The Smiley Smile Message Board

For Haiti, of course. 'Cast' of 80 or so.

Good God. I also just read that Pete Townshend of The Who has authorised a hip hip remix of My Generation that will feature Slash. Just because Haiti is suffering, doesn't mean we have to.

Backing vocal.

Ever battle Slash on Guitar Hero III? Best part of that game... And now even more so!

On a serious side, I actually once spoke to Slash on the telephone. Long story short, my then room mate was dating the drummer's mother from the Kenny Wayne Sheppard Band and phones were swapped around (they were the opening band on a G&R tour) and suddenly I was talking to Slash. Didn't really have much to say or really know what to say. But it was certainly one of those strange moments in life. Kenny's parents still live just down the street from my mother by the way.

Pretty cool that you got to talk to slash. I once spoke to Santa Clause on the phone once when I was a little boy.  ;D

So Brian won't be one of the featured parts? Wonder if he or Al would be audible...or sound like each other! :lol

I hate that song. Sounds like a Coke (or coke, for that matter) advert.

Okay, which of the completists among us will buy purely for the presence of Al & Bri?

Not me. I'd rather send the money in an envelope to Haiti.

I can see where it would be hard to believe such a conversation took place but it did. Can't remember talking about much more than the weather. This was back in spring of 1996. I guess now if I spoke to him I would ask him about Velvet Underground. They weren't such a bad band. Never cared for Axle's vocals though (G&R) although I used to play "November Rain" on the piano for girls in the hopes of getting laid (and was very often successful!).

Back on topic, why not write a new song for Haiti instead of retreading 80's music that was written for Africa? On the other hand, IMO "Surf's Up" would have been totally appropriate for New Orleans after Katrina. For those of you who have ever been there (or live there now) you would get what I mean.

Sorry... your post elicited a black joke in me. A new version of 'Kokomo' with 'Haiti' as the title, of inserted somewhere...

Link to "We are the World" article in Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020200485.html

I remember when the original "We Are the World" came out and fans complained that none of the Beach Boys participated. Now that oversight's been rectified -- good for Brian and Al!

I hope that this single doesn't carry the Jardine Curse... :-D

No way. If push comes to shove, a little voodoo will lift that curse.

didn't like the first one, definitely won't be buying this one.  Do They Know It's Christmas was a better song IMO.

This has to be the one picture I thought I'd never see  ;D

(http://www.rap-up.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/watw-17.jpg)

Who is that guy to the right of Al?

Kanye west, and Tony Bennet right behind.

What a strange grouping of artists.

Here's Brian and and Al

(http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/96342668.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF878921A343B2C87A49D8F5F8362B697CCA06FCFE4D5609E3A1735B45A2161C52974962)

I think you meant you'd ask him about Velvet Revolver, right? Actually, I'd be more interested in what he thought about the Velvet Underground!

I would have thought that someone could have written a new song to benefit Haiti; the thought of hearing "We Are The World" again is distressing.

Hmmm... sounds more like one of good ole' Bri's practical jokes of old to me...

Hey, Kanye, I'm new to the biz... how do I release an EP? Care to tell me?

AL: Hey, Brian, is it peach shirt day?
BRIAN: I'm just going to keep sitting down so they think I can't stand up. Maybe then I'll get to leave early.
TONY: Hey, it's John Denver! How's it going, John?

THE PAIN!!!

 :o Think Brian was just tired? Those things can go on for hours.

Hope, and doubt it's something more serious.

Yo Al, I know you were in the Beach Boys and Imma let you finish, but the Fat Boys were the best Beach Boys members...OF ALL TIME!

This is just too hysterical. BW and Al in the same shirts, Al next to Kanye, priceless  :lol

 :lol :lol :lol

That's the best "Imma let you finish" I've ever heard

Closer to hip hop than hip surgery...

Allow me to re-quote it. It is glorious.

No oversight - back in 1985, the organisers wanted Brian, but were told they could have The Beach Boys or nothing. They chose nothing.

I could have done without Bruce Springsteen on that one, and with the BBs. I might have purchased. But it's a lousy song.

Just to set some truly shoddy reporting straight, the Reuters report quoted on the Bloo that claimed Brian & Alan ignored each other is a complete falsehood. They got along just fine.

These last few days have been just surreal.

Go Brian! Go Al!

Al is becoming some sort of secret weapon... he's Mr. Terrific. Average guy turned superhero or something.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/02/we-are-the-world-haiti (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/02/we-are-the-world-haiti)

Big names including Brian Wilson, Tony Bennett and Snoop Dogg gather to sing charity hit in aid of disaster survivors

Singers and actors re-record We Are the World in aid of victims of the Haiti earthquake. Photograph: Getty Images

The crossover classical tenor Josh Groban insisted "everybody left their ego at the door" – which may not have been universally apparent as Beach Boys Brian Wilson and Al Jardine ignored one another and perfectionist Streisand recorded take after take of her few bars.

