The Smiley Smile Message Board

Was 'Tones' Carl's first shot at producing a track? Does anybody know if Carl was in fact the one who wrote the tune? And along those same lines, was 'I Don't Know' Dennis' first shot at producing?

I don't think anyone knows for sure if Carl or Brian wrote it. The slide guitar part sounds a lot like a variation on The Holidays melody to me though, not that that would suggest it's Brian's. Who knows - I don't think it's really of the same quality as the Smile stuff though, so I'd say it's a Carl tune.

If I didn't know this was a Carl Wilson project - whether he wrote, produced, arranged it - I would've assumed it was Brian Wilson-led.

I know all of the available facts show it was Carl's "baby", but I still find it hard to believe that, knowing EVERYBODY was feeling the crunch to get SMiLE done and released, and lawsuits flying over money, that they would spend a few sessions (and valuable time) experimenting or giving Carl "training"!?.

Always thought Carl was just trying to finish the record, fill it out with his new Carl's Big Chance. Same with the Denny song. Maybe they were gonna replace some of the more contentious VDP songs.

I think it's a Brian tune.  Just because we hear Carl on the playback doesn't mean that Brian isn't around during the session or that Brian didn't write it, does it?

ALSO... have none of you heard the fan version that sings "Little Pad" to the tune perfectly!  I hope I have his name correct, Sean McCreavy, a fairly famous fan musician in England, who does/did a lot of stuff for Beach Boy Britain get-togethers, recorded a version of Tones that he then sang the words and melody of "Little Pad" over, and it sounded FANTASTIC!  So if "Littel Pad" is Brian composition, then it makes sense that "Tones" is a Brian compostion.

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

Does that mean I can legitimately put "Tones" back on my SMiLE mix? I just took it off...:police:

Maybe not...but the fact that the artist listed on the first "Tones" session AFM contract is not "The Beach Boys", but rather "Carl Wilson" tends to support the theory that it was more a "Carl" session than a "Brian" session.  (The authorized signature on the contract is Brian's, and the "employer" is Brother Records instead of Capitol Records.  Subsequent contracts for this title revert to naming "The Beach Boys" as artist and Capitol Records as employer).

Fairly famous ?? SeanyMac is a legend, an awesome musician and a hugely good guy to boot.  it pleases me immensely to call him a friend.

cool. where can i hear that version of Tones/Little Pad???

Wow - you might be on to something there! I haven't heard the fan version you mention but playing the two back to back and trying to hum Little Pad over Tones (not easy by any means) there are definite similarities. I really think that maybe Tones could be an early prototype of Little Pad, although I am prone to serious wishful thinking with things like this!

It's always seemed strange to me that something as beautiful and 'Smile-like' as Little Pad seemingly has no previous incarnation within the Smile sessions, unlike much of the Smiley material, so Tones=Little Pd would be a fantastic discovery. Probably too good to be true though.

Where can this fan version be heard?

Sean Macreavy doesn't get nearly the credit or attention that his Beach Boys' music deserves.  He not only has done his own covers of BB stuff that are great but has also made available some OOPs (I guess is the source/process) recordings of the band's music that isn't found anywhere else.

There is nobody else covering Beach Boys' music that I'd rather listen to.

The song in question is on his album Dumb Angel which came out in about 1993 on a Japanese label called, I believe, M&M (M and M?).  I don't know of any place online to find this but if you use the correct spelling of his name you can find some other things on YouTube and maybe elsewhere.

Sean Macreavy. 

His cover of "Never Learn Not To Love",  on Dumb Angel, aside from being just outstanding, has a vocal contribution from one Manson, C. - samples from a then-recent interview, and they fit the rhythm and overall ambiance just perfectly. You have to hear this to believe it.

I bought that cd from the performer himself on the BB Stomp in 1996, if I recall correctly. Coincidentally played it yesterday-morning in my car on my way to work. I still love his version of Let's Go Away For A While (WITH lyrics!!, wasn't this a prize-winning recording?), buy this CD just for that song alone! It's well worth it.

When I heard that cover of NLNTL my first thought was "what's U2 doing on this CD?". But I like it, a bit freaky, but cool. Now what if they had covered this one in stead of Helter Skelter (on their Rattle & Hum album)?

O, and anyone attempting a ca. 14 minute suite called "Brian Loves You Medley" is a hero in my book...

May I just add my twopennyworth here as I have seen the name of Sean Macreavy mentioned and can concur with AGD, Dan etc. that Sean is a fabulous musician and someone I am also proud to call friend.

For those who have never heard Sean's music, may I be so bold as to suggest that you do?  He not only does covers, but also is a very talented musician and writer, himself.

I am definitely in the Sean Macreavy Fan club :-)