SMiLE Sessions box set!

[monicker]

I emailed info@brianwilson asking if that download of a "special goodie" in November was still happening but i never got a response.

[Heysaboda]

A record album cannot give people a spiritual experience. That's just too far-out. I get it (maybe Brian Wilson had more faith in you folks than I suddenly do).

To me, both TSS and BWPS are spiritual experiences.  No question about it.

[JohnMill]

A record album cannot give people a spiritual experience. That's just too far-out. I get it (maybe Brian Wilson had more faith in you folks than I suddenly do).

To me, both TSS and BWPS are spiritual experiences.  No question about it.

Pet Sounds and All Things Must Pass respectively changed my life. 

[rab2591]

Just listened to side 1&2 of the vinyl.

Do You Like Worms, Cabinessence, and Surf's Up sound utterly incredible - so much warmer and the vocals are so clear!

Now I really can't wait to get BWPS in vinyl format!

[Chris Brown]

A record album cannot give people a spiritual experience. That's just too far-out. I get it (maybe Brian Wilson had more faith in you folks than I suddenly do).

To me, both TSS and BWPS are spiritual experiences.  No question about it.

Pet Sounds and All Things Must Pass respectively changed my life. 

Substitute The Smile Sessions for All Things Must Pass (although a great album) and I echo your statement 100%. 

Contrary to what Bill said, those albums are actually the only spiritual experiences I've had, musical or otherwise.

[Bill Tobelman]

Andrew G. Doe said:

True, true. One person's obsession with an exceedingly shaky premise shouldn't concern me to that extent.

Sorry to burst your bubble Andrew but there are quite a few folks (not just one) who think that Brian's original intent was in line with that "exceedingly shaky premise."

Did you notice how Frank Holmes' notes for the box set booklet are perfect for the "exceedingly shaky premise" concept? Likely you didn't since Frank leaves the finalization of the creative process up to the consumer of the work (which is in complete accord with the "exceedingly shaky premise").

As a "researcher" your task is to interpret things based upon what is already known (in your own mind). SMiLE is different. It's FAR-OUT. It is based upon the idea of grasping something you have never ever known or conceived of or felt previously---that being someone else's unconscious experience/reality!!!!! It's an act of CREATION.

Frank's SMiLE work accesses his unconscious & that is why his SMiLE Shop album cover is not accessible in conscious reality----because it can only be truly accessed via unconscious means.

Brian sought out "enlightened" collaborators for SMiLE & they presented their unconscious selves. To fully appreciate SMiLE would be to access the unconscious experiences/minds of the "enlightened"------to become enlightened!

This is a similar process to the presentation of/and reception of Zen's riddle.

Riddles often lead to laughter & I can't wait to read your upcoming ESQ article on SMiLE and humour.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Ah... so I'm not only stupid but also unenlightened. Thanks for pointing that out, life will now be so much easier. 

Fishmonk is on the money.

[anazgnos]

"Can't a garden be beautiful without also having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it?"

[18thofMay]

"Can't a garden be beautiful without also having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it?"

ahhhhh yes indeed.

[Bill Tobelman]

This isn't about you guys it's about SMiLE.

The idea that Brian & Van Dyke & Frank came up with something that is the most far-out record EVER should honor their creative visionary genius-----it's about them & SMiLE---not about your egos.

[Freddie French-Pounce]

Just listened to side 1&2 of the vinyl.

Do You Like Worms, Cabinessence, and Surf's Up sound utterly incredible - so much warmer and the vocals are so clear!

Now I really can't wait to get BWPS in vinyl format!

I played mine to death before TSS came out. I heard they slightly remixed it for the vinyl release (in an EQ sense)

[hypehat]

This isn't about you guys it's about SMiLE.

The idea that Brian & Van Dyke & Frank came up with something that is the most far-out record EVER should honor their creative visionary genius-----it's about them & SMiLE---not about your egos.

Now come on, Bill, whose ego are we really talking about here?

[SMiLE Brian]

"Can't a garden be beautiful without also having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it?"

ahhhhh yes indeed.

Well put by Douglas Adams.

[18thofMay]

"Can't a garden be beautiful without also having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it?"

ahhhhh yes indeed.

Well put by Douglas Adams.

Yes, simply stated...

[Tristero]

Great music certainly can evoke a spiritual experience, as all world religions know.  Perhaps more than any other piece of music that I can think of, SMiLE does that for me.  And I do believe that this was a large part of Brian's initial inspiration with this project, his teenage symphony to God.  Did his reach exceed his grasp?  Maybe, but there were more than enough moving revelations in these sessions to validate the experiment.

I think it is interesting to interpret SMiLE from a Zen perspective.  It is accurate to assume that Brian and Van were interested in eastern philosophy, as hip folks increasingly were at the time.  It is something else entirely to assert that this is specifically what they had in mind with SMiLE and that every little bit of it relates back to Zen somehow.  Brian had all sorts of different ideas buzzing in his brain at that point, too many--humor, American history and manifest destiny, physical fitness and healthy living, innocence and experience, etc.  Trying to reduce it all down to one thing is a gross distortion.

[18thofMay]

Yes well said

[Mahalo]

" The wind blows where it will and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it is coming from or where it is going to. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit." Jesus

I like to think that quote can also pertain to a "spiritual" work of art...

