The Smiley Smile Message Board

i found a segment of music which was posted on youtube by a member of SmileySmile.   Smile-era Sound & Footage is the name of the video.  at one point in the video it goes into a section which is very Hawaiian sounding (apparently this was written by Carl and produced by Brian).  it comes in just after the 'Little Pad' refrain 'by the sea that's where i'll build a pad in hawaii'.  i have not been able to find the source of this piece of music.  does anyone know where i can find this to possibly download it? 

Second that request. I never heard that piece until I saw that Youtube video. I love it. Don't have it. Say no more.

I have it email me with your email and i will send it to you :smokin

That's "Mona Kani", "Mono Kanau", or some variation on same - it's a Dennis/Stevie Kalinich track first recorded 11/15/68. Been doing the collector's rounds for a good few years.

Wait a moment. Isn't "Mona Kani" that instrumental on Get The Boot? What ShenzhenLost means is the "Tune X" instrumental, recorded in March 1967, available on Secret SMiLE CD 2.

The song in the youtube video that he's asking about is "Mona Kani". Recorded when I said it was, and not  in 1967.  Because it's not "Tones" or "Tune X".

Then what is "Tones" or "Tune X"? I had always thought it was that particular piece...  ???

From Lou Shenk's indispensable Smile Primer:


Tones/Tune X (C. Wilson)
Track recorded March 3, 1967 with 10 musicians at Sound Recorders.  Additional sessions held March 15 with 3 musicians at Western, March 31 (as Tune X) with 8 musicians at Sound Recorders, and April 11 (as Tones Part 3) with 5 musicians at Western.  Vocals recorded March 13 (5 vocalists) at Sound Recorders. 

Carl and Dennis each produced a track with studio musicians during the Smile sessions.  Whether this was a conscious effort to make the “late” Smile more of a group effort than a solo Brian project or if it was simply for them to test their own production mettle is unknown.  The project number for the track sent to Capitol was 31-5526 – Smile’s project number.  The mysterious Tune X (Tones) session has been confirmed to be Carl’s Tones

Thanks very much Wiggbuggie.  i would really appreciate if you could help.  Thanks to everyone for their info on the piece of music. 
i've sent you an email Wiggbuggie.

thanks again to everyone!

Thanks a lot Andrew! Would you happen to know if Carl's "Tune X / Tones" has been b**ted somewhere?  ??? Because the only tracks labeled "Tones" or "Tune X" I've heard were either "Holidays" (what become "On A Holiday") or the piece heard on the YouTube video...

In the past, there was some debate as to whether Tune X (Tones) was a Brian Wilson produced/involved track, or actually a Carl Wilson produced track. Andrew's above quote is the most definitive answer I've seen that it is Carl's track. His word is good enough for me. I'm removing Tune X (Tones) from my SMiLE mix immediately!  :police:

Thanks for your answer, AGD.
Please don't take this personal, but...

Fact is, the song on Secret SMiLE was produced by Brian, since you can hear him talk from the control room.
What I hear are exactly the instruments that were used during the March 3, 1967 session (violas, violins, cellos, drums & guitars)
The songs on Secret SMiLE are ordered chronologically and this instrumental is there between "My Little Red Book" & April "Vegetables". (Ok, not the best proof).
and Alan Boyd allegedly confirmed that this song is indeed "Tones/Tune X" (info by Bicyclerider in another thread).

and what is the instrumental on Get The Boot then?

I think that might be the Ant Bee version of "Worms". Fooled a LOT of folk back in the day.

Not entirely sure what you're saying here, so I'll reiterate - the song in the YouTube video, which the original question was about, is a Dennis Wilson/Steve Kalinich composition called "Mona Kani", "Mono Kanau" or some such, and it was first recorded November 15th 1968, produced by Dennis. The song in the video is not "Tones", or "Tune X (Tones)" or "Tones (pt. 3)", all of which are Carl Wilson compositions & productions recorded well over a year earlier.

Or to be even more concise - "Tones" is not "Mona Kani", even when a bootlegger lists it as such.

Not to confuse this issue more, but I have heard a piece of music that begins with about a minute and a half of what sounds like a string quartet playing a very Smile-ish theme, then continues with the music heard in the youtube video.  What is this??

Is everyone here talking about the same video?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qu7G67A2H28 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=qu7G67A2H28)

The piece of music that starts at about 1:23 is the same song as on Secret Smile cd 2, where it's labeled as "Tune X."  The first 2 minutes of that song (on SS) is strings and the last minute has the steel guitar overdub (this is what's in the video, with some odd sound effects added over it). It also has what sounds like Carl talking at the end.

Track 7 on Get The Boot is the song that's gone around for years under the name "Mona Kani" (strings and lots of horns, especially on the tag).

If the youtube song is Mona Kani, then what is the song on Get the Boot??? And does that mean Tune X is still unbooted??

I'm very confused  ??? ???

"The piece of music that starts at about 1:23 is the same song as on Secret Smile cd 2, where it's labeled as "Tune X."  The first 2 minutes of that song (on SS) is strings and the last minute has the steel guitar overdub (this is what's in the video, with some odd sound effects added over it)."

Yup, this the piece of music that I have.  What the heck is this thing?

My thoughts exactly.  :) But AGD said that the track heard in the video could be a variation on Mona Kani. So the track on Get The Boot could be Mona Kani, and this could be a variation on it. Still, I'm confused. I had always thought that the track heard in the video was Tune X / Tones. If it isn't, has the real Tune X / Tones been b**ted somewhere?