Thanks AGD for putting out that fire, weirded me out when I read it.

If I were Bri I'd also let a stand-in take my duties whilst the diva would be doing her thang for hours on end.

I don't even want to know why Brian and Al are wearing matching three sizes too large ORANGE shirts.

that would be Salmon, my dear boy.  ;D

Oh, well that's different then. :police:

I have decade-old issues from having worn what I was told was a salmon shirt to work. Sheesh. The mercilessness of "friends."

Those shirts make them easy to spot in the crowd, tho.   :3d

I can't help but to think that at the very moment this picture was being taken, neither of them had any clue who the other guy was. I can't wait for the music video. Maybe Brian and Kanye will hold hands and sway back and forth.  ::)

I guess I was one of the few who LOVED the original We Are The World...I was only 9 at the time, and it was cool to see so many different artists from different genres sing together.  I had all the parts memorized, as did most of my classmates! 

I can't wait till this is released!  I'm very excited that Al & Brian are taking part.  As for the report that they didn't talk to each other, it makes me mad that someone would make something up like that!  We can correct that assertion on message boards and whatnot, but most people who read that article will never find out the truth!

I guess some hack lacked the energy to investigate and used 'rumours' from the past to write his text.

Yeah, bummer.

Let's shoot him.

Caught a brief story on the news and Emdeeh is right. Those shirts stood out in the crowd. Maybe thats what Brian and Al were discussing on that youtube clip on the grammy red carpet. Matching threads for the next day!

Or how about this? They 'ignored' each other cause of the same shirts! Dam prima donnas.  ;)

Then the shirts are items from Mike Love's new clothes line? Apt for 'control' reasons?

I guess it's just that people who aren't very familiar with Brian sometimes misinterpret the way he acts (I once heard someone say that he saw an interview with Brian on tv and that he thought that Brian was an arrogant rock star who just couldn't be bothered to give any decent answers). So maybe someone just figured "These guys were best friends in high school, it's probably been a while since they've last seen each other... Why aren't they excited? Why don't they hug or something? I bet there's still some bad blood here!".

Al: Hey Brian, Tony Bennett just said he'd sing on Postcards From California

Brian: Huh?

No, they're peach colored.  So they can be the Peach Boys!  :p

i hope dan ackroyd comes back with those thick glasses.    :lol

Tony Bennett, thinking to himself: "now there's a couple of outtasight, swinging cats letting it ALL hang out. Truly wild".

I read Vince Vaughan took his place  :(

I heard snippets of this cover, it's alright, too much Celine Dion, but whatever.

Priceless!  :lol  :lol  :lol

To every one who has so far posted in this thread a big thank you, I haven't laughed this much in ages!

I just cannot get over those shirts, did they call each other the night before and plan it? Absolutely priceless!  :lol

Seriously I wonder if they wear the same (or similar) shirts to make clear, that they are representing the same band.

Maybe they should've worn some vintage striped shirts....

Ugghhh...my excitement level just went down a few notches.  I can't STAND her voice!

Or what about matching bathrobes?

Mike and Bruce are on tour at the moment but I wonder if they would have been interested in this project?


For those of you like myself who don't know who most of the artists are, try this link.

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/interactive/2010/feb/03/haiti-we-are-the-world

Deep in my heart I knew the day would come when we'd get to hear Alan Jardine on the very same recording as LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes.  :-D

Brian looks like a cardboard cut-out in that picture, by the way.

Syncopate Kayne...Syncopate!

Only people who can still sing were asked to participate in the project. :-D

(http://stereogum.com/img/gallery/2010/02/we_are_the_world_--_25_for_haiti_recording_sessions/gallery_enlarged/gallery_enlarged-kanye-beachboys.jpg)

"hey brian, ima let you sing in a minute"
"why does no one else have sheet music? are we that old?  snoop?"
"i love that me and al are in orange cream. and i like my chair"

Kanye has mentiond pet sounds in his blog before as an inspiration.

Wouldn't be suprised if he got along with Brian

Somebody even made a kanye west vs beach boys album, where they mixed pet sounds with his college droput album, was amazing

(http://www.oesquema.com.br/trabalhosujo/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/west-sounds.jpg)




 ;D ;D

Maybe Brian and Al are testing out the new official shirts of the impending 50th Anniversary Tour.  Kinda like the successor to the old striped shirts. 

i saw a in an article that nicole richie tweeted how awesome it was to sing next to brian wilson.

