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Author Topic: Domenic Priore on The SMiLE Sessions  (Read 20862 times)
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« on: March 14, 2011, 11:24:15 PM »

Author: Beach Boys' 'SMiLE' release will fill gaps bootleg releases couldn't

    * March 14th, 2011 7:57 pm ET

 A Beach Boys expert who penned liner notes for the upcoming Capitol Records/EMI release of the legendary "SMiLE" sessions says the new release will be the most complete musical picture of the album and end the misinformation surrounding it.   

Capitol Records/EMI confirmed Monday in a press release a recent report by Rolling Stone that the Beach Boys' sessions for the legendary "SMiLE" album will finally be released, though the announcement gave no street date. "The SMiLE Sessions," as it's titled, will be released in 2-CD and digital album packages and a deluxe, limited edition box set.
 
"My role is to relay, in the most clear manner possible, the 'SMiLE' music coming together in the context of its times. The writing will be in a hardbound book inside of the box set, plus a shorter piece will go with the smaller packages," said Domenic Priore, who wrote the liner notes and assembled pictures for the new release, in an email interview.
 
Priore, the author of two books on the "SMiLE" album, "Look! Listen! Vibrate! SMILE!" and "SMiLE: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece", and also Los Angeles Mid Century Pop Culture Examiner, says the album's story will be approached differently than in the past. 
 
"The difference this time, the story is not 'it never came out,'," he says. "The story is 'here it is, here's what it is.' That may seem obvious but every time the story has been told in the past, ultimately it has been one of frustration. Now the job is to compliment and ultimately celebrate the music at hand, so that we all, and future generations can get a grip on it."
 
Putting the pieces of the puzzle together after all these year wasn't as difficult as it might seem.
 
"Brian Wilson wasn't hiding information, or what the sequence would be from anyone during 1966/1967," Priore says. "He was quite lucid not only with talk on the session tapes, but in Pop magazine interviews, private conversation with the musicians, with notation on tape boxes and so on. Alan Boyd has, since the release of "Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE" (the 2004 Brian Wilson release that featured the 'finished' album) really gotten into the science behind this kind of detail, with complete access to the Beach Boys' tape archive. Mark Linett has been properly cataloging 'SMiLE' tapes since at least 1987; I met him that year at Brian's session for "Rio Grande," when he played for me the first part of what would have been the original 'Heroes and Villains' single, with the 'cantina' section."
 
Priore says "SMiLE" was still on the Beach Boys' radar for release for several years before it was dropped.
 
"Keep in mind that The Beach Boys were tinkering with and finishing 'SMiLE' material from 1967 until about 1971 when the song "Surf's Up" was finally released," he said. "There were sessions to finish 'Cabinessence' in 1968. 'Cool, Cool Water' was a SMiLE-era composition that was recorded in 1967, then expanded on nicely for release on 'Sunflower' in 1970. The music was never totally put away, as legend would have it, until 1972. With a lot of years of study behind us all, and access to the original '60s inside information, it's detective work made easy."
 
How will the legitimate release of "SMiLE" improve on the bootleg versions?
 
"The bootleggers naturally didn't have everything, but most of all, what will come with this box set is a sense of cohesion that none of the bootlegs ever really had," he told us. "Darian Sahanaja (of Brian's band the Wondermints) and I, for years we were trying to figure out the actual sequence of 'SMiLE' before my book 'Look! Listen! Vibrate! SMILE!' came out in 1988. A lot of bootlegs went by our list in that book, actually, but the bootleggers improvised and did their own thing.
 
"When Darian worked with Brian Wilson to sequence 'SMiLE' for 2004," he said, "Wilson placed its heaviest song, 'Surf's Up,' back in the proper order of that sequence. Everybody had always assumed that 'Surf's Up' closed 'SMiLE' because it was epic, like The Beatles' 'A Day in the Life,' but everybody forgot that SMiLE preceded 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' when they made that assumption."
 
"Brian Wilson's intent in 'SMiLE' was, as always, to keep The Beach Boys right on top in 1967, staying right in vogue with what The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were managing to achieve as a band," he says. "Nowhere are The Beach Boys' vocals more full, their tracks more elaborate, their music more dynamic."

http://www.examiner.com/vintage-rock-n-roll-in-national/author-beach-boys-smile-release-will-tell-story-bootleg-releases-couldn-t


i'm confused...
he says Brian wasn't hiding any information about the song sequence, then goes on to say that 'Surf's Up' wasn't meant to close the album.

