The Smiley Smile Message Board

         Hello. I guess I will introduce myself before I bother with any posts. I am in my mid 30s, and have been a huge Beatles fanatic for years.
With my obvious devotion to that band, I have always heard of the influence Pet Sounds had on Paul McCartney when he spearheaded
Sgt. Pepper, but never bothered to listen to Pet Sounds myself. I knew of The Beach Boys, but only from their early 60’s fun in the sun prime.
I considered them a corny, pre-British invasion Rock n’ Roll act. Except for I Get Around, Good Vibrations, and Catch A Wave,
I never thought that they were so experimental. My memories of them from the early 1980’s was as a lounge-act like band that pumped out
disco based reconfigured versions of their earlier 60’s prime. A band that was merely living off of it’s glory days.
   
         However, during the early years of the 21st century, I decided to buy Pet Sounds on a whim. It had received great reviews over the years,
and was considered one of the greatest pop albums of all time. I was genuinely curious. I bought the album, and was blown away. I had
already heard the first track, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, on the radio. Then  the second track played. You Still Believe In Me sent shivers down my spine.
It was the most gorgeous song that I had ever heard. It still is.
   
         After my first session with Pet Sounds, I was hooked. I read as much as I could on Brian, and bought the earlier albums, from Surfer Girl up until
Summer Days, and marveled at the brilliance of the productions. I realized that the early Beach Boys were not corny at all, but an important component
of American music history. I also believed that Brian was a genius producer, and the music was that he created was beyond his contemporaries.  
   
         I read about the lore of the Smile sessions, and wished that it had been completed. I tended to write off everything that followed Pet Sounds,
wishing that Brain had fulfilled his love affair with his muse. In 2004, with the release of BWPS, I was blown away. This was a genius album, worthy,
if not better than, the music that came out of 1967. I just wished that I could hear the lush production of the of the originals, as well as the heavenly
Beach Boys vocals. Sure, I heard the officially released 1960’s tracks, and downloaded the Beach Boys versions off of iTunes, yet I longed for an
official release. Then several weeks ago, I heard that Smile would be officially released. The news of this had me searching the internet, which eventually
led me to this site.
   
         After reading reviews of post Pet Sounds albums, I decided to buy the Smiley Smile up until 20/20. My God, this is brilliant firkin music.
My favorite album is Friends. I love Little Bird, Be Here In The Morning; Hell, the whole album. It is now my second favorite album after Pet Sounds.  
   
         So as of today, I decided to buy Sunflower up until Holland. I should receive them next week, and will give my thoughts on them.
I have listened to as many tracks as I could on youtube, but I need to experience the entire album to really evaluate it.
I love to feel the flow of albums; how songs lead into the next. I already know of the Smile tracks off of the albums, and I am looking forward to the other songs.
   
         I’m sorry if this introduction is overly long, but I feel a need to express how excited I am to listen to this music. Thank you for reading.    

What a great first post.

You are in for a treat with Sunflower and Holland etc. But let me recommend getting the "Love You" album, a true classic, amazing and underrated by everyone but hardcore BB fans.  ;D

When I first heard Friends, about a year ago, I was blown away. It is also my second favorite album after Pet Sounds. The Beach Boys are such an amazing band - great to see you've found your way here!

I was also just a nut about Pet Sounds - then I read the reviews on this site for the other albums and have spend hundreds of dollars on albums/books/movies since.

Also, I totally recommend buying a used copy of 'Look! Listen! Vibrate! SMiLE!' from ebay or amazon if you haven't got a copy already....fantastic book. As is Peter Carlin's 'Catch A Wave'.

Hi all, I'm also new to this board
I found that I was reading all the reviews on this board, so I decided I might as well join up. Had no idea there was such great community of Wilson fans which admire some of their most underrated but probably best work.
I agree with shady you should look into BB Love You, its easy to overlook it seeing how its in a later part in their career which not many people look into, but man its good.

Thank you for the replies everyone. Like you, MrRobinson, I too found myself engrossed in all the information available on this board.

