To make it clear, this is what I'm hearing from Carl:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tEcsst0coh1pAPM2NclXDb0_K1kfJNYV/view?usp=sharing

In this isolated clip the best I can figure is... "If you feel lonely in the night I'd always be with you." 

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, though.   

At first I heard "call", but I couldn't hear "call and...", so that's why I think it might be "always".

Thanks for chiming in Mr. Desper!

When I first heard it back in the early 70's I thought they were singing "Right on!  Right on!"  That being a very common phrase, at least in the late 60's if not the early 70's.

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

What a cool article!  Let me add my voice in saying I want to hear this stuff now!!!

How about he take the best of the best song from these tapes, and record it for the new album?   

And, yes, I would like to see Brian try to finish some things.  ("Can't Wait Too Long", for example.)  However, I also want to hear the unvarnished originals -- as I have yet to hear in the past, what, 35 years, Brian taking an old idea and making it better.  Except for SmiLE 2004, from 1978 on, his old ideas always seem to lose quite a bit in their latter translation, in my opinion.  But I keep hoping!

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

Yeah, I'd love to hear more about this track, too.

And just for the sake of it, I'd like to throw this out, too....

It seems to me that the track after the demo is "finished", meaning that this was not an idle tinkering.  What we've got is all "final take".  However, there certainly seems to be a lot missing. 

And I've got a theory.  If Brian is going to add more to a track (besides vocals), what's the last thing he usually added?   Strings!

So my theory, (and hopeful wish), is that Brian has, or at least had, an incredible string arrangement somewhere in his head that he was going to add to this song.

(This string arrangement, if real, would have made the song even more like "She's Leaving Home", wouldn't it?)


Love and merci,   Dan Lega

If this song was going to be about a baby (as revealed on a separate thread) then maybe it was not intended for the Smile album but for another project ?

"Dada" was supposed to be about a baby?  Could someone please point me to the thread with this extremely interesting new revelation?!  Thanks!

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

Okay, here are my notes on the SMiLE Sessions box set.

What a discovery about hearing Brian singing some original lyrics to "Holidays"!  (I forgot who first noticed it, but Big Kahuna kudos to you!)

On the "Cornucopia" version of "Vega-Tables" you've got the background lyric, "Rolling all around, dig a hole in the ground."  (Okay, the lyric sheet says "Roll all around", but it sounds like "Rolling all around" to me.)   And if you look at the Frank Holmes drawing of "Vege-Tables" that is printed on the 45 in the box set you'll see that there's a drawing in the left hand bottom corner of a "hole in the ground"!

I wish Frank Holmes drawings had been printed at full size in the book.  Maybe Frank will produce an art book with them?  I'd definitely buy it!  (And if I were a publisher I'd definitely publish it!)

"Da Da" -- CD-4, track 8 -- there's is some kind of weird percussion on the track that is listed as "percussion unknown".  I tried opening and closing a pair of scissors and came very close to the sound.  (Maybe if I had an all metal pair of scissors it would have matched it even better?)  But I'm not saying conclusively that it's a pair of scissors.  But if you wanted to recreate the sound you'd come pretty close.

"I Don't Know" seems to remind me a folk song or an old standard, but I can't think of which one.  Does it sound familiar to anyone else?

And I'd like to know what documentation exists that attributes the writing of "I Don't Know" to Dennis, and of "Tones/Tune X" to Carl.

"Teeter Totter Love" -- okay it's a strange track to start with -- but those girls singing "Yeah, yeah!" is the strangest part of it!  Is that something from a sounds effects tape that is thrown in, or was it done live?  It sounds canned to me.

Did anyone else have problems with skips and/or dropouts with the CD's?  I heard a few on my discs, but I think it's my disc player's age that is showing.  When I finally realized that these dropouts might be caused by my machine instead of being problems with the original tapes I waited for the next one I heard and went right back and played it again, and lo and behold it played perfectly the second time.  I haven't had time to go back and check the other discs again -- this is a huge set!  It takes a really long time to listen to everything!  (So hopefully it's just a minor glitch with my player, and not manufacturing defects.)

But there does seem to be some kind of CD or original tape glitch just before the 2 minute mark of track 19 on CD-2, which I don't think is my disc player.  It's "H&V Prelude to Fade", and there's a slide whistle and strings going on, and then the slide whistle quickly repeats with a short drop-out of the strings.  Is this what was on the original tape, or is it some kind of digital mistake?

