SMiLE Sessions box set!

[The Heartical Don]

How do you know the SS set actually is in the shipping box if you don't look inside? I mean, if the  Amazon employee responsible had drunk the night before, for all I know there might be a James Last box set inside.

James Last ain't that bad either!

Did you get your box, Don?

Oh, either late this afternoon, or tomorrow surely. I've been ill a couple of days and booked the money this morning. But my own retailer (been that for 30+ years now) has it safely stored away for me to collect, sealed and all. Great thought, this. And reading the board is such a fine buildup to the listening sessions...

[John Stivaktas]

Even my Beagle is stunned...

Cute dog. 

Did you tell your dog to stare exclusively at the word 'SMiLE' whilst taking the photo?

[hypehat]

Do we know if H&V part 1 is a remix or still the battered safety copy that that mix usually originates from?

[The Heartical Don]

Even my Beagle is stunned...

Cute dog. 

Did you tell your dog to stare exclusively at the word 'SMiLE' whilst taking the photo?

No. He let the dog smoke reefer before shooting. It's just staring a bit.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Obvious question time: Why are some of the Holmes drawings in the booklet making reference to BWPS lyrics?  Holmes dated these drawings as being created in 1996 (probably for the scrapped 1996 SMiLE box).  Why then are there allusions to "Milky Way" "Ukelele Lei Day" etc?

Coincidence, I guess.

And, uh... just had a facepalm moment listening to a hidden track. The famous "million units... in January" quote refers to all Capitol releases that month, not just Smile.

[Jonas]

And, uh... just had a facepalm moment listening to a hidden track. The famous "million units... in January" quote refers to all Capitol releases that month, not just Smile.

That makes a whole lot of sense, I was curious why it sounded...open ended. For a second I thought it was a whole reel and the announcer was "practicing" before beginning the actual promo.

[Andrew G. Doe]

And, uh... just had a facepalm moment listening to a hidden track. The famous "million units... in January" quote refers to all Capitol releases that month, not just Smile.

That makes a whole lot of sense, I was curious why it sounded...open ended. For a second I thought it was a whole reel and the announcer was "practicing" before beginning the actual promo.

Yeah... only took me something like 30 years to work that out. 

[JohnMill]

Even my Beagle is stunned...

I have a feeling that 66' Brian would find a great deal of meaning in that photograph.  Remember when there was some type of eclipse happening and Brian thought that Banana was somehow sensing what was going on because he turned his head towards the direction of where the eclipse was going to go down?  Yeah I could see Brian putting together a dissertation about that photograph right there.

[desmondo]

Woo hoo - my box has just arrived - not disappointed in any way shape or form - its magnificent

[Dr. Tim]

Sprung for this and got it yesterday.  What I am telling my musician friends: this is more fun than I was expecting.  The "reconstruction" of the Smile LP is astoundingly well done and the cleaned-up tracks never sounded better.  As we know there are some "Free As a Bird" artifacts where things were obviously flown in and pasted (vocal for I'm In Great Shape, the coda to Surf's Up from the 1971 completion, hum-be-dums in GV).  Some holes remain (i.e., where there were no lyrics or vocals done for "Do You Like Worms", "Holidays" and "Child").  So it is clearly unfinished but has the "sheen" of a finished structure, that can be played all the way through.  The reassembled "Heroes and Villains", "Wind Chimes"  and "Vegetables" stand out as audio alchemy at its best. 

I know some of the scholar types here are wringing their hands at seeing the "duct-taped" parts of the assembly, but at least the thing is a presentable listen, which is the whole point.  And Mark and Alan did figure out how to cover that one-beat dead space in the "Wind Chimes" transition: cover the hole with plate reverb!  Corny but effective.  Also a very "what would Brian do?" move.

The 2-LP vinyl has some nice surprises: I like the really good stereo mixes of H&V and Vegetables, and on the one 45 a stunning reassembly of the "alternate" version of Heroes and Villains, with the "three score and five" lines and the instrumental fade.  As far as I can tell this is a recreation of how the fabled "H&V Part I and Part II" single might have turned out.  It is the same version included in the 1993 box set but they got a much better source for it.

