Tried to lay out my perspective after all these years regarding SMiLE. I may expand but here's where it stands if anyone is interested....

http://www.goodhumorsmile.com/page26.htm

The photo is on the back cover of Brian's tour program. On Facebook, David Leaf said, "It's Brian, at his piano, in the sandbox, circa fall 1966."

I did ask Loren if he knew of Arthur Koestler's book The Act Of Creation and if he'd had anything to do with Brian's exposure to the book. Loren was unaware of any such connection.

Is there anyone who hung out with Brian Wilson during the SMiLE era who was aware of the influence of The Act of Creation? Not a single mention until Bri mentioned it in the Don Was flick. What a secret.

I suggest checking out Frank Holmes' essay in the Smile Sessions Box Set for proof of Koestler's influence. His essay both exposes & hides. IMHO it's the best thing ever written about SMiLE & working methods behind the project.

JakeH said:

"Brian, however, took LSD more than one time.  The source of the LSD for his other doses is not as well-established as it is for that first dose. In fact, Loren Schwartz is only associated with Brian's first LSD trip in March or April 1965.  Who knows who, or what, was involved with Brian's other trips. All this stuff would be relevant to an understanding of what really happened with Brian in the mid-1960s, but that info is probably lost to history."

There are three trips mentioned in Brian's bogus bio from the 1991. I tend to give some credence to these accounts as I doubt they were a total Todd Gold invention, they may have been culled from some court testimony, at the time Brian was working on the bio he seemed very forthcoming (see the bonus track on his solo CD for some honesty), and, if you can believe it, they work SMiLE-wise.

Good point Dan. Thanks.

https://tamingthesaxophone.com/saxophone-laugh

Those pieces were included in the SMiLE Sessions but not in the live BWPS performances. The music isn't that far off from the holding nose laughter stuff on some versions of "Vegetables." Maybe the piece of music was meant to hint at some laughs.

The poster shoulda been the Teen Set ad.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/11/beach-boys-smile-brian-wilson

I personally like how 'Health' is written in all blue which suggests water as in "Cool, Cool, Water," "Da Da," and "In Blue Hawaii" (you get the idea) and Brian's water filled elements experience as told to Paul Williams of Crawdaddy by David Anderle. I guess one could also include Curtis Springer's Zzyzx mineral springs as a possible water connection as that connects with the vegetables idea as well. In my view symbolic meaning was 'IN' at the time.

If Dean Torrence designed this ad he was definitely taking directions from Brian IMHO.

Here's where I found it.
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Cash-Box-Magazine.htm

From the 12/24/1966 issue of Cash Box:

https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/35425239_10156323244975340_5896298757997199360_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=AeFZF7lZ0EulzTaSYgyyahYNDRTlEr3z_rFPgs0g5ewgeSR-nyS_X0PxfmdUShwTVqDqIZ1DpxH2B1IPsiNnnZHD_o17jclgFb6SyxHArq5RAw&oh=47f5cddbba3ee7af2f5e4b8eb9236e17&oe=5BC3623B

Just heard that VDP said that the threesome of himself,  Brian & Frank Holmes formed; 'a triumvirate in freeform flight.'

How true!

Those who claim that Frank Holmes wasn't down with, or on board with Brian & Van Dyke's creative process are fooling themselves.

Thanks to Ang Jones for the 'triumvirate' quote.

There was a working method for SMiLE that was employed in an attempt to anticipate the next big trend. The attempt was similar to those employed throughout the history of art. It combined a new philosophy with the art form to forge something entirely new.

It didn't work out for SMiLE's participants and nobody else at that time had the same idea-----that's why SMiLE is a one-of-a-kind piece of art.

Brian said that it's hard to anticipate trends but his attempt to do so in 1966 jumped fences higher than anybody knew existed.

Here's the latest minor addition. David Anderle's revelation regarding Brian's view on humor & violence (found in the SMiLE box set book) is supported by Brian's fave book, The Act Of Creation. Don't know if anyone else has made this connection before.

"The key word for Brian was humor. He would see the solutions to all problems in terms of humor. If people could laugh about things or feel good about things, you wouldn't have violence. You can't have humor and violence, really. I think that's the essence of Brian. It starts with humor, happiness, love."
~David Anderle

"When we laugh...the pleasurable relief does not derive from a consummatory act which satisfies some specific need. On the contrary: laughter prevents the satisfaction of biological drives, it makes a man equally incapable of killing or copulating; it deflates anger, apprehension, and pride."
~ Arthur Koestler from The Act of Creation

http://www.goodhumorsmile.com

Here's a copy of a list found online of Curtis Springer's products. You'll see that some of the items are vegetarian.

http://www.goodhumorsmile.com/page24.htm

The self-help books Brian was reading almost belong in the same category as the source of Brian's vegetable obsession, that being radio evangelist Curtis Springer. Self-help books & miracle cures are products often pedaled by hucksters.

One of Springer's elixirs, called Manna, may be the major catalyst behind Brian's obsession as it's "a blend of ten different fruits and vegetables."

You can read more & listen to a 1961 broadcast by Springer at the following link.

https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/zzyzx-revisiting-doc-springers-boulevard-of-dreams

The additional material potentially presents a new reason why SMiLE has never been fully explained.

The book, The Magic of Believing, cautions against revealing one's goals and it's very possible that Brian was using the techniques outlined in the book to obtain a successful outcome with SMiLE.

Brian had, after all, held prayer sessions for Pet Sounds where they'd prayed for a hit.

The "Heroes & Villains" Humble Harve session preamble seems to indicate that Brian may have used the visual techniques from The Magic of Believing to get a hit with "Good Vibrations." So it seems very possible that he, especially in light of the success of GV, employed The Magic of Believing to achieve SMiLE's goals, & would've had to keep it all a secret.