Shady, I had never even heard of Love You until I started to read the posted reviews on this site. I listened to several tracks that are on youtube, and it sounded like it might be right up my alley. It is incredible that there is such great music that is unknown to the general public. Discovering these albums  is exciting  for me, do to my lack of interest in the current music scene. I get to listen to "new" music.
 
I'll definitely will check out "Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile!" rab2591. Is it about only the Smile sessions, or does it go into depth about the later period of the band?

I bet it is up your alley.

Buy it ASAP, and "Catch A Wave" the book by Peter Carlin.

Also, welcome MrRobinsonsFather  :thumbsup

It's basically a colossal scrapbook of mostly every newspaper article and magazine article surrounding SMiLE 66/67. It also includes photos, essays, track-by-track descriptions of SMiLE songs. And it contains the Jules Siegel article (Goodbye Surfing, Hello God) that is a definite must read for SMiLE fans.

Welcome to the both of you, CatchAWave and MrRobinsonsFather.

Thank you, can't believe how much great info is on this site

 :rock Welcome.

Alright, I just listened to several days worth of The Beach Boys, from Sunflower to Holland. Holland is my new favorite album. This album is frigging amazing. Sail on Sailor is a great and amazing way to start the album, and I absolutely love the AL and Mike tracks of the California Saga. It not only has gorgeous melody through out, but it also references one of my favorite authors, John Steinbeck. Great frigging lyrics. Carl and the Passions is pretty good, and I love what Blondie and Stig O'Hara ;D bring to the band. I am still trying to enjoy Sunflower and Surf's Up, yet I feel that Carl and Holland both surpass them.

By the way, how does everyone feel about the Disney film, The Monkey's Uncle? The Beach Boys sing a Sherman Brother's penned tune, yet I love it because of the kitsch value it holds today.  I remember watching this movie, along with The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, during a double feature at my local theater in  the early 1980's. I love the Beach Boys opening of The Monkey's Uncle. "Uh, huh, she love the monkey's uncle, yeah yeah, she loves the monkey's uncle, whoa whoa, she love's the monkey's uncle....". I know that it is pure cheese, but I think It is great. I'm probably the only one. Annette Funicello is truly gorgeous in the movie.

Anyway, I will try to post some well thought out reviews in the album section of the boards, when I find the time. I will re-listen to Sunflower multiple times, and see if the album grows on me. Currently, Friends, Smiley Smile, and Holland are on my replay list. They are my new favorite albums, though that can always change.

Don't forget Love You, never forget Love You  ;D

My God Shady, you are right. I have just listened to Love You for the very first time. What a brilliant album. "Airplane" is quite possibly my new favorite song. It is a shame I bought the CD with "15 Big Ones", an album that I find to be terrible. Yet Love You is a godsend, not unlike Mozart's Magic Flute. Pure brilliance. Unlike 15, it doesn't sound dated at all. I don't yet have the capacity to fully comprehend the brilliance of the album quite yet, but I will definitely listen to this album time and time again.

On a side note, does anybody like "The Monkey's Uncle".......  Anybody?

That's great CAW. 15 big ones isn't great but maybe it wil grow on you. Love you on the other hand, great to hear you love it.

Haven't seen the monkeys uncle movie, but heard that song on youtube, it's alright  :lol

L.A. Light Album is actually pretty good, too...as long as you skip over the disco song. MIU has about 3-5 alright tracks. The unreleased Adult Child album from '78 is pretty loopy...kind of like a Love You vol. 2. Some of the 15 Big Ones outtakes are better than songs that made it onto the album. Denny Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue is a must-listen. Keepin' the Summer Alive is a disaster. Live versions of some of the songs from that album sound a bit better. Beach Boys '85, despite being full of 80s cliches (lots of dated synths, fake drums, hair metal guitar solos, Carl singing a song written by Boy George), isn't bad, but would have benefitted from better production. Still Cruisin' has only one good song (Somewhere Near Japan). Don't touch Summer in Paradise or Stars and Stripes with a 10 foot pole unless you're a masochist who likes being tortured.

Definitely make this your next music purchase, if you haven't bought it already. One of my favorite albums by far.

I stupidly lent my copy to a friend who had no interest in it - and he promptly moved away right after this. So now I'm without liner-notes and a hard copy....>:(