On the matter of Our Prayer and it's placement/sequencing in your mix.
 Was it Al that suggested ..... "This could be considered a track" ?
To which Brian responds "Not really, no .... we don't wanna do that.  This is a little intro, you know, to the album".
 In my mind it is not INTENDED as a track, which is reinforced by the nature of the music.  The dissonance and resolution in the music occur quickly and it seems those ideas are better served when spread throughout the album, as "intros" to the album sections perhaps.  The best example of this being when the final "ah,ah,ah,ah,ah,ah,ah,ah,ahhhhhhh" is used prior to SU.  The resolution of this section serve as a perfect set up to the opening chords of SU.  The sometimes jarring nature of SMiLE mixes can be smoothed out by using Our Prayer portions at opportune moments.  I used Our Prayer sections placed sequentially within the mix with the final section preceding SU.  Can you change the sequence ? Can you repeat sections ?  Do you leave it as one complete track to be placed at other than the beginning ?  Is it best left as a complete track / album opener ?

Sheriff has hinted he may have some thoughts on the matter. 

Let's get it started .... what say you ?

I wanted to share my SMiLE mix .  My sources included the 2011 SMiLE Sessions Box Set, Smiley Smile (Mono & Stereo), Friends/20/20, Surf's Up, BWPS and a quest appearance by The Browns (I believe I nicked that idea from someone but cant remember who).  With regard to sequencing, I'm sure Ive been influenced by other fan mixes, TSS and BWPS  but the Zen Interpretation of a metaphorical American Suite is the best way to describe my approach.  Lets face it, the notion of SMiLE as a riddle (koan) to be solved sure allows for some liberties to be taken.
 Has anyone else ever thought that Brian, either consciously or subconsciously, continued work on SMiLE ?  The Hawaiian theme of TSS is continued in SS.  Wind and water ideas of TSS show up in Wild Honey.  The American theme is repeated with Ol Man River.    My point is, Brian never arrived at a conclusion about what SMiLE was or was meant to be.  He couldn't have within the time frame provided.  Plus, it's just how he worked and thought .... non linear.  GV is a perfect example .... roughly 5 months to complete and, by no means, a linear work in progress.  So, while I do accept that there is a historical aspect which is important to the story, it is just that...part of the story but has little importance when one imagines a final product.  Out of respect to our SMiLE historians I want to be clear .... this mix is not historically accurate and I have chosen to post it in a new thread devoid of any historical discussions.
There are no "new" (post Surf's Up) BB/BW sources with the exception of a few seconds of BWPS ... can you find it ?  There is no pitch changing.  There IS endless cutting/splicing and a few special effects but most is a result of a limited working knowledge of Audacity.

https://youtu.be/yXjLo3mYVVI

https://youtu.be/Z5Y03Yldd8w

https://youtu.be/10lsycE9t1k

https://youtu.be/aYtjCZTBDWI

https://youtu.be/7HTiVweBCv8

https://youtu.be/DoFi59asxZ4

My mix

https://youtu.be/yXjLo3mYVVI

https://youtu.be/Z5Y03Yldd8w

https://youtu.be/10lsycE9t1k

https://youtu.be/aYtjCZTBDWI

https://youtu.be/7HTiVweBCv8

https://youtu.be/DoFi59asxZ4

Very nice! You used very clear versions and the mixes are smooth, not jarring. I enjoyed it very much. Won't YouTube allow you to put all of your segments together or do you prefer it that way?

The six YouTube videos are because it was created with six Audacity projects and then six .wav files which I burnt onto a CD.  I just never took the time to assemble them all for YouTube.

My mix

https://youtu.be/yXjLo3mYVVI

https://youtu.be/Z5Y03Yldd8w

https://youtu.be/10lsycE9t1k

https://youtu.be/aYtjCZTBDWI

https://youtu.be/7HTiVweBCv8

https://youtu.be/DoFi59asxZ4

I'll offer this as a parallel example to consider, no opinion but just food for thought:

Say the final mix and released version of Good Vibrations never happened in 1966. Brian never did that final mixdown and edit that got released.