The session track CDs are a longer slog, only getting started on those. Though the vocal rehearsals and runthroughs  are fun (Brian saying "you feel the acid kick in?" before "Our Prayer").

[rab2591]

Longest. Week. Of. My. Life.

Amazon, your shipping updates suck.

[Ron]

And, uh... just had a facepalm moment listening to a hidden track. The famous "million units... in January" quote refers to all Capitol releases that month, not just Smile.

That makes a whole lot of sense, I was curious why it sounded...open ended. For a second I thought it was a whole reel and the announcer was "practicing" before beginning the actual promo.

Yeah... only took me something like 30 years to work that out. 

I'd never heard it.  When I first heard it last night, I took it as 'the album will sell a million units" then he was just saying that it's coming out in January again.  Not that the album (or all the albums together) would sell 1 million units in 1 month. 

[Ron]

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16000-the-smile-sessions/

Very well done review, thank you for the link.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Longest. Week. Of. My. Life.

Amazon, your shipping updates suck.

You should live in the UK - got my 2CD box yesterday, two days ahead of estimate (and I ordered it Saturday morning): meanwhile my box is en route from the States, ETA 11/10.

[desmondo]

Diane is hot hot hot

[pixletwin]

weird. For some reason Diane's essay is the one that moved me the most. To tears, actually.

[Andrew G. Doe]

And, uh... just had a facepalm moment listening to a hidden track. The famous "million units... in January" quote refers to all Capitol releases that month, not just Smile.

That makes a whole lot of sense, I was curious why it sounded...open ended. For a second I thought it was a whole reel and the announcer was "practicing" before beginning the actual promo.

Yeah... only took me something like 30 years to work that out. 

I'd never heard it.  When I first heard it last night, I took it as 'the album will sell a million units" then he was just saying that it's coming out in January again.  Not that the album (or all the albums together) would sell 1 million units in 1 month. 

"If that isn't enough incentive to sell 1,000,000 units, how about adding one more ?... We're sure to sell a million units - in January"

Remember, the disc was a service for all the January releases, not just Smile. The much cheaper "GV" single took just over two months to sell a million.

[Heysaboda]

Longest. Week. Of. My. Life.

Amazon, your shipping updates suck.

Patience Grasshopper.

You Will be Rewarded Soon!

 

(UPS delivered my 5CD and 2CD sets yesterday.  Amazon had packed it so well that a Truck could have driven over it, and the contents would be unharmed.......

oh, it's heavenly, just heavenly....)

[juggler]

Longest. Week. Of. My. Life.

Amazon, your shipping updates suck.

IIRC, we both opted for Amazon's free super saver shipping.

My box arrived this morning.  Got the initial $110 price and free shipping, so I really can't complain.   One day after the release isn't bad.

[WaxOn]

Smile Sessions is now on Pitchfork Review and gets a 10!

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16000-the-smile-sessions/

[Margarita]

Even my Beagle is stunned...

I have a feeling that 66' Brian would find a great deal of meaning in that photograph.  Remember when there was some type of eclipse happening and Brian thought that Banana was somehow sensing what was going on because he turned his head towards the direction of where the eclipse was going to go down?  Yeah I could see Brian putting together a dissertation about that photograph right there.

Brian is more than welcome to write about my dog anytime! 

Did you tell your dog to stare exclusively at the word 'SMiLE' whilst taking the photo?

As if it's possible to tell a Beagle to do anything!

[SMiLE Brian]

Smile Sessions is now on Pitchfork Review and gets a 10!

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16000-the-smile-sessions/

Bravo pitchfork!

[Emdeeh]

Just got an email saying the box set has shipped -- hooray!

As for the 2-CD small box, I got concerned about losing the little button/badge that came with it, so now my Brian doll is wearing it. 

[JohnMill]

Just got an email saying the box set has shipped -- hooray!

As for the 2-CD small box, I got concerned about losing the little button/badge that came with it, so now my Brian doll is wearing it. 

You have a "Brian Wilson doll"?

Hmm 

[SMiLE Brian]

Just got an email saying the box set has shipped -- hooray!

As for the 2-CD small box, I got concerned about losing the little button/badge that came with it, so now my Brian doll is wearing it. 

Wonder what Brian would do if he saw his doll?