The Smiley Smile Message Board

Vocal insert???

Love the mix here. The hum be dums are back in (yay!) and the alternate ending isn't bad either. Always thought the song ended too soon.

Yeah, it took some time for the music industry in the 60's to get their head around a single longer than 3 minutes. Bob Dylan's 'Like A Rolling Stone', at six minutes and released the year before Good Vibrations, paved the way for longer singles.

Also 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'', which Spector told them to print the wrong time on the sleeve!

Well, it's the greatest POP song ever. What more needs to be said!

Oh yeah...I forgot about that Spector production. As with all things Spector, you'd have to think that it could have had an influence on Brian and the length of this single.  Good Vibrations the greatest POP song ever? Hell yeah! :thumbsup :thumbsup

The GV disc on the set is the most tiresome by a considerable margin. Oh well.

Rather have it than not, amirite?

Yeah it's tiresome but there are some great moments. Especially for the 5/27/66 Western chorus session where Brian insinuates the wrecking crew is hung over!  :lol

Still listening to the sessions here. Still some left. Will give thoughts once that part of the box set is over.

-Never heard Brian scatting those vocals during the middle eight of "Good, Good, Good Vibrations" before.
-Never heard that alternate edit before with Brian's vocals before. Interesting. An interesting clash of the "two versions".
-Tape rewind sounds like it came from a mixing session.

what happened to the stereo good vibes we were gonna get?

The alternate edit is a new favourite of mine. This assembly gives the song a totally different feel, although the structure is the same. Love it.

That was planned? I assumed a stereo version was never in the cards. Probably for the best, too -- given the amount of black magic you'd have to commit for it to even be listenable, I'm glad Linett and co. chose to dedicate their time to compiling the rest of the set.

I had no idea Gary Coleman played timpani and sleighbell parts for the GV's sessions.

first promo vid had stereo mixes of heroes, cabinessence, and good vibes

vocals were panned like purple chick

There is no way to make a decent stereo "Good Vibrations" as long as the vocal tracks are missing. I'm glad they were at least a bit more conservative there.

Has anyone figured out how much overlap there is between the new "Good Vibrations: Session Masters" track and the "Various Sessions" mixed in stereo on the 40th Anniversary GV single and the "Stereo Track Sections" included on Hawthorne?

There is definitely overlap between the 3, but I can't figure out yet if any track becomes redundant now.

really?

I like that they put the hum-be-dahs in, but I miss them singing "gotta keep those lovin' good..." over it ala Purple Chick/BWPS.  I'll still take it.  And having an extended ending is nice too.

I have to say that I'm amazed at how much non-Beach Boy fans love this song in general.  Even my girlfriend who has gotten sick of hearing anything by the Beach Boys still loves GV anytime it's on.  Her other favorite is Vega-Tables (any version).  I guess people calling it the greatest single ever aren't too far off! ;D

I wish it were in better fidelity, but it is a neat cross between the "Early Take" (from the SS/WH twofer) and the "Alternate Take" (from RARITIES and the GV 40th anniversary CD single).

"Good Vibrations: Session Masters" is the super edit of what used to be "Stereo Track Sections" and it makes Disc 5 completely worth it (along with the newly assembly "alternate" mix). The 2-CD version of TSS contains the more familiar session highlights edit that has been available since the SMILEY SMILE / WILD HONEY two-fer. There is definitely a lot of overlap, but the "Session Masters" is easily the most listenable assemblage I've heard.

I think the GV-disc is as interesting as any of the other. I was surprised that I didn't see Glenn Campbell being listed as I thought (and he said) that he played on the song.
The only thing that's kinda missing is the original single version which imo should be on the box

Thought the same thing, as the original single was the end result of all the work showcased on disk 5.

The Rarities version is also not on there.

What version is that ?

It has elements of both the Pet Sounds version and the finished version.  I believe Rarities was officially issued but quickly pulled.

Its unique elements are on the 'alternate edit' or similar.

No need for that, I already have that multiple times... and I'm certain every owner of the TSS box has it! ::)

The rarities version is a version with no verse vocals, different (or additional?) chorus vocals ("ye-eh-ah") and different 2nd and 3rd bridges. It has the fuzz bass bridge as 2nd bridge, and over the 3rd bridge (not the organ one) there are humbeedums.

Of course but it still is the result of all those sessions and I think that it deserves it's inclusion. But that's just a minor thing all in all.




Thanks. Are all these parts on TSS ?

*sigh.*

Just curious: Where would Brian have gotten the inspiration for the Hum Dee Dum part? Is it just an odd piece he thought of out of nowhere? Or had other musicians at the time done any 'chanting' (?) in a record?

"Chanting" was always part of The Beach Boys' vocal arrangements from specific instances like the Native American chant on "Ten Little Indians" to all of the doo-wop variations that found their way into the backing vocals. The difference on the SMiLE tracks was that Brian was using these backing vocal techniques as "stand-alone" segments.

There are plenty of examples of other singers doing this kind of thing earlier. A notable one being "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"; the famous Tokens version (that Brian would have definitely heard) was released in '61.

Thanks for responding! I didn't even think of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'...the Hum Dee Dum in GV sounds almost of African origin, to me anyways. Thanks again!

I love any session work when it comes to GV and the box set has some great stuff...except for one thing...the chugging cellos!!!
I think those cellos in the chorus are like the engine or the power source of the song...does anyone know if the cellos are on any
bootleg collections?

I don't understand the purpose of the additional bridge (besides the fact that it was on BWPS). I don't think that the Smile of 1967 would have an altered/remixed version of Good Vibrations. It was already perfect.