I always thought that was one of the only things we knew for sure about the original 66/67 sequence. Isn't there an interview or a session tape where Brian says straight-up 'Surf's Up' is the last song on the album??? Seemed like one constant throughout all the SMiLE confusion.


I thought they used 'Good Vibrations' to end BWPS because it's such a huge hit, and a great way to end a live performance of the SMiLE material.

personally, I like a 'Heroes' reprise (part 2 anyone?) to close the album.
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« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2011, 01:26:14 AM »


"When Darian worked with Brian Wilson to sequence 'SMiLE' for 2004," he said, "Wilson placed its heaviest song, 'Surf's Up,' back in the proper order of that sequence.

It could be reasonably argued that, as the 3rd section of BWPS is entirely a 21st century construct, "Surf's Up" did indeed close Smile and hadn't changed position at all. That's the argument: the fact is, no-one knows. To say things were fluid in those days is a huge understatement.

I'm eagerly awaiting Dom's new essay: currently re-reading his Sunset Strip book and the sense of time, place and context is outstanding.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2011, 01:32:18 AM by Andrew G. Doe » Logged

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« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2011, 06:23:02 AM »

I can't wait either - Picked up LLVS yesterday and the energy is infectious. It'd be amazing if they reprint the introduction for that book in the liners for TSS (We've abbreviated it already!), give or take a few unflattering lines to a certain birthday boy....

But yes, he's a gifted writer when it comes to that sort of thing - the other Smile book is, no matter what qualms we nerds have with it, superbly pitched.
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« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2011, 09:57:48 AM »

I dunno, I can't bear the arrogance that seeps in. Used to love the guy, then something weird happened. Also, the sense of entitlement in his expertise is a turnoff.

Where's David Prokopy when we need him?
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« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2011, 10:02:27 AM »

I dunno, I can't bear the arrogance that seeps in. Used to love the guy, then something weird happened. Also, the sense of entitlement in his expertise is a turnoff.

Where's David Prokopy when we need him?

Over on the Hoffman board Smile thread with a whole bunch of other blasts from the past. It's like Smile Shop redux over there.  Grin
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« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2011, 10:06:30 AM »

I dunno, I can't bear the arrogance that seeps in. Used to love the guy, then something weird happened. Also, the sense of entitlement in his expertise is a turnoff.

Yeah it seems like DP has fallen from grace with a lot of Beach Boys fans around here.
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« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2011, 10:13:29 AM »

I dunno, I can't bear the arrogance that seeps in. Used to love the guy, then something weird happened. Also, the sense of entitlement in his expertise is a turnoff.

Yeah it seems like DP has fallen from grace with a lot of Beach Boys fans around here.

Why?  I've read one of his books and enjoyed it, don't know much beyond that.
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« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2011, 10:27:09 AM »

Well, he was on the SMiLE mailing list, and got very in-your-face with a lot of members, pretty much asserting that his was the only opinion about content, track order, etc. that was worth considering. A lot of that attitude carried over into the second edition of LLVS.

He also made some pretty bold claims stating that SMiLE was, in fact, complete, and that a lot of the strung-together bits of H&V that were on the box set were, in fact, H&V part 2 completed! Really, Dom? The tone of his language was pretty much read-it-and-weep, as opposed to his earlier attitude of: hey, this is a wonderful thing, let's play with it and enjoy it.

There was also an LA Weekly feature article with Dom heavily in it, continuing that line of thought.

I never started out to be anti-Dom---in fact, I loved the first LLVS, it was the essential loving scrapbook with lots of humor, etc., in the spirit of SMiLE itself--but when he started slagging people off, I couldn't help but take offense.

I suppose it's always possible that he was trying to be "funny" or kidding around, and it didn't come off well in cold type, but that's not the feeling I got. Much of it was very combative. I left the SMiLE list because quite simply, I couldn't stand to face reading any of his rants any more. SMiLE fandom should be fun, and he was killing that for me.
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« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2011, 11:37:17 AM »

God bless Domenic for all he's done over the decades to keep the Smile legend alive.  I look forward to reading his liner notes, and I'm sure he'll do a fantastic job in selecting photos and other material for inclusion in the booklet.

