Catbirdman's List: Questions, Answers, Speculation

[Jason]

And Paul doesn't appear on any of them!

[Mikie]

And that ain't Macca chewing celery either?

Marilyn's singing on this one with Brian coaching her.  This is presumably a Laughing Gravy session or other?

[Jason]

No, it's a Smile session.

[Mikie]

Yeah, and it also says "Smiley Smile" sessions on the back.  So the take with Marilyn on it was done during a Smile session, eh?

[Curtis Leon]

There we go, Secret Smile, yeah, thanks doods! Tracks 18, 19, 20 (stereo).
 
Tripped on a cornucopia
Stripped the stalk green and I hope ya
like me the most of all
my favorite vegetable.

I tried to kick the ball but my tennie flew right off
I'm red as a beet 'cause I got some mustard.


I also just listened to a boot I forgot I had called "The Beach Boys & Paul McCartney - Vegetables" (NMR004 Nowhereman Records),
39 tracks of Vegetables sessions.

I think it's "I got so flustered", not "I got some mustard".

[Jason]

Yeah, and it also says "Smiley Smile" sessions on the back.  So the take with Marilyn on it was done during a Smile session, eh?

Correct.

[Mikie]

I think it's "I got so flustered", not "I got some mustard".

Yeah, you're right, it is "I got so flustered", Curtis!  Whoops!

Hey Curtis, what do you think of Brian Wilson's version of "Drip Drop"?

[Chris Brown]

Even though it's just a demo, and thus a lot more rough than the version we've all heard, I prefer the "cornucopia" version - I think it's more true to Brian's original concept.  Wish it was a little more fleshed out. 

I'd love to hear more of these types of demos no matter when they're from, but stuff from '66 especially has such an amazing feel of creativity and excitement going on.

[Mikie]

That's one of the clearest Smile demos I've ever heard! And in pristine stereo! Even clearer than say.........the "three score and five I'm very much alive" line, which by the way I hope they enhance for this new release.

[Curtis Leon]

I think it's "I got so flustered", not "I got some mustard".

Yeah, you're right, it is "I got so flustered", Curtis!  Whoops!

Hey Curtis, what do you think of Brian Wilson's version of "Drip Drop"?

It's alright. Brian's enthusiasm is really freaky though, and he sounds coked out.

[desmondo]

The list that Catbirdman has put together of ideal 'wants' for the SMiLE box set is amazing - I can't remember seeing such a powerful set of all the stuff I've wondered about regarding SMiLE over the years, all in one place like this before.

That list is too damned good to be wasted on a mere game (though the game is fun too: you'll notice that I've added my two cents in the other thread). So, although I've replied there, I'm starting another thread here for questions, answers and speculation about the material mentioned on that very list, Q&A that don't fit into the framework of the speculative game on the other thread. I have a ton of things I'd love to know about the material on that list, and some pet theories I'd like to get off my chest.

Virtually ALL of the following is pure speculation on my part. I'd love to have solid evidence for some of it… but I don't.

1.   Acetate/mix from May 11 session for Heroes and Villains

This was supposedly erased, I thought, although I wonder if the version of False Barnyard with Mike singing 'When skies are blue' faintly was mixed from that version before the multitrack was zapped. Wasn't there supposed to be a version of H&V with You Are My Sunshine lyrics? Didn't Cam Mott find that out years ago? Anyway, I've always assumed since then it came from the tape of the May 11 'wild' version of H&V. Anyone know differently?

2.   Previously unheard sections from Good Vibrations

Surely, there CAN'T be any more. Unless it's a stack o'vocals mix cleverly processed out of the mono master mix? I think with the SOT volume dedicated to this, and all the bits that have come out on the GV box, Hawthorne CA, the CD single of a few years back, etc, we've heard everything we're ever gonna hear of this one. Not that primo-quality, mastered versions of the key session excerpts and master takes wouldn't go amiss, mind…!

3.   Wind Chimes mix referred to by Michael Vosse

My personal theory: we've already heard this, or something very like it, already. My guess is that it's either the early version similar to that heard on SOT (Take 5, is it?), or a version derived from the same tape as the '93 box set mix, but possibly mixed differently to give more prominence to the tinkling pianos. Add a bit of '67-era Mary-Jane-heightened awareness in the listener, and that's Vosse's Wind Chimes mix, I'd guess.

4.   Vocals for Look/I Ran (Oct 13): I think these were never recorded onto the Look tape; that's my pet theory. I think maybe Brian wrote a vocal section for this, but then co-opted it into Good Vibrations to finish that off ('na na-na-na-na, na-na-na' - you know what I mean). Maybe the clarinets were recorded at this session and then later erased, the ones that Darian heard and restored years later for the 2004 SMiLE. Sheer guesswork on my part, though.

5.   Wonderful with lead vocal and yodeling bvs

I think maybe these vocals were all on the multitrack at different times, but maybe the yodelling vocals were erased when the lead and more 'finished' backing vocals were recorded (the ones you hear in the box set mono mix). My theory is that the yodelling vocals were an early try-out for the BVs, and Brian ditched them later (but created the mix *with* the yodels while they were still on the multitrack, which is how we've heard it).

