SMiLE Sessions box set!

[SMiLE Brian]

I think Brian thought for the longest time (up to BWPS) the music was too weird to be released and even though he did his solo version of SMiLE, he wasn't crazy about the work done in the SMiLE sessions back in the day. I'm glad he is at peace now and likes the great music he did record and is willing to release it as SMiLE's final chapter. (Maybe not for the weird stuff he will reject for the box.)

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I honestly don't believe Brian considered the album to be too weird for release. I think he was made to believe that it was too self-indulgent, which is why he went the Smiley Smile route.

[Mikie]

Agreed.

He had a real good concept theme going with Van Dyke (Americana) but it faded and outside influences eventually caused the downfall.


Good posts, Fishmonk!

[Jonas]

I've been thinking lately. I'd take Mike Love over Van Dyke Parks. It seems like Parks had too much control over the project, it was more of an open collaboration. With Tony Asher it sounded like Brian kept artistic control over the project, but it seems Van Dyke influenced the album quite a bit. Especially upon listening to Song Cycle. Recently, as I've listened to that album, I get the feeling more and more that SMiLE sounds more like Van Dyke Parks than it does Brian Wilson...

Also what's with Van Dyke walking off the project? I feel as if that story is only a small part of the big picture. Was Van Dyke really such a primadona that he wasn't willing to entertain questions? Think about it from Mike Love's perspective. Didn't he have a say in the material the band was putting out? It was his band just as much as it was Brian's wasn't it? Of course Brian's overall contributions outshine Mike's, Mike did contribute his fair share to the songs that made the band famous in the first place. He also was the onstage charisma that kept the BB touring up through the massive 4th of July shows over a decade later. I think in all fairness Mike Love deserved a say, he was a contributing member of the group, he deserved to have creative input. I think Mike gave Brian a lot of creative leeway and recognized his talents as a composer and producer, but when it came to SMiLE he had his right to be skeptical, he had his right to ask questions.

Was he really that obnoxious during the Cabinessence sessions? I can understand if Van Dyke Parks doesn't want to run around for the rest of his life and explain SMiLE to every tom dick and harry, but Mike Love was a member of the band, he was a contributer, he had a legal and creative say in what the band did. I don't think it was right for Van Dyke to just waltz off the project simply because he didn't like to entertain questions. If anybody had any right to question what Brian and Van Dyke were doing it was the other members of the group. I really don't buy that Van Dyke just walked away because Mike Love asked a couple of condescending questions.

Now I don't really like Mike Love that much as a musician, I don't like a lot of what he's done with the band, and I'm not particularly blown away by Mike Love as an artist. I don't agree with his opinion in regards to SMiLE, but I do think he was right in voicing it, I think he was right in being concerned, and I think he was within his rights to do what he did. He thought he was doing what was best for the group, and you can't fault him for that.

Well then, this puts a lot more weight when BDW said that it was Mike Love who made him junk the album. I mean, the Beach Boys was Brian and Mike right? So if Mike wasn't feeling it, then Brian couldn't go on any longer...he already put a lot of fight into Pet Sounds, why do it again...

[Andrew G. Doe]

I've been thinking lately. I'd take Mike Love over Van Dyke Parks. It seems like Parks had too much control over the project, it was more of an open collaboration. With Tony Asher it sounded like Brian kept artistic control over the project, but it seems Van Dyke influenced the album quite a bit. Especially upon listening to Song Cycle. Recently, as I've listened to that album, I get the feeling more and more that SMiLE sounds more like Van Dyke Parks than it does Brian Wilson...

Also what's with Van Dyke walking off the project? I feel as if that story is only a small part of the big picture. Was Van Dyke really such a primadona that he wasn't willing to entertain questions? Think about it from Mike Love's perspective. Didn't he have a say in the material the band was putting out? It was his band just as much as it was Brian's wasn't it? Of course Brian's overall contributions outshine Mike's, Mike did contribute his fair share to the songs that made the band famous in the first place. He also was the onstage charisma that kept the BB touring up through the massive 4th of July shows over a decade later. I think in all fairness Mike Love deserved a say, he was a contributing member of the group, he deserved to have creative input. I think Mike gave Brian a lot of creative leeway and recognized his talents as a composer and producer, but when it came to SMiLE he had his right to be skeptical, he had his right to ask questions.

Was he really that obnoxious during the Cabinessence sessions? I can understand if Van Dyke Parks doesn't want to run around for the rest of his life and explain SMiLE to every tom dick and harry, but Mike Love was a member of the band, he was a contributer, he had a legal and creative say in what the band did. I don't think it was right for Van Dyke to just waltz off the project simply because he didn't like to entertain questions. If anybody had any right to question what Brian and Van Dyke were doing it was the other members of the group. I really don't buy that Van Dyke just walked away because Mike Love asked a couple of condescending questions.