"I'm In Great Shape" -- I'm leaning toward Brian singing "open country", rather than "agriculture".  I'm hearing a "P" sound instead a "G", and I'm hearing an "eeee" sound for country, instead of an "er" or "ure" sound for agriculture.  And if anyone remembers, David Oppenheim wrote "open country" in the notes he took for the "Inside Pop" special.

"All Day" -- this has a new section I've never heard, and this is probably the biggest and best piece of new instrumental music on the set in my opinion.  And then Brian is heard saying that there is going to be talking going on between breaks in the track -- and then says he's going to show them (the Boys?) what he wants them to do on the track.  I sure wish they had kept the tape rolling for that!  Another seemingly forever lost SMiLE idea.

"Heroes and Villains" -- another cool and interesting new musical idea is the "villainous" piano trill for "H&V" on track 23, CD-2.

"Heroes and Villains" -- track 27, CD-2 -- the "H&V" chorus has clanks, like the hitting of railroad spikes, and rattle and sandpaper sounds like the chugging of a train engine.  Was this an attempt by Brian to connect the song to "Cabinessence" in some way?  Then again, we've also got a vocalized train whistle in other "H&V" sessions, so it could just go with that.  But just maybe it was more of Brian's attempt to have SMiLE be symphonic in nature with different themes showing up throughout the piece?

"Heroes and Villains"  -- track 28, CD-2, "Prelude to Fade" -- the track which Barnyard was sang over?  (If not, it can be sang over it, I think.)  It's interesting that some takes have bird sounds on them!  We haven't heard them before on any previous leaked takes.  There's also a line, probably from a muted trumpet, that sounds to me as if it was supposed to represent the bleating of a lamb, or the mooing of a cow.

And my final new observation (for now at least) is the SMiLE ad -- you know the one where that says, "We're sure to sell a million units in January!"  Well, all this time I think all of us thought the ad was saying Capitol was expecting to sell a million copies of SMiLE.  But now that I've heard more from the beginning of the ad, I don't think it says that at all!  I think Capitol is saying they're hoping to sell a million units of records -- all records -- (with SMiLE included) -- in the month of January!  So I think this is one long held assumption that now becomes a SMiLE myth, and that can, unfortunately, be laid to rest!


Long live SMiLE,   Dan Lega

I'm very behind in my reading, so please forgive me if some of this has been gone over already....

A few quick thoughts on the release of the Beach Boys SMiLE...

Of course I was hoping there would be some major revelations, such as printed or sung lyrics that I've never heard, but that didn't really happen.  However, that being the case, Mark and Alan did somehow find different takes of previously bootlegged sessions that had not appeared, yet.  So I give them big, big kudos on that accomplishment!
 
My biggest disappointment with what we are presented was the mix of "Child Is Father Of The Man" on disc 1.  I'm really disappointed with the way they put those sections together.  That lonely piano and trumpet section needs to go after the verse/chorus/verse/chorus -- not before it!  It totally ruins the impact of that great piece of music for me.  They should have left it as it was on the contemporary mix by Brian, which was the same template he used for SMiLE in 2004.


The other thing that I'm everyone noticed is that the LP's and 45's have things written in the run out groove.  What was written on the "Heroes & Villains" 45 had me confused at first. 

Side A has what looks like... "A+  2 score". 

And side B has.   "and 5".


Well, it eventually hit me that "2 score and 5" is a take-off of the "H&V" lyric of "3 score and 5".  And that "2 score and 5" equals 45, which is the number of years since SMiLE was written!

But I couldn't figure out what the "A+" meant... until I was writing this email just now.  Perhaps it's not "A+", but the word "At", and is the lyric "At three score and five, I'm very much alive."


Long live SMiLE,   Dan Lega

Shame about the major factual errors... but balanced by Brian stating that it was drugs and his & Van Dyke's decision that put paid to the project, with no mention of the evil Mike Love. That'll piss off the more rabid blooies. 

Now wait a minute...  you don't seriously believe that Van Dyke was in on the decision to scrap the project, do you?   I'm pretty sure Van Dyke doesn't believe this, since Van Dyke has previously said that he was fired from the project after Mike questioned his lyrics.  This, to me, is just Brian once again blowing smoke over the real reason for the stillbirth -- the same thing he has done for so many years.


