[Smiley Smile]

It's a great idea about the zap back to reality and that the invigoration caused by a calm meditative state but .... I dunno ... I think you give them too much credit here.

I say to you, "Wind Chimes" (Smiley Smile version).

There's no way Wind Chimes going into Gettin' Hungry wasn't intentional. One of the most hilarious bits of sequencing I've seen. You have to turn up your stereo ALL the way to hear the Wind Chimes tag, then Gettin Hungry bursts out with that really loud organ..  Brilliant.. They kinda do that "back to reality" dose with Wind Chimes itself with that weird organ burst that comes out of nowhere in such a tranquil, low volume sounding song before it ends.

I would say "TM" at the end of Friends has to be a joke. I can't see how it would be an accident to put a song like that at the end. Seems like Brian loved to f_uck with his audience with some of these track inclusions. Everyone is still perplexed with these to this day, especially that one, "Big Daddy" on Today and "I'm Bugged By My Old Man" on Summer Days, which sounds like 'Smiley Smile' already..

I'm not quite sure how to rate Carl as a songwriter. He didn't write much throughout his career and much of it was mediocre. But and it's a big but, he wrote my favourite BB song ever "The Trader", as well as "Feel Flows" which is in my top 5 Beach Boys songs. He also wrote "Where I Belong", for me; hands down the best BB song of the 80's. Plus his name is also credited on River Song, which is none too shabby a tune.

Carl is indeed credited as co-writer on River Song and yet Dennis gets all the praise.

Carl is also credited as co-writer on I Went To Sleep, Good Timin', Our Sweet Love, etc. and yet they're always referred to as 'Brian songs'.

And I'm willing to bet that the bits of All This Is That that Carl wrote are his own vocal sections i.e. the undisputed highlights of the song.

And yep, I too would put Trader and Feel Flows in my all-time top ten, and Where I Belong too.

Hell, i even like Goin' South. In fact, one day I'll be in a wooden cabin in Winter, deep within a snowy forest, with a log fire burning and a glass of mulled wine to hand, and Goin' South will be playing, and a kind of perfection will have been achieved.

Perhaps Carl would have been a more prolific songwriter had he not had to spend so much time worrying and carrying about his wild brothers...

I really like Goin' South.. Doesn't help that I live in FL now, but when I lived up north, listening to it during winter time when snow was on the ground, fireplace lit, staying cozy in my house during the holidays.. it gives you a really nice warm feeling. It's perfect for the feeling its trying to convey.

I think Carl IS probably the most underrated Beach Boy. People talk about Dennis and praise him. I don't think he gets praised quite enough (this overrated business is ridiculous) but still, there are people out there devoted to his music and sing his praises. I don't really see much praise for Carl. People acknowledge that he has a great voice, but the only praise I really see for him is "God Only Knows" and obvious stuff. Maybe that and "I Can Hear Music".. Aside from this board, I don't remember seeing any praises for Carl anywhere except maybe Endless Harmony or some doc.

Good call on the co-writing credits too. I don't know if a lot of people realize how much he collaborated with Brian, and though it's a 50/50 credit with half in his favor, no one says anything except maybe once in a blue moon on this board about his contributions. I really wonder what he contributed to certain songs actually.

He also co-wrote "Friends", "Sail Plane Song" (which strangely, the credits totally changed when turned into Loop De Loop) and he seemed to do a lot of help production wise on certain songs/albums. He helped Brian finish Surf's Up and Love You and I'm sure there's other things he helped Brian with that I can't remember right now.

Funky Pretty (in fact the whole Fairy Tale.. I think it is very charming and beautiful in spots)

Um... "Funky Pretty" isn't part of the Fairytale, y'know.

Of course not. Just mentioned the Fairytale as an afterthought.

Winter Symphony is a great xmas BB song from Brian.. I agree excellent vocals on that one.. The production is so much more creative and interesting than almost anything else done at MIU sessions (same with Dennis's Morning Christmas, which is also highly underrated).

I also think Child Of Winter is very underrated. It has that quirky synth based arrangement that would develop even more on Love You. The way Brian was doing arrangements at that time with synths was amazing.

Other songs I find very very underrated:

A few on Carl & The Passions (Cuddle Up, Make It Good, Mess Of Help, even Marcella)

The Palisades Park cover on 15 Big Ones

Definitely Wind Chimes on Smiley like someone else mentioned (and Fall Breaks as well)

Funky Pretty (in fact the whole Fairy Tale.. I think it is very charming and beautiful in spots)

I also really like some of those cheesy Caribbean type songs "Island Girl" and "Sunshine". Very catchy and good harmonies.

Also after hearing the backing track to "Don't Go Near The Water" I appreciate that one a lot too. I still wonder if Brian had more of a hand in the production than we think.

