05-Oct-1966 – 3 Musicians + Van, Brian & Carl – Western Recorders – Wind Chimes.
06-Oct-1966 – Brian Only – Goldstar Studios – Wonderful.
07-Oct-1966 – 7 Musicians + Carl & Brian – Western Recorders – Child Is Father Of The Man.
10-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Wind Chimes.
11-Oct-1966 – 6 Musicians + Carl & Brian – Western Recorders – Cabin Essense.
12-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Child Is Father Of The Man.
13-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – I Ran.
17-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – GoldStar Recorders – I´m In Great Shape.
18-Oct-1966 – 7 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders – Do You Like Worms.
20-Oct-1966 – 8 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains, Barnyard.
21-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Do You Like Worms
27-Oct-1966 – 4 Musicians + Van & Brian – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains, I´m In Great Shape.
04-Nov-1966 – 6 Musicians – Western Recorders – Surf´s Up.
07-Nov-1966 – 5 Musicians – Western Recorders – Surf´s Up.
08-Nov-1966 – 2 Musicians – Western Recorders – Surf´s Up.
11-Nov-1966 – Vegetable Chants.
14-Nov-1966 – 15 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – The Old Master Painter.
16-Nov-1966 – Vegetable Arguments.
28-Nov-1966 – 16 Musicians – GoldStar Recorders – Mr´s O´Leary´s Cow.
29-Nov-1966 – 6 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – I Wanna Be Around / Friday Night.
30-Nov-1966 – Beach Boys – GoldStar Recorders – The Old Master Painter.
02-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Child Is Father Of The Man.
05-Dec-1966 – Western Recorders – Fire.
06-Dec-1966 – "Brian + 5" – Goldstar Recorders – Cabin Essense & Child is the father?
13-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains, You´re Welcome.
15-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – Surf´s Up, Wonderful.
16-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – You´re Welcome.
19-Dec-1966 – 17 Musicians – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
21-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – Do You Like Worms.
22-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
27-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains, Cabin Essence.
28-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
03-Jan-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
05-Jan-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Do You Like Worms
05-Jan-1967 – 4 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains, Do You Like Worms.
06-Jan-1967 – 4 Musicians – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
09-Jan-1967 – 4 Musicians – Western Recorders – Wonderful.
12-Jan-1967 – 7 Musicians – Western Recorders – I Don´t Know.
20-Jan-1967 – 4 Musicians + Brian – Columbia "Not but used." – Heroes & Villains.
23-Jan-1967 – 8 Musicians + Carl – Western Recorders – Surf´s Up.
27-Jan-1967 – Cantina Tracking – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
31-Jan-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
03-Feb-1967 – 1 Musician – Columbia Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
07-Feb-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
08-Feb-1967 – Tracking – Columbia Recorders – Surf´s Up.
09-Feb-1967 – Mike and Brian – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
10-Feb-1967 – Brian Only – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
14-Feb-1967 – 2 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – Little Red Book.
15-Feb-1967 – 19 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
18-Feb-1967 – Brian – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
20-Feb-1967 – Western Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
21-Feb-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
24-Feb-1967 – Brian Only – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
26-Feb-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
27-Feb-1967 – Tracking for Part 2 – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
28-Feb-1967 – Fade to Heroes & Villains – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
01-Mar-1967 – 8 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
02-Mar-1967 – 4 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – Heroes & Villains.
03-Mar-1967 – 10 Musicians – Sound Recorders – Tones.
13-Mar-1967 – Beach Boys – Sound Recorders – Tones.
15-Mar-1967 – 3 Musicians – Western Recorders – Tones.
31-Mar-1967 – Tracking – Sound Recorders – Tones.
04-Apr-1967 – Beach Boys – Sound Recorders – Vegetables.
05-Apr-1967 – Tracking, Beach Boys – Western Recorders – Vegetables.
06-Apr-1967 – Tracking – Western Recorders – Vegetables.
07-Apr-1967 – Tracking, Beach Boys – Columbia – Vegetables.
10-Apr-1967 – Beach Boys – Western Recorders – Vegetables.
11-Apr-1967 – 5 Musicians + Beach Boys – Western Recorders – Vegetables, Tones.
12-Apr-1967 – Beach Boys + 11 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders. – Vegetables "Fade to Vegetables".
13-Apr-1967 – Brian only – Western Recorders – Vegetables.
14-Apr-1967 – Brian only – Western Recorders – Vegetables.
16-May-1967 – 6 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – I Love to Say Da Da.
17-May-1967 – 10 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – I Love to Say Da Da.
18-May-1967 – 9 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – I Love to Say Da Da.