Love and merci,   Dan Lega

CD wow has the 2cd for 12.99 with FREE DELIVERY, no doubt the best deal around

Unless you're like me and you insist on picking up the 2cd on the day of release, this is the best choice

http://www.cdwow.ie/CD/beach-boys-smile-sessions-2cd/dp/22221797/39627253#bc=af90

That CDWow price in the link you sent is in pounds, not dollars.  Maybe it's still the best price for those overseas, but you fooled me, because I had thought you were talking dollars.

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

Love and merci, Dan Lega -

Real life is not a TV sitcom where things just leave off, enter a time vacuum, and emerge years later with nothing inbetween. Van Dyke Parks didn't just humbly back down from asserting his confidence in his lyrics to Mike Love, he left in a prissy huff and left the entire project soon thereafter right? What's that all about? All that work and creative drive with Brian just... thrown away over an argument with goofball Mike Love? Come on. VDP is a butthole, like Brian Wilson said.

He left it all to Brian to finish or not finish. After he left Brian seems to have lost the plot with Smile. I think Van Dyke was a great stabilizing presence for Brian, someone intelligent enough to fully understand him yet not spaced out in a damaged way himself, still grounded in the mundane world so well that he can give a sense of direction to the proceedings. Brian has said sometimes in the studio you get so close to it you don't know where it's at. With Van Dyke making regular visits he would've had a trusted source of judgment, not some guy in the street hearing a Heroes mix and not liking it so it gets junked.

"Goofball Mike"?  Hmmm.  Like I said earlier, Mike Love was arguably the most successful American rock and roll lyricist.  AND... he apparently has the ego to go with such a title.  So calling him "Goofball Mike" is very misleading in this context.  And how do you know Van Dyke left in a hissy fit?  I think he saw that Brian was now unwilling to go to bat for the lyrics, and so along with the heat he felt from Mike he decided to try and stay in the background by saying the lyrics didn't really mean anything specific.  But by the end of the meeting Van Dyke felt he had been fired!  How could he stay around?  Who was telling him to come back and help Brian finish it?  I agree that having Van Dyke around could have very well led to SMiLE being finished.  But after that confrontation with Mike Van Dyke felt that he was no longer wanted and bowed out.  I really don't see how you can blame SMiLE not being finished on a "wimpy" Van Dyke.  I really don't.


Love and merci,    Dan Lega

If Van Dyke Parks got more street cred from working with Smile it should have been duly balanced with scorn for abandoning the project like a stuck up college intellectual dork at the playful ribbing of class clown Mike Love. If V Dyke was just like Har har Mike whatever you say pal...   HISTORY MIGHT BE VERY DIFFERENT. Of course if we're going to break down the net of causes we could say well if Mike didn't give V Dyke a hard time... etc. But, VDP did walk out. I think he's had his tail between his legs till 2004 over it and he still knows all too well that Smile never got to be what it was meant to be [a phrase VDP would enjoy saying] even though Brian's Smile did come out in 2004. He said it seemed much "bigger" back then - that's the ambition, the shared vision to complete the project in the unified vision of it. Once Van Dyke Parks left, it became a Brian Wilson project and lost the sober direction VDP could bring to matters. Endless takes of what... Dada?

So once again we get the "Van Dyke should be demonized and flogged for abandoning SMiLE just when it needed him the most".  AGAIN, Brian Wilson and Mike Love were arguably the most successful rock and roll songwriting team in America!  If Brian couldn't convince Mike Love of the importance of the lyrics, then who was Van Dyke to say, "Hey, my lyrics are better than yours Mike?"  Mike's lyrics had sold millions of records, Van Dyke's lyrics had not.  Who was he to drive a wedge between two of the most powerful men in the industry?  Who was he to drive a wedge between two cousins in a family run business?  And besides, what good would have come of explaining the lyrics to Mike?  It's 40 years later and he still doesn't understand them.


Love and merci,   Dan Lega

And wonderful items they are indeed. The best BB-related purchases I made in 1997. Also had the privelidge of speaking to Frank on the phone to convey my thanks; wonderful fellow.