"WOW. Brian Wilson stood next to me & I got to hear him sing right into my left ear. Can you say AWESOME!"

Cool girl.

Ah yeah! The Dude made it! He had enough time between his Tron sequel and Starman convention

Kanye: "Hey Brian, I'm a genius too!"

I won't buy the CD. But I will buy the DVD.

Now, that's totally something Kanye would say, too.

Yo Brian... now you're here mon... on SOT 17 at 1'34" into Take 5 of 'Vega-Tables', how did you get dat cool vibe in dat carrot chompin' bit??

Best so far!!!!!!  :lol

Yo Al! Im a let you finish, but Sgt. Peppers was the best album of 1967!

I am not or never will be a Kanye West fan but this mashup you mentioned is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. And I actually turned my son-in-law onto Pet Sounds by giving him a copy of both (he's a dj who is into rap). Look for this one if you get a chance.

To quote Morrisey, when asked to take part in Live Aid: 'Do we really have to be made to suffer as much as those we're trying to help?'
The original version of We Are The World was horrendous. I haven't yet heard the remake, although if Simon Cowell's Haiti fund-raising single is anything to go by - a breathtakingly hideous cover of Everybody Hurts, featuring Leona Lewis doing her vocal gymnastics schtick - it'll make me want to vomit myself inside out!
I know it's for a good cause but if I want to give money to the people suffering in Haiti then i'll just donate it, quietly, without announcing it to everyone I know, and without buying some awful chari-dee single. And I wish celebrities would just do the same. I find it very distasteful that, say, sandra Bullock can't just donate a million pounds to haiti - she has to publicly announce that she's doing it. Is that benefiting the Haiti people or Sandra Bullock's public image? I mean, did you see john travolta using the tragedy as a means to promote his barmy religion? Horrid, horrid, horrid. Just give them the money, celebs, you've got enough of the stuff - and keep it to yourselves when you do.

Sorry, these things annoy me. So yeah, I wish Brian (and Al) weren't involved with such an awful song!

Postcard from California, featuring cameos from Crosby, Young, Steve Miller, Brian Wilson, Flea, and KANYE WEST.

That's why Al's taking so long. He has to tweak the autotune on Kanye's rap in Help Me Rhonda.

"Help me get her out of ma muthafuckin heart"

:lol :lol :lol :lol

Be on the lookout for Lil' Wayne on Don't Fight the Sea, and T-Pain on Lookin' Down The Coast!!

Autotune on Don't Fight the Sea would be great. I could totally picture it as an electropop song.

The song's cheese factor is duly noted, but I've always had a soft spot for this song.  At least the 1985 version.  Where else are you going to hear Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Kenny Rogers, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan all sing on the same track with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Ray Charles?  This new version will probably be a disaster, with or without Beach Boy involvement. 

I think it's cool that this is being attempted again with a different batch of celebrities... but in the end, it just feels like another in the looooooong line of "Michael's dead, AND profitable!" cash-ins.

This song didn't even need an overblown all-star recording - Michael's solo demo (with admittedly weaker lyrics) was pretty damn good on its own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4jSciVI&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4jSciVI&feature=player_embedded)

Videos out!!!

Well that was...interesting.  Could have done with out the rap and the auto-tuned "singing," but parts of it were decent.  Obviously I'm biased, but I would think that Brian has earned himself a solo line over people like Enrique Iglesias, Miley Cyrus or Justin Beiber, but it was cool to see him there either way.  It's nice that they kept MJ in there too, that made me happy.

I too liked the fact they kept Michael in there.

Though I have to say I don't like it. Original is much better, imo. I enjoyed the Maroon 5 singer/Tony Bennett parts. I agree with you, Chris Brown, that Brian earns a solo line, thought about that while watching. I did find it funny Al digging the rap part. Auto-tune on Don't Fight The Sea would be pretty hilarious. I can hear it though haha

I am soooooo out of touch. When the 1985 version came out, I could identify everybody in the video. For this 2010 version, I need captions underneath because I have no idea who half of those people are.

I find myself liking the demo more! I didn't think remaking it was necessary but... I guess as long as it goes to a good cause.

Pause the video at exactly 5:48 into the song. The women's face says it all.  :lol

Yeah, I didn't know who anyone was this time around either.  I recognized Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Brian, Al, and Jeff Bridges.  I think I saw Snoop Dogg in there too, and I recognized T-Pain from the autotune.

But otherwise.... eh.

I was watching the morning news when  the "Everybody Hurts" video came on. Christ I nearly chocked on my muesli!!  Anytime something with the likes of James Blunt and Susan Boyle is about to be shown on telly there should be a flash warning in the top of the screen for a full 5 minutes beforehand!! Just more 'celebs' using a tragedy to get public exposure and boost their careers.