"Tones" was a Carl thing, not intended for Smile, so I'd lose that.

What does "Not but used" mean?

I wouldn't count Good Vibrations. It was made before the majority of work with SMiLE was started on. Good Vibrations seemed to be the inspiration for the following recording sessions to the SMiLE tunes.

From what I understand, this was a H&V recording that Brian decided to not use.  So I guess that should read "Not used."

I guess that's why most people use the August 3 date as the SMiLE starting date.  Though that means the first H&V date is left out.  Hmm.

NICE LIST. Thanks.

What is "Little Red Book?"

Yeah, he's right.

Little Red Book was done as just Brian at the piano singing in a mock-emotional voice. It wouldn't be anything except what it ism, sitting on tape.

http://www.smileysmile.net/littleredbook.html#topredbook

I think he meant it as a way to point out the fact that it isn't SMiLE related in anyway. While small covers were done for the album (Gee, Friday Night, I Wanna Be Around) Obviously Little Red Book was a messing around thing late one night.

I would also exclude 'You're Welcome' as that was apparantly never meant for SMiLE and Dennis's 'I Don't Know'.

 :)

I'd keep it all.  Tones in particular - it was recorded under the same project number as Smile.  Doesn't mean it was meant for Smile, but it might have been.  At that time Brian was struggling with what to include and not include for Smile, what to finish and what to junk, there was controversy over the Van Dyke Parks material, particularly with Cabinessence and Surf's Up, and Brian may very well have put Tones on the LP if it had come out.  Well, and if Carl had finished it.

Dennis' I Don't Know - this is more problematic, I can't see Brian putting a Dennis track on the LP at this point, but who knows.  I don't.

The Sept. Dennis Columbia Recorders session must be a vocal overdub on something.

don't forget "Cabin Essence" & possibly the Water-chant.

Thanks, though I should point out Darren and Lou did all the hard work.  I just made a few adjustements.

Sorry, i haven't posted on here in a while.
just a few things i noticed about this list, i've been keeping my own updated session list over the past several years.

this session is a mistake:
21-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders – Do You Like Worms
i think it was Andrew Doe who realized recently that he had made the mistake. he had meant:
"21-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – Do You Like Worms" but had at some point put down 10-21 instead of 12-21 and it has just kept going. no sessions were held 10-21 that was the day before the Michigan Concert from which the Beach Boys left immediately afterwards for Europe for a month.

11-Oct-1966 – 6 Musicians + Carl & Brian – Western Recorders – Cabin Essense
this is mislabeled, on the session log, as "Cabin Essence" but is really the second "Child is Father of the Man" session. Not only does the instrumentation match up but also the musicians are exactly the same for both sessions except for Hal Blaine and Frank Capp on percussion at the first session (chorus and original verse) replaced by Oliver Mitchell on trumpet at the second session (chorus overdub, replacement verse, and bridge). Later that evening (the 11th) there was a Beach Boys vocal session at Columbia (which this list is missing) for "Home on the Range," the title that CE was tracked under on Oct 3rd.
What appears to have happened is on the 11th ,Child was tracked during the day then that evening was the Home on the Range vocal session. when the session logs were being filled out by whomever, Brian mentions to them that the title has been changed to Cabin Essence but it is Child that is incorrectly renamed.

i also notice that A LOT of the studio info is incorrect. Most of the vocal sessions took place at Columbia and not Gold Star but i'll have to dig my session list out when i can get to it to be able to be exact.

If you cut Good Vibes you should cut DaDa. at least Vibes was on the track list; DaDa was recorded after SMiLE was "scraped".

I know this is off topic but has anyone ever wondered about the Dec 27 and 28 1966 sessions at Columbia. 5 hrs each on two consecutive days between Christmas and New Years, Brian by himself in the studio for 10hrs working on several SMiLE songs (Heroes, Who Ran The Iron Horse, and Wonderful) and adding some vocals. does this sound like a mixing session for an album "to be released sometime after January 1st" to anyone else? just curious.

-Been Waaay Too Long

Brian by himself?

Chuck Britz or another engineer wouldn't have been present?

When I get a chance, I'll start comparing the list to the BWPS section of the site to see what needs to be corrected.


Maybe the stuff before August 3 is "post Pet Sounds, pre Smile," and the stuff after April 14 is "post Smile, pre Smiley Smile."  Or maybe the May sessions should count, as it was Derek Taylor who announced Smile was scrapped, not Brian.  As I understand, it's accepted that Smiley Smile started in June 67 because that's when Brian told the band he wasn't going to use any Smile recordings on the next album.

sorry, yes, got to have an engineer. but just the Engineer, the Producer and a bunch of tapes. no other musicians contracted for 10 hrs of sessions.