He really is. The girlfriend and I had dinner with him in S.F. in 2004. She really had no idea who he was or his connection with Smile, but she ended up spending more time talking to him than me! He even gave her some of his artwork and personalized it to her! He had some good stories that night about his association with Brian and Van Dyke.

Mikie, I'd love to hear the stories that Frank Holmes told you.  Have you posted them here before?


Love and merci,    Dan Lega

In regards to whether "Tones" and "Little Pad" are similar, Sean MacCreavy made a recording where he sang the "Little Pad" lyrics ove Tones, and it sounded perfect!

do you have this recording Dan? i'd love to hear it

Yes, I do -- but, unfortunately, I'm unable to share it.  My home computer is on the blink.  You should try to contact Sean MacCreavy and ask him if he still has copies.  His recording of this track is totally new.  (No Beach Boy tracks were harmed in the making of this recording.)  You should also hear the lyrics he put to Mauni Kauni (or Mona Kani)[sp?] -- absolutely fantastic!

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

In regards to whether "Tones" and "Little Pad" are similar, Sean MacCreavy made a recording where he sang the "Little Pad" lyrics ove Tones, and it sounded perfect!

Then, in regards to Al saying that "Worms" was not "Worms" on the '93 Box Set, if I remember correctly he never said that in a interview.  That was something he said to David Leaf, and David Leaf told other people what he said, and it got passed on from there.


Love and merci,   Dan Lega

You know, people (that is, the less obsessed and knowledgeable) will hear the sessions when this thing comes out, and they will hear just how many vocals were actually recorded for the unfinished/abandoned album that allegedly had a lot of dissent from within, and they might just start to see the story differently.

This way of thinking always gets to me.  Why couldn't they have recorded the lyrics AND heavily complained about them?  As far as I know it IS physically possible to SING a lyric, (with feeling, too!) even if you don't like it very much!  Throw in the fact that, hey, you're already in the studio AND you're already PAYING for the studio time and engineers.

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

... but what's the problem then if they did their job and sang the song?  Brian wasn't asking Mike to write on SMiLE.  Brian wasn't asking Dennis for help recording the album.  He was just asking them to sing.  Which they obviously did.  So whether or not they were happy campers is irrelevant.  We've got one legend of a story of Mike being crucified for 40 years for the mistake of asking what a phrase means.  It's also a fascinating thing that Mike always gets the blame for this, when he did all that was asked of him... and in the close years that followed Brian abandoned the band in a large way. 

I love Brian to death but all the hate the others (Mike especially) get over this album is getting old.  Not aimed at you Dan, I'm just talking about the common perception. 

And that's the other thing that gets to me, "Mike did all that was asked of him."  How do you know this?  And even if Mike did do all that was asked of him, that still doesn't preclude him from complaining about it so much that it scuttled the album.  In fact, that's what Van Dyke says happened, that there was a family dynamic that was being pushed to the limit because of the SMiLE sessions, because of his lyrics.  Therefore, Van Dyke thought he should leave the project, otherwise the scene might get really ugly and Brian might have to choose between Van Dyke and SMiLE, or the Beach Boys.  So Van Dyke left, sensing that Brian wasn't strong enough to bridge the gap and bring the Beach Boys into the new direction that he and Van Dyke were heading.

And, yes, we've got a lot of SMiLE vocals, but we've also got a lot of key parts missing.  Why are they missing?  Is it because Brian got so tired of hearing complaints about the lyrics that he no longer had the strength or will to get the Boys into studio for fear of repeat performances of harangues and complaints?

Mike says he didn't like the lyrics.  Mike doesn't think his complaints scuttled the album.  Van Dyke thinks they did.  Brian has said the band's complaints were a major, major bummer.  That's two against one, the way I see it.  Oh, and then there is Anderle's accounts of the Boys giving Brian a hard time.  I'm still not seeing the "story differently" from where I sit.


Love and merci,    Dan Lega

Love and Merci to you too Dan.  I don't want to offend you so first I'd like to say I respectfully disagree with you.  Van Dyke was such a weak person he walked away from confrontation.  Asking about lyrics.  I mean?  Come on!  Brian was mentally challenged and is today, you can't get a fair shake on what's 'depressing' from Brian Wilson, god bless him but everything depresses him and has for years. 

