The Smiley Smile Message Board

How many collective years have we been waiting for SMiLE to be released Shall we add it up?

I'll begin

23 years.

(sorry if this is a bit blooboardy. I like time, and numbers.

A mere 7 years.

Technically, since 1967, when I was 12. Realistically (i.e. when I knew what the damn thing was and wanted to hear it), since summer 1975 - 38 years

Since 2006, the wait began when I was 16..

Now I'm 21 and getting SMiLE  ;D

Not bad, huh

5 Years, My dad loved the early stuff, but as a Beatlemaniac, I liked SMiLE much more.

since i was in high school. 1986.

25 years

Since January 1992 when I heard the Alive & Smilin' CD.
Then in April 1992 I got my copy of Look Listen Vibrate Smile book and that's when I was aware of the whole thing.
So it's 19 years 7 months!!

Technically, since March of 1988. Realistically, since May of 2001. Either 23 and a half years, or 10.4 years.

Jeez, I can't remember exactly.

I think I first heard SMiLE around 2006. Not as long as most people but it still feels like an eternity "waiting"  :lol

About one year since I am a new fan. I feel bad for not waiting like everybody else did for so long.  Great people like Coach and Greg Larson died after waiting many years for the box.

1999- 12 yrs

Technically since 1976, when I first head H&V and GVibes and segmented the former on my cassette player to create longer and longer versions of aural heaven. Realistically around late 70s/early 80s when I read David Leaf's California Myth and realised that all my favourite tracks had been intended for the same album, which had yet to see release. Let's say 30 years.

Lesse, when i was a kid I loved the BB's, but I had never heard of the SMiLE album until about 2003.  So I downloaded bootlegs, got instantly hooked, and then got blown away when I found out in late 2003 that Brian was going to tour the album, lol.  So I waited about 3 months. 

If you mean how long for this box set which will have a 'Beach Boys' smile on it, then I've waited since about Summer 2003, so that would be 8 years. 

Yeah but after you die you probably have magic powers and things.  So they can time travel. 

Well, I bought BRIAN WILSON in 1988, but didn't actually buy a Beach Boys record until I got PET SOUNDS in late 1991. I became dimly aware of SMILE at this time, but didn't really "get" it until I bought the SS/WH twofer a little over a year later (1993) and began to discover a new world of fandom in those liner notes. So my wait time is 18 years. A mere trifle compared to many other fans, I know! ;)

Since about 1982, I think, when I got SMiLE #2. So, 29 years.

Since I first learned about Smile via the Byron Priess book in 1979, so what's that?  32 years?  Damn, that's a long time man!   :P

about 7 months

Only a couple of years. I'm only 19, so I only learned about SMiLE relatively recently.

44 years, since I first fell in love with the song H&V.

Since I first read about it in the (then) new book, Heroes and Villains when I was twelve..So that's, uhh, 25 years. Holy crap!

3 years. ahh being young.

A paltry six, BWPS being my introduction to it all.

7 years when i heard about BWPS.

Since reading about it in the Priess book in 1979: 32 years!

Been a fan and collector since 1970, first heard about SMiLE around 1975, saw it discussed in the 1976 "It's OK" special, read about it in various articles in the mid-late 70's including the Leaf book in 1978, then picked up my first SMiLE bootleg around that time, so I'd say.........36 years.

The Smile I sent out will finally return to me.  ;D

I first heard about SMiLE in the late '80s, having read a quick mention of it in my "Rolling Stone Record Guide".  I was just getting into BB's and I thought, interesting, that would kinda cool to hear someday.

Then I read more about SMiLE in the early '90s in the SS/WH twofer booklet.  Problem was, Smiley Smile was such a turn-off, I was thinking, what????!  If Smiley is the stuff that got released, then maybe I DON'T want to hear the stuff that didn't get released!!