-Been Too Long

Has this other person/engineer ever given an interview. Can we find out what Brian was doing?

I think I may be the source of the Oct/Dec Worms confusion.  It was in my Smile primer and apparently copied by Badman, but Andrew Doe checked and indeed it was December, not October.  I must have made a typo or misread my own handwriting when typing the thing.  I have since corrected and updated the Smile primer (it's on the smileshop site, but the update has not yet been posted) - anyone who wants one, pm me.

The intensive late December activity suggests to me that Brian was trying to finish the album for a January release, but I doubt it was final mixes.  More likely vocals, and perhaps missing lead vocals to Cabinessence, Worms, and maybe even Child.  Lost in Columbia Recorders somewhere with the Good Vibrations vocal multitracks.

Yeah, i remember a few years ago that the idea on these sessions was that Brian had given up on the band and decided to record the whole album over again with just his voice and so tried it on these two days. i never bought into that as less then a week later Brian was running intense vocal sessions with the rest of the Beach Boys for several songs on January 3rd and 5th.

The thing is most of the SMiLE songs had had plenty of opportunity to have a lead vocal recorded. if i'm remembering right: Child had THREE logged vocal sessions, Cabin had two, Worms had two, Wonderful had two, Heroes had one and an insert session; Painter, Surf's Up, Great Shape, and Chimes each had at least one vocal session. i would have to believe that somewhere along the line in all these sessions some leads would have been cut. SMiLE was at one point suppose to come out before Christmas so i would think some work on all these leads would have been done in preparation of that.

Anyways the reason i was wondering about this being a mix session is because of the story someone (maybe Jim Lockhart?) related about the SMiLEY mix session that took place in one night. i don't have it available right now but these sessions seem to be very similar to that one. Brian probably was overdubbing a few final vocal bits onto some of the tapes but it seems a little extreme for him to be tracking 10 hrs. worth of lead vocals. don't get me wrong here, i'm not saying he ended up with "SMiLE the album" all mixed down and ready for pressing on the 28th, though that may have been the intent. it just seems like at this point that all the tracks should have been complete to the point that they were just awaiting the few inserts and overdubs recorded on jan. 3rd and 5th, then Brian went on his two month long Heroes exploration.

i think you're exactly right; Good Vibrations’ vocals are probably in the same place as Great Shape, Child, Heroes '66, Cabin, Worms, Surf's Up, etc.

-Been Too Long

Don't forget: A lot of SMILE Vocal sessions aren't documented. When the BB were doing a session, not every little piece had to be noted on the session sheet. They maybe did a 3 hour session documented as "Wonderful", but also recorded vocals for other songs.
Who knows, maybe it's true what Brian told all these years: He completed and mixed the songs, gave them to Capitol, they didn't like it, Brian destroyed 'the Master Tapes' and started re-recording the songs.

Looking at the list, if you're going on the completist route with Tones, I Don't Know, and Little Red Book, you should include the Jasper Daily sessions: "Teeter Totter Love" and "Crack that Whip."

By the way, didn't someone once post that Little Red Book was just recorded as a gift for Marilyn, that might take it out of contention for the Heroes B Side.

Posted by: Jasper
Who knows, maybe it's true what Brian told all these years: He completed and mixed the songs, gave them to Capitol, they didn't like it, Brian destroyed 'the Master Tapes' and started re-recording the songs.

wow, i don't know that i remember ever hearing that exact statement in relation to SMiLE. Maybe that's the source of the late April announcement that "All 12 tracks are complete" followed about a week later by the "SMiLE is scraped" statement.

Posted by: Jasper
Don't forget: A lot of SMILE Vocal sessions aren't documented. When the BB were doing a session, not every little piece had to be noted on the session sheet. They maybe did a 3 hour session documented as "Wonderful", but also recorded vocals for other songs.

Yes this also explains the existence of stuff like the early Vega-Tables and water chant without documented sessions and also the explanation for sessions like the January 3rd session logged as a Heroes session but including inserts for Vega- Tables and maybe The Elements too. This also seems to be the case for tracking sessions like the January 5th session logged as Heroes but including part of Worms and, i seemed to remember hearing that the piano tag to Wind Chimes was recorded at a Surf's Up session.

Either way the point is still that there where plenty of vocal sessions to knock out the lead vocals without the need for some marathon sessions to record all the leads at the last minute in 2 days. we also have recorded evidence of other Beach Boys singing leads on Wonderful, Heroes and maybe Cabin from around that time so it almost seems that if the 27th and 28th were intended for the overdubbing of leads for those logged songs, more of the Beach Boys than just Brian would be included and listed on those sessions.