If vocals weren't recorded; couldn't Brian have recorded them?  Of course he could!  The reason the album didnt' come out has nothing to do with Mike Love.  At all.  If Brian gets the glory (rightfully!) for the album, then he also gets the blame for why it wasn't released. 

We just disagreed, I don't expect you to never post again.  Of course you will.  You'll probably tell me why I'm wrong... that's what adults do!  Van Dyke left the sessions, then later Brian left the group every chance he got and couldn't be goaded into doing anything hardly.  I' not saying Mike is a saint or even a gentleman but saying you dropped an album because somebody asked you what something meant and didn't like your art?  I'm sure glad Mike Love never met Picasso! 

And there's another thing that really gets in my craw, " Van Dyke was such a weak person he walked away from confrontation.  Asking about lyrics.  I mean?  Come on!"   So it's Van Dyke's fault that SMiLE didn't come out?  Even though "he did everything that Brian asked him to?"  (A little sarcasm there, in case you don't detect it.)

Put yourself in Van Dyke's shoes.  Imagine yourself a struggling musician/songwriter in California.  Every once in awhile you're meeting and working with some fairly famous musicians, but you're not making much money.  Heck, you don't even have enough money to own a car!  And then what happens?  Wow, the most famous pop musician in the United States asks you to be his lyric writer!!!  But it's a little more complicated than that, this guy used to write songs with his bandmate, but he's now decided on his own(*!*) that he's going to take the group into a totally different direction with more literate and even psychedelic lyrics, and, you know what, it's OK if they're a little obtuse.  Then imagine you work together extremely well.  The chemistry between the two of you is tremendous.  And after many months, imagine you've done almost enough songwriting to finish an album!  But what happens next?  Well, the band, especially the ex-songwriting partner, begins to hear what you two have been working on, and begins to be called in for vocal sessions, and what does he do, he complains about your lyrics!  (I'll now switch to using Brian's and Mike's name for ease and clarity of the writing.)  Now imagine Brian begins to feel beaten down and not appreciated.  He ultimately doesn't have the wherewithal to bring his bandmates on board.  He's getting bombarded with complaints every time they have to record some lyrics.  It gets so bad that the ex-songwriting partner, Mike, has demanded you come down and explain your lyrics.  With trepidation you come to the meeting.  You SEE that Brian looks defeated.  You SEE that Mike is not happy about Brian's new direction.  Mike asks you to explain yourself and your lyrics.  You look at Mike, and you figure, even if I explain all the different ways these lyrics can be interpreted he is still not going to like them.  So instead of trying to explain yourself you say, "Hey, they're just lyrics.  If they don't work for you, then throw them away."  You say this because you see that Brian is not going to stand up for you.  He's been beaten down by Mike.  And you feel the heat, too.  Mike is an intimidating guy.  It looks like your presence is causing a very, VERY big strain on the band.  Is it you're right to try and drive a wedge between them?  If you think about it, I think that most likely you'll come to the conclusion that, no, it's not your right to drive a wedge between the bandmates of the most popular band in America.  A band where most members are very, VERY closely related.  So you know what you do, you excuse yourself from the situation, because, who are you?  Some piddling little musician who is just barely scrounging enough money to live on.  The people you are dealing with are the most powerful pop musicians in all of America!  Heck, they are in a direct battle for supremacy with the Beatles!  They are huge!  Who are you?  Brian tried to so something different, and the band didn't like the direction.  You think it's time for you to go on your own separate way.  Goodbye, Brian.  It was great while it lasted.  It's a shame we couldn't have finished what we started.  Hopefully it will all be for the best.  And then, sure, you're going to kick yourself over and over for the rest of your life saying, should I have done more?  Maybe.  But that was the situation, and that's how you acted.  You can't change it now.


So, yeah, Van Dyke was fucking weak wimp who couldn't even explain his lyrics.  Do you think you could explain Van Dyke's lyrics to Mike Love in a way that would change his mind about them?  I don't think I could.


Love and merci,   Dan Lega

Because none of the other members had as much of a hand in the band's classic works as Brian did. It's not that hard to understand.

OK, then Brian really didn't even need them, did he? I mean, really?

Couldn't he have sung the missing pieces all himself?