Oh, and 'It's Over Now' is awful.

Funny I was just thinking recently how amazing "It's Over Now" and "Still I Dream Of It" is. Speaking of Dennis, I wish Adult Child could have been a few of those songs from those sessions with some Dennis songs thrown in there. Would have been classic.

As for the thread, Dennis did "Cuddle Up". He did "River Song". He did "Farewell My Friend". If anyone can get the closest to the most  heartbreakingly beautiful, emotional, tearjerking music Brian was capable of, it's him.

Vosse mentions a song which sounds like the Wind Chimes we know but which had a comedy breakdown in the middle - just before the full-on vocal section.  Brian Wilson had the voices stopping and starting as he counted and re-counted them in. What is driving me mad is that I heard this version somewhere and thought the goofy Brian Wilson [trademark] humour pretty cool. I've since lost this track under the avalanche of bootlegs, fan mixes, and official releases of the last few years.

I just heard the Smile Sessions SOT vol 17 set.. On disc 3 Wind Chimes is represented. On the "first vocal overdub" track for Wind Chimes, there is the part that you described, the vocals stopping and starting while Brian counts off, right before the piano tag. Haven't read about this version before and forgot about it.. I can't tell if it was intended for humor or if the rest of the guys kept getting tricked by Brian's false count offs? No idea.

I've got a random question.. Are the tapes lost that go to the backing track to "Hang On To Your Ego/I Know There's An Answer"? The track has a slightly different arrangement on the first two takes, lacking that distinctive organ and piano mixture on the intro as on the album version. The saxes are much more prominent and actually I love that 2nd take. Has kind of a New Orleans cajun type sound or something. There only appears to be only those 2 takes and the master take though as far as sessions that are available for that song from what I can gather. It'd be interesting to hear how Brian developed that song into what it became from take 3 onto take 12 but it doesn't seem to be available. Plus Brian seems to be in really good spirits, talking to the musicians about the album "How To Speak Hip". I never really gave Pet Sounds sessions or the SOT much of a listen until recently and never noticed this stuff.

Brian also titled this both "Let Go Of Your Ego" and "Let Go Of Your Libido" during tracking apparently which I find interesting.

Even singing in his non falsetto voice he doesn't sound anywhere near as hoarse as he did on 15 Big Ones.  I compare this demo to "Back Home" and I shake my head in disbelief.  What the heck happened in 75 to make this change?

I've been wondering for years about this. It was kind of surreal to me to hear that demo on MIC for the first time. It sounds like a 50/50 mix of early 70's Brian and 15 Big Ones Brian. His falsetto is still very much in good shape, and he belts out the ending with some awesome vibrato too. One year later and he could barely sing on key and his voice was so gruff and as the years went on any glimpse of the Brian of years prior was surely unidentifiable as far as his singing voice goes. The closest I've ever heard to a early 70's Brian was the "You've Lost That Lovin Feeling" cover and MIU but that's about it.

I don't know if Here Comes The Night (Wild Honey) has been released on a comp or not, but if not, that's definitely up there. One of my favorite Beach Boys songs and one of their most genuinely "funky" sounding tracks.

Definitely All I Wanna Do. It's weird that the guys have totally forgotten this one (except maybe Mike).

Fall Breaks And Back To Winter is one of my favorites too. I can see why they wouldn't rerelease this one, but it's brilliant.

I know H.E.L.P was never released and was on the GV box set, but I really love that track. I think it's 100% Brian and the "confessional" lyrics are so charming. Should be more well known even though it wasn't released until '93.

Also:

I'd Love Just Once To See You
Make It Good
Diamond Head
My Diane
Pitter Patter

Was just reading this thread: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,3951.0.html

It's a really old thread but it had some pictures of Brian from 72-74 that are not available anymore. Does anyone still have these or any pics from this time period? I've seen some, but it is really rare to find pics of Brian in this time. I'd love to see any if anyone can post em.

I just realized Bruce plays a lot of keyboards (usually organ or non-piano keyboards) on late 60s recordings.. I was never really a big fan of him.. I acknowledge that he did great stuff with the Rip Chords and had some nice vocal contributions, but I don't really care for any of his written songs except Deirdre (which I always thought Brian had something to do with but now I hear he contributed a few words at best). However he did some amazing keyboard parts on the late 60s records. I listen and always think Brian did it, but then I realize that it was usually Bruce doing those parts. Clavinet on Good Time, organ on Sail Plane Song, Wild Honey, and probably a bunch of other songs from Wild Honey to 20/20. What other songs did he contribute a notable keyboard part to during this period?

That's because that intro was Brian, Carl and Al.