---Been Too Long

Those definitely weren't being recorded for SMiLE however.   They were a side project for Jasper Daily.  The other songs are not outside the realm of being SMiLE songs, in my mind.

Do you have the corrected studio information at this point?  I'm trying to update the Library, and getting the list of session dates is the first step.

RE: Interviewing an engineer who was with Brian during those long sessions, that Engineer was likely a guy named Ralph Balantin, who I've tried to find info on for years, but appears to never have existed on this earth.

The 12/5/66 "Fire" session is a total myth, never happened... and I can say that with complete confidence as I'm the guy who inadvertantly started that myth by misreading a session sheet. Mea culpa.

And... I don't buy the Capitol rejection theory: there's no evidence that the track sessions were finished (for one thing, "The Elements" in April consisted of "Fire"... and not a lot else). But that's just my view.

have to say, i've never heard or read of Brian saying he finished up the album and it was rejected: he's long said he destroyed the tapes (although of late he's recanted on that), but  diddly about the album being finished. can you cite an article or interview ?

The slightly more updated list is here:

http://www.smileysmile.net/library/index.php/Recordings

It takes into account the corrections previously noted in this thread.  Of course, it bears scrutiny and further corrections.

Chuck, you got a wiki for it!!! AWESOME!!! :D

Yes, thanks to the guidance of our friends at the Beach Boys Recording Guide, I was able to launch an appropriate home for the SMiLE info I've collected through the years.  And it has stuff to read beyond just SMiLE.

this thread rules, thanx guys

Agreed – and I'd hate to see it disappear just yet!

I anyone able to relate the sessions listed in this thread to the relevant boots, and the tracks thereon? That would give me an idea of what I've got left to collect!

sorry i didn’t get back to this last year. it slipped down the board and off my mind. this is just October through December 1966 for now. i edited the list from the first page of this topic for ease. i don’t have a November 8th session for “Surf’s Up” (what was recorded?), and don’t have records for the November 11th or 16th VegaTable stuff but they sound like likely dates. i deleted the three obviously incorrect dates and put the original, official, session names, as i have them, in “quotes” and added additional session information and speculation afterward. didn’t bother to change the musician information because it is inconsistent in this list (sometimes it only counts the players and other times it counts everyone including the engineer, etc.). i put all of my changes in Bold. i can do the rest if you want.

-Been Too Long


03-Oct-1966 – 13 Musicians + Van & Carl – Goldstar Recorders – “Home on the Range”.
04-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Prayer”.
05-Oct-1966 – 3 Musicians + Van, Brian & Carl – Western Recorders – “Windchimes (insert)”.
06-Oct-1966 – Brian Only – Columbia Studios – “Wonderful”.
07-Oct-1966 – 7 Musicians + Carl & Brian – Western Recorders – “Child is Father of the Man”.
10-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Wind Chimes”.
11-Oct-1966 – 6 Musicians + Carl & Brian – Western Recorders – “Cabin Essense”. (mislabeled Child session)
11-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Home on the Range”.
12-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Child is Father of the Man”.
13-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “I Ran- previously Untitled Song #1”.
17-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “I´m In Great Shape”.
18-Oct-1966 – 7 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders – “Do You Like Worms?”.
18-Oct-1966 – Brian Only – Columbia Studios – “Do You Like Worms”.
20-Oct-1966 – 8 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders – “Heroes & Villains”. (probably Barnyard too)
-deleted the Worms session from the 21st-
27-Oct-1966 – 4 Musicians + Van & Brian – Western Recorders – “Heroes & Villians”. (probably I´m In Great Shape verse track too)
04-Nov-1966 – 6 Musicians – Western Recorders – “Surf´s Up (1st movement)”.
07-Nov-1966 – 5 Musicians – Western Recorders – “Surf´s Up”. (George Fell… also)
08-Nov-1966 – 2 Musicians – Western Recorders – Surf´s Up. –? i don’t have this session-
11-Nov-1966 – Vegetable Chants.
14-Nov-1966 – 15 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – “My Only Sunshine”.
16-Nov-1966 – Vegetable Arguments.
28-Nov-1966 – 16 Musicians – GoldStar Recorders – “The Elements- Part One (FIRE)”.
29-Nov-1966 – 6 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – “Friday Night(I’m in great shape)”. (piece know as Jazz recorded too)
30-Nov-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “My Only Sunshine”.
02-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Child is Father of the Man”.
-deleted the Fire session from the 5th-
06-Dec-1966 – "Brian + 5" – Columbia Recorders – “Cabin Essense, Child is Father of the Man”.
13-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Heroes & Villians”. (also You´re Welcome recorded this day).
15-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Surf´s Up”. (also Wonderful recorded at this session).
-deleted the You´re Welcome session from the 16th-
19-Dec-1966 – 17 Musicians – Western Recorders – “Heroes & Villians”.
21-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Do You Like Worms”.
22-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Heroes & Villains (insert)”.
27-Dec-1966 – Brian Only – Columbia Recorders – “Heroes & Villains, Who Ran The Iron Horse”. (Wonderful also worked on)
28-Dec-1966 – Brian Only – Columbia Recorders – “Heroes & Villains (insert)”.