Now I don't really like Mike Love that much as a musician, I don't like a lot of what he's done with the band, and I'm not particularly blown away by Mike Love as an artist. I don't agree with his opinion in regards to SMiLE, but I do think he was right in voicing it, I think he was right in being concerned, and I think he was within his rights to do what he did. He thought he was doing what was best for the group, and you can't fault him for that.

We'll never really know, but the above works for me, and in spades. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

And I do think that Brian DID have a great deal of creative freedom. The guy got something like 80 separate sessions to work on his album. There was a discussion here once estimating the cost of SMiLE, and it was quite high, somewhere in the $100,000+ range. To me, that's the definition of artistic freedom. I remember reading somewhere that the great Gary Usher was canned from his job at Columbia for the failure of the second Chad & Jeremy album. Not only did he manage to actually complete that album and get it into record stores, but he did it for a great deal less than what SMiLE ended up costing, and he still got fired. On the SMiLE project Brian had an unprecedented level of freedom, all the money he could ask for, enough sessions to record 20 albums, total artistic discretion over pretty much every level of production. And he STILL wasn't able to finish the album.

Or earlier - "GV" cost something like $40,000 which, for one side of a single, was unheard of back then. In fact, adjusted for inflation, it's still probably the most expensive single side ever.

And worth every last penny. 

[Roger Ryan]

I'm confused - are you saying all the above shots were therefore taken during Pet Sounds, not Smile?

I'm saying the shots of Brian in the parking lot and the studio have him wearing the exact same clothes and hairstyle he had in a photo taken with Tony Asher - who wasn't around in summer 1966, much less December. I'd have to say that I now seriously doubt the two shots we've been worrying like a bone were taken after the Pet Sounds sessions. Research is a bitch like that sometimes.

O.K. - I started taking a look at the photos in question and am thinking my idea of checking Brian's sideburns might help identify when the photos were taken. It looks like Brian starting growing sideburns during the PET SOUNDS sessions, but kept them relatively short during the summer of '66. As late summer/fall approached, the sideburns started getting larger (he would eventually grow a small beard mid-to-late '67).

Now the photo with Tony Asher at the piano that AGD referenced shows little evidence of sideburns, probably because Brian's long hair is covering them. However, check out the photo with Brian and Tony standing by Brian's 4-track machine: it seems to have been taken the same day as both Brian and Tony are wearing the same clothes. Brian's short sideburns are more visible here. Now the shot of Brian walking on the cars seems to have been taken from around this same time period (as AGD was discouraged in discovering) because Brian's sideburns match the appearance in the Brian/Tony photos. HOWEVER, the photo of Brian in the studio at the piano (the one where we assume Dennis is present filming with his camera) shows Brian wearing the much fuller sideburns he would have in the late fall of '66.

Evidently, he liked that maroon sweater shirt enough to wear it throughout the year. Virtually all of the SMiLE session photos show Brian growing the fuller sideburns, so I think it's still likely that Dennis shot footage of Brain at the piano in the studio sometime late '66 with that Dec. 18th date still a possibility. The photo of Brian walking across the cars does seem to come from earlier in the year.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

I'm confused - are you saying all the above shots were therefore taken during Pet Sounds, not Smile?

I'm saying the shots of Brian in the parking lot and the studio have him wearing the exact same clothes and hairstyle he had in a photo taken with Tony Asher - who wasn't around in summer 1966, much less December. I'd have to say that I now seriously doubt the two shots we've been worrying like a bone were taken after the Pet Sounds sessions. Research is a bitch like that sometimes.

O.K. - I started taking a look at the photos in question and am thinking my idea of checking Brian's sideburns might help identify when the photos were taken. It looks like Brian starting growing sideburns during the PET SOUNDS sessions, but kept them relatively short during the summer of '66. As late summer/fall approached, the sideburns started getting larger (he would eventually grow a small beard mid-to-late '67).

Now the photo with Tony Asher at the piano that AGD referenced shows little evidence of sideburns, probably because Brian's long hair is covering them. However, check out the photo with Brian and Tony standing by Brian's 4-track machine: it seems to have been taken the same day as both Brian and Tony are wearing the same clothes. Brian's short sideburns are more visible here. Now the shot of Brian walking on the cars seems to have been taken from around this same time period (as AGD was discouraged in discovering) because Brian's sideburns match the appearance in the Brian/Tony photos. HOWEVER, the photo of Brian in the studio at the piano (the one where we assume Dennis is present filming with his camera) shows Brian wearing the much fuller sideburns he would have in the late fall of '66.

Evidently, he liked that maroon sweater shirt enough to wear it throughout the year. Virtually all of the SMiLE session photos show Brian growing the fuller sideburns, so I think it's still likely that Dennis shot footage of Brain at the piano in the studio sometime late '66 with that Dec. 18th date still a possibility. The photo of Brian walking across the cars does seem to come from earlier in the year.