Yep, and that intro rules - but I'm referring more to the harmonies that come in at around 0:44 with the repeated lyric "Island Girrrl" (which I assume is the whole band including Brian, Carl, Al, Mike, and Bruce?) Even other recordings from the preceding 15-20 years (the ones that have Brian in them too) don't quite seem to have that quite same level of BB harmony magic (to my ears). Maybe it's just the word "girl" being sung that's so reminiscent of that lyric/phrasing on older BB songs like Surfer Girl. Either way, it's just an amazing part.
[/quote]


Yup that's what struck me about some of those songs. I know exactly what you mean about Island Girl. That does feel like a pure BB harmony sound on the entirety of that song and I love Carl's vocal.. Same with "Still Cruisin".. "Somewhere.." has a great blend and trade off between vocalists as well. It's a shame Summer in Paradise and nothing else really came of them after this, because there's a lot of potential going on these songs.

Much much more than the BB 85 production debacle. Good songs on there I'll admit, but people tend to look at this as the bottom of the barrel garbage material when the best material on it is better than just about anything on KTSA or BB 85 easily.

I like "In My Car" quite a bit too. Has a bit of a spacy quirky 80s sound and Brian's voice sounds pretty damn good on it.

First time I listened to Smiley Smile (near the beginning of my BB obsession) it was Fall Breaks... and, especially, She's Goin' Bald that made me sit up and go 'Wow! What a band!!' I just cannot believe that they've been voted off first. There's some really conservative members on this board...

Anyway, Good Vibrations, for the reasons already outlined.

Fall Breaks is probably the most Smile-ish song on the album to me.. More than Heroes & Villains. Delightfully weird and complex arrangement just like a lot of Smile songs IMO.

This has been discussed before, so this is just a rant on my part.  But in what kind of world or universe is it acceptable or allowable that a song such as Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Live Again is left off the actual album (Surf’s Up) and not even issued as a single.  I mean, was Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds left off Sgt. Pepper?  (Uh, no) Was Mr. Tambourine left off Bringing It All Back Home?

GEEZ

What were The Boys thinking?  And what were they on at the time to make such a dumb decision?

If I recall correctly, Dennis and Carl argued about the order of the track list for the album because they couldn't agree whether Wouldn't It Be Nice to Live Again or Surf's Up be the last song on the album. In the end, Dennis was the one who decided not to put the song in the album.

Surfs Up would have been improved SO much, I think with this song.. I think it is a great album but slightly inconsistent... As much as I do love "Feet", it really doesn't fit on the album at all. I don't like Student Demonstration Time really either. I know a lot of people love Disney Girls too but I couldn't really care less about any of Bruce's compositions at all except Deirdre and Endless Harmony. That song I feel doesn't fit on there at all either.

With at least 2 songs that I don't think fit well on the album, or doesn't fit what the Beach Boys were trying to successfully do with their image at the time (write serious, more cryptic or "edgy" material), it kinda messes with the running order. Then you have songs like "Lookin At Tomorrow" which I really like, but some days I find kind of lame and the lyrics to Don't Go Near The Water which could have ruined a perfectly good backing track (as heard on MIC) if not for the great vocals, at least Dennis's WIBNTLA or "4th Of July" would have really added a whole lot to this album I think. I can see why Surfs Up would beat out WIBNTLA for the ending song, that's a no brainer, but I wish Dennis would have compromised and tried to get it put somewhere else on the album. I personally really do think it would have added a LOT to the album and I think it is as great as people say it is.

I know this isn't the point of the thread, but what an awesome, awesome, awesome song and recording. Although this isn't saying much, it's clearly the last great thing they did until That's Why God Made the Radio.

I totally agree.. I avoided this album like the plague for a long time until I recently came to this board and saw people praise this song left and right. I was shocked at how amazing this song really is. Even that guitar part in the beginning is so sublime, although I've heard people call it "cheesy", as well as the production. The production on this song is MILES ahead of anything on BB '85 as far as I'm concerned. I'm really surprised this wasn't a hit..

Gotta say I love "Still Cruisin'" the song too. A bit cheesy but catchy as hell and great harmonies. I don't think that album is anywhere near as bad as people say it is (except Wipe Out).

I think Mike had an amazing voice at times and I would happily give him praise for his great role in the band. Here's a few of my favorite Mike vocal moments:

Heroes And Villians - The unfinished low "da da da da da" backing vocal on Smile Sessions from 'Wonderful ver. 3'.. One of the most beautiful vocals he's done.. also on Children Were Raised with the "rum ba bum" type vocal

California Girls, any version but I love his mellow vocal on the Leid In Hawaii post-show recordings

Of course All I Wanna Do on Sunflower

That's Not Me and Here Today are incredible

Meant For You.. Tender, soft, warm and beautiful. Something you don't expect when you hear the name Mike Love.