When I finally got the GV boxed set in the mid '90s, my interest was once again restored....well, more than restored; I was blown away.  After hunting down LLVS, hearing a boatload of boots, and becoming good friends with the dearly missed Coach, I have been waiting ever since for the moment that will occur on 11/1/11.  :)

Since about February. I know that sounds like I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but I had been obsessed with Pet Sounds for about 6 months before February, when I read on Pitchfork that SMiLE was going to be released. I decided to read up on it more. I was fascinated by the whole story of the album and The Beach Boys in general. So since February I have gotten all of the two-fers up to Sunflower/Surf's Up, and I downloaded Love You. I've also gotten my hands on any SMiLE material I can, including BWPS. I also just got The Pet Sounds Sessions today! So I'm trying to get myself acquainted with everything to do with The Beach Boys before November 1st so I can appreciate SMiLE as much as possible when it comes out. It's been a fun ride so far.

About 5 years for me. That is as long as I've been a Beach Boys fan. I was 23 then.

Glad I'm not alone in not having waited since the 60's!

As far as I knew, Smiley Smile was Smile, Brian was happy, everything was as it should be and all was right with the world. There are some good things about not having an internet!

I first became aware of SMiLE back in the mid-late 70's, when an acquaintance (good friend of friends) Joe, introduced me. The guy had (back then) an incredible stereo system (KEF, McIntosh, etc.) and pro recording equipment. He was currently following the Dead and had a wall of reel-to-reel tapes of their live performances (he recorded) pulled out an R to R what he called Beach Boys SMiLE, and sort of told us the story (I think). Unfortunately at the time he was also in possession of liquid Sandoz, and I really don't remember a whole lot about the evening other than I couldn't believe it was the Beach Boys (way too psychedelic), and oh by the way, "this doesn't exist". It seemed to me it was all together and not snippets - but it also seemed to go on for hours. Go fig! ;D

It wasn't until I was off at college a bit later that I was again introduced to a nutcase who had been collecting snippets of SMiLE and trying to assemble his own version. Yeah, whatever. It sounded nothing like what my rather colorful remembrance was from years earlier.

Finally and just recently when Brian toured and finally released his version of SMiLE I finally "got it". I've never assembled my own mix (although I was totally into that type of thing back when I had my Nakamichi and before) or really even heard any of the boots. I'm not a boot person particularly, and never had the inclination or time to try downloading from the zillions of sites to have a listen. My bad.

I'm happy that my patience (such as it is) is about to be rewarded. I'll also finally know what most of you guys are talking about!

And to this day I still wonder about Joe, who BTW indulged a bit too much of his own product and disappeared one day. Was that tape legit?

For me, since 1995. So 16 years.

Since 1986.  25 years.

35 years. 

Discovered "Pet Sounds" a few months before the "Brian Is Back" hoopla in 1976.  I gradually bought their entire catalog that summer and read the Ken Barnes book.  H&V, Surf's Up and Cabinessence made me pine for the album that never was...it turned into an obsession...on to London on 2/20/2004...and here we are.

A little more than a decade.  It trips me out though to read how many people became fans after the advent of BWPS.  Not saying there is anything wrong with that at all but I wonder if that is a difference experience than the rest of us went through for years logging onto the old "SMiLE Shop" debating which piece fit where and how this was related to that and so on and so forth.  It seemed that once BWPS came out there was a bit of a blueprint which affected the way a lot of people looked at the SMiLE era.  Not sure if that is true but again I wonder if it was a different experience for those coming into this fraternity after BWPS existed?

Only five years, since getting the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey twofer and wondering why the liner notes were going on about this Smile album instead of Smiley Smile. My interest was piqued, however which led me to check the wikipedia entry and it basically led from there. You guys who have been waiting 35+ years must be in heaven right now!

Since early 2003 (I was 14 at the time), so almost 9 years now.

