The Smiley Smile Message Board

I was in WHSmith today and saw the new Record Collector has quite a long interview with Al in it, I didn't read it all as I was in a hurry but it looked quite interesting. A little Alan Boyd feature too..

http://www.recordcollectormag.com/issues/issue-detail/365

Thanks !

It's a good interview, though I can't help thinking I've read it before somewhere. Interviewer Ken Sharp is a great interrogator who's proved many times in the past his knowledge of the band, but he uses the phrase "blossom as a writer" three times in the space of a few questions, which is a bit of an oversight (a minor quibble I know, but I hate that phrase...). Al comes across very well; a modest, honest & humble fellow, and a big fan of "Love You", who'd have thought?

In the same issue there's also a great feature by Kingsley Abbott about Beach Boy soundalike 45s. Someone needs to compile an official CD of these (and similar) records.

Are you able to copy and paste in the article here harveyw?  We don't get this mag out here in Hawaii.

with copyrights and all, that wouldn't be the smartest thing to do...

Seems interesting, too bad Record Collector is so expensive here. 10 Or 11 euros I believe, that's a lot of money for a magazine.

Yup. And I generally am not that keen on RC's core stuff... they write long articles about a blue vinyl Lurkers 45 from 1978 that may fetch GBP 0.03 on a record fair on a very good day.

Trainspotting is the word I believe.

Although it's a nice story, it says nothing new. On the other hand, at the end of the story, there's a short piece by Kingsley Abbott with an interview with Alan Boyd. He not only talks about the beautiful things that are left in the vaults, but mentions also that "there's at least another album's worth of Dennis Wilson material, pre-Caribou, that should be heard...".

Need I say more. I know Christmas always comes once a year, but let's make it a great Christmas this year.

I doubt it. Limited old punk records are very pricy nowadays. Three or even four digit prices are no exceptions anymore.

I was being ironic about the touching obsession with stuff of minor musical merit, if only it's collectible one way or another. But I believe you without reserve. I even think I may have a few nice items locked away somewhere...

(*contemplates lengthy and luxurious sea cruise around the Maldive Islands..*)

Who would you want to take a cruise around the Maldive Islands when you can stay at home and stare at your blue Lurkers 45?  ;D

 :lol this joke is brilliant! I seldom saw a human truth painted so funnily in a mere couple of words...

plus...

KA: Any other juicy items?

AB: We did just come across an outtake from the Smile sessions labelled "Ball & Mitt", which consists of several minutes of Dennis pitching a baseball in Columbia studio to someone named Gene while Brian and Mike offer encouragement from the booth, recorded 15. December 1966. 

"there's a short piece by Kingsley Abbott with an interview with Alan Boyd. He not only talks about the beautiful things that are left in the vaults, but mentions also that "there's at least another album's worth of Dennis Wilson material, pre-Caribou, that should be heard...".
"

Let's hope it's not as shabby as the last BB collection

My view (which Alan thinks is a reasonable assumption) is that Gene is Gene Gaddy, husband of Barbara Rovell and the voice that says "You're under arrest !" in the cantina version of "H&V". The date is interesting - it's the same day, and studio, where Oppenheim filmed the "Cabin Essence", "Wonderful" & solo Brian "Surf's Up" sessions. Seeing as Jules Siegel doesn't so much as make a passing reference to it, probably an entirely seperate session.

I add my kudos as well. :lol

Ken Sharp is a good interviewer, a total pro with great energy in his approach. I'd also  like to see one of these magazines feature the BB's interviews that Howie Edelson has compiled through the past decade. Its a giant body of work. Most of it only surfaces as sound bites on the syndicated oldies radio circuit and related websites, but Howie's in depth approach reminds me that there's always new angles and new perspective to glean from Al, Mike, Brian, Dave, Bruce etc...  He approaches his interviews like a very together fan, enthusiastic but intelligent, with the chance to ask that question that's been burning a curiosity ulcer in him forever, and these type of ?s just pour out of him like rapid fire...always from an extremely well informed foundation. He has a knack for building rapport and relaxes his subjects(something I could be better at)...Howie's interviewed tons of other non-BB's rock icons too. Edelson is a sleeper...wait and see, people will be talking about him soon enough.

With this long lost missing piece of the puzzle finally found, there is no longer any excuse not to issue a Smile sessions box set!

Couldn't it just be AB joking, to see what reverberations on various boards around the world it might evoke?

Unless he's pulling my chain most expertly, not a joke.  ;D

Was Ball & Mitt ever considered for BWPS? ;D

It could be a joke...the words "Smile sessions" "Mike" and "offer encouragement" in the same sentence are a big giveaway.

If Alan's casting a line, I've bitten.

Would this be one of the Columbia tapes that was supposedly cleared out, ditched, sent to landfill, destroyed, lost forever?

This seems more in the mode of the taxi driver tape, the goofing around with "swim swim fishy fishy swim swim" stuff.  I'm sure Ball & Mitt isn't a session as such, more just goofing in the studio with the tape left running, maybe even accidentally. But given the studio involved, could he be hinting that more valuable stuff has been unearthed?

Like I say, I've taken the bait here!

Besides Ball & Mitt, there's the basketball Smile tape with the basketball being dribbled with tons of echo . . . perhaps there was a planned sports theme for Smile that never materialized?  Instead of the aborted Elements suite (after the fires in LA) Brian was going to replace Elements with a Sports suite!!

Interesting that Dennis is recorded pitching a baseball and then ten years later Brian writes a song "Baseball" for Dennis to sing for Adult Child.  Coincidence? I think not . . .

There is too much significance attached to Brian's fun experiments. He was on fire, creatively.  Couldn't it be that he just wanted to document what he could without knowing where anything would end up?

Couldn't it be that he intended to use the sounds as some kind of aural backdrop on SMiLE, much like the Black and Decker/Woodshop thingy? I have a SMiLE acetate in my attic, with the description 'Baseball Caps'. Nice, but I never bothered to inspect its music. I prefer trainspotting as a pastime.

Great news from Dennis´s music!
Hope that Alan Boyd will work with Mark Linett on this project and will be released as soon as possible.