The Smiley Smile Message Board

This whole message is very well said, but I'm highlighting this portion, as it rings especially true.

Like you said, things were sort of beginning to fall apart by Christmas, but there was still an album that could easily have been finished at any given moment, had the Beach Boys been given one week to complete the LP. Those 12 songs could have been finished in a rush if they needed to be.

But the big switch was David Anderle informing Brian that he needed a unique A and B side single to launch Brother Records. Brian was seemingly satisfied with Good Vibrations as the sole single for the project, until his decision to launch a record label for the Boys (which had been in the plans for about a year now) sort of snuck up behind him. There's sufficient evidence in the way that this story has been told for us to believe that Heroes had already been conceived, and maybe even recorded as a song for Smile when Brian got this news. Every session up until October 20 had not produced a piece of a song, but an entire backing track that was in need only of vocal overdubbing. So far, the process was no different than Pet Sounds, beside the fact that the tracks were not performed beginning-to-end live by the ensemble, as Brian used editing to highlight big dynamic and metric contrasts between verses and choruses that couldn't be achieved as well via a continuous performance. There's no reason to believe Heroes was an exception. On October 20, Heroes had only 2 long parts - the verse (which was originally much longer, and is cut down even on The Smile Sessions disc 2), and the Barnyard section, a fadeout which, like all of Brian's Smile fades, adds in new melodies and instruments with each round, rather than starting full steam ahead. With Brian and Van Dyke's 3 verses telling a cohesive love story set in the old west, without the "side quests" that later versions of the song will include, this works perfectly as a concise 2-part album track.

But when Brian was told he needed a single, he chose to rework this song as something both commercial and exciting, and that's when it began to consume parts of other songs. First I'm in Great Shape, then Do You Like Worms, then Cabin Essence, then My Only Sunshine... songs became unusable for the next project, as they were physically disassembled, and the focus shifted entirely toward the new single. It didn't help that for the first time for The Beach Boys (this had been the case for other artists, pseudonyms, studio bands, etc), Brian needed TWO new songs. Previously, he'd relied on material from released albums to fill out the B-side, but on a new record label, he couldn't just take something off Pet Sounds, for example. The entirety of the next 5-6 months is spent trying to get a single. That's not a sign of a stable and healthy mind, it isn't productive to constantly rework one song rather than 12 at once, and it is not going to produce both a single and an album without some big changes being made.

I found this post from sloopjohnb72 (which is buried somewhere in the depths of Liz's epic Smile thread) extremely enlightening!

The verse and barnyard sections of Heroes were recorded on October 20, while Great Shape was recorded on the 27th. Many variations on the Great Shape music were recorded that day, and the timing on the AFM contract matches the lengths of the three leadered takes added together. Only "I'm in Great Shape" was written on the tape box, not "Heroes and Villains".

On October 20th, Heroes didn't include Great Shape, and it appears that this was true by the 27th as well. The AFM contract does say Heroes and Villains though, and that was likely filled out at the end of the session, whereas Chuck Britz was notating the sheets on the tape box throughout the session. So Brian's "aha" moment could have come right after the recording for Great Shape wrapped up.

Brian's recording techniques and instructions (as well as the documentation) show that he had a full plan for Heroes every time he recorded a piece of it. That plan was always changing though, and when a section was recorded, it was usually only Brian that knew where it was going.

Autumn extends into December so in Autumn Brian had the instrumental verses/Barnyard, I’m in Great Shape, a remake of Great Shape, children were raised section leading into the third verse, plus H& V Part 3.  According to Ed Roach, I believe, sunny down snuff was attempted at a December vocal session.  There were several vocal sessions but not much has survived.  When were the split Brian/Mike verse vocals recorded?  I have no doubt the a capella section was to be included early on as it comes up in every mix we have.

At some point Shape and Barnyard were rejected but it’s confusing as to when that happened.  Shape is a separate song on the track list the first week of December but after that Brian records a new version of Shape at a Heroes session and does a rough edit with children were raised and the third verse which has survived on acetate.  In January Brian is recording vocals on Bicyclerider and awkwardly editing it into the Heroes verse section.  Even with Bridge to Indians is recorded the BR section is rejected and cantina is written with Van Dyke making it the new Part 2 and My Only Sunshine fade replaces Barnyard - and we have the A side of the single.