I reckon we could easily get a mix that incorporates both lead and yodels on the box: I suspect that a mix featuring both would be fairly easy to recreate with today's tech. The yodelling was incorporated into the backing vocals on BW's 2004 version of SMiLE, and it worked quite well, so I think we might well see this done for the new box set. But whether such a mix would be historically accurate is another matter…! Of course, this is all guesswork, so perhaps the yodelling and lead vocals DID belong together in 1966. We may never know…

6.   Cabin Essence previously unheard instrumental section

I'd be surprised to hear anything like this. I reckon it was a session sheet error (there have been plenty, let's face it), and that what we THINK was recorded as Cabin Essence material at that session was actually something else. After all, the incomplete test mixes of Cabin Essence that we hear on boots (the ones that came from acetate, and lack a lead vocal) don't feature any unknown sections. So I bet the fabled Cabin Essence section was ACTUALLY for something else. Or else, the session didn't produce anything useful, and Brian ditched it.

7.   Cabin Essence “reconnected telephone” vocals
Again, pure speculation (like everything I've written so far…)… but I reckon these were supposed to go over the middle verse, and then Van Dyke came up with the 'Truck Driving Man' lyrics for Dennis to sing instead, leaving these unused.

8.   Child Is Father Of The Man previously unheard vocals (leads and/or bvs)

There have been persistent rumours that these may have existed: but I reckon if they did, they're long gone as recordings. I have this feeling that these could be parts Brian recorded and erased, either with a view to re-doing them later (which he then never got around to) or because he was unhappy with them for some reason.

9.   Child Is Father Of The Man previously unknown lyrics (could be audio, could be just documented lyrics)

Again, rumours have abounded for years that Van Dyke *did* write '66-vintage lyrics for this number (and that they're NOT the lyrics added to this section in 2004). Maybe we'll see a sheet of old lyrics, but I'll bet there's no surviving recording.

10.   I’m In Great Shape vocals

I bet these existed (there were vocal sessions, if I remember rightly, weirdly done *before* the backing track sessions, wasn't it…? Someone help me out here…)… but I bet they've gone from the multitrack. In fact, wasn't IIGS one of the tapes where the vault has a session tape, and then the final (presumably master) take has been snipped off the reel? Or am I getting confused again?

Anyway, whatever: I reckon that unless an acetate test mix was done of these and it's somehow survived, I bet the vocals and master take are probably gone for good.

11.   Significant clues/documentation into the overall structure of I’m In Great Shape

As per 10 above: unless a test mix has survived on an acetate, maybe as a part of a longer H&V mix when IIGS was part of that (Durrie Parks, I'm looking at you!), I bet there's not going to be many clues to this.

12.   Vintage lead vocal for Do You Like Worms

I don't feel hopeful about the possibility of these. I bet these were sessions like Cabin Essence, where lyrics were written, and significant work was done on tracking and BVs, but a finalised lead was never recorded. Unless, again, an early or scratch lead vocal was mixed to acetate, deleted from the multitrack, and the acetate has survived somewhere over the years. Al and Bruce had '…Worms' acetates, though, didn't they…? So maybe, just maybe…

13.   An altogether different recording under the title Do You Like Worms

I'm guessing this stems from Al's comment that the track that was included on the 1993 GV box set as 'Do You Like Worms?'… WASN'T 'Do You You Like Worms?' as HE remembered it. I'm gonna say that I think Al was probably just confused here. But in some ways, it would be lovely to be proven wrong… What if what we've known for years as DYLW was, in fact, ALWAYS called 'Roll Plymouth Rock' …and DYLW is, in fact, something else ALTOGETHER? After all, 'Roll Plymouth Rock' wasn't a 2004 invention - didn't Bruce refer to it by that name in 1978? Or as 'Plymouth Rock', at least?

14.   Any previously unheard spoken recordings/skits

I bet there are more of these, but I can't say I'm terribly excited to hear them if there are. The ones we have heard aren't terribly funny, and would have (being majorly charitable here) needed A LOT of editing to make them worth listening to repeatedly. Even the Vegetables argument, where Hal Blaine's improv humour is occasionally funny, would need to be shredded to a fraction of its length to keep the humour going. Too often, the laughs peter out, or (as with many of the other skits) are just never there in the first place.

According to the forum, my full post is too long, scarily! So I'll split it here...

MattB

What a brilliant post - for whats it worth here's my May 11 version of H&V - http://soundcloud.com/the-essential-drop/heroes-and-villains-re-edit

Enjoy (or not) - abrupt end but Cabinessence comes next

[Cam Mott]

Here is what Al told me about the May 1966 version of H&V:

Me: Was the version of Brian Wilson's "Heroes and Villains" you heard at
Brian's house in May '66 much different than the version that was released?

Al: Yes-it was interpolated with "You Are My Sunshine." Go figure.....

[in another e-mail]

Al: It was actually just a bizarre arrangement of Sunshine.

[Matt Bielewicz]

Some great reponses to some of these questions - thanks, one and all. As is no doubt woefully apparent, I wrote my original posting completely off the top of my head, having not listened to many of the bootlegged SMiLE fragments for many years (I do have *some* kind of life away from SMiLE, see...). Over the long weekend here in the UK, I've dug out a few bits and pieces (nothing anyone here hasn't already heard, I'm sure… stuff off the SOTs, Archaeology, H&V Sessions and Heroes and Vibrations, things like that) and realised I knew the answers to one or two of the questions I'd posed already - or rather, I had known them back in the day, but had forgotten them... And then there have been fascinating updates to some of the questions here that merited some responses… so here they are.

1) The May 11, 1966 version of Heroes & Villains

Fascinating stuff in this thread about the 'early' version of Heroes and