And it's not as though the Breakaway and Add Some Music were remotely in line with contemporary music.  Good songs, yes, but they were both throwbacks to the doo-wop era.

I once saw people on this board wonder why Sunflower was not a hit like, say, the first Crosby, Stills & Nash album.  That just left me shaking my head.  They were both quality albums, but one caught the tenor of the times, and the other was nowhere close.

East Meets West.  Other equally awful things (Problem Child) followed, but East Meets West was a new low at the time, and arguably the final descent into tribute band status.

East Meets West is great! A Bob Gaudio-Frankie Valli-Beach Boys collaboration: who could ask for more? And even Brian gets a great vocal hook at the end. So much talent on that record.

Supposedly Dennis died of a broken heart after hearing the sessions for that travesty.

In a just world, the Beach Boys' name would have been retired after February 1981, and resurrected only briefly for the 2012 tour/album.  I have never understood how some of the same people who appreciate Pet Sounds, Smile, etc., can stomach anything else from the last 36 years.

East Meets West.  Other equally awful things (Problem Child) followed, but East Meets West was a new low at the time, and arguably the final descent into tribute band status.

I'll admit to being very disappointed.  Can't Wait Too Long has been begging for attention for ... way, way too long.  We now have, apparently, three unsatisfactory versions. 

I understand that the compilers did not want to include post-Wild Honey recordings on a Wild Honey set, so maybe a definitive version would have been too much to ask for.  Still, if not now, when?  At a minimum, it would be good to have a version that includes the tag (as on the SS-WH two fer) but less repetition on the chorus (as on the GV box set).

Maybe one of our board sound experts can combine the now-three versions into one...

Btw, I'd imagine Cabin Essence was vocally completed in '66. More than enough long-hours sessions spent on it.

Why would you say that when the Smile Sessions sessionography states otherwise?

Thanks zavarov - I had actually come across this independently.  Good work!

http://vocaroo.com/i/s03eziKiSlhR

?

I'm not sure if I'm familiar with the extend theme your referring to. Does anyone have a sample of this I could hear?

Seagull- "soniclovenoize" has done a few reconstructions that are accessible.  Here's a vimeo link to one that includes Worms with the extended bicycle rider piano theme. https://vimeo.com/136646972   You can also go here: http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-beach-boys-smile-1967.html.

The way jeff worded it, it sounded like he was saying that piece was strictly recorded for BWPS, instead of being a vintage 1960's written piece.

Sorry, I had assumed that everyone was aware that the woo woos were originally recorded in 1966-67.  In any case, they were recorded for H&V, and to my knowledge were never placed in any other song at the time.

Hey thanks a bunch means a lot  I'm open to suggestions on what other smile songs I should do

Hey Seagull-

Thanks very much for this!  It's great to have people on here who have the talent to create these things.

I especially like the use of the 2004 vocals, since that's what we have to work with, and I think they work quite well with the original song.

I'd actually love to see you continue to refine your work on Worms.  Aside from what you say are tech errors (which I can't really hear, perhaps because I'm not in a spot where I can play the song at a decent volume), I would suggest losing the "wooo wooo" at the end, since that is purely a 21st-century invention, and replacing it with the extended piano br theme, as was originally there.  Just my thought though- others may hear very different things.

He was intellectually dishonest, plain and simple.

I don't remember the exact quotes, but he stated in very absolute terms that his theories were fact rather than speculation.  And it was all geared to tell a compelling story: that Smile was finished just before Sgt. Pepper's came out, but then Brian heard Pepper and cancelled the whole thing.  A nice piece of fiction, but it should have been presented that way.

I really like Bells of Christmas while not liking the MIU equivalent at all.

I also despise HELP Is on the Way for its embarrassing lyrics, but the backing track is nice enough that I enjoy Santa's on His Way despite the half-hearted vocals.  Too bad that one did not make the released Christmas CD.

About a week ago, the local college radio station was playing a song that VDP had been on, and the DJ tried to explain who VDP was.  He mainly discussed Smile, and how VDP just about "ruined" the Beach Boys by creating lyrics that they weren't ready for.  He said that the Beach Boys just wanted to sing about surfing, so the album never came out. 

And this is from someone who claimed to be a big fan of Smile.

If you believe the theory that Vegetables was originally a part of The Elements, then perhaps the other sections that were never recorded would have had words to them as well.

I'd say that The Elements and Love to Say Dada would have likely been the only instrumentals. I don't believe that I Wanna Be Around/Workshop would have been on the finished album.