So far, approximately 590 years and counting

Like AGD, technically since 1967, when I was 13 (I had Smiley Smile, which I won somehow as a giveaway somewhere...). I first started to read about it and started the SMiLE dreaming after encountering a re-print of Jules Siegel's "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God" in Richard Meltzer's Gulchur: Post Rock Cultural Pluralism, which I found in my college bookstore in the year it was first published, 1972.

39 years.

*On further reflection, it must have been when Surf's Up came out in '71 - there was a lot of publicity around that time of "legendary," etc.  I was at the great show at Carnegie Hall, September, 1971 and listened in awe as Carl did Surf's Up.

 My life was changed.

so mark me down as a 40 year man.

Oh, call it about 35 years or so.  With the full-on media onset of all things Endless Summer, I grabbed any book / magazine I could find and inevitably started reading about this mysterious Smile.

I was working at a coffee house circa '81, and during my break I walked into a local record store. Behind a glass display case I saw a vinyl Smile boot with the classic Holmes cover - $20. Freaking, I ran back to the shop and begged a coworker to lend me the twenty so I could grab this holy grail  :p

Got home, burned some inspiration and proceeded to listen, dissect and SMILE. A tantalizing glimpse which only intensified through the era of Dom's book and the SOT's. In fact, when I first moved to Seattle in '99 I worked at a highrise downtown. Since I was sans computer, I would sneak into the office in the evening and stream the Smile SOT tracks - one after another. A solitary Smile investigator (as the evening janitorial crew would vacuum the carpets and walk past my cube).

It's been a long strange trip man. A trip. :afro

664

Since 2004 when BWPS come out. Although at the time I was only a casual Beach Boys fan, knew nothing about the hoopla surrounding Smile's non release, all the bootlegs doing the rounds or the possibility that the music could see a legitimate form of release. That knowledge only came a few years later once I started getting into the band more heavily. So I would say I've been waiting about four years for this moment.

About 2,500 years. Been sitting in a cave all the time, with a table and numerous precious golden drinking cups on it. And one simple wooden one. And a bootleg of the Smile Sessions of those days. Waiting for Indy Jones and his Dad. To bring me The Real Smile Sessions. The suckers never showed up, I guess the Zeppelin exploded or something.

But this way is OK for me too. I can die a happy man after Nov 1, 2011.

Scroll of the Psalms:

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Psalms_scroll.PNG/200px-Psalms_scroll.PNG)

Mildly curious when I bought a copy of the SmileySmile / Wild Honey 2fer in 1990, and fanatic about it a year later when I bought my first SMiLE b**ts a year later.

So I'd say 20 years.

15 years.

1996 i got into the Beach Boys big time, and read Steven Gaines' book. Hunted down those 70s albums on vinyl to hear the Smile tracks (Sunflower, Surf's Up). I got LLVS in 1997 and furthered myself.

Since reading about it in the UK music press circa 1976 - I think it was SOUNDS or might have been NME - AGD????

I got my first boot in 1990 - the single Vigotone disc

Although I read all the hype in the teen mags about H&V back in 1967 (and there was plenty-  this was the big followup to GV and all the publications hyped it) and I bought the 45 when it came out, I did not get the impression that something was missing in the fall of 1967.  They kept releasing albums and the teen mags were not full of "their great album has been scrapped" stories, so Smile fell off my radar until 1970-1971 when they signed with Reprise and stories started to filter out.  So I've been waiting 40 years.

779 years and counting.

What are the odds, if and when everyone on here answers (no pressure)......................

that the total comes in at 2580?

Iron-Horse Apples, on 11/1/11:


(http://www.infoconomy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/huge-hearing-aids.jpg)

I first heard The Bicycle Rider Theme in the American Band VHS in about '89/'90 and just loved it.

I seriously got more into Smile around the mid 90s so I'd say I've been waiting for something like this for about 16 years...Jeeeez!

To be honest, it's something I never thought I'd see

Just short of 15 years, all since I got the 1993 box set for Christmas 1996.

Since 1988 (when I was 32 years old), when a co-worker gave me a cassette with Brian Wilson ('88) on one side and Smiley Smile on the other.  I was hooked immediately.  So, 23 years for me.

