So I tried to e-mail Van Dyke Parks about some "Smile" stuff, and this is the bizarre reply I got...

>....And what are you up to these days anyway Steve?
>Give me some insight into the world of Steven Worek.
>Far more insteresting, I suspect!

...huh??  Can anyone more fluent in 'Van Dyke' translate this???

But I did make an attempt to reply:

"If you really need to know, I'm an undercover FBI agent who was assigned to decode the supposed 'hidden subliminal messages' embedded in the lyrics of "Smile", because the government is suspicious that you were using them to brainwash America's youth.  They're especially curious about 'columnated ruins domino.'" 

No, Brian escapes, and then Michael falls in.   Then Brian gets trapped inside a microphone.

I'm trying to make the longest possible mix of Heroes And Villains, but I don't wanna repeat much, if anything (I don't want 20 takes of 'dit dit dit, heroes and villains'), so what other Smile bits and pieces were part of Heroes at some point?

I have an idea of where to stick in "Do You like Worms"... wasn't that song a Heroes section too?

What's the "psych" folder on Project Smile???  I clicked on a file and heard something about Mike Love being trapped inside a piano...   

SPIRITUAL REGENERATION?!  I'd buy it just to hear that, I think... 

My favorite alternative track list (one that doesn't match BWPS) would probably have to be the one that seemed to commonly appear on sites before BWPS came out - it was split into "Side One: Americana" and "Side Two: Elemental".  Don't remember exactly what was on it, but I have a CDR of it somewhere...

It crammed in a lot of bits and pieces that BWPS didn't cover; though admittedly, putting on ALL of "Heroes And Villains" (including the weird 'part 2' and the 'Bicycle Rider Theme' sections) is a little excessive.

Which version of "Smile" do you choose to listen to the most??

At the moment, I'm liking my own mix - I wanted to combine both 'finished' versions (Brian's and Purple Chick's) into one perfect album.  Something like this, if I remember correctly...
1)  Our Prayer (Beach Boys)
2)  Heroes And Villains (Beach Boys)
3)  Roll Plymouth Rock (Brian)
4)  Barnyard (Brian)
5)  Old Master Painter (Brian) / Sunshine (Beach Boys)
6)  Cabinessence (Beach Boys)
7)  Wonderful (Brian)
  Song For Children (Brian)
9)  Child Is The Father (Brian) - I would've used more BB material for the second section, but it's in bad quality.  Brian's stuff is better anyway.
10)  Surf's Up (Beach Boys)
11)  Vegetables (Beach Boys) - I hate the medley.  It had to go.
12)  On A Holiday (Brian)
13)  Wind Chimes (Beach Boys)
14)  Mrs O Leary's Cow (Beach Boys)
15)  In Blue Hawaii (Brian) / Our Prayer Reprise (Beach Boys)
16)  Good Vibrations (Beach Boys)

Yeah, I have a large stack of TMBG's too...  I have near complete collections of most of the people I like, but thankfully, none of them were recording machines like the Bee Gees were... 

Yeah, I like the MIU "Hey Little Tomboy".  The other one, on the other hand...

Guilty-pleasure wise, I'd probably have to pick "Do You Like Worms".  I just love playing that on the piano (or attempting), banging out the opening "THUMP, THUMP, THUMP-THUMP-THUMP..."

What artist dominates your CD collection more than any other?

For me, I think it would probably be the Bee Gees - I'm making it my goal to collect every single one of their albums (including solo and unreleased ones), and I'm only nine away...  I'm only missing an unreleased soundtrack or two, and a handful of albums that weren't released on CD in the US.

I want that guy's "Smile" shirt from the live video.  And his hairdo.  Damn right.

Listen to "Brian Wilson Presents 'Smile'".  Try to imagine songs like that coming out of anybody else.  Then ask yourself if Brian is a genius - the question is obvious.

I'm torrenting it even as we speak!

Would anyone mind (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) sharing the "tack piano" version?  That sounds like it would go well with the "Great Shape" demo...

Did anyone else ever see the Odeon "Smile" in a normal music store??  I got mine in just a plain old store, and they had multiple copies of it!!

I love that CD... covers most of the bases, and the cover is kickass.  Good for "Smile" beginners like me; I wasn't really a BB's fan at the time, but recently bought Brian's "Smile" just to hear what the fuss was about... and I was converted 

If you can find them for something less than the 50 dollar list price, I highly recommend getting the Apple books.  Best Beatles books ever.

Haven't seen the Vee Jay one yet though... that must get old, considering every album has the same songs...

Nah, I won't bother then.  Kinda defeats the purpose.  I was going to use it to attempt to actually make an "all Beach Boys material" version of I'm In Great Shape.

No, I didn't ask.  I actually only bought "L.A." a couple months ago at a flea market.   

Really?  What the heck is that supposed to do??

Well, while we're on the topic, I asked my mom why the desert had titties 

This is probably stupid, but what the hell is the woman in the "Lady Lynda" picture supposed to be doing??

(1)  Was "Mike Love, Not War" (2005) ever released, or did it just get added to the list of lost Beach Boys albums?

(2)  Is there an instrumental version of "In The Cantina" (just that section itself) anywhere??  'Cause I was thinking, you could probably use a bit of that as the intro to 'I'm In Great Shape'...

Yeah, I thought the Full House band was just Mike Love and his "new" Beach Boys??

Stig O'Hara is fab!!

OK, I heard "Tomboy"... the album version isn't that bad, but the other version... made me feel slightly dirty...

No, the original sequence was...

Wild Honey
Here Comes The Night
Let The Wind Blow
I Was Made To Love Her
The Letter (removed)
Darlin'
A Thing Or Two
Aren't You Glad
Cool Cool Water (removed)
Game of Love (removed)
Lonely Days (removed)
Honey Get Home (removed)

Would it be possible to piece this version together?  I mean, overlooking that "Lonely Days" is only a fragment of a song.  I know "Cool Cool Water" is on the boxed set... are the other missing tracks on bootlegs??

That'll be Capitol's next compilation.  "The Beach Boys' Greatest Hits Geared Towards Man-Children and Pedophiles."