Added a few things to the Good Humor SMiLE page: some quotes from a couple of books. They're near the bottom of the page, mostly in light orange.

http://www.goodhumorsmile.com

In the book The Magic Of Believing (mentioned a few posts prior) Claude M. Bristol speaks of cosmic consciousness & an experience with "brilliant white light." This is likely something along the lines of a spiritual experience. And what did Bristol take from this experience?

...the memory of that single experience will always remain, for in those few seconds I received more knowledge and understanding than I had ever received in my years of reading and studying.

Sounds somewhat similar to what Brian was saying "Child Is Father Of The Man" is about ("knowing yourself so you can make the best decisions in the world").

If you look again at Wordsworth's poem you'll see that the phrase "the Child is father of the man" likely occurs at the moment of a spiritual experience.

This leads me to another question: is there anything regarding spiritual enlightenment that has to do with being transported back to a childhood state of mind?

Think one can find many takes on this idea if you search the internet.

Yes "Child Is Father Of The Man" and music in a Disney-like style can be related to child-like states of mind but as far as spiritual enlightenment goes I'd take a different angle.

A very young child tends to think interns of pictures & whether it be Brian Wilson introducing "Heroes & Villains (Demo)" talking about things becoming 'visual', or Van Dyke Parks explaining his lyrics by calling them 'visual efforts', or Frank Holmes providing SMiLE artwork, it was all visually inspired; essentially coming from a child's perspective.

I would say that the repeated syllable (ma-ma, da-da, foot-doot-doot) SMiLE sections as well as the full blown dream-like songs & the pictorial music all point to a child-like perspective. SMiLE comes from a child's point of view.

According to Koestler this child's perspective leaves one more open to true original creative discovery.....something along the lines of a spiritual experience IMHO.

In the October 8, 1966 issue of MELODY MAKER Brian Wilson made a comment under the heading 'MIRROR.'

Have you tried the mirror technique of the subconscious? I'm reading a book about it----I'm fascinated by the mind and hypnosis and things like that.

Think I've found the book Brian was reading, The Magic Of Believing by Claude M. Bristol (1948). There's a chapter titled 'The Mirror Technique For Releasing The Subconscious."

This early self-help book material will likely seem trivial to those in touch with the popular depiction of SMiLE.

But I think it, with all its flaws, will add strength to the argument that Brian was all about enabling spiritual enlightenment via SMiLE.

Micheal Vosse pointed out that Brian believed when people were laughing at something they cannot control their ego & this left them open to having a spiritual experience. Brian claimed that SMiLE would include plenty of humor. This then would possibly leave listeners open to a spiritual experience.

rab2591 asked:

I could be wrong, but wasn't this also Koestler's belief?

Koestler does tie ego to humor. He uses phrases like "self-asserting" to indicate ego.

As far as loosing control of one's ego & having spiritual experience goes; Koestler arguably does go into that a little during his chapters on laughter. The laughter, humor, Jester part of the book then mingles & merges with the science and discovery part of the book where the dream-like states are apt to trigger a chance meeting and merger with a higher form of mentation.

But much of Brian's take on humor is due to first hand observations on his part. Brian had noticed that people were prone to trying to be funny in social settings.

I'd say that the idea that humor could enable a spiritual experience is 50% Brian and 50% Koestler.

Worked up a small list for any interested folks. Here are some indicators hinting that SMiLE was meant to inspire spiritual enlightenment......a true teenage symphony to God.

1) Brian knew psychedelic art was where it was at in '66 and '67. Psychedelic art aims to recreate & communicate aspects of the acid experience. Brian focused on the spiritual aspect of his experience. His psychedelic art therefore would likely be about communicating the spiritual experience.

2) Brian chose to work with people he believed had a similar spiritually enlightened perspective. As Van Dyke Parks pointed out, "people who experimented with psychedelics, no matter who they were, were viewed as 'enlightened people,' and Brian sought out the enlightened people."

3) Micheal Vosse pointed out that Brian believed when people were laughing at something they cannot control their ego & this left them open to having a spiritual experience. Brian claimed that SMiLE would include plenty of humor. This then would possibly leave listeners open to a spiritual experience.

4) Brian was obsessed with promoting a vegetable diet and health. He believed that health was an important ingredient in spiritual enlightenment. SMiLE promoted a vegetable diet & heath. In this way SMiLE was encouraging spiritual enlightenment.

5) Brian has mentioned Arthur Koestler's book The Act Of Creation on numerous SMiLE related occasions. Koestler maintained that art had the ability to inspire the consumer of the art to access what was going on in the mind of the art's creator. If Koestler is to be believed then SMiLE could transmit the enlightened perspective (note point #2 of this list).

6) The Act Of Creation asserts that dreaming and dream-like states are when the mind is most open to events like spiritual enlightenment. SMiLE's music is composed, lyrics written, and art drawn in dream-like fashion. In fact, many of the methods employed by its creators, for instance the use of puns and visual puns, are listed by Koestler as examples of dream-logic. Therefore SMiLE is made in a style that leaves the mind most open to the spiritual experience.

7) Brian explanation of "Surf's Up" lyrics displays the process. "He's off on a trip, on a vision, he's creating it like a dream." Brian then goes on interpreting the lyrics in a very dream-like way. Eventually Brian shows how all of this is supposed to resolve, "the joy of enlightenment, of seeing God."

Brian explained the lyrics in a very interpretative style on this occasion IIRC. Jules Siegel documented Brian's take.

Brian's explanation style hints that SMiLE was heavily influenced by Arthur Koestler's book the Act Of Creation.

The late Bob Hanes absolutely loved the PARTY! album.