The Smiley Smile Message Board

Anybody got one? An album that is consistently mellow and gentle, with great pop compositions?

Preferably an album from the 60s or early 70s. That's my favorite musical era.

Nilsson Sings Newman is a personal favorite.

Ram by Paul McCartney sort of reminds me of Friends, and the album that's being talked about recently, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, is sort of like if Friends was an entirely bossa nova record.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will check em out! I am a big fan of Ram, it definitely has some Friends moments now that you mention it.

Astral weeks by Van Morrison .

Not pop though it has some pop moments but music doesn't get more gentle

The Tokens - Intercourse... though I'd probably compare it more to Smiley Smile
Donovan - Hurdy Gurdy Man
Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis
The Four Seasons - Genuine Life Imitation Gazette
The Hollies - Dear Eloise/King Midas in Reverse
The Idle Race - S/T
The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society
The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina
The Left Banke - Too
The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine
Margo Guryan - Take a Picture
The Millennium - Begin
The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle
The Monkees - Head
Nirvana (UK Band) - Story of Simon Simopath
Kaleidoscope (UK Band) - Tangerine Dream
Os Mutantes - S/T
Paul Simon - S/T
Anything by Simon & Garfunkel of course
Pete Dello & Friends - Into Your Ears

alright that's enough for now. PM me if that list gets you pining for more.  :hat

That album is my personal savior.

chuck mangione's album "feels so good" is super chill and from the 70s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTaFxnnZTPw

of course the mighty fluegelhorn provides the melodies, not the voices.

Colin Blunstone's  (The Zomibies) first solo album  'One Year' from 1971 is a forgotten gem. Any Oddesy & Oracle fans who haven't heard it yet should run it down- it's really excellent. You might also like the music of The High Llamas. There's a strong Beach Boys influence in much of their music. I'm thinking of their 'Beet Maize & Corn' album as an especially gentle album you should give a try.

anything by Astrud Gilberto... just pick up her greatest hits or a random album...

I don't know specific albums by them so well, but probably something from The Free Design? They're the only other group I could imagine performing Meant For You (Alternate Version).

Second this. All her stuff has a great 'Busy Doin' Nothin' vibe.

On top of that - Zombies - R.I.P. (shelved followup to Odessey) via sonic love noize's ''albums that never were blog"

His mix is far superior to the "official release."

Check out the High Llamas.  Gideon Gaye.  Hawaii.  Their sound base is basically Friends and the Pet Sounds instrumentals.

Just took a listen to this band's album "Talahomi Way".

I highly recommend you all check it out if you like Friends!

By the way, thanks for all the suggestions guys!! Glad to have a forum to talk Beach Boys!

Harpers Bizarre - my fav is probably "Anything Goes" their 2nd album I think..a sort of friends vibe mixed with vaudeville

Id def 2nd the Free Design shout too

Surprised no one mentioned Donovan's A Gift From a Flower to a Garden.

Not LIKE "Friends", but an undeniable influence on the "Friends" instrumentals, is "Eden Ahbez-Eden's Island"

The Swedish one-girl project Taken by Trees has cited exotica / hawaian & polynesian sounds AND Friends as a direct influence on its most recent album, 'Other Worlds'.

Here's a youtube playlist of all the tracks:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3KAo4YVFObRO5gSqePNsFakOYofVX6J

It's not very similar to Friends, but it is mellow and gentle--Mason Williams' Classical Gas album, from 1967, I think.  There are some really nice tracks on this one.

if you mean by a straight forward "latin/Bossa Nova/Brazilian" type album then other than Astrud as I said above there's also Burt Bacharach, herb alpert and Henry Manicini and they have a similar feel to what you are looking for but are also Mainstream now as far as jazz musicians theres also Stan Getz and Antonio Jobim.. now if you are talking about rock albums with a similar vibe and not specifically a "Latin/Bossa/Brazilian" recording but may have aspects of it then I think some of the albums that people have listed above are good choices... just remember to look for Bossa Nova or Brazilian or Latin when browsing the cd store or looking online to find songs similar to "Busy doing nothing" and there are a lot to choose from and they are very relaxing, some are very sexy especially the ones with a female singer like Astrud (for example)..IMO they are worth checking out, I have checked a lot of these artists put and have found some amazing songs..

These dudes are way beyond Brian Wilson, even though he's an influence.  Microdisney and High Llamas are huge, huge stuff.

McCartney's (superb) early solo albums all have a Friends-vibe, so much so that it's hard not to suspect the album was something of an inspiration to Macca when he was recording them.

How about the mellower UK version of Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow?

http://www.jeffersonairplane.com/ja-air/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1630

Or, at a pinch...


(http://991.com/newgallery/Ultimate-Spinach-Behold--See-383056.jpg)

Steely Dan -Aja

Pretty well everything by The Incredible String Band...

'Oar', by Skip Spence.

Even tho it's half-psychedelic, "Men and Doors: The Hobbits Communicate" by the Hobbits. Don't mind the title, nary to do with the Tolkien tales.