I respect this line of enquiry, I really do.

It does sound a tiny bit obsessive though   

[Roger Ryan]

I'm confused - are you saying all the above shots were therefore taken during Pet Sounds, not Smile?

I'm saying the shots of Brian in the parking lot and the studio have him wearing the exact same clothes and hairstyle he had in a photo taken with Tony Asher - who wasn't around in summer 1966, much less December. I'd have to say that I now seriously doubt the two shots we've been worrying like a bone were taken after the Pet Sounds sessions. Research is a bitch like that sometimes.

O.K. - I started taking a look at the photos in question and am thinking my idea of checking Brian's sideburns might help identify when the photos were taken. It looks like Brian starting growing sideburns during the PET SOUNDS sessions, but kept them relatively short during the summer of '66. As late summer/fall approached, the sideburns started getting larger (he would eventually grow a small beard mid-to-late '67).

Now the photo with Tony Asher at the piano that AGD referenced shows little evidence of sideburns, probably because Brian's long hair is covering them. However, check out the photo with Brian and Tony standing by Brian's 4-track machine: it seems to have been taken the same day as both Brian and Tony are wearing the same clothes. Brian's short sideburns are more visible here. Now the shot of Brian walking on the cars seems to have been taken from around this same time period (as AGD was discouraged in discovering) because Brian's sideburns match the appearance in the Brian/Tony photos. HOWEVER, the photo of Brian in the studio at the piano (the one where we assume Dennis is present filming with his camera) shows Brian wearing the much fuller sideburns he would have in the late fall of '66.

Evidently, he liked that maroon sweater shirt enough to wear it throughout the year. Virtually all of the SMiLE session photos show Brian growing the fuller sideburns, so I think it's still likely that Dennis shot footage of Brain at the piano in the studio sometime late '66 with that Dec. 18th date still a possibility. The photo of Brian walking across the cars does seem to come from earlier in the year.

I respect this line of enquiry, I really do.

It does sound a tiny bit obsessive though  

I find this kind of sleuthing fun...even though I really only spent about 20 minutes looking at the various photos! I fully expect for AGD to blow apart my theory in some fashion.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

I do too, I just started laughing when I read about studying Brian's sideburns

[Shady]

Hi guys. Just checkin in..nothing new, alright 

[rogerlancelot]

Hi guys. Just checkin in..nothing new, alright 

I suppose you hadn't heard about the new leak? 

[Shady]

Hi guys. Just checkin in..nothing new, alright 

I suppose you hadn't heard about the new leak? 

wow, tell me more 

[rogerlancelot]

Hi guys. Just checkin in..nothing new, alright 

I suppose you hadn't heard about the new leak? 

wow, tell me more 

Sorry. It was just a leak betwixt my buttocks. 

[Shady]

Oh gawd 


We needs news 

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Did you two rehearse that?

[rogerlancelot]

Oh gawd 


We needs news 

Sorry. I just got married (a week ago today) and still buzzin' from it. And as much as I am looking forward to this release as much as anybody else here I felt the need to interject some humor (debatable) amongst all of this bitching.  

[hypehat]

As I have returned to the board after two laptopless days, i need to congratulate you on your marriage! 

[Shady]

Yeah congrats Charlie..

Back on topic..

I'm actually tempted to place a pre-order on this Italian site.

They have the box set at 25% off, € 99,44.

Man that's a good deal

http://www.bol.it/cd/The-smile-sessions-box-set/The-Beach-Boys/ea509990276582/

[Mike's Beard]

Do NOT buy anything from Italy! Their postal service is notoriously bad. Odds that you'll receive anything are roughly 50/50.

[bsten]

Yeah congrats Charlie..

Back on topic..

I'm actually tempted to place a pre-order on this Italian site.

They have the box set at 25% off, € 99,44.

Man that's a good deal

http://www.bol.it/cd/The-smile-sessions-box-set/The-Beach-Boys/ea509990276582/

Still no details, track list etc. Says August 23rd, not October 4th... . And that's the cover? Where did they get the pic from? Capitol? EMI? No 3D?
 

[18thofMay]

The album is in Italian!! Part of the riddle that is SMiLE. Refered to as the "Venice sessions"!!

[bsten]

Da Wilson Code 

[The Heartical Don]

I find the coupling of the box (on that Italian site) with two other items rather worrying... as if it's already some surplus bargain to be deleted thingy. Notably the second set is troubling, it's so obscure...

...I think it's a fraud. Legal loophole, or something.

[earcandy]

Fast forward to 2017: All that remains of Capitol's failed promise to release the Smile Sessions box set in 2011 are a number of painted advertisements around LA.  However, Capitol NOW promises the release on the January 2017 anniversary!