T-Pain never fails to creep me out. That rap part made me think of outdated "nu metal" rubbish like Linkin Park.

I think as a whole this is even worse than the original, which is quite an accomplishment, isn't it?

If you know half the people, that's about 3 times as many as I knew.  I could probably count 15 people out of the 85 that I knew.

Just watched a second time.  The song just falls apart the last minute and a half or so.  Celine Dion's part is especially annoying as well.  It's all for a good cause, so I'm glad it will sell well, and I'll probably buy it, too.  But I won't be listening to it very much.

Well... it's a charity single for an outstanding cause, so should be above criticism [you know what's coming, dontcha ?].

But... it's too damn long, the rap sections are just utterly out of place, not to mention disrupting both the flow and the atmosphere, and Celine Dion manages to be even more irritating than Cyndi Lauper was first time around. MJ was a nice touch.

And yeah, I feel biblical now - discounting BDW & ACJ, I knew maybe six, seven faces.

I say there's no shame on not recognizing people. These are performers marketed to a specific audience, and with all due respect to all involved (including myself), most of the people posting here are not in that audience. That is, unless there are more tweens and teens here than I thought. (I know we've got a few teens.)

Also, I think a good handful of the artists really have any audience in the US. Not that I recognize them either!  :)

I'm trying to figure out what Wyclef Jean yells at 6:30.  It's probably something in Haitian Creole, but it sure sounds like "Tamales!!!"

The rap part blows, but I kinda like it the first few minutes.

Look at when the camera pans to Brian, he puts on his fake smile, pretty hilarious

I really like the way I could hear Al Syncopate the vocals.  We are the World da ba daba de da de da!

Where exactly can you hear that?

 ;D

I am just joking, based on the Help Me Rhonda tapes....They should have tried to include "The Colonel's Song."

Enough with the fucking autotune already! Obviously its used for effect with some people (which still sounds awful), but I can hear it used for "perfection" purposes on just about every other vocal on here. Tony Bennett does not need to be frigging autotuned. They even did it to Michael's original vocal - was that really necessary?

I can't wait until this fad dies out. For effect or for fixing things that often don't even need to be fixed, it sounds fucking awful and it's really gonna date things once people get over it. Remember those awesome synth drums in the 80s? Remember when it was cool to add gobs and gobs of chamber reverb over everything in the 80s? Yeah, those recordings suck and so do these.

Wyclef Jean sounds like he was trying to do his best "Tarzan" in this debacle.

Could someone please explain me what exactly 'autotune' is? :D

Good q. By inference I think that it is a device that automatically corrects for wavering, out of tune vocals. Am I right?

Go to youtube and listen to 'Believe' by Cher.

That is extreme autotune, done for effect, but it can be done using smaller 'increments' if you know what I mean to achieve a less-jarring sound.

Autotune grabs every fractional note and rounds it off to the nearest whole note, thus removing much of the personality of the singer from the voice.

A Quantum of Silence, if you will pardon the pun.

I hate this kinda stuff.  "We are the world...we are the children?"  What does that even mean!?   :lol

Not to throw any cold water on a nice gesture...I do just hate this stuff.  Just donate money!  As if all the star power of the stars means anything to ANYBODY in the "world" that "we are" outside of the "we" who think "we are the world?"

 :wall

Haven't had a chance to read this thread, but this is hilarious, and what's funny is it looks like Al is thinking 'who is this nobody?'

 :lol I can tell you want Kanye is thinking:  "We are the world?  Naah...I'm the world."

Half Sheriff?  I'm too embarrassed to admit the total number I could name but don't mind giving a clue. If you exclude Brian and Al (too easy, right?) then 25% of those I could name died before Christmas.

If you care for an example of autotune used very carelessly, may I point you in the general direction of the Live at Knebworth 1980 DVD.

Really?  Well they should have autotuned some of Mr. Love's leads a little more. He was really bad on alot of that show.

He's asking the wrong guy, should have asked the guy in the orange shirt on his right!

Actually I'd say it's one of Michael's better lyrics, he's saying (as I interpret it) that instead of being selfish you should see yourself as the world, or as the children, and be selfish about that instead.  Later in his career he of course went off the deep end with that overblown pretentious stuff, but for a few years there he walked a fine line of making big, over the top corny philosophical statements that actually worked pretty well.  By the time he got to "Heal The World" it was a little too much, and it went wayyyyyyyy downhill from there.  Man In The Mirror really worked, although he didn't write that.  "We Are The World" is just about as good as he got, imho.

Justin friggin' Bieber gets to be in the same room as Brian Wilson and Al Jardine and I don't. It hasn't been a good day.

I'm a genius too, Bieber.