Yeah, sure, Brian could have sung the missing pieces all by himself.  But he knew it wouldn't sound as good.  And... probably more importantly, even if he did finish it himself, he was still going to have the face the Beach Boys in trying to put it out.  Mike may still have said, "Brian this is going to ruin our careers if you f*ck with the formula."  If it came down to it, Mike and others may have refused to let Brian put the album out under the Beach Boys name.  And without the Beach Boys name it wouldn't have sold as well, and, well... Brian was really hoping and wishing it was going to be the next great Beach Boys' album.  That's what he wanted.  He didn't want it to be a solo album, he wanted it to be a Beach Boys' album.  And if the Beach Boys didn't want it to be a Beach Boys' album, then what was he to do?

And, yes, Andrew, the obstinacy the Beach Boys showed over the album probably wasn't the only reason it didn't come out.  But I think it certainly exacerbated any of the other problems.  And I will never understand how some people can whitewash the fact the the lyricist felt he was pushed out of the project.  If you push the lyricist of the project, how can you hope to finish it as originally planned?

Love and merci,    Dan Lega

I'm pretty sure I read the Tom Nolan Rolling Stone article when it came out -- so I guess I've been waiting for SMiLE for 40 years, too.


Love and merci,   Dan Lega

You know, people (that is, the less obsessed and knowledgeable) will hear the sessions when this thing comes out, and they will hear just how many vocals were actually recorded for the unfinished/abandoned album that allegedly had a lot of dissent from within, and they might just start to see the story differently.

This way of thinking always gets to me.  Why couldn't they have recorded the lyrics AND heavily complained about them?  As far as I know it IS physically possible to SING a lyric, (with feeling, too!) even if you don't like it very much!  Throw in the fact that, hey, you're already in the studio AND you're already PAYING for the studio time and engineers.

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

... but what's the problem then if they did their job and sang the song?  Brian wasn't asking Mike to write on SMiLE.  Brian wasn't asking Dennis for help recording the album.  He was just asking them to sing.  Which they obviously did.  So whether or not they were happy campers is irrelevant.  We've got one legend of a story of Mike being crucified for 40 years for the mistake of asking what a phrase means.  It's also a fascinating thing that Mike always gets the blame for this, when he did all that was asked of him... and in the close years that followed Brian abandoned the band in a large way. 

I love Brian to death but all the hate the others (Mike especially) get over this album is getting old.  Not aimed at you Dan, I'm just talking about the common perception. 

And that's the other thing that gets to me, "Mike did all that was asked of him."  How do you know this?  And even if Mike did do all that was asked of him, that still doesn't preclude him from complaining about it so much that it scuttled the album.  In fact, that's what Van Dyke says happened, that there was a family dynamic that was being pushed to the limit because of the SMiLE sessions, because of his lyrics.  Therefore, Van Dyke thought he should leave the project, otherwise the scene might get really ugly and Brian might have to choose between Van Dyke and SMiLE, or the Beach Boys.  So Van Dyke left, sensing that Brian wasn't strong enough to bridge the gap and bring the Beach Boys into the new direction that he and Van Dyke were heading.

And, yes, we've got a lot of SMiLE vocals, but we've also got a lot of key parts missing.  Why are they missing?  Is it because Brian got so tired of hearing complaints about the lyrics that he no longer had the strength or will to get the Boys into studio for fear of repeat performances of harangues and complaints?

Mike says he didn't like the lyrics.  Mike doesn't think his complaints scuttled the album.  Van Dyke thinks they did.  Brian has said the band's complaints were a major, major bummer.  That's two against one, the way I see it.  Oh, and then there is Anderle's accounts of the Boys giving Brian a hard time.  I'm still not seeing the "story differently" from where I sit.


Love and merci,    Dan Lega

You know, people (that is, the less obsessed and knowledgeable) will hear the sessions when this thing comes out, and they will hear just how many vocals were actually recorded for the unfinished/abandoned album that allegedly had a lot of dissent from within, and they might just start to see the story differently.

This way of thinking always gets to me.  Why couldn't they have recorded the lyrics AND heavily complained about them?  As far as I know it IS physically possible to SING a lyric, (with feeling, too!) even if you don't like it very much!  Throw in the fact that, hey, you're already in the studio AND you're already PAYING for the studio time and engineers.