But "Dada" has the "wa-wa-ho-wa" vocals...and it really sounds bare and unfinished, i.e. lacking a main melody that I have to assume vocals would provide (unless Brian intended to overdub a clarinet or guitar part or something, seems doubtful). Surely "I Wanna Be Around" would have had a lead vocal too; it too lacks its main melody (unlike "The Old Master Painter").

Fire has vocals too but it's still considered an instrumental. I think that Dada would have had more wordless vocals, but no actual lyrics.

"Fire" has vocals? Aren't the vocals on the track on the Smile Sessions from "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter"?

Yeah but since Fall Breaks sounds very similar to Fire, I'm assuming that those vocals were originally intended for Fire.

There's no evidence for that.  And a lot of people would argue that H&V Intro or Bells and Chimes are actually closer musically to Fall Breaks than Fire is.

Seriously though what is false barnyard?

I have the same questiion.   What IS "False Barnyard"?

A barnyard that is not real. 

Actually, I think that would be "Fake Barnyard."

[SMiLE]

Overall, I think SMiLE as presented on The SMiLE Sessions is pretty great. You get all the key songs presented in versions that are pretty good. However, I still can't understand why they couldn't get rid of the piano for "Barnyard". Amateurs did a much better job of keeping the vocal yet losing the piano. Honestly, most of the attempts I've heard almost make it sound like the vocal was actually recording for the track. Which is pretty awesome. Shame that Alan and Mark couldn't get that right. I did think that "I'm In Great Shape" was done pretty nicely though. I also think that the "child, child" vocals on "Look" are kinda needless. Shoulda just kept it an instrumental.

My other beef is with with the sequencing and the songs used. First off, I think that the album was just too long. I really feel that Brian coulda gotten rid of "Look", "Holidays", "I Wanna Be Around / Workshop" and maybe even "Love To Say Dada".

Where are all of these fan mixes that cut out the piano from Barnyard?  I feel like I've heard several post-Smile Sessions fan mixes, without noticing any significant change in Barnyard.

Thanks Sonic.  I agree that the piano actually sounds fine.  And while I'm no audio engineer, it makes sense that something significant in the vocals would be lost along with the removal of bits of piano.

Cam- for what it's worth, you're not a lone wolf on this.  While I differ from you on some other things, I think you have some sound arguments on H&V 2.  It's a bit nostalgic to see this still being argued, 20 years or so after people were wrangling over this on the Smile Shop.

Sonic- I've been meaning to ask you: What are  your thoughts on the use of Bruiteur's Great Shape and Barnyard, with the demo piano removed?  I believe that you used versions with the piano in.  Was that because you believe that those bits sound better that way, or was it just not something you were focused on?  I'm not sure that I've ever heard Bruiteur's Great Shape and Barnyard, but I'm curious as to whether they are improvements.

[opener]

"You are Welcome" as opener (I see a lot of you guys use it at the end, it's shocking to me because after all, it's a welcome song Plus it begins with a great fade-in).

I agree with this.  I can certainly see not using it, but I've never understood how anyone would think it's appropriate at the end.

And the YW fade-in works really well as an opener, in my opinion, vs. Prayer, which just hits you over the head, and is much better near or at the end.

Some of these posts really cross the line.  Accusing someone of being mentally ill is libelous, at least in the United States.  Do people really want to risk getting this board shut down over that?

And aside from the legal implications, it's unfair and just wrong to make judgments like that.  Whatever her problems may be, I'm pretty sure that no one on this board has the direct knowledge and expertise to characterize people they don't know as mentally ill.

The vocals to Salt Lake City

To me, the Beach Boys' car songs are more dated and shallow than anything else they did (except, I guess, their surf songs).  So I really don't like 11 of the 12 songs on this album.

But No-Go Showboat is absolute magic.  Nothing else sounds like it, and I'm not sure how anything else could.  You almost have to wonder if No-Go Showboat was the real product of Brian's first acid trip.

 

So of the five that you have up there, are all of them actual acetates, or are some of them reconstructions of what might have been?  Certainly interesting, to say the least.

The acetates were, I believe, auditioned by someone who knew what they were doing on behalf of BRI, and apparently nothing of interest was discovered.

OK, but do we know that the "audition" included the acetates in question?  Bicyclerider, for one, states above that although "acetates in Durrie's possession were auditioned by Capitol and nothing new was found," the acetates discussed in this thread "were discovered later."

And of course, we have Andy's posts stating that in fact something very significant was found--and it's currently unreleased and unbooted.