I was aware of the Beach Boys as a child but it wasn't until 1994 at the age of 14 when I saw the American Band doc that they became an obsession.  After viewing that, I bought Pet Sounds the next day and began my obsession with SMiLE.  It was such a mystical and mysterious story that it totally drew me in.  A few years later, I owned every Beach Boys album and several SMiLE bootlegs.  Even still, I wanted more.  I couldn't get enough!  11/1/2011 will be the day I have waited 17 years for.  

I'm pretty sure my wife thinks that this day is more important to me than our wedding day.  It isn't, but it's the next best thing! ;)

For me since circa 1982 when I first read about the album in a rock history book. I also first heard snippets of the music in the same year and remember wondering what the hell it was all about. So began a quest to hear as much of it as possible. The Smile File was written along the way. I think the journey will be complete come November. So that is 29 years.

1n 1969 when I was 19.. heard some tracks on 2020 were smile tracks... 42years

Hi Cosmic Dancer's wife, of course he means it!

Ditto, but I was aware of Smile shortly before I became a BB fan. Still not that long though, compared to most here.

Well spotted. Women have superb intuition. If she thinks that, it is so. Just sayin'.

See, my wife knows where she stands when it comes to SMiLE. She knows I'll be locking her in the shed for three days when the box arrives.

And that's how a true American male should do it. No weak 'compromising', blech. Lock her in at gunpoint and have your fun. Oh, don't forget to serve her a can of white beans in tomato sauce every day, that'll be appreciated.

35 years for me.

While I am old enough to remember the release of SGT. PEPPER (loved that cover as a four-year-old), I wasn't consciously aware of the Beach Boys as a group until 1974. However, by 1976 I owned most of the albums and had read enough to suspect this SMiLE thing was supposed to have been a big deal. My favorite "album" at this time was the Reprise "Best Of..." because it contained "Good Vibrations", "Heroes & Villains" and "Surf's Up" (plus PET SOUNDS highlights). As soon as I realized that "Our Prayer" and "Cabinessence" were from the same sessions as my favorite "Best Of..." tracks, I was hooked. I created my first fan mix in 1982 after gaining access to reel-to-reel tape machines in college. My love of the Beach Boys went into hibernation during the mid-80s, but was reawakened by the release of BW '88 and the two-fers. Hearing the "cantina" H & V for the first time brought all of the excitement back and I hadn't let go of my hope since.

Coming up on 22 years.  In 1989, my college roommate had CDs of PS and Smiley, which I dubbed to cassette.  Instantly Smiley was da bomb, and PS sat unlistened-to for years.

He also had an early Japanese CD boot of Smile.  DYLW, with the backing vocals and horrible sound quality, blew my mind.  It was my Be My Baby of sorts.  All those ghostly-sounding sections of music that were just strung together...Rock, Rock, Roll, Plymouth Rock, Roll Over...and what the hell was a Who Ran The I Run Horse supposed to be?  I was in love.

7 or 8 years. I first heard Pet Sounds in 2003 when I was about 15/16. I found out about Smile sometime in early 2004, after Brian's live performances but before the album came out. I didn't know any of that was in the works though. Then in summer '04 I was flipping through the channels on TV and stumbled upon a Brian Wilson interview on TV where he said that the album was coming out in a few months. I got BWPS and SS/WH for Christmas. Yes, I heard BWPS and Smiley Smile within a few hours of each other.

since 1967 for me, when i was 14.

makes 44 years for me.......


damn...

So far, Steve and I hold the record: 44 years. In January 1967 was 16 at the time. That was the time we were going to sell a million units.

About 9 years - as ashamed as I am to admit it, I first heard of Smile via Brian's "autobiography."  Having already started becoming obsessed with Pet Sounds, reading about Smile intrigued me to no end, and I went out and found as many of the tracks as I could.  Naturally, I was blown away, and I still get the same feeling listening to those songs today as I did back then.

