Smile and "Rhapsody in Blue"

[Mr. Cohen]

We hear all the time how Brian Wilson was influenced by "Rhapsody in Blue", but I don't think people really draw the obvious connections to Smile enough. Obviously, both were attempts by the composers to capture the American experience. As George Gerswhin said of the piece: "I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our metropolitan madness."

But it goes beyond. As a composition, Smile is directly inspired by "Rhapsody in Blue". Check out what Leonard Bernstein said about the composition in 1955:

"The Rhapsody is not a composition at all. It's a string of separate paragraphs stuck together. The themes are terrific – inspired, God-given. I don't think there has been such an inspired melodist on this earth since Tchaikovsky. But if you want to speak of a composer, that's another matter. Your Rhapsody in Blue is not a real composition in the sense that whatever happens in it must seem inevitable. You can cut parts of it without affecting the whole. You can remove any of these stuck-together sections and the piece still goes on as bravely as before. It can be a five-minute piece or a twelve-minute piece. And in fact, all these things are being done to it every day. And it's still the Rhapsody in Blue."

You could pretty much say the same about Smile, couldn't you?

[JanBerryFarm]

No comparison.

sorry.

[TheLazenby]

The first time I heard "Rhapsody In Blue", I could not stop thinking about "Heroes and Villains."

Well, and the single version of Chumbawamba's "I Never Gave Up," because they stole one of its key melodies. :-P

[hypehat]

You could maybe make that comparison for one song from Smile - that song would have to be H&V, which can last about ten minutes with everything laid out - but pushing the comparison between one piece and an entire album is too strong. You'd have to say it was inspired by Gershwin because, well, Brian has Gershwin in the very fibre of his being, but I'm not sure if any symphonic delusions on the part of BW were there before he assembled it in 2004. After all, the thing was supposed to be 12 tracks and no suites or crossfading.

And I always thought that assessment of Rhapsody was more than a little condescending. The 9th Symphony is still the 9th Symphony, even though 99% of the population could only hum you Ode To Joy. But no, Beethoven's a Composer and Gershwin's a 'melodist'.