Years later fans have access to several discs full of various sessions done for Good Vibrations. Take after take, remake after rework after experiment. Which we do have, officially and unofficially for years now.

Could anyone have come close to what ended up on that 45 single that hit #1 on the charts as Brian created it?

There would be several hours worth of various snapshots in time of the working process that could have suggested a different edit, different feel, different sequences, different this or that...and would any attempt to build as close to a recreation of Brian's concept for the song be anywhere close to what it would end up being in reality?

Take even that production flair Brian added by simply muting a lead vocal track on the words "we find" in order to boost the effect of the multiple drum tracks and bass line building to a climax before the hook...if an early rough mix of that lead vocal even existed, would any fan mixers think to mute those two words out of the track to supercharge the effect of that build-up in the instrumental tracks as Brian did? You'd lose one of the prime examples of what Brian as producer would do to make hit records come alive, those little things like a simple mute in a mixdown.

And even taking any number of the existing GV sessions available and trying to mix them into a conceptual version as it might have been in 1966...would anyone have come close?

It's a microcosm of trying to recreate a working Smile. At some point, I'd rather consider the attempts a fantasy mix and judge them on those aesthetics rather than trying to do a historically correct version of what was left unfinished and in a state of flux for decades until the two guys who came up with all that stuff decided to finish it as they chose.

My sentiments exactly as  I suggested earlier in this thread.  In fact, if you consider that it took 7 months to record GV, minus a couple of months dedicated to Pet Sounds, that is roughly 5 months which is 216,00 minutes to record a 3.5 minute song......or 61,714 minutes per 1 minute of final product.

Apply that to a 45 minute SMiLE album and it becomes reasonable to assume it would have taken over 5.28 years to complete SMiLE.....roughly late 1971.

This is just one the ideas used in my mix along with Zen Interpretation, American Suite, Elements and the overwhelming feeling that some songs, like Wonderful, were meant as metaphors.

My mix uses ONLY the organ/"gotta keep those" section merged into the hum-de-ah version......followed by the Whispering Winds .....PURE BLASPHEMY ! 

My current mix opens with the first two "phrases" of Our Prayer ( 20/20 version ) into what I call " laughing Gee " followed by a home brew stereo version of DYLW ( part 1 ) then into H&V from sections portion of the SMiLE Sessions set.  The remaining "phrases" of Our Prayer are used, in order, throughout the entire mix as, like Brian said "an intro(s)".  The last phrase used was modified as a nod to the Beatles Revolver LP.    

If you have a minute, I'm curious to see the whole sequence/mix.

Not sure if I can sum it up with a list.  I have spent about three years tinkering with my sequence or what I like to call it ...a re-vision.  There is a limited historical authenticity to this sequence.  I always wished Brian had more freedom to follow his vision.  No record company schedules...no budgets....no Mike...no format time restrictions...no pressure....no rules.  This was my approach.  I have created so many changes/edits/merges I cant describe them.  Surf's Up is the closer (kinda) and it uses four sources starting with the SMiLE session stereo backing track ( fiirst 16 bars ? ) then Carl's SU album version...then it segues into Brians '67 version starting at "Surf,s up, hmmm hmmm" then blends back with Carl's version at "a childrens soooong" and finishes with "a child" from BWPS layed on top.

Let me beef up my disclaimer a little.  There is NO historical authenticity to this sequence and only limited historical authenticity to other sequences.  Any similarity, vaguely or otherwise, between my sequence and the relative unknown of what Brian would have done is purely coincidental. 
This got me thinking however ......
In a world where there exists an individual who is reasonably competent ( better than me ) at audio editing and had never heard the final product of  GOOD VIBRATIONS.....how would he/she assemble the sessions material to create a final product ?

