I do agree with those who prefer the live version.  As such, I listen to the Carnegie Hall recording (broadcast by NPR) more than the official BWPS.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4182988

There's a reason that BWPS has a score of 97 at metacritics (and is the highest-rated non-reissue).  Two words: THE MUSIC.  Let's face it.  The Smile songs are incredible, and the musicianship on BWPS is great.

It'll be interesting to see how the Beach Boys' Smile Sessions will do with on metacritics.  97 will be hard to beat.  Most here (including me) prefer the original tracks and the BBs' vocals, but the Sessions' incompleteness (at least compared with BWPS) will likely earn a few demerits from some critics.

How can I burn the Carnegie 2-parter at NPR onto CD?

I recommended downloading this, Don

http://www.nch.com.au/switch/index.html

I think he meant how can he rip the audio from the site.

Oops!  Wrong NCH program.  I meant to post this link...

http://www.nch.com.au/soundtap/index.html

My humblest apologies.   

I do agree with those who prefer the live version.  As such, I listen to the Carnegie Hall recording (broadcast by NPR) more than the official BWPS.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4182988

There's a reason that BWPS has a score of 97 at metacritics (and is the highest-rated non-reissue).  Two words: THE MUSIC.  Let's face it.  The Smile songs are incredible, and the musicianship on BWPS is great.

It'll be interesting to see how the Beach Boys' Smile Sessions will do with on metacritics.  97 will be hard to beat.  Most here (including me) prefer the original tracks and the BBs' vocals, but the Sessions' incompleteness (at least compared with BWPS) will likely earn a few demerits from some critics.

How can I burn the Carnegie 2-parter at NPR onto CD?

I recommended downloading this, Don

http://www.nch.com.au/switch/index.html

I do agree with those who prefer the live version.  As such, I listen to the Carnegie Hall recording (broadcast by NPR) more than the official BWPS.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4182988

There's a reason that BWPS has a score of 97 at metacritics (and is the highest-rated non-reissue).  Two words: THE MUSIC.  Let's face it.  The Smile songs are incredible, and the musicianship on BWPS is great.

It'll be interesting to see how the Beach Boys' Smile Sessions will do with on metacritics.  97 will be hard to beat.  Most here (including me) prefer the original tracks and the BBs' vocals, but the Sessions' incompleteness (at least compared with BWPS) will likely earn a few demerits from some critics.

I was lucky enough to be at Carnegie Hall for the two shows they recorded for use in this broadcast, and it remains my most-played version of BWPS.  I also got the studio version on vinyl, and it is definitely a much warmer mix than the CD - if you can find it for a reasonable price, grab it.

I've often wondered if Brian pointed Van Dyke in the direction of this poem by his childhood favourite, Edgar Allan Poe

Yes! My hunch is that Parks was similarly a Poe fanatic as most of his lyrics from that time period tend to be in that style.

Check out this line from The Coliseum:

"Here, where a hero fell, a column falls!"

Damn Poe and his acid alliteration.

Considering the "Pit & the Pendulum" reference, this seems like a reasonable hypothesis. 

I am completely against the idea of 2011 vocals being slapped on the old recordings, but something just occurred to me...

If the DID record them, then decided against releasing them, we would be falling all over each other trying to get bootlegged versions of these tracks.

Ironic, no?

Adobe Audition.  Started with 2, finished with 3.

I made a concerted effort not to use pitch or time correction on the tracks, just to make it as natural sounding as possible.  I kind of liked the dissonance between the Wind Chimes/can't Wait vocals, and the Good Vibes piece was close enough for rock & roll, as far as I was concerned.  There are a couple of places where it was far enough off that I had to fix things (She's Goin' Bald/He Gives Speeches was one), but in general I kept it "au natural".

I downloaded it.  And I like it.  So there.

it doesn't make any more sense to use the handwritten tracklist than it does to use the BWPS template.

we don't know if the handwritten tracklist was really definitive, or if it wouldn't have changed by the time the album came out.

Brian really revisited this material and finished it to the best of his ability in 2004.

and why stick to a 40-min format when we've got more space to utilize in this day and age?

Just say SMiLE should have been a double album after all, and release it that way.

With deference to plans underway by those in charge and confessed ignorance about what is available, I would probably have made a (mostly) mono version for purists that adheres to the 1966 tracklist and incorporates vintage mixes where available, and a mostly stereo version that roughly follows the BWPS sequence. It would leave the question of what's definitive open ended.

I hope they release as much as they can reasonably fit.  I can cut it down to a dozen or so essential tracks if I so desire.

