It has caused some pretty intense arguments in the past, but I still have the opinion (based on the actual timeline, reports from those involved, and interviews with band members from 1967) that the Derek Taylor announcement was premature, if not inaccurate, and that the two weeks between that last "DaDa" session in May, the Beach Boys returning from a European tour where they got some bad reviews in the press, and work starting the first week in June on what would become the "Smiley" working method are KEY and absolutely essential in understanding why things happened as they did.
Literally everything about the band's working methods in terms of recording and production changed in those two weeks, late May into June 1967. If the term to describe the changes could be a "seismic event", it would be appropriate. Things simply do not change that drastically in that short a time without a major catalyst leading to the changes.
One of the main events was the Beach Boys returning from Europe shouldering some criticism about their live sound versus the records.
Unfortunately very few have spoken about those two weeks in late May '67 with any specifics, except perhaps Nick Grillo. And I doubt we'll ever know, because I think some seriously heavy discussions happened that went beyond "what's our next album?".
I wonder if maybe it's not so much that the band "killed" SMiLE in that they had that kind of authority over Brian to force his hand, but that their (presumed) complaints of "how are we gonna perform this live?" were the excuse he needed to get out of his self-imposed bind? It's already been discussed multiple times how everything changed in that crucial late-December-into-1967 window, when the Fire session freaked him out and VDP left, at least for the first time, then work shifted to the single.
It's really unclear why that happened, and especially now that Brian is gone and nobody else (not even VDP) knew what was going on in his head, what his process/schedule was, the detailed schematic of the album track-by-track etc, it's just going to remain a mystery. My speculative theory is that when Brian got scared of Fire or realized that track was just not going to work out the way he thought it would, two things happened:
1) He lost his confidence. For years he'd been battling off Murry's relentless criticism, then he had the other Boys giving him at least a bit of grief since Pet Sounds (Asher says this, I believe it) as well as at least some of the Capitol execs. He could always blow them off though, because he still believed in his own muse. He knew he was making great music with Pet Sounds and that was enough to power through the negativity. But now he'd realized one of his great ideas just wasn't gonna work and while anyone else could shrug that off with "oh well, they can't all be winners" for him it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm sure it led to an avalanche of doubt "what if everyone's right and this music sucks? What if Im not the genius they say I am--geniuses dont make mistakes!" So he procrastinates with the single to avoid the album, or else begins to second guess everything starting with Heroes but either way the sessions meander into endless revision.
2) Without the elements, the album lost its "heart" and purpose in his mind. Brian wanted SMiLE to be this big all-important statement to the world, a symphony to God, a celebration of his new age spiritual practices (subud, astrology, numerology, i ching, etc) and that's not something you can just make compromises on. Unlike the Beatles, who shrugged off the "band-in-disguise" concept of Pepper early on (as Ringo said: "sod it, let's just do tracks") Brian's project was much more self-important. Listening to the Smog skit he says "in order to function, to live, be healthy and be happy, you've got to have, first of all the elements" and "the way we can help [make society better] is to make a record and present the facts in an interesting manner so people will listen." That's it, that's the thematic nexus of SMiLE right there. Without expressing the elements clearly in the music, the project has no purpose in his mind, there's no lynch pin holding these otherwise very disparate tracks together and that's not not something he could get over, either due to artistic integrity or obsessive compulsion or whatever.
Anyway, when the Boys come back from another tour, fresh with new worries and complaints about being unable to replicate his wall of sound in concert, Brian used that as a convenient excuse "you know what, you're right. It's too complex. Let's make something simpler you guys can do on stage." This way he could move on to something else, abandon this very complicated project that was giving him so much anxiety, without having to openly admit he failed. "It's not that I couldn't hack it, the group just needed something else at this time. I'll get around to finishing SMiLE...eventually." But then eventually never came, it was just too daunting a task and post-1967 the moment had passed and that kind of big psychedelic social-statement would've felt like a belated also-ran next to Sgt Pepper and the cool psych rock bands that had already taken rock to the next level. By 1968 most groups were doing a "back to basics" thing, so doing SMiLE would be like trying to make a disco album in 1980. (Yes, some people actually did that, but it was seen as passe.)
This is exactly what confuses me about the SMiLE to Smiley Smile transition. The music took such a dark/stark turn - it went from mostly happy and jovial to downright haunting. He went from the pinnacle of wall-of-sound with Pet Sounds (a sound that Brian had been using for years that led to so much of their success and fame) to the haunting desolation of Smiley Smile virtually overnight.
Did Brian really think that such a dramatic shift in sound was their key to a successful record? What did the other band members think of the shift in sound?
Guitarfool's quote above "One of the main events was the Beach Boys returning from Europe shouldering some criticism about their live sound versus the records." sheds some light on this, but I just can't see the guys (or Brian for that matter) saying "hey, we got a number 1 record with Good Vibrations, I bet our Woody Woodpecker song is really going to blow their minds next!"
I am way oversimplifying things, and I'm not staunchly fixed in my viewpoints regarding this era (mostly because it is just too confusing of a time, with so many variables, that it's impossible for me to have a logical/concrete perspective on it). But I'd also like to learn more about the band/Brian and this dramatic shift.
It just confirms that the final say was still Brian's at this time. He pushed music the other guys didn't fully believe in, whether it be too orchestral or not enough. He gave them a song like "Surf's Up" and just as they were warming up to it he took it away. He had that power. The other Boys didn't think Smiley was more commercial, there's even quotes of them saying as much, they were just along for the ride.
I think you can sum up Smiley with two phrases: self-sabotage and malicious compliance. Brian was giving the guys what they wanted in a way they didn't want it. Simpler arrangements and "let's just make music together like it used to be" (as Mike always says "the two of us, in a room") but in a deliberately uncommercial way. I believe this was his way of backing out of competing with Phil Spector and the Beatles, making music he knew on some level would be rejected by the public so that when he inevitably came up short he could justify that it was intentional. It just speaks to his immense talent that even when he's deliberately making "bad" music it's still innovative, fascinating and somehow still way ahead of its time. In terms of group dynamics, I think he was trying to throw the guys a bone: they felt left out of the creative process so he had them record the whole album together and have fun with it. Mike felt jilted so he credited "Gettin Hungry" to the two of them.
As for why the music feels so dark and ominous, I believe that's just his true mentality seeping into the music. He's expressing his frustration and turmoil with his art, consciously or unconsciously.
To tie both of these responses together, I'll say that it wasn't in the group's power to unilaterally overrule Brian and cancel SMiLE however they had that power in their ability to plant seeds of doubt in his mind. I really think if anybody (besides Dennis who it seems was very supportive) but preferably Mike or Murry had just said "you're doing amazing things with this music, Brian, I'm proud of you" I think it would've made all the difference. Oh well.
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