Mike's vocal on Hawaii is awesome too. I hear he had a cold that day? I thought it was Dennis singing when I first heard this song

Airplane, Johnny Carson.. actually all of Love You he is top notch

Definitely Today too..

He had tons of great vocal moments actually, mostly from the 60s until the mid or late 70s.

I like the fact that When I Grow Up To Be A Man has only Beach Boys playing the instruments on it, no session musicians at all on that one (except for a tiny bit of harmonica). It's a great track and has great feel and texture, and proves the boys were capable of playing Brian's more sophisticated stuff.

Another one is I Get Around, except for some added percussion and the saxes, nice to know it's all Beach Boys on the track. I mean it went to #1...and they are the musicians on the track. Nuff said.

Didn't know about I Get Around.. I think the rest of the guys don't get enough credit for how awesome their musicianship is. They really pulled those songs together brilliantly and it's funny how you can't tell the difference whether its the wrecking crew or not on some of these songs.

Going by ear, listening to a few different unsurpassed masters last night, it sounds like Brian plays the bongos on "Shes Going Bald", which is pretty cool.

There was an outtake I heard from a rehearsal (or perhaps basic track session) of "I Can Hear Music" where Dennis asks Carl if the chords he has in mind/are playing are the correct chords, and you can hear him play piano on there. I don't remember if there's an audible piano on the released version or not as it's mostly acoustic guitars..

I think as well as That's Not Me (which I also did hear the entire band played on and not the wrecking crew), there's also "Girl Don't Tell Me" and "You're So Good To Me" on the previous album. I believe the band is playing that one too from what I remember.

Whistle In. Don't pick on GV, it rules wherever it is placed.

This album I think fascinates me more than pretty much any other in the BBs catalog I think. It's the culmination and aftermath of the collapse of Smile and why Brian decided to go this direction and why he under-produced it so much is a question most fans tend to ask when they first listen to it. I wish there were more insight on the sessions besides that 2 min radio interview, the legendary Carl quotes and the Unsurpassed masters.

Is there a bigger/higher quality version of this image?

Possibly the best quality version would be the 16" x 12" limited edition lithograph that was included with certain copies of The Warmth Of The Sun CD comp.

Alternatively...

http://www.timothymcgaw.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/brian.jpg

Amazing quality picture of that at that link! I had to save it to my computer. I'm guessing that is from 1967? I love that picture of Brian.

Fall Breaks is great and She's Goin' Bald is just perfect. How can anyone not love those crazy lyrics and harmonies and the sped-up vocals???

My vote goes to Good Vibrations - because it doesn't belong on this album and spoils the spooky vibe...

I couldn't say "Shes Going Bald" because of the "too late mama" 3rd section alone. Really love that boogie woogie type stuff Brian does.

Fall Breaks I feel is one of the most brilliant compositions Brian has ever done. I am shocked so many people voted for it. It is essentially the same 20 seconds repeated, but that sound is so utterly bizarre I love it. Couldn't believe what I was hearing when I first heard it (same with "Wonderful" and "Wind Chimes" on the album).

Good Vibrations doesn't belong but I still love it, and over the years it does seem to fit somehow. It's strange. "Whistle In" is catchy but THAT one is one where the 10 second loop aspect of it does get repetitive. It's short though, but I still had to pick something I guess. Smiley is one of my favorite albums of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdhua948tV8

This version's louder and needs way more hits (because it's my video).  Check it out, if just for all the Billy-centric BB picture I put in.


Oh, and give me Billy's version over Al's any day.  Al's take is "folksy" enough to begin with.  Add in the gosh darn lyrics and I could never take it seriosuly.  I was blown away when I finally heard the earlier version.

Nice! I "liked" it for sure, awesome video. I can't tell if the audio is better quality than what I have or not but either way yeah I love this version. I don't dislike Al's version on the LP at all but I just really like Billy's voice and feel like it fits really well. He ends up kinda sounding like a combination of early 70s and late 70s Brian. And he puts a lot of feeling in the vocal for such silly words. I feel like Al does a nice 'hiccupy' type vocal that is different, not any worse, but I have been preferring this alternate version lately.

Fall Breaks? Are you guys nuts? That's one of my favorites easily.. My vote goes to "Whistle In".

I love the original version of course, but that alternate vocal is nice to have.. Kinda strange how it wasn't always sung by Al to begin with but BH does a great job on it. Just wonder if this is part of the original "Brian" mix of Love You before Carl got to it. I like that cheesy organ solo or whatever it is. It just adds to the charm of the record.

By the way I must say it absolutely blew my mind when I saw that Al redid "Honkin'" for his album a few years ago. WITH Brian on it. WITH the moog synths. Just amazing, totally recreated/updated the original sound. I wish he did more songs like that.