About a year ago I had the idea to try and replicate a 1966 version of Smile, but I didn't get past an initial mix before I figured out (with the help of some here) that a true mix would leave quite a few holes unfilled, such as most of "Heroes & Villains" and "Vega Tables". So I blew that concept up and decided to take some of my ideas (mainly the decision to follow the Hand-Written Track List) and made a new version from scratch that I put up on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqQJAyhO_lI&feature=gp-n-y&google_comment_id=z12gclmy3qercx4b404cddjx2qqlednoiew

Basically it still follows the HWTL, but I took a couple of liberties by grafting in "Prayer" as part of "Do You Like Worms" and "Barnyard" as part of "I'm in Great Shape". My Elements are Fire > I Wanna Be Around > Holidays > Dada, and I utilized Brian's lead on "Surf's Up". I decided to exclude "Look" because without vocals it just seemed too unfinished and too hard to fit in.

The basic concept is two side-long suites, which is how I think it would have been released had it seen the light of day in 1967. I also worked in some of the many spoken-word segments from Brian's tapes to try to balance out some of the long instrumental segments. I do believe Brian would have incorporated spoken word in some fashion had he finished the album at that time, similar to the bridge on the Smiley "Wonderful". Smile was supposed to be avant garde, so I tried to respect that aesthetic with my latest mix.

Anyway hope you guys can dig it. Talking Smile mixes never gets old for me.

Excellent work !!!  Truly outside the box....Brian would dig it.   I agree with the spoken word thought.  I also tend to think Brian secretly .... maybe subconsciously is a better word, continued work on SMiLE for some time....ie Little Pad...The Old Master Painter.....Cool,Cool Water etc.   I need to upload my mix...I suppose YouTube is the best option ?  Soundcloud sent me a nasty letter about my DYLW stereo edit and I removed it fearing litigation.

My current mix opens with the first two "phrases" of Our Prayer ( 20/20 version ) into what I call " laughing Gee " followed by a home brew stereo version of DYLW ( part 1 ) then into H&V from sections portion of the SMiLE Sessions set.  The remaining "phrases" of Our Prayer are used, in order, throughout the entire mix as, like Brian said "an intro(s)".  The last phrase used was modified as a nod to the Beatles Revolver LP.    

If you have a minute, I'm curious to see the whole sequence/mix.

Not sure if I can sum it up with a list.  I have spent about three years tinkering with my sequence or what I like to call it ...a re-vision.  There is a limited historical authenticity to this sequence.  I always wished Brian had more freedom to follow his vision.  No record company schedules...no budgets....no Mike...no format time restrictions...no pressure....no rules.  This was my approach.  I have created so many changes/edits/merges I cant describe them.  Surf's Up is the closer (kinda) and it uses four sources starting with the SMiLE session stereo backing track ( fiirst 16 bars ? ) then Carl's SU album version...then it segues into Brians '67 version starting at "Surf,s up, hmmm hmmm" then blends back with Carl's version at "a childrens soooong" and finishes with "a child" from BWPS layed on top.

My current mix opens with the first two "phrases" of Our Prayer ( 20/20 version ) into what I call " laughing Gee " followed by a home brew stereo version of DYLW ( part 1 ) then into H&V from sections portion of the SMiLE Sessions set.  The remaining "phrases" of Our Prayer are used, in order, throughout the entire mix as, like Brian said "an intro(s)".  The last phrase used was modified as a nod to the Beatles Revolver LP.    

The addition of GV at the end was an afterthought and imo not part of DYLW.  I was playing with the "row" chant and looking for somewhere to go with it.  The file shared here is part2 of DYLW that includes bicycle rider, follows Cabinessence in album sequence and serves as a closing to the "American Saga" portion of this mix.  Part1 uses the  Indian chants plus "church of the American Indian" sections and serves as the opening.

Here is an "outside the boxset" approach to DYLW.  The historical contex of this trak (and my entire SMiLE fan mix) is .....well there is no album ..................and knowing the way Brian tinkered endlessly........and given enough time and money....welllll?? 
http://www.4shared.com/folder/FXVetYBy/_online.html

Just another huge BB fan checking in here.  I am embarassed to admit that i spent most of my life dismissing their work.  A few years ago i "got it".   My favorite  thing about them/Brian has to be the chord progressions....nothing else like it exists today.