great article about Smile on popmatters

[Crow]

There is a great article about Brian and Smile on popmatters. Really fun. Talks about Smile being better than Pet Sounds and being the great American novel. Also talks about Brian's work in comparison to the Beatles.... tell me what you think...

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/161935-the-once-and-future-king-smile-and-brian-wilsons-very-american-dream/

[Jukka]

A nice article, with many good points. But, I'm still waiting for the day when The Beach Boys are judged by their own merits, not against The Beatles.

[guitarfool2002]

It's interesting to read anything about Smile, but if I may be critical about one missing element: Brian did not create Smile in a vacuum and it was not a solo affair. If you remove that group of people who was around him especially in 1966, and all of the influences and happenings around those people and those times, you're not going to get Smile on anywhere near the level that the music exists as we know it. I think the article credits Brian too much as almost a solo artist working through all of this incredible music...where's Van Dyke, Carl, the studio players, Danny Hutton, Anderle, etc?...all of them, I feel, contributed something vital to the creative process of Smile, not to mention the sheer influence of living and working around the Sunset Strip musical and artistic sub-culture in 1966.

I think *timing* was ultimately a factor, too. 1966 was a very special time, especially in the culture in which Brian was existing (and, BTW, in a culture where he was respected and looked up to by his peers in his field). Smile could simply not have happened in 1968 or 1971 or any other time up to when Brian and Van Dyke finally did resume work on the project. The timing was crucial, just as it had been for the Beatles in the historical context of the 60's or Elvis in the mid-50's. Put them in another era and the effect becomes less than the potential.

If I could go back in time 18 years to this day and read those same statements to my younger self who was poring over LLVS, listening to bootlegs, reading and buying into all the pre-internet Smile stuff out there, my younger self would not agree. But one of my favorite quotes has recently become "It didn't happen in a vacuum".

[The Shift]

Like the article but guitarfool2002 is right on the money; Smile would have been a distillation of so many of the influences around him that Brian absorbed and inhaled. I really still believe that VDP's role in the creation of much of SMiLE's whole is still under-recorded and understated. But hey, that's another thread entirely…

[EgoHanger1966]

I love The Beatles, they will always be my favorite group. But when was it decided that Abbey Road was the benchmark album for the best harmonies ever? When was it declared that the Beatles have the best harmonies? This guy states it like a fact. If there was one universal thing that everyone knew The Beach Boys had over The Beatles, it's their friggin' four and five part harmonies.

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

I love The Beatles, they will always be my favorite group. But when was it decided that Abbey Road was the benchmark album for the best harmonies ever? When was it declared that the Beatles have the best harmonies? This guy states it like a fact. If there was one universal thing that everyone knew The Beach Boys had over The Beatles, it's their friggin' four and five part harmonies.

Yeah, that guy has obviously never heard Our Prayer.

[originals]

Cool article. Thanks for sharing.

[Summer_Days]

Nice article. There goes that whole argument again of  whether Pet Sounds and/or SMiLE is/are better than Sgt. Pepper. It's all opinion (I dunno if I ever gave my 2 cents around here about that, but Pet Sounds is almost twice as good as SMiLE and both are legions beyond Sgt. Pepper, but hey that's just how I feel).

The writer of this article clearly came from a Beatle-loving background first, but I'm glad he gave SMiLE some thought of it's greatness.

[originals]

The strange thing is I've always considered Sgt. Pepper's to be one of The Beatles' weaker works. I think Rubber Soul, Revolver, or Abbey Road are far superior. I'm not sure why Sgt. Pepper's is always highlighted - - was it the album cover?

[cablegeddon]

So where is the grand statement? What is the line that sums up the downfall of the california dream?

[EgoHanger1966]

The strange thing is I've always considered Sgt. Pepper's to be one of The Beatles' weaker works. I think Rubber Soul, Revolver, or Abbey Road are far superior. I'm not sure why Sgt. Pepper's is always highlighted - - was it the album cover?

It's so funny how these things work. Sgt Pepper was always the album. I think music lovers and critics just kind of got tired of praising it as the best album ever made by anyone on the universe. It's not uncommon now to be down to earth when rating and accessing Pepper, but you wouldn't find criticism like that, say, 10 or 15 years ago.

I guess it started way before I was born, there had to be one album that highlighted the Summer of Love - the psychedelia, the monumental changing times and attitudes...and Pepper was released and listened to in that time frame. Never mind that the music of the SMiLE Sessions is 10 x further out there than almost anything on Pepper. We're used to it now, but the wacked out sounds of things like "Do You Like Worms?", that's trippy and experimental to the extreme.

[LetHimRun]

I love The Beatles, they will always be my favorite group. But when was it decided that Abbey Road was the benchmark album for the best harmonies ever? When was it declared that the Beatles have the best harmonies? This guy states it like a fact. If there was one universal thing that everyone knew The Beach Boys had over The Beatles, it's their friggin' four and five part harmonies.

Didn't you know? Overdubbing the vocals on Because three times makes Abbey Road the best vocal harmonizing album ever.

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

How can anyone write that long winded (and redundant, I might add) article about SMILE and not mention Van Dyke Parks one single time?

[Summer_Days]

The strange thing is I've always considered Sgt. Pepper's to be one of The Beatles' weaker works. I think Rubber Soul, Revolver, or Abbey Road are far superior. I'm not sure why Sgt. Pepper's is always highlighted - - was it the album cover?

Well, I love all the Beatles' albums, but I tend to agree. Sgt. Pepper simply isn't as masterful as Revolver.

The idea that something like 'Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite!' (which I love) is in the same league as 'Cabinessence' is silly, but then of course SMiLE wasn't released, wasn't finished in '67. I still wonder how the album would've fared if it had; methinks SMiLE would have, like Pet Sounds before it, conquered England. In America, though...I dunno, the indelible image of the Beach Boys could theoretically have harmed the album's ascendance. I wonder how many non-Beach Boys fans have picked up the SMiLE box set...

[doing]

My favorite part about the article is how Holidays is a 'Zappa-esque romp'.

[runnersdialzero]

No one should use the word "romp" in this context. Or any.

also, myke luhv bad

[Bill Tobelman]

Been working on my next SMiLE article and it will be on Neil Umphred's blog or something like that if he accepts it. Took down all my SMiLE webpages as this update on the matter will be my final solution sort of thing.

Sorry to interrupt this thread.

I'll post a link to my final article on the SS message board so you folks can sneer and/or cheer. I guarantee it's not typical fare. Will let ya know.