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

The Boys did everything in their power to make SMiLE happen for Brian even with whatever "problems" they may have had with it or how mistreated they felt by Brian.

Ah, Cam and his "the Beach Boys did everything to make SMiLE happen"-ness.  So Mike's confronting of Van Dyke about the lyrics and making him feel so uncomfortable that the he left the project is doing everything they can to make SMiLE happen?  What about Anderle and Marilyn saying that the Boys were being the very opposite of helpful?  And Brian and Van Dyke have said the same thing.  I guess none of that matters.

Love and merci,  Dan Lega

But what does that even mean? He doesn't owe his greatness to his influences? Without his influences who knows what would have happened. What if Brian's dad never beat him? What if Brian never heard Rhapsody in Blue? What if he never turned on the radio and caught Be My Baby? What if he had never smoked that first joint or did that first hit of LSD?

I might grant you that Brian had some innate talent that existed independently of everything else (even that's questionable though depending on what side of the nurture v nature argument you side with), but ultimately Brian used his influences as tools to shape that talent into the form of Pet Sounds or SMiLE. Once you start subtracting influences you're subtracting experiences, you're taking away the things that made Brian Brian.

My observation, based on some 35 years or reading about, researching and talking to The Beach Boys and their milieu, is that even before having his first toke in 1964, Brian was already Brian as the likes of us understand it. The drugs merely amplified what was already there: as has been said many many people, some much closer to the centre than any of us, Brian was the last person in the world who should have taken or been offered LSD.

Alright, this is from approximately 10 pages ago, but I just want to chime in this one time.  I'm leaning more toward Fishmonk's side of the tale in this debate.  All three Wilson boys were troubled with addiction to drugs.  Therefore, since back in those days people didn't know what LSD could do, I don't see it worthwhile blaming anyone about Brian's taking of LSD.  With an addictive personality you're going to try a new drug.  No one is to blame.  Andrew, above you seem to hint that Brian was already teetering on the edge of a mental problems.  I believe that, too, and that is why when Laren Daro (or whatever his name is) laughs about giving Brian LSD it's because to him he didn't see much of a difference between pre-LSD Brian and post-LSD Brian.  And you know, we weren't there.  We didn't know Brian intimately then, and we don't know him intimately now.  Daro did know him then.  Therefore, I would say Daro has a better perspective than us.  Of course, he could be wrong, but you have to admit he has the better perspective.  Do I wish Brian had not taken drugs?  Yes, because it seems they did do him harm.  But, you know, I don't really know for sure.  But drugs did affect Brian, and whether they affected his music for bad or for good we'll never know, unless there's a parallel universe out there somewhere in which things happened differently.

So I don't know why people are getting on Fishmonk's case in this debate.  I haven't seen him (or anyone) say "I'm glad Brian took drugs."  He's just pointing out what he thinks Brian's drug-taking might have done to him.  I don't see the harm in that.

And for the record, I've never done hard drugs, and I don't have an addicitve personality and have never wanted to use them.  However, there are people who have these traits and do these things -- and sometimes you can't help them no matter what you do.

Love and merci,  Dan Lega

Yow!  What a list!  It gives me a headache to read it!  I'm one of those who is NOT listening to any SMiLE material until I get the box set, but I'll try to play along here.  I think we will definitely hear some mixes from acetates that we've never heard before, so I'll answer "yes" to most of those questions.


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Which of the following “new” material will be included on The Smile Sessions?

