The Smiley Smile Message Board

Interesting interview with Hal that I haven't seen before:


https://youtu.be/frTDGpHOY-4 (https://youtu.be/frTDGpHOY-4)

I love Everything I Need.
A shame that it didn't end up as Hal heard it. I have heard the rough demo which might be closer to what Hal describes, but it isn't great quality and I don't think it is a proper mix.

Interesting.  Hadn't heard this interview either. 

And agree about Everything I Need.  Freakin' love that song.  Amazing that the Wilson-Asher magic was intact 30 years later.

And I get where Hal was coming from regarding the Joe Thomas-finished "Wilsons" version.  It is very busy, over-produced and laden with, as Hal says, "clicks all over the place."

I can indeed imagine a better mix of what exists on youtube as "demo" being a hit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRc_ao2NrIk

Jeff Foskett's version is stunning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPXleBlUjSM

I'm guessing that Jeff's instrumental track is more in line with Brian's original version.

Yes, such a beautiful song! Love Jeff's version (with Brian guesting obviously). It has that certain close-to-but-not-yet psychedelical pop beauty. You can get lost in Brian's outro.
And it's interesting that Brian and Tony Asher still had the goods to come up with something that is not jus a re-write of their famous tunes yet has the same innocent feeling.


BTW 90s pop and rock ballads had a lot of drums on them. So I guess that's where Joe Thomas was coming from.

This is so telling about the Brian/Joe Thomas relationship. Thanks for sharing!

If you look at the song credits, it's full of Thomas men who later would appear on Imagination, outnumbering the Wrecking Crew legends. For example, Eddie Bayers is credited with drums alongside Hal. I assume the first one did most of the dirty work.

Eddie Bayers is a well known studio musician, though. Not saying he didn't get there because of Joe hiring him. But it's not like he is a "Thomas-guy" who would not get a good gig on his own.

I wasn't my intention to being dismissive of his playing, just stating the fact that he was one of the regulars at Joe's sessions

Agreed. He's a Nashville guy, and most of Joe's men are in Nashville or Chicago.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that you was dismissive. Sorry if it came across that way. Just wanted to add some info.

Speaking of Nashville session guys...Greg Leisz played on Imagination; he’d also played on albums from Beck and kd Lang, which was mentioned in the press release. Anybody else remember it erroneously being reported briefly that *Brian* was recording with Beck and Lang?

No, I don't remember that, but it's a fine excuse to mention that Greg Leisz has a very impressive and ever growing CV, not to mention his wife, bassit Mai, part of David Crosby's Sky Trails band (i.e. the electric one)

And some good things came out of "Joe's men". Bob Lizik. Paul Von Mertens, and one more...

I have a cassette with two versions of Everything I Need on them; the first one has Brian and Wendy sharing the vocals; the second one adds Carnie's voice to it. Both definitely have Brian's touch all over them; very much a mid 60's sound. I was so disappointed when I heard the released version.
Hey, if we can't get the Feel Flows box, how about a 2 cd set of Wilson/Paley recordings?

How do your cassette versions compare with this so-called demo?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRc_ao2NrIk

The Wikipedia page for the Paley sessions is a fascinating and heartbreaking read.

Its not "politically correct" to say but I think more shady business and controlling/medling of Brian's creative endeavors went on during the Melinda years than we've been led to believe. If you try to talk about it, its seen as "attacking Brian('s family)" and stirring up trouble, "why cant you just enjoy that hes making music at all" / "who are you to question Brian, you think hes a vegetable?" etc. And Im not trying to accuse Melinda of doing anything nefarious nor act entitled to Brian's output (frankly if hed retired in 2000 Id have said "more power to him, hes earned it"). But when a lot of Brian's family from Mike to Carney as well as his longtime collaborators like Hal, Paley and anonymous insiders have raised issues with her management of his career, I think that warrants speculation.

If nothing else, it seems she put "likability" and perhaps her personal music tastes (Thomas-esque overproduced easy listening pop) over Brian's own creative sensibilities which is a shame. Reading about the 90s it seems clear Brian didnt really want to go in this new direction but took her lead because hes a passive guy and wants to keep his people happy. We'll never really know what those last few decades were like, unfortunately

I agree!

Also, I think that meds had their say on Brian's music after 2000 (I mean legit meds, not Landy's necromantic poison). Mike Oldfield had to take antidepression meds and lamented that, though necessary to save his life, they really put a damp on his creativity.

I guess we shoud be really grateful that, against all odds, we still got absolute gems from Brian after 2000.