Yes, please.  I will probably have many questions for you (for instance, was there a session on Dec. 11 1966, and if so, what?), but your help and research are needed and appreciated.

AGD and Badman list this as Gold Star-- so, question number two, where does the Columbia info come from?

I'm very likely wrong on that. As for the 11/8/66 session, that was for "Surf's Up (1st movement) at Western, 6 musicians including Frankie Capp & Nick Pelico.

As for 12/11, AGD has that as a Cabinessence group vocal session.

Yes, but I can't think of any other source of session dates saying something was recorded on Dec. 11, so I'm wondering if that was a recording date or not.

10-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Wind Chimes”. 
10 - Smile session: Wind Chimes/Child Is Father To The Man [vocals - Columbia]

Just Wind Chimes, or Wind Chimes and Child?

11-Oct-1966 – 6 Musicians + Carl & Brian – Western Recorders – “Cabin Essense”. (mislabeled Child session)
11-Oct-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Home on the Range”.

Did they record in both studios on the 11th?

07-Nov-1966 – 5 Musicians – Western Recorders – “Surf´s Up”. (George Fell… also)

The Teenset Article on Smile states "It is another night at Gold Star. A group of older musicians whom Brian has never met are there to perform on French horns. Five minutes after producer meets players, the men are creating laughing effects and having a conversation with their horns. "It was just an idea and I'm glad to see it works." "How does he do it?" somebody in the hallway asks."   Was the article incorrect?

15-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Columbia Recorders – “Surf´s Up”. (also Wonderful recorded at this session).
15 - Smile session: Surf's Up/Cabin Essence/Wonderful [vocals - Columbia]

Was Cabin Essence worked on as well?  Also, AGD's site says "it has  been claimed that a confrontation between Mike and Brian over the lyrics to "Surf's Up"  was captured on camera."  Badman's book says they filmed the session for "Wonderful" and it went badly.  Did one or the other or neither happen?

Oppenheim's reel notes make it clear that:

both "Cabin Essence" & "Wonderful" were worked on vocally, and...

there was no confrontation captured on camera, as claimed by Priore in his Smile book. For one thing the band had gone home before Brian recorded "Surf's Up". To be fair, the notes were discovered after the book was published.

Probably not - I'm thinking another cut & paste error. Thanks to everyone for pointing these things out.

I wonder why Jules Siegel said they witnessed a vocal session that went badly?  I've assumed, since the band wasn't there for Surf's Up, it was a Wonderful session.

"Earlier in the evening the film crew had covered a Beach Boys vocal session which had gone very badly.  Now at midnight, the Beach Boys had gone home and Brian was sitting in the back of his car, smoking moodily."

Thanks for being patient with laypeople like myself. 

this sounds exactly like the November 4, 1966 Surf’s Up tracking session.

Surf's Up (1st movement)
at Western Recorders
the musicians included:
Frank Capp
Nick Pellico

as well as:
Carol Kaye
Alvin Casey
James Bond
Alfred de Lory

this was the tracking for the first part of Surf’s Up, the “jewelry” session and was overdubbed on the 7th with trumpet and horns as heard in the final mix.

the only other time i’ve seen a Surf’s Up date listed for the 8th was an error caused by putting the Tape Master Numbers in order. someone decided that because the tracking session had a higher Master number that it was recorded after the overdub session. i’ve never seen a session with “2 Musicians” on that date so i was wondering if something new had been found.


i’ve never seen a session for December 11th. i think they were on tour again around this time anyways but i’d have to look it up.


Prayer was at Columbia. i can’t think off hand of a vocal session during SMiLE that was anywhere else but Columbia, though there probably was one. that’s how Brian seems to have been working at the time: vocals and mixing at Columbia; big, string heavy sessions (like Fire or Painter) at Goldstar; and everything else at Western.