1.   Acetate/mix from May 11 session for Heroes and Villains  YES
2.   Previously unheard sections from Good Vibrations     NO
3.   Wind Chimes mix referred to by Michael Vosse          YES
4.   Vocals for Look/I Ran (Oct 13)         NO
5.   Wonderful with lead vocal and yodeling bvs     (OKAY, I'M CONFUSED, DON'T WE HAVE THIS ALREADY?)
6.   Cabin Essence previously unheard instrumental section        NO -- NOTHING UNHEARD, AT LEAST.  
7.   Cabin Essence “reconnected telephone” vocals        NO
8.   Child Is Father Of The Man previously unheard vocals (leads and/or bvs)      YES
9.   Child Is Father Of The Man previously unknown lyrics (could be audio, could be just documented lyrics)     YES
10.   I’m In Great Shape vocals        NO
11.   Significant clues/documentation into the overall structure of I’m In Great Shape      YES -- THOUGH PROBABLY AS A PART OF "H&V"
12.   Vintage lead vocal for Do You Like Worms        NO
13.   An altogether different recording under the title Do You Like Worms      NO -- I THINK AL WAS JUST MIS-REMEMBERING
14.   Any previously unheard spoken recordings/skits     NO
15.   Vintage lead vocal for Barnyard        YES
16.   Acetate/mix from fall 1966 version of Heroes and Villains      YES
17.   Previously unheard instrumental section from Surf’s Up        NO
18.   The Nov 29 recording “Jazz”         YES
19.   Previously unheard piece pertaining to the Elements       NO
20.   Significant new clues/documentation into what comprised the air element (for bonus point, speculate on specifics of what that element turns out to be)       NO
21.   Significant new clues/documentation into what comprised the earth element (for bonus point, speculate on specifics of what that element turns out to be)        NO, JUST A LOT MORE SPECULATION
22.   Significant new clues/documentation into what comprised the water element (for bonus point, speculate on specifics of what that element turns out to be)       YES -- THAT THE "WATER" (OR "WAH-DOO") CHANT IS THE WATER ELEMENT RECORDING
23.   Vocal parts for Old Master Painter and/or You Are My Sunshine       YES
24.   Excerpts from “Ball and Mitt” (Dec 15)        HUH?   I DON'T RECALL THIS, SO I'LL SAY "NO"
25.   Previously unheard section(s) from Heroes and Villains (for bonus points, speculate on specific sections)    NO
26.   Acetate/mix from 1967 version of Heroes and Villains       YES
27.   Dennis Wilson’s “I Don’t Know”       YES
28.   Jasper Dailey recording(s)     YES -- MAYBE THEY'LL PUT THEM AS BONUS HIDDEN TRACKS?
29.   Previously unheard material from Carl’s “Tones”    NO
 30.   Previously unheard material from the April Vega-Tables sessions    NO

Write-in item(s):  "VEGETABLES" WITH TOOTHBRUSH SOUND EFFECTS
                            A VERSION OF BARNYARD WITH ANIMAL SOUND EFFECTS -- MAY BE A LINETT/BOYD CONSTRUCTION, THOUGH



Love and merci,    Dan Lega

I highly doubt Brian was forced out crying by big bullies Mike and Al. The Wild Honey sessions were quite joyus.

I, for one, believe Brian was bullied and forced out crying.  Why would the member of 3 Dog Night make that story up?  He told it years after it happened, and he had no axe to grind, seeing as the group made it big on their own.  In fact, they probably had a much better career on their own than they would have had with Brian's help.

Love and merci,   Dan Lega

I don't think it's related to the BB's or BW's SMiLE. Looks like a happy accident to me!

Well, it's clearly not just a happy accident.  The "SMiLE" lettering is deliberately stolen.  But I think you're right that it does not relate to the Brian or the Beach Boys.  I've seen a few versions of this shirt -- one in person on a New York subway rider.  They're all pretty much the same, and they all relate to some group's "Keep America Beautiful" campaign.

Love and merci,  Dan Lega

You know, that's something I've often wondered. Stephen Desper described the situation as it happened in 1971: "About thirty minutes into the mix, Brian ... came bursting into the studio ... excitedly proclaiming that we should stop the mix and add just 'one more part' to the ending." The famous tag vocals were then "added postscript, and doubled at the last minute, as if always in his mind from conception, but heretofore forgotten, or perhaps suppressed." (emphasis mine)

While it's all conjecture on Stephen Desper's part, it does seem like an obvious question: was this a spur of the moment Brian idea or was it something he had tucked away since 1966? I wish someone would ask him, if they haven't already. Then again, his answer would probably just add more confusion to the matter.

Maybe they were actually part of the lyrics to Child is the Father of the Man?  Hence them not being sung or mentioned during the Surf's up demo, and then, when Brian realizes that Carl Wilson has adapted a second smile song for the outro of surf's up, he thinks to himself: well, might as well use the proper lyrics! 

The lyrics "A children's song, and we listen as they play, their song is love, and the children know the way," were written by Jack Rieley -- at that time.  However, I'm one to believe Brian always had that melody line in his head from the time of the SMiLE sessions.

Love and merci,   Dan Lega