The Smiley Smile Message Board

I realize that the 2004 Smile release should have ended my obsession with Smile, but it is back again.  I was hoping to get some feedback on some theories I have cooked up and questions that hunt me.  Feel free to respond to any and or all items.

Regarding the 2004 Smile:
The 2004 release has "I'm In Great Shape" going into "I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night."  There is some good evidence, as Domenic Priore points out in his latest Smile book, that "I'm In Great Shape" was meant to go in what has been called the "Barnyard Suite."  There is also good evidence that "I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night" was meant to follow "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow."  I have heard it suggested that "Do-A-Lot (Mama Says)" was once part of the "Barnyard" section also.  There is also the matter of "I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night" being labeled "I'm In Great Shape" on the tape box it was found in.  The 2004 release has "Old Master Painter/Sunshine" coming after the "Barnyard" segment.  If anyone has actually looked at the lyrics to "Old Master Painter" they seem to echo not only the Elemental theme, but also the theme of the song "Wonderful."  Priore suggested that it was a mistake to have "I'm In Great Shape" going into "I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night" etc.  With all this indirect evidence I am beginning to wonder if all these pieces, along with the early version of"Vega-Tables," were meant to go together, if not as part of the Elements then just as a stand alone track in the Americana part of the album.

A side note to all this, I saw on the Smile Shoppe site that the trim boxes for the Inside Pop CBS special had songs listed that Brian and Van Dyke played for the camera crew.  One of them was labeled by the crew as "Open Country Song" which I believe to be "I'm In Great Shape".  If you listen to the "Heroes and Villains" demo from Nov. 66' it sounds to me that Brian sings "I'm in the great shape of the open country" (not "the agriculture" as is sung on the 2004 release).  After "Open Country Song" was played for the CBS crew, they played "Sunshine".  What I would give to view this outtake film and its soundtrack!

Thanks for any input or wisdom.

Well I can't help other than to contribute theories of my own. I'm not well versed enough in dates, timelines, tape boxes etc. to know what feasibly might go with what, but my own personal hunch is that the barnyard suite, if there ever was one, contained Great Shape, Barnyard, and the Swedish Frog section from H&V. There's a Brian edit of various Heroes sections (very similar to the bulk of the Linnet 'Hereos Sections' mix on GV box) on Unsurpassed Masters 17 that has the Swedish Frog section audibly spliced out, which makes me think 'why'd he bother to cut that section out - might he have used it somewhere else?' Where else would a chant of groaning animal sounds fit? The Barnyard Suite of course! Or maybe the track labelled Old Master Painter on the handwritten list contained Swedish Frog and Barnyard. I think Great Shape followed by Swedish Frog followed by Barnyard works well.

I've wondered the same thing about the SOT edit of the swine section - of course, it could have been edited out because of time constraints or "resistance" from a certain follicularly challenged Beach Boys as well.

It seems pretty clear to me that, based on the Heroes demo (Nov 4) with Great Shape and Barnyard in it, and the disappearance of both sections from the cantina version (Feb 10), along with the appearance of I'm in Great Shape as a separate title on the December 10 track list, that I'm in Great Shape included Barnyard.  References to a Barnyard Suite in March/April 67 and in Preiss's book suggest there were other sections - Do A Lot and the swine Heroes section are prime candidates.  Personally I think the tape box label I'm in Great Shape with I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night is a red herring - Carol remembers Brian talking about the just completed Fire track, the take slates don't mention anything about Great Shape nor the session sheets.  I Wanna Be Around in particular doesn't seem to fit with the theme of the Barnyard Suite/ Great Shape at all.

Does anyone really LIKE the Swedish frog section?  I just find it annoying, and very out of place on Smile. 

I also have to think that if Brian hadn't already edited it out, it would have come out eventually b/c it sounds very much like they're simulating orgasms, and the record company wasn't going to let that fly in early 1967.

there was a mix that I heard that had the swedish frog section underneath the cantina section and it sounded awesome.

When I first heard it I thought Mike said "Swedish pornography" which made sense because of the orgasmic breathing sounds!

Has it ever been officially confirmed - by anyone - that they actually say "Swedish frog"?

Thank you all for the ideas.  I too have thought the "Swedish Frog" section may be related to "Barnyard".  I agree that "I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night" doesn't feel very related to "I'm In Great Shape" though I have made test edits that seem to work by just using 2004 Smile tracks.  My test edit went: Mrs. O'Leary's Cow/I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night/I'm In Great Shape/Barnyard/OldMaster Painter/Sunshine/Heroes and Villains Fade (the version with the ghostly Sunshine vocals along with the nonverbal singing)/Vega-Tables (early version)/Fade To Vega-Tables.  This mix kind of worked--pretty much Fire and Earth.

Man!

They must say "Swedish frog"! Imagine after all this time that is turns out be be something else - that would really put a new spin on things!

It sounds to me like "ha, ha,ha - what did you do that for? .... Swedish frog" The only other option would be "Swedish fog" (Unlikely)

Off topic here - The H+V piano demo on "Endless harmony" contains the "I'm in great shape" section.  I always heard the line as "Flashing arrows round my head" which has more of a H+V Indian type theme to it - Until I heard the "Fresh clean" line on BWPS. This is in addition to the "upper county/agriculture"

I heard it as "Flashing arrows" for years until the release of BWPS. Sorry to ramble/talk rubbish..