Since 1982, when meeting up at Lars' place here in Oslo, and his friend Tor had brought his small, delicate tape suitcase - wich contained, among various serious rarities, cassettes with loads of Smile stuff -- I was 17 and already deep into the Smile fandom - lit by reading about it in Leaf's BB and the California Myth -  the greatest Smile moment so far: - running over to the local postoffice and picking up the first LP -boot edition of Smile shipped from a New York based record store in 1984 ---   Smileomanic for at least 30 years ---

Yeah, but c'mon, you didn't first hear about SMiLE in 1967, did you Steve?  When did you first hear/read about it?

yep...1st heard about it when good vibrations was out. remember dj talking about the lp it was to be on. the dj was my friend's older brother. started buying 45's with fun fun fun in 64. lp's in 67 when i had a paper route and had some spending money. remember reading about smile in 67 and buying (finally) heroes. then suddenly that fall no smile. and out of the blue my friends kidding me about liking the group. read in more detail about smile in 68. in 69 i loved 20/20 and it's smile linkage. 69 is when i really got bit by the beach boys collecting bug, same time as being kidded by my friends about liking them hit its peak.

I've been waiting since 2007. 4 years of agonizing pain.

7 years

I remember hearing about Brian doing the shows in London a few months before I was a fan. I thought "oh nice" and forgot it. Oh little did I know...

S'funny how folk react differently. I've decided to let my wife out of the shed for three days to mark the release of the box. After that, she's going back in.

Same story as Steve Mayo-waited for Smile to finally hatch and was totally bummed by SS (at that time). Was just 20. :o

1980 at 14 years old.

See, me and my wife are more understanding. She's buying me a Smile box out of the kindness of her heart. I'm buying her a shed.

since 1966(I think)..watched as BW did Surfs Up for Leonard Bernstein on TV-I was 16 and Surfs Up blew my mind,because it was deep and strange...I want to emphasize we were 1966 teenagers who listened to 1966 and pre-1966 music so we received massive doses of teeny-bopper melodies about girls,going steady,going steady class rings, cherry cokes etc.,...BW gave us just enough of Surfs Up to make SMiLE seem to be an important,oncoming, musical,and American answer to the British invasion of radioland in the USA.

I'd say 1967, when Smile became a hot topic of conversation. And then Smiley Smile was released and I wondered what the f*** was going on. I've since come to love SS on its own merits. But I remember being sorely disappointed and confused by the contrast between the majesty of "GV" (and to a degree "H&V") and the bare bones of everything else.

She's a keeper.

Then she'll be Ms. Hypehat "Two Sheds" Jackson.

Wow!! Buying records with paper route money! I was using it to buy Lionel trains!

The first I remember reading about SMiLE was the Jules Seigal article in a used copy of Cheetah or whatever it was. Then I picked up a paperback book called "Outlaw Blues" where Paul Williams talked about Smiley Smile, Wild Honey and SMiLE. Williams was at Brian's house during the SMiLE sessions and later included his article in his book "How Deep Is The Ocean". And.............did Tom Nolan touch on Smile in his '71 Rolling Stone 2-parter? If so, THAT might have been the first time I heard about SMiLE. I don't remember for sure - I slept since then.

So who's our winner?? Reddicktrout? He remembers watching the Leonard Bernstein special on TV!! But that was broadcast in April, 1967, right? He's tied with Mayo and Oldsurferdude and John K (who remembers SMiLE being a hot topic of conversation in 1967).

Damn, I feel young compared to those guys......