But, yeah, it has always seemed to me that Domenic has been a major proponent of the idea that Smile was more complete than the available evidence would seem to support.  When Domenic talks, for example, about the "actual sequence" of Smile, it implies a certainty that's not shared by all.

Who knows?  Maybe at some point in early 1967 there was a full or partial "actual sequence."  I remember, more than a decade ago, another BB expert (who could that BE?) stated in a messageboard discussion that he had heard rumors that Brian might have completed a test mix of "one side" of Smile in 1967.  In fairness to that expert, he made it clear that he had no idea whether such a test mix truly ever existed and that no hard evidence of it had ever turned up.

The point is that, sure, maybe some aspects of Smile that most us think of as unfinished could have been finished at some point in 1966-67.  But don't try to make me believe the unbelievable such as the idea that the BWPS sequence just happens to be exactly what Brian had in mind all along or that the versions of DYLW and CIFOTM that lack lead vocals were "finished."  To quote Judge Judy, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining.
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« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2011, 11:52:50 AM »

Priore's foibles aside, he deserves his essay space, but I wish they might have given certain others some room.  Bill Tobleman for one.  Or it might have been cool had they had a contest for fans who have written essays (of which there are many) and chosen one or two for inclusion as well.   
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« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2011, 12:12:52 PM »

I'm pretty much the same. LLVS was THE book for SMiLE fanatics (and the only one, to boot). I still love it, but it's got things in it that are his own personal opinion, and presented it as fact. And a couple of times he has seemed quite cocky about it all. However in the last few days, I have seen people come out and say that he's not quite that way anymore.
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« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2011, 01:02:46 PM »

I'm pretty much the same. LLVS was THE book for SMiLE fanatics (and the only one, to boot). I still love it, but it's got things in it that are his own personal opinion, and presented it as fact. And a couple of times he has seemed quite cocky about it all. However in the last few days, I have seen people come out and say that he's not quite that way anymore.

Dom will always have my respect just based on LLVS alone - for a young kid just getting into the Smile music, that book was my bible.  I still pull it out from time to time, even though I've read every word more times than I'd care to admit.  Sure, there are some ridiculous assertions in there, my favorite being that anyone who thinks Worms was missing vocals was a simple-minded idiot.  Even so, he deserves his place at the Smile table, and arrogant or not, I'm curious to hear his present-day thoughts on it.
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« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2011, 07:06:32 PM »

Have to say I love Domenic's intro page to LLVS. I get psyched everytime I read it. Might even shout out "hell yeah!" or something next time around.

The first post of this thread included the following:
personally, I like a 'Heroes' reprise (part 2 anyone?) to close the album.

I like this. But isn't it "side 2"? The slow "my children were raised...." is so cool as is the "and wise" part.

The album starts with the children being "often wise" and ends with the children being "wise." They learned something along the way.
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« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2011, 07:10:53 PM »

LLVS was an is a valuable reference that I wouldn't part with, so I was looking forward to "SMiLE: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece".....but I took it on down to the used book store after two reads.  Hope the new essay is well less than 60 pages and has a well-informed-about-SMiLE/BW/BB editor.
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« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2011, 07:16:25 PM »

Yeah I wish they'd do an anthology type thing for release. Include the Goodbye Surfing Article at least. Maybe get some other people to chime in with essays to. I think Bill Tobelman's zen smile essay would be well worth including.
There's jut been so many viewpoints on SMiLE, I don't think one will ever be definite or final. There's a lot of nuance to the project, and I wish the book would take that into account.
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« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2011, 07:55:37 PM »

Have to say I love Domenic's intro page to LLVS. I get psyched everytime I read it. Might even shout out "hell yeah!" or something next time around.

The first post of this thread included the following:
personally, I like a 'Heroes' reprise (part 2 anyone?) to close the album.

I like this. But isn't it "side 2"? The slow "my children were raised...." is so cool as is the "and wise" part.