Part 3 is the “chimes “ version of Intro to Heroes (kind of similar to Iron Horse ) recorded in December.

There was an acetate auctioned a few years ago that has the Shape remake/Children we’re raised/ third verse instrumental edit.  The Shape remake was recorded mid December at a session logged as Heroes - the session players and instruments match.  Part of this Shape remake was released on one of the copyright Beach Boys releases - it was a phone recording of part of the acetate by Alan.  Children were raised - instrumental track - was re-recorded later but according to those who have heard the acetate this was an earlier take on it.

Part 3 is the “chimes “ version of Intro to Heroes (kind of similar to Iron Horse ) recorded in December.

There was an acetate auctioned a few years ago that has the Shape remake/Children we’re raised/ third verse instrumental edit.  The Shape remake was recorded mid December at a session logged as Heroes - the session players and instruments match.  Part of this Shape remake was released on one of the copyright Beach Boys releases - it was a phone recording of part of the acetate by Alan.  Children were raised - instrumental track - was re-recorded later but according to those who have heard the acetate this was an earlier take on it.

There were three different attempts at a Brian/Mike duet lead, all from January 1967. The first lead vocal for the verses was done by Brian alone on December 27, 1966.

mike s, thanks for making this thread, its been incredibly in helpful charting the busy period of late '66
and sloopjohnb, thanks for all your info both here and the lengthy 'Smile was ready in '67' thread. I've learned new dates and production info that I was not aware of before.  ;D

I'll keep on truckin with the Timeline!

No worries bro I was hoping you'd see all this.

I think its worth checking with 'sloop' about stuff like Iron Horse being put into Heroes - it seems likely it was but I still think there's a bit of educated guessing going on.

I must say your timeline has been a bit of a revelation:  I think it makes it much clearer how much work had in fact been completed and how focused it was.  I think it got very close to christmas before Brian started taking bits from other songs to put into H&V..?

It's also worth mentioning (or re-mentioning? I can't keep track of what's been said) that the organ waltz "intro" from months later is not actually an intro, and was never labelled that way - that's something that was lost in translation when the GV box set was made, and the label stuck for TSS too. Brian starts to play "my children were raised..." after that piece on the tape, for what it's worth.

did Brian already know before January when he cut up BR from Worms that there would be a Part 2 in there? Or was something else complete recorded that day and Chimes got mis-dated?

Thanks to both of you for the clarification. So my question is, if the organ waltz section, and the chimes/part 3 (tubular bells) section were not recorded as intros, then what was recorded on December 19 for the H&V session?  The list here says the chimes section was recorded then, however if that is indeed "Part 3" then did Brian already know before January when he cut up BR from Worms that there would be a Part 2 in there? Or was something else complete recorded that day and Chimes got mis-dated?

It's also worth mentioning (or re-mentioning? I can't keep track of what's been said) that the organ waltz "intro" from months later is not actually an intro, and was never labelled that way - that's something that was lost in translation when the GV box set was made, and the label stuck for TSS too. Brian starts to play "my children were raised..." after that piece on the tape, for what it's worth.

The March organ waltz then Intro to Heroes was marked on the tape box as Intro to Part 2, wasn’t it, and logged as a Heroes session?  Since Brian had been working on a side B for a 2 sided Heroes single in February after the cantina mix was finished, the presumption is this was to be an intro to the second side of the single.  Musically it’s identical to the Chimes Part 3, although as pointed out that Part 3 would have followed the A side’s Part 2 which was first Great Shape, then Bicycle Rider, and finally cantina.

It can be heard on Unsurpassed Masters, very quietly - Brian sings the word "my" on an F#4 and then plays the same C# arpeggio that kicks off that vocal arrangement.

Intro was originally "Part 3"  so was to follow Part 2 - so I assume that it would have gone cantina/organ waltz (intro)/children were raised/3rd verse/whistle/OMP Part 2 fade.

Organ waltz was March 1 1967, wasn't it?  And I don't believe any lyrics would have been on it, it was an instrumental transition track (unless wordless vocals were planned like in Fall Breaks).