I first read and heard about Smile in 1971. So it is 40 years for me. Damn, I'm getting old. Yikes!

mikie-that was a long time ago-I cannot remember the exact month of the Bernstein TV special---If not April 67,was it in Dec 1966???any way,I watched it and remembered it because Surfs Up was different.I am 61 years old,and you are right,why would my dad and I just happen to be tuned in to that TV network on that night?My Mom was in the basement ironing I think.....I was at home with Dad because I was grounded,for coming home after a big game,smelling like beer...my punishment was dealt out...it was tough..., no night life,no cruizing,no nothing...for a week!  So I was right there on the couch watching as Bernstein led us through the young composers of the day.I think BW was the last to appear(not sure)...you are right to question posts from those of us who explored teenagery through the music of that time and actuallly realized Surfs Up to be a beginning of something special called SMiLE.

Ten year wait for me. I can't imagine the feeling of having to wait since 1966 when word first came out about SMiLE. Geez, TEN years almost killed me. Ha.

I've enjoyed BWPS for a few years, but discovered the Smile bootlegs late 2010. So I haven't been waiting that long. Got the announcement before I'd even heard He Gives Speeches.

I admire all you old people. That you're still obsessed with things like this.

I wonder if I'll still have this Beach Boys obsession when I'm in a retirement home, like you guys.

i remember cheetah and outlaw blues also. those 71 nolan articles were the icing on the cake for me. filled in gaps. plus i was older. when ss came out i thought at first it was the smile stuff people were talking about. my friend's brother was kind enough to let me play the station copy. wasn't impressed. but then i learned what was going on. really started reading about the smile story in detail when 20/20 came out.

yeah, i bought 45's. loved 'em. will admit the monkees were very big with me at the same time. and my brother, who had a paper route also, well for christmas 1969 we bought mom and dad a color tv from sears...all with paper route money. course we benefited from that gift also...  :)

I watched the Bernstein special-I remember my parents watched it as well-they liked Bernstein and Brian. I was a rabid, well seasoned fan for 4 whole years. Our group played IMR, DYWD, SG, and LS. What an unreal time to be a teen.

1992--19 years.

Good story, Redlicktrout. You have a darn good memory! Most people remember where they were when Pearl Harbor, the JFK assasination, the Beatles on Ed Sulivan, and 9/11 happened and you remember details around the time of the Bernstein special! Hope my memory serves like that when I'm 61!!

I read somewhere that Brian recorded the Bernstein special in November or December of 1966 and it aired on CBS in April of '67.

It's neat to watch the video of it even now.  So raw.  Just Brian and a piano.  I wonder if people were looking for Surf's Up to come out soon after it was on TV. It took four years for the song to come out, and by then I think most people who watched it in 1967 probably forgot about it.

I have been waiting for Smile for over 10 years which is nothing compared to most.

I first heard the snippets of Smile material on the GV box set when I was nine years old, so around 18 years.  I remember being fascinated by the backing tracks to Cabin Essence and Surf's Up and the sections of H&V especially.  I had just started taking piano lessons so it probably reached me at a point where I was most impressionable music-wise.  I didn't have a clue what Smile was but I'd consider that the start of my connection to this music.

It seems he did: http://s6.invisionfree.com/sproutnet/index.php?showtopic=2714 (http://s6.invisionfree.com/sproutnet/index.php?showtopic=2714)

I'm only 2 months in the marriage though.  I still have to at least let her think she is more important than Smile!   :lol

I have to add, my soon-to-be wife was introduced to BWPS in 2006 and loved it. Although she is more a Dennis fan. However, she is well versed in Smile and made the comment that the original tracks sound better than the BWPS. Her wait for Smile is relatively short: 5 years.

I'm pretty sure I read the Tom Nolan Rolling Stone article when it came out -- so I guess I've been waiting for SMiLE for 40 years, too.


Love and merci,   Dan Lega

I've been waiting since '71 or '72.  Had hopes that Smile would come out in the '70's, but pretty much gave up on a release by '80 or so.  Can't Wait Too Long...

Since about early 2010 when I was 15/16 and got into the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson.