Ergo, the song is mistitled on the boot. Like I've been saying for the last nine million years.  :P

No, no, no, no. No. What I said was that the song is known as "Mona Kani", "Mono Kanau" or some variation on that title. There is, to my knowledge, just the one version doing the rounds (although there is also an early version that I've clapped ears on). I'm possibly wrong here, but the real "Tones/Tune X" hasn't been booted yet.

There were lyrics written, btw, and hopefully they were just a scratch set. Because they're plenty dumb.  Think "Scrambled Eggs"

So what the heck is the "Mona Kani" that's on Get the Boot?  ???

The song thats playing at 1:23 in the you tube video posted is NOT Mona Kani. The song that you're referring to Black Tiger on the Get the Boot disc is in fact Mona Kani. The song thats played at 1:23 is labelled as Tones on another boot. There are like 4 tracks of it. It certainly sounds like Carl running the show.

Oh okay, sorry. Obviously there's been some misunderstanding...  :-[ Thanks for answering!  :) But then... What is the track labeled as "Mona Kani" on Get The Boot?  ???

i think that is tones or tuneX on the vid, I have Mona Kani on one bootleg (Beach Boys get the boot vol 1 and 2) and the song doesnt sound like the one on the vid...

These "plenty dumb" lyrics you speak of...are they for "Mona Kani" or for "Tones/Tune X"?
Along these lines...there's a instrumental I've heard that purports to be the early 1967 Dennis track that bears the working title "We Don't Know".  I definitely "don't know", but AGD, do YOU know if it is what it's claimed to be?

The lyrics are for Mona Kani - no lyrics yet for Tones (that's the Carl produced track with strings and slide guitar overdub) but a vocal session was held for it - as far as I know that tape is among the missing.

Major hands-up time for me - I broke the golden rule and relied on memory. You're right, and I'm not - that ain't "Mona Kani" in the video. Apologies to all.

I'll tell you what, Mona Kani is a gorgeous song. Though, I can't imagine how vocals would sound on there.

Mona Kani is the track that starts off with harmonica and little drum rolls before going brassy, it sounds initially like a Brian song but then the 'chorus' sounds more Dennis-ish like 'Celebrate the news', that's the one isn't it?
I don't know what the one on the video is.

Okay, so if its not Mona Kani, then is it Tune X/Tones?  Judging by the style of this recording, I'm finding it very hard to believe this isn't a Brian produced Smile-era recording.  It seems to fit right in!

I think it's a Carl-produced SMilE-era recording, trying hard to fit in...

c-man, I ask you - not because I disagree with you, but because I really am on the fence with this song - why you think it is a Carl Wilson-produced recording? I am constantly reworking my personal SMiLE fan mix, and I don't know what to do with Tune X (Tones). Do I leave it on, or do I take it off...

It's definitely a section of "Tones" (unless my file is mis-named), but the version I have doesn't have that guitar overdub.  The strings are exactly the same though.  The voice at the beginning calling out the take sounds a lot like Brian, but could very easily be Carl. 

"OK, fine, thank you, listen..." at the end sounds like Brian to me. Someone should ask Billy Hinsche, because he allegedly played one of the guitars. The other guitarist was the great James Burton (later Elvis' live guitarist).

Wow! It really sounds like Carl to me. Brian seems more patient and calm and relaxed. Here, it seems that Carl was a bit rushed, because of time or just because thats his style of working.

I think it's a Carl Wilson-produced recording because (a) it sounds like Carl's voice, not Brian's (to me) and (b) the AFM sheet for the first "Tones" session (March 3rd, 1967) lists the artist as "Carl Wilson", not "Beach Boys".  Interestingly, the "employer" is listed as "Brother Records", not "Capitol Records".  Also interestingly, the "authorized signature" is Brian Wilson's.  By the time of the next session for which an AFM sheet exists (March 15th, 1967), the "artist" has changed to "The BeachBoys" and the "employer" to "Capitol Records" (with no "authorized signature"). 

What do I make of all this?  I think the song started as a Carl Wilson-produced project for Brother Records (either a solo outing or a song intended for an outside artist), authorized by Brian (one of the corporate heads of Brother Records), and was soon diverted for a planned revamping of "SMiLE". 

As to whether or not you include it in your personal "SMiLE" mix...that would depend on what type of "SMiLE" you're aiming for:  (a) one as close to Brian's original concept as possible (circa December '66 or January '67), or (b) one closer to what might have come out in Spring '67 (including Carl and Dennis tracks).  "SMiLE" kept evolving, even when it was strictly Brian's project.  It ultimately evolved into "BWPS"!

Oh, another reason I believe it's a Carl track...(c) when it was found in the vaults back around 1993, the powers that be told us it was a Carl track.

Thank you. Well put... :police:

Is there any more to it than the sound in this footage? I've never heard it before

Yes, there's LOTS more to it.  "Secret SMiLE" has two or three rough mixes of the track (mostly strings), one just a partial mix, then another mix where the slide guitar and drum overdub comes in toward the end.  It's a complete song (albeit with no vocals), with different musical sections.  It's quite nice, actually.

man, i need to scrape a copy of the full version of this.

it's got the same chord structure as the opening bars of Gee, and (nearly) the hummed bit of Little Pad, jigsaw fans...