Since the release of the SMiLE "album" happened in 2011 and not 1967, there was 44 years worth of this material being re-worked, re-packaged and re-released. The approach taken with TSS was to present versions of these songs that appeared different from what had been released before, even if some of those releases had been bootlegs only. Despite how great the session tracks were, a potential criticism could have been that the finished tracks had already appeared on various releases through the years including the GOOD VIBRATIONS box set. By issuing versions that had never been heard before, the producers could avoid the perception that the "album" was just a collection of previously released tracks.

I believe the BWPS version of "Good Vibrations" returned to the original Tony Asher lyric draft, as well as incorporate the additional bridge vocals, in an attempt to give it an identity apart from the 45 single everyone knew. The TSS assembly did the same thing by incorporating the additional vocals.

I prefer GV WITHOUT the hum-dee-ahh's but WITH the extended ending. Can we have that please?

(Some people are never satisified huh?)

Well you just have to edit it. Don't you know someone who has editing software?

Neither do I. The TSS version is an interesting edit, anyway.

The extension makes perfect sense to me. It fits with the more progressive style of SMiLE, as well as it being on an album, it would give Brian the liberty to have a more full version of the track as he saw it - since Capitol (before it was released and became a massive hit) thought the track was too long, and that is not something you can really say to a track on an LP. At least it doesn't go all out of whack like the various remixes like the Alternate stuff like "She's Already Workin On My Brain" or the Rarities Mix. Those are really cool, but as what are essentially remixes" In the same way the Heroes and Villains Pts. One and Two are fantastic and would have been a ground-breaking single release, but something resembling what they did on the side 1 of TSS makes more sense as what would formally be known as the canon Smile version (which is debatable on what is definitive, but you understand the ballpark I am working in).

No. But if you wanna do it for me and forward it, please do!

The Hum-de-ahh's kind sound like a prayer to me...in a chant form. Brilliant....it is the "Spiritual Sound" Brian spoke about.

I just listened to the whole Good Vibrations disc from start to finish. He definitely wanted to make it perfect!!!

One of the best Good Vibrations sessions ins't in TSS neither Unsurpassed Masters. It's the 29th track from Odeon ST-9002. Does anyone know why?

I can't find my Odeon SMiLE at the moment - can you give us a general discription of the track? Musical section, prominenet instruments, dialog?

http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/SMiLE+Odeon+Version+2nd+Edition/3151241 (http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/SMiLE+Odeon+Version+2nd+Edition/3151241)

I've totally heard that session before. Isn't it on TSS?

no. only with added guitar and drums

I agree. I think it's reasonable that he'd do something special for the album cut. Similar to H&V perhaps, except the other way around with the single cut of that song being much longer but split between sides.


Absolutely. It's a complete waste, as far as I'm concerned. Far more varied and important material could and should have made the cut ahead of 20 million takes of the same riff over and over again. What the heck were they thinking? I know it's arguably the best single of all time, but still. At least with H&V, all the sessions are completely unique.

Just (FINALLY) listened to the box set in its entirety...so many thoughts. Many gripes, but such is the rather subjective nature of SMiLE...

Regarding GV, I'm sure it's discussed elsewhere, but can someone fill me in on why the Hum-Be-Dums were left out of the original single? (In a similar vein, the same question goes for the God Only Knows acapella tag...) They (Hum-Be-Dums) are absolutely my favorite part of the song, really wish they'd included them on the original release.

Another thing: I started with GV disc years back (bought the set when it came out) and really didn't dig that disc...the big takeaway I got from it was that early versions of GV were inspired by (and essentially the same melody as) 'The Boy From New York City'... (I also love to make connections between Brian's songs and their original roots, I will have to start a thread sometime)

And totally agree with the comments that the discs could have been fleshed out with other sessions instead of GV. Like, when I listened to the Vega-Tables takes, I was disappointed and yearning for so much more, ie the SoT/Unsurpassed Masters. (Actually, the whole box set felt incomplete and too short for my liking-- I'm a completist, so I really wish they'd just released everything that was recorded during that time.)

Wow. That's quite a revelation, although it's as plain as day once you get the connection. Thanks, C(IE).

Looking forward to that thread...

Whatever happened to Cab (In Essence) aka wormdigger? Just one post and the promise of a thread...

Attention board members!  I mentioned on a few of these threads that I have been working on a 5.1 surround mix of SMiLE.  Well I'm finished, and this will be released on the MQR label on the first day of summer (when else?).  However I am here able to show you the surround mix of Good Vibrations.  Yes, I said Good Vibrations, the song they can't even make a proper stereo mix of because of missing vocal stems.  I used the best in modern technology and the many available mixes and sources to get all the vocal stems I needed and here it is in all it's full surround glory!

I made this by isolating and separating the vocal tracks from the mono single, the "stereo" Smiley Smile remix, the Rarities mix, the Asher lyrics take and about a dozen different concerts released on the Lei'd in Hawaii and 66-67 box.  These were composited together to recreate and thicken the original vocals.  This version I'm sharing is the version with the Mike Love lyrics and is edited to match the 2011 Smile Sessions box set (the hum be da verse after gotta keep those lovin good...and the longer fade.  The version appearing on the forthcoming album known as "MQR's SMiLE: Good Vibrations All Around" is the alternate mix with the Asher lyrics and the fast gotta keep section followed by an instrumental insert and then the ending.
File is a multichannel flac at 16/48, so don't try to play on your phone. 

I hope this entertains and astounds you while also garnering interest in the project I've been working on every day for the last 7 months.

https://mega.nz/file/ikgiSBjJ#WNeQAyaXUJc2rwUDmWoSDGdGsVjwFctk1Tidle_LHQs

Here you go