Almost 6 years since I first heard Pet Sounds, BWPS, my first Smile bootleg (Ryan G`s Smile if I`m not mistaken), and Smiley Smile, in that order. 7 years since articles about BWPS made me aware of Smile and made me want to hear it. 8 years since hearing GV, Heroes, GOK, Wild Honey, Darlin`, and other post-`65 BBs stuff. 10 years since I first heard the words "Smiley Smile" together (had no idea what it meant at the time) in BNL`s song Brian Wilson. 20 years since I first heard the Boys through my mom`s old Endless Summer album and seeing an aging Lovester on Full House.

2008 when I got into the Beach Boys (I had BWPS on CD since 2007 but I was content with that until I learned more about SMiLE and heard tracks here and there)

I don't know when to consider my "wait." For the longest time, I wasn't a huge fan of the Smile sessions, although I still devoured all of it I could just because the whole topic itself was fascinating. I was very Phil Cohen when it was announced in 2003 that Brian would be doing Smile in concert, even; the announcement would be that Jeff (yes, JEFF) would be selecting 30 minutes' worth of Smile music that would be sequenced into some kind of performable order...let's see, some basic calculations tell me that that's nearly the exact amount of Smile-era recordings that are on the Good Vibrations box set, so if Brian indeed would agree to do a Smile concert, it'd be a major cop-out. And certainly if they were to do "Fire," it would be a "candle" remake that Brian talked about back in the day when he said that he would re-record it as a candle.

Yet, I did plunk down the money for Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 17, and in fact that might be the last bootleg I ever bought. (Ahhh, getting a CD burner in 1999 was such a great idea!) I got the famous "tape set" from that *cough* anonymous guy in Indiana -- that was literally one of the first things I did when I discovered Ethan Jones' "surfs-up" mailing list in 1993. I gobbled up all the Smile stuff I could, yet I still wasn't a huge fan of the music itself.

However, when February 2004 happened, and someone posted MP3s of the first Smile concert online, the Mrs. -- who like me, wasn't that crazy about Smile but unlike me did NOT seek out every bit of Smile stuff possible (and in fact was never a fan of b**tlegs) -- had me play the concert. She sat on the floor next to my Amiga 4000 Power Tower. We sat there silent the whole time, IINM, and after it was over, she said, and I q**te: "Holy. f**king. s**t." We were both stunned at how brilliant it was.

At that point, as far as I was concerned, Smile was completed. And that...was all I needed.

So I really don't know what to say in terms of how long I've been waiting, but dammit? NOVEMBER 1 CANNOT GET HERE FAST ENOUGH!!!!!!!

I've been waiting since early 2000 when I heard the GV box and the SMiLE tracks on it.  I loved Pet Sounds, and I was very curious to hear the follow up in full - though I admit, the 30 minutes of SMiLE material didn't impress me that much at the time!  Shame on me for not digging deeper.  I've been collecting bootlegs since 1986 of many other bands, but I guess I just wasn't big enough of a Beach Boys fan then to look into it.  For all I know, my friend who let me borrow his GV box had a ton of SMiLE boots. 

I have to say, there really isn't any album like SMiLE.  It's one thing to hope for a boxset of an album and it's sessions and outtakes, but because of how this album was recorded, it can be assmbled a million different ways like some crazy puzzle.  As a recording/writing musician (not for a living!), I am fascinated by this material and it's very inspiring. 

You mean this guy? I remember when this was making the rounds in collector's circles in 1996: 

http://www.surfermoon.com/boots/dps2.shtml

Wow...when I got it, it was only two tapes! a 60 and a 90...guess I really fell out of it, eh?

22 years for me (≈ 22 years, 1 month and 11 days) since I first heard fragments of SMiLE on a TDK D90 cassette. I thought it was the most incredible listening experience ever, while my friend was busy obsessing over The Smiths.

Then I received LLVS and the marriage was complete; an aural and visual feast!

12 years for me. I found out about SMiLE my senior year of high school. And I thought 2004 was the highlight of my SMiLE life!! Thank you Brian Wilson!!

And my first "boot" was Ann Wallace's first mix from her website. I still love that one!