Try as he might have to have created a "teenage symphony to God" with SMiLE, little did he know that he already accomplished that goal. The Warmth of the Sun, In My Room, Don't Worry Baby, Please Let Me Wonder, Cuckoo Clock, Sufer Girl...etc. etc

[Andrew G. Doe]

Bill, consider this, please: you know nothing of my religious inclinations (if any), background, family history and my ancestors. All you know about me is what you've read on this forum, yet this totally inadequate information allows you to question the degree - if any - of my spirituality and my openness to same. FYI, one branch of my family were Roma (Romanys, Gypsys if you prefer), which could well contribute considerably to my deep appreciation of the natural world, and how it moves me, and also explain the very slight degree of precognition I used to possess. So, in future, please be so kind as to refrain from telling me, or hinting, that I am not spiritual (or intelligent) enough to truly grasp your concept of what Smile has to be. Like all originators of spurious cults, you feel only you have The Answer, and will brook no other possible explanation. I happen to think you're wrong, based on conversations with people who were Brian's friends at the time and who don't recall him saying word one about anything Zen. Subud, yes... Christianity, yes... native American earth magic, yes. Back in the fall I asked Frank point-blank about any overt Zen involvement, and he said no, and please don't insult our collective intelligence and his integrity by repeating the "of-course-he'd-say-that-to-peserve-the-mystery" canard.

[Sam_BFC]

the very slight degree of precognition I used to possess.

Wow what happened to it? 

[earcandy]

Hmmm, I guess Brian was lying to me in 2004...

Question: Was SMiLE originally influenced by any certain religion?

Brian Wilson: NO, NO, NO, NO. That was totally original.

Question: So there were no Zen influences?

Brian Wilson: No. It wasn't inspired by Phil Spector either.

http://www.earcandymag.com/brianwilson-2004.htm

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Heh...Brian answered the Zen question then as well.

[oldsurferdude]

the very slight degree of precognition I used to possess.

Wow what happened to it? 

He listened to "You're Welcome" at 16 rpm backwards 56 times all the  while wearing a white sheet and sandals to enhance the mood.

[Bill Tobelman]

Brian had all sorts of different ideas buzzing in his brain at that point, too many--humor, American history and manifest destiny, physical fitness and healthy living, innocence and experience, etc.  Trying to reduce it all down to one thing is a gross distortion.

Let's take them one at a time....

1) Humor - Brian felt that laughter frees one from their ego thus possibly enabling a spiritual experience. Brian also felt that when someone laughs they are open to what is making them laugh, so if a spiritual experience is making you laugh then you're open to it. SMiLE's deeper level is the spiritual experience--it's the mediating matrix in Koestler terms and so it's on the ascending gradient. Sorry for the Koestler stuff but it is part of the story.

2) American History & Manifest Destiny - This is the matrix which is the easiest to comprehend. It is necessary to have this matrix in order to enable humor, discovery, and art to work its magic. In other words this stuff is here to bring about the spiritual stuff. Once again, Arthur Koestler.

3) Physical fitness & Healthy living - The physical aspect is important as far as Koestler goes for physical energy is required for humor to work with the self assertive type of individual. Brian felt that health was "an important ingredient in spiritual enlightenment"---he said so.

4) Innocence - This--along with the child's perspective has to do with the spiritually born again viewpoint. SMiLE, inspired by a spiritual experience is thusly soaked in this impressive innocence.

To sum, I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the spiritual assessment (remember Brian Wilson's 1966 assessment was completely a spiritual assessment as well) as it is not "a gross distortion" and I will be more than happy to provide any and all sources for my claims.

[Bill Tobelman]

Andrew G. Doe said;

Like all originators of spurious cults, you feel only you have The Answer, and will brook no other possible explanation. I happen to think you're wrong, based on conversations with people who were Brian's friends at the time and who don't recall him saying word one about anything Zen. Subud, yes... Christianity, yes... native American earth magic, yes. Back in the fall I asked Frank point-blank about any overt Zen involvement, and he said no, and please don't insult our collective intelligence and his integrity by repeating the "of-course-he'd-say-that-to-peserve-the-mystery" canard.

Please get your facts straight Andrew. When you asked Frank Holmes about Zen he said "it never entered my mind." You took this as proof that Zen had no part in SMiLE (& good on you for asking in the first place!). But the "it never entered my mind" response is perfect Zen for Zen's goal is "mindlessness", for the mind to be empty. To be of the proper mind-set is to never utter one word of Zen. Kudos to Frank.

Having said that I must admit that I use the Zen thing to basically bug squares. Sorry. But I still maintain that the Zen explanation is the best one available prior to Arthur Koestler & The Act Of Creation.

Let's try it once again Andrew.....FOR THE IDEAS IN Koestler's 'THE ACT OF CREATION' TO WORK----THE MEDIATING MATRIX MUST BE KEPT SECRET FROM THE CONSUMER OF THE WORK---they have to discover it for themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!! This means that there must be a secret.

Once again my hat is tipped in the direction of Brian, Van Dyke, and Frank for working towards the most FAR-OUT album EVER attempted!!!

[Bill Tobelman]

The session tapes say "Psycodelic Sounds." The reason it's "psycodelic" is because the letters in the middle spell "code."

Arthur Koestler explains that "the term 'Matrix' was introduced to refer to any skill or ability, to any pattern of activity governed by a set of rules---it's 'code'."

So that's why Brian spelled it that way.