The album starts with the children being "often wise" and ends with the children being "wise." They learned something along the way.


yes.  Smiley
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« Reply #16 on: March 16, 2011, 11:22:14 AM »

I don't know Domenic (or anyone else here) personally, but he is anything but an elitist.  he shared a lot of insight and much information re: the Beach Boys, Smile, etc with me via a series of letters back in 1993 or so, when i was 14 and info was scarce.  it comes as no surprise to me that he was chosen to write the liner notes to this most historic box set!
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« Reply #17 on: March 16, 2011, 07:33:43 PM »

I would like to say that Domenic is writing the notes for the booklet and insert for the two cd set. Tom Recchion, the Art Director at Capitol/EMI is selecting content for visuals and layout, as well as the overall product`s non cd/vinyl content. Dom is also helping Tom with finding "stuff" needed for the booklet. Domenic is a valuable part of the team assembled for The Smile Sessions, and is playing an integral role.
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« Reply #18 on: March 17, 2011, 05:09:46 AM »

Peter, does that mean Frank Holmes' work isn't being used?

Or does it mean that Dom is helping Tom Recchion to present Frank's work in addition to other artwork?


After all this time wrangling for the music's release, I'd hate for the only quibble to be about the artwork. A minor quibble, but Frank's work is very evocative of the whole smile 66-67 project.
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« Reply #19 on: March 17, 2011, 05:51:32 AM »

Peter, does that mean Frank Holmes' work isn't being used?

Or does it mean that Dom is helping Tom Recchion to present Frank's work in addition to other artwork?


After all this time wrangling for the music's release, I'd hate for the only quibble to be about the artwork. A minor quibble, but Frank's work is very evocative of the whole smile 66-67 project.

The artwork isn't a minor quibble. To accurately use for once a hugely overworked word, it is iconic. To release this project without using Frank's cover is, simply unthinkable. remember, Frank wasn't paid back in the day, and his artwork wasn't used on BWPS because no-one would match his asking price. Hopefully Capitol won't be so stupid this time.
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« Reply #20 on: March 17, 2011, 06:50:22 AM »

I think they oughta use Frank's artwork but give it a modern border, or show a pile of '67 covers in a dumpster or one going into a shredder and one coming out of a shredder. Something to set the old in the new or show some of the history. Still the whole cover art in all its glory should be shown somehow on the cover or inside the cover imo.
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« Reply #21 on: March 17, 2011, 06:59:23 AM »

The cover should just the normal Smile cover, with instead of the "Full Dimensional Stereo" or w/e have "Remastered from the original session tapes!". Stickers on the shrinkwrap will have the rest of the info on it - Preferably just Dennis' 'It makes Pet Sounds stink' quote in as big letters as they can get away with  Grin
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« Reply #22 on: March 17, 2011, 07:05:50 AM »

The cover should just the normal Smile cover, with instead of the "Full Dimensional Stereo" or w/e have "Remastered from the original session tapes!". Stickers on the shrinkwrap will have the rest of the info on it - Preferably just Dennis' 'It makes Pet Sounds stink' quote in as big letters as they can get away with  Grin

OR, "The SMiLE Sessions" with Frank's artwork
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« Reply #23 on: March 17, 2011, 07:11:42 AM »

Not only should they be using Franks cover art, they need to include all the booklet illustrations he did as well.  
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« Reply #24 on: March 17, 2011, 07:15:48 AM »

The cover should just the normal Smile cover, with instead of the "Full Dimensional Stereo" or w/e have "Remastered from the original session tapes!". Stickers on the shrinkwrap will have the rest of the info on it - Preferably just Dennis' 'It makes Pet Sounds stink' quote in as big letters as they can get away with  Grin

OR, "The SMiLE Sessions" with Frank's artwork

I betcha they won't get the look of the type right though if they do swap "Smile" for "the smile sessions". It's the sort of thing that wouldn't surprise me and would bug the hell out of me too - much more than Mike filling the vocal gaps with excerpts from Kokomo, or Mark Linnett flying in the raps from Smart Girls to replace the 20/20 lead on Cabinessence. Or they'll ask the original Capitol designer and he won't be able to quite match the 60s vibe of the type. Weird how stuff like that is very hard to replicate.

I hope if they do use Frank's artwork (which of course, they must, or you can guarantee it'll be one of the first moans that reviewers choose to make) that they just lift is as is: Smile, Good Vibrations, Good Vibrations, Good Vibrations etc. No modern twists, please!
« Last Edit: March 17, 2011, 07:25:31 AM by buddhahat » Logged

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