I am a Buyer & New Vendor Development coordinator for the largest independent book distributor in the U.S.

Buy my book!

Who's the publisher?

I assume the statement regarding the approximation of the album appearing on three sides of vinyl means it will replicate the three movements of BWPS.

Not necessarily.  They may be spreading whatever tracks they're using over three sides for better fidelity.   The more you cram on a vinyl side, the worse it sounds. (Check out Todd Rundgren's "A Wizard, A True Star as a perfect example.)

I hated Melcher's production for the same reasons I hated Joe Thomas's on Imagination... sterile, overly bright, and plastic sounding stuff that would ruin ANY song, IMHO.

+1

I am a Buyer & New Vendor Development coordinator for the largest independent book distributor in the U.S.

looks good!

I'm hoping to get a batch of these printed in the next week or two. Some L and some XL...

you guys get priority... who wants one???

If you've got enough XL's to go around, I'm in.

Smiley F'n Smile!

Alternate Brian Wilson>Purple Chick.

Thanks.  It's nice to know other people enjoy it, even though I put it together just to have all of my favorite bits in one place.

Like some of the previous posters, I spent hours listening to every available take of every track, taking notes on each one.  I scoured record shows and, later on, the internet for the best quality versions of everything out there.  Eventually I spent just over five years putting together an all-stereo SMiLE mix consisting of all of my favorite moments.  A few years into it, I found the PurpleChick mix, threw up my hands knowing I wouldn't be able to better it, and gave up for a few months.  Eventually I returned to the project as therapy during a divorce, and finished it.  It's still not as good as PurpleChick, but it's a different animal, and it still makes me laugh.

http://danmeth.com/post/73805133/the-chronicles-of-kelv-the-beach-boys-in-1970


THE CHRONICLES OF KELV: The Beach Boys

In 1970, the Beach Boys arrived in Kelv to play a controversial concert at the Bladovak Opera House. Their intention was to bring a message of rebellion against the oppressive Perpendikulon government.

Unfortunately less that 1% of the Kelvic population understands English. The political lyrics of their song “Breakaway” were met by an uncomprehending audience.

The Beach Boys’ visit only deteriorated after the concert. Drummer Dennis Wilson tried to surf in the sea of Kyuuth and was mildly poisoned by the magnesium-filled waters. Singer Mike Love was involved in three separate street-fights. They were all so shaken by the strange things they saw in Kelv (especially leader Brian Wilson) that their demise as a band and as individuals is widely regarded as a direct result of the tour.

*** Musician John Crave wrote a song about this event. Click here to hear it.

Pictured from left to right, Brian Wilson, Jesus H. Christ, David Soul, Bill Pullman, Charles Bronson, and Zach Galifianakis.

greatestdrummerinthehistoryofmusicwastheoneandonly                 buddyrich    endofstory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8-uoTD4fMQ&feature=related

He's great on "Rain".  I've also always loved how he stops on a dime and switches time signatures in "She Said, She Said".  Mike Portnoy once said that the drum part to "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me & My Monkey" was among the most difficult parts he's ever had to learn.

D.W. Suite  - Lindsy Buckingham
Ride - Wondermints
Brian Wilson Said - Tears For Fears
Pale & Precious - Dukes of the Stratosphear


I used to have a playlist of this stuff...

I understand there is no standard font for that lettering like Pet Sounds is Cooper Black, it was either Frank Holmes or Capitol artists who drew it up for the cover. Maybe a graphic artist can chime in here.

"Font" and "Typeface" are misnomers, probably the best term for what Smile had is "logotype".  If you look at the lettering, identical letters have none identical designs.  The B in BEACH and the B in BOYS don't match.  Looking at the "Good Vibrations Good Vibrations Good Vibrations" I think there are three different styles of the letter O, too.  Also, the spacing of the letters just wouldn't be practical for a one-size-fits-all typeface.

The lower case "i" was like that purely because someone thought it looked nice. That's all.

Aw gee, does that mean we don't have to call that song "Good VibrAtioNs", either?

Not sure if it's still there, but at one point there was a downloadable font on the "ProjectSmile" yahoo group page that bore a close resemblance to the "SMiLE" type.

 

Brian should have hired neither anyone in the Wondermints nor anyone in the High Llamas to work with him. Jellyfish all the way.

I think it was eBay - but it was from a seller who deals in the sort of vintage stuff.  I think was looking for a Dennis Wilson shirt.

H.E.L.P Is On The Way.