October 10 is just Windchimes, though it’s not impossible that they attempted some type of Child vocals, i just don’t know of it. it appears that the second Child tracking session hadn’t taken place by this point so the track would have included only the non overdubbed chorus (without the trumpet cries and some of the bass parts) and that really short, fast verse that was replaced by the current one.


yes, two sessions on the 11th. the “Cabin Essence” (Child) tracking session in the afternoon and, later, the “Home on the Range” vocal session starting in the late evening and continuing into the early morning hours.


Surf’s Up overdub session took place at Western with 1 Trumpet and 4 Horns. this also seems to match the instrumentation for “George Fell…” so it has been assumed that this is where it took place. there “could” have been a separate Goldstar session for this at some other time for which we just don’t have information or maybe Brian just bought the time and didn’t bill Capital, who knows? that’s why i separated the “Session Data” from the (Speculation).


i’ve always had information on recording of Surf’s Up and Wonderful at this session. if i remember correctly from the Oppenheim film notes they mention 1) the dong, dong backing vox from Cabin Essence, 2) the yodeling from Wonderful and 3) some mention of lyrics from Surf’s Up. assuming that this footage is all from the same session date (they did film other days), it seems clear that they have all three songs and that it’s a good guess that all three were worked on at the same December 15th session. adding Cabin Essence to this session speculation is a good idea, i just forgot about it.

i agree with the skepticism of a fight taking place at this session. a session “going very badly” could simply mean a lot of equipment breakdown though; i can’t see how having a full film crew in the confined spaces of a recording booth would ever make the session “go really well.” from later reports (i think someone asked Siegel?) the problem with the session was that the film crew couldn’t use anything of what they filmed because it was all just vocal snippets. if it was anything like the more than 60 takes of that Heroes section (think it’s of Soul Made Beautiful) i could understand the problem. what was used in the final film probably explains the reasoning for Brian’s solo Surf’s Up performance that night better than some speculated infighting and thoughts of a solo career, he’s just trying to help the film get the footage they were trying to get.

-Been Too Long

The source of the 11/8/66 info is a Capitol Popular Session sheet. Until about half an hour ago, I would have said it's definitely not a mis-dating of an earlier session for the following reasons:

the master number is #58650 (the previous 11/7 session was #58641)...

the session number is #14184 (11/7 was #14183).

BUT... the 11/4 session is also #14184, and on the Capitol sheet, the master number was originally typed as #56842 (the 11/4 number), then crossed out and handwritten as #56850, which would be pretty much right for an 11/8 session. Have to say, the timing notations match too - the AFM sheets says "2pm-6pm, some men to 5.30" while the Cap Sheet says says the sessions was from 2-5, overtime from 5-6 with the additional notation that one sideman stayed to 6, the rest to 5.30. Anyone got any bright ideas ? Best I can come up with is that someone mis-numbered the 11/4 session and fixed it later. Thing is, why would anyone bother, or even notice back then ?  OK, hands up - looks like there was no 11/8 "Surf's Up" session.

I love this kind of stuff, even when it proves me wrong. Accurate history is much more important than personal pride.

For the interested (yeah, both of you), I compiled the Smile session dates from the following sources:

Badman
The SmileShop primer & sessionography
Our Favorite Recording Sessions
Dumb Angel Gazette #2

If only they'd recorded at Abbey Road...  :'(

Again, thanks to all for the digging, musing and gentle nudging. Seems it wasn't just live shows that Badman was prone to confuse.

Here's the current state of the sessions list:

Pre SMiLE Era Sessions

April 9, 1966    Gold Star    Good Vibrations
May 4, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations
May 11, 1966    Gold Star    Heroes And Villains
May 24, 1966    Sunset Sound    Good Vibrations
May 25, 1966    Sunset Sound    Good Vibrations
May 27, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations
June 2, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations
June 12, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations
June 13, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations
June 16, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations
June 18, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations

SMiLE Era Sessions

When    Where    What
August 3, 1966    Gold Star    Wind Chimes
August 12, 1966    Western    Untitled Song #1 [tape box says "Look"]
August 24, 1966    Sunset Sound    Good Vibrations
August 25, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations, Wonderful
September 1, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations, He Gives Speeches
September 8, 1966    Western    Holidays
September 12, 1966    Western    Good Vibrations
September 21, 1966    Columbia    Good Vibrations
October 3, 1966    Gold Star    Home On The Range
October 4, 1966    Columbia    Prayer
October 5, 1966    Western    Wind Chimes (insert)
October 6, 1966    Columbia    Wonderful
October 7, 1966    Western    Child Is Father Of The Man
October 10, 1966    Columbia    Wind Chimes
October 11, 1966    Western    Cabin Essense
October 11, 1966    Columbia    Home On The Range
October 12, 1966    Columbia    Child Is Father Of The Man
October 13, 1966    Columbia    I Ran (previously Untitled Song #1)
October 17, 1966    Columbia    I'm In Great Shape, Heroes And Villains
October 18, 1966    Western    Do You Like Worms?
October 18, 1966    Columbia    SMiLE Party
October 20, 1966    Western    Heroes And Villains, Barnyard
October 27, 1966    Western    Heroes And Villains, I'm In Great Shape
November 4, 1966    Western    Surf's Up (1st Movement), Barnyard, Psychedelic Sounds
November 7, 1966    Western    Surf's Up (1st Movement), George Fell Into His French Horn
November 11, 1966    Western    Vegetables
November 14, 1966    Gold Star    My Only Sunshine
November 16, 1966    Western    Vegetable Arguments
November 28, 1966    Gold Star    The Elements (FIRE)
November 29, 1966    Gold Star    I Wanna Be Around, Friday Night, Jazz, I'm In Great Shape
November 30, 1966    Columbia    My Only Sunshine
December 2, 1966    Columbia    Child Is Father Of The Man
December 6, 1966    Columbia    Child Is Father Of The Man, Cabin Essence
December 13, 1966    Columbia    Heroes And Villains, You're Welcome
December 15, 1966    Columbia    Cabin Essence, Wonderful, Surf's Up
December 19, 1966    Western    Heroes And Villains
December 21, 1966    Columbia    Do You Like Worms
December 22, 1966    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
December 27, 1966    Columbia    Heroes And Villains, Who Ran The Iron Horse, Wonderful
December 28, 1966    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
January 3, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
January 5, 1967    Western    Heroes And Villains Part 2, Bicycle Rider
January 9, 1967    Western    Wonderful
January 12, 1967    Western    I Don´t Know
January 20, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
January 23, 1967    Western    Surf's Up
January 27, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
January 31, 1967    Western    Heroes And Villains
February 3, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
February 7, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
February 10, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
February 14, 1967    Gold Star    Little Red Book
February 15, 1967    Western    Heroes And Villains
February 21, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
February 24, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
February 26, 1967    Columbia    Heroes And Villains
February 27, 1967    Western    Heroes And Villains Part 2
February 28, 1967    Western    Heroes And Villains Part 2
March 1, 1967    Western    Heroes And Villains Part 2
March 2, 1967    Western    Heroes And Villains Part 2
March 3, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Tones
March 13, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Tones
March 15, 1967    Western    Tones
March 31, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Tune X (Tones)
April 4, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Vegetables
April 5, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Vegetables
April 6, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Vegetables
April 7, 1967    Columbia    Vegetables
April 10, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Vegetables
April 11, 1967    Western    Tones (Part #3), Vegetables
April 12, 1967    Gold Star, Western    Vegetables
April 13, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Vegetables
April 14, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Vegetables
May 16, 1967    Gold Star    I Love To Say Da Da
May 17, 1967    Gold Star    I Love To Say Da Da
May 18, 1967    Gold Star    I Love To Say Da Da

Smiley Smile Sessions

June 3, 1967    Hollywood Sound    Vegetables
June 5, 1967    Western    Vegetables
June 6, 1967    Western    Vegetables
June 7, 1967    Western    Vegetables
June 11, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Good News
June 12, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Heroes And Villains
June 13, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Heroes And Villains
June 14, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Heroes And Villains
June 15, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Vegetables
June 19, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Hawaiian Song
June 20, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Hawaiian Song
June 21, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Hawaiian Song
June 25, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Good Time Mama
June 26, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Good Time Mama
June 28, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Little Pad
June 29, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Fall Breaks And Back Into Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony)
June 30, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    With Me Tonight
July 5, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    She's Goin' Bald
July 6, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Untitled #2
July 10, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Wind Chimes
July 11, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Wind Chimes
July 12, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Wonderful
July 13, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Whistle In
July 14, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Gettin' Hungry

Later SMiLE related sessions

October 26, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Cool Cool Water
October 29, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Cool Cool Water
Sometime between November 8 and 15, 1967    Brian's Home Studio    Mama Says
February 29, 1968    Brian's Home Studio    Little Bird
March 7, 1968    Western    Little Bird
March 15, 1968    Capitol Studio    Little Bird
November 17, 1968    Capitol Studio    Our Prayer
November 20, 1968    Capitol Studio    Cabinessence
November 22, 1968       Cabinessence
January 1970    Brian's Home Studio    Cool Cool Water
July 1 to 9, 1970    Brian's Home Studio    Cool Cool Water
July 21, 1970    Brian's Home Studio    Cool Cool Water
June/July 1971    Brian's Home Studio    Surf's Up
2003       SMiLE is arranged for the 2004 concerts
April 13 to 17, 2004    Sunset Sound    Basic Tracks for BWPS
April to July 2004    Your Place Or Mine    Overdubs and mixing for BWPS

Awesome, Bob...thanks!

