The Smiley Smile Message Board

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Welcome! ;D

Never have stopped, although my level of obsession has waxed and waned.


Welcome to the board!

Same here (more or less). Welcome, SN129. :=)

Welcome!

I kinda completely stopped for a month or two this last year. It wasn't because I got sick of the music, but other influences were making me tired of this band. But that seems to be far behind me and I'm back to listening to them daily. A while back not a week didn't go by where I didn't listen to Pet Sounds. I'm either listening to Pacific Ocean Blue, cuts from the new Unplugged Party Album, TWGMTR, etc.

The thing with the Beach Boys is they literally have over 50 years of good material (excluding an album or two), and I swear every week I find some new harmony or musical note that I never picked up on before. A former(?) poster once told me he only pulls out SMiLE to listen to once around Christmastime...that way it never gets old and always sounds fresh. I don't have the patience for that, but I love the idea.

Btw, when you explored those new genres did you find anything you really liked? I've been trying to get more into ambient (listening to a lot of Brian Eno), but haven't explored much beyond.

Hi SN129 and welcome.
I listened to the Beach Boys a lot when I was a kid; not much in college; a lot mid-late 20s; not much early 30s; then a lot; now waning.
Each little burst, my appreciation has a slightly different angle and I'm noticing new things. Just listen when it strikes you, don't when it doesn't. Leaving and coming back can open new sounds. Or, for me anyway.

Welcome! I've been listening since I was a little kid, back then it was Greatest Hits vol 2 on 8-track, and hoping to get change to play I Get Around on those tabletop jukeboxes they had at the Jersey shore when we used to go there.

I listen to so much and so many different styles, sometimes the work element of having to listen, learn, and play all kinds of music in order to teach crowds out the listening for pleasure. But in terms of BB's material, it's the unexpected plays on old-fashioned broadcast radio that spark an interest. I love being surprised by hearing a random BB's cut on the radio, in the car.

For me, I was obsessed with Smile. Every snippet I could hear, I'd listen. And then some. I listened to the "chants" over and over again, while some found them tedious. I found them inspiring and creative.

I went back not long ago, looking for other outtakes, and revisited some of the meat-and-potatoes Smile session tapes I had tucked away. First time I listened in a long time.

Brian calling takes, slating tracks, take after take as Carl delivered a live vocal with a studio full of musicians. Brian was in - make note of this, naysayers - full control over every single note and timbre. Every players position at the mic, he'd call it. Every stray note, he'd call it. Every take that felt just that little bit off, he'd call it. And he was aware of every note and not just that, but every tone and timbre of every note, that he was able to pinpoint how close a reed player was to the mic and adjust accordingly.

That is breathtaking listening, for me. That is what gets the blood pumping, and the inspiration going. A man age 24 with one good ear literally making magic in the studio.

That's why I love Smile. Do I listen every day like I used to? No.

But it's great to come back and visit. Like returning to your hometown and going to that one restaurant that makes a certain dish exactly as you like it. There is no substitute. And it's gratifying beyond words.

Rab, this topic may be of some help. I can't vouch for all the links being in place, but it might encourage you to explore some areas further:

http://beachboysforum.freeforums.org/ambient-music-mood-before-melody-t177.html 

Thanks John! Listening to Premiers Symptomes now. One thing I love about streaming music services is having nearly every album at your disposal.

Did you hear Air's Le Voyage Dans La Lune? Over the last couple years I find myself gravitating toward it every now and then.

Looking forward to reading/listening to more of the suggestions made in that thread! Thanks again.

You're welcome. I'll check out the Air album tonight...

It's not very ambient. But much of it is catchy, but it's likewise creepy - which is why I find it odd that I listen to it often.

Welcome from a fellow Love You lover!
I was a huge BB fan as a kid, then stopped listening to them in 1968 (last BB song I listened to at the time was "I Can Hear Music") and resumed 30 years later.
Why did I stop? Misinformation. In the backwoods of Europe the word was they had disbanded about 1969, after their leader, Brian Wilson, had "been deafened by playing bass at too high a volume". I switched to other things, but always cherished my "Smiley Smile", which I had received as a present.
Why did I resume? I was loking for other things in my fav music shop and suddenly I hear Mike's unmistakable bass voice... they were playing the Good Vibrations box set. I forgot what I was looking for and bought it.
Some hours later, I heard the Smile section... and here I am.

I once read a book where it said the BB split up in 1969 after "lead guitarist Brian Wilson drowned in his swimming pool". Somehow Brian Wilson and Brian Jones got mixed up, I guess ::)

And also the Beatles and the Beach Boys with the 1969 split up?

Oh yeah, there's that too!