I just came across the Beach Boys Recording Guide (http://beachboysguide.smileysmile.net), thinking it was lost forever... I still feel it's a great idea having a Wiki-style Beach Boys live/sessions database. I know there's ADG's excellent site, but I think the Wiki format is perfect for this sort of thing. Are people still interested in helping out or is there no interest in this?

(http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/73987521.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF8789215ABF3343C02EA5480216161291C1F230E92DF77F5B896D3A4675ACC691D290BB)

Maybe all of you know this one, but here above is a picture from Getty Images, it says the session is from January 01, 1967.

But your lists doesn't mention such session at such date. Is the info wrong at Getty ? Is this a "hidden/unknown" session ? Was this session a fake "just to make promo shots" of the boys in the studio ?

More about it here:
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/73987521/Michael-Ochs-Archives

More pictures from this session here: http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&family=editorial&assetType=image&p=beach+boys+smile&Language=en-US#2

That photo is from a rather wonderful set of similar photos.  January 1st is the default day Getty gives a photo that has a year attributed to it but not a specific date, so that is by no means accurate.

Still, a wonderful Color representation of what it was like to do vocal sessions at CBS.  They're so well-dressed, too.

The captions on Getty photos are notoriously inaccurate.  Those look like Pet Sounds shots to me.

I'm guessing Pet Sounds too, and a few of these were included in past Pet Sounds reissues too. Getty Images does get the dates wrong especially with music shots, so buyer beware!

What I like to do is brighten the hell out of shots like this and pick out all the details which were hiding in the shadows, similar to doing an OOPS mix with a recording. In the case of that series of BB's photos, check this one out:

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/ba1.jpg)

Anytime you see those curtains in the background of a studio shot from the 60's, chances are it's from Columbia/CBS. They had a similar high ceiling/large curtain setup at their New York studio too. Note the multi-colored gobos as well: Gold Star got similar ones in the 70's which you see in some of the later shots taken there, and the color scheme is much like the baffling on Western #3's studio walls. Must have been a mid-60's design thing.

Very interesting too: Look at the floor on the bottom left. That is a Fender blackface amp head, either a Bassman, a Showman, or a Bandmaster. I'm wondering due to it's position if that's what Al Jardine was standing on for the placement of his voice to the mic, as mentioned in another thread. And seeing that amp head there in the photo makes me think it was an actual session that day, because why would they have that sitting there under an AKG C12 mic unless Al were standing on it? Just wild speculation, but it would make sense...

And I got to get me a pair of those green pants, they're stylin'. :-D

Very nice list & info here!
About "Tones", anychance to know the correct title one day? (in the smile sessions box set?)
and do we know for sure, Carl wrote this song? do we have a session sheet? I can't remember to have found it on the net.
sorry if you have already gave the information on the borad.

"Tones" on the AFM sheets is logged as "Tones" (twice) and "Tones (pt. #3)".

Good observations.  I agree that it's a real session--other shots show that everything is plugged in.  Maybe this is the Here Today session with "Top Please"?

CBS was a much bigger room than most everywhere else that Brian liked to record, but they certainly managed to get a nice tight vocal sound in there.

Still waiting for photos of this nature for a instrumental tracking session!!

A question about the 14-Nov-1966 – 15 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders – “My Only Sunshine” session

That sounds like an awful lot of musicians for a track that has a few cello players, a drummer and a sax player

Could it be something else or am I just hoping................................

There are other strings on it as well, and Carol is there as evidenced on the tapes.

Or, as is more likely, it could be 'False Barnyard', which I believe is referred to as Sunshine on the tape? It does have the vocal by Mike as well...

Only thing is, that sounds like MORE than 15 musicians....

Me too! I'm hoping to see more new photos in this upcoming Smile box - they photographed the Sid Sharp Strings recording at Gold Star, so where are the shots of the regular musicians anyway? It is illogical to think there isn't one studio floor shot in existence, yet we've gotten variations of the same Jasper and Guy Webster photos of Brian in the control room for years rather than that one key studio shot.

I'm almost convinced without any additional information that they would not have set up all the preamps, headphone amps, etc shown in that studio photo if it were just a photo op for the fanzines or something. They wouldn't have gone through all of that setup unless the Boys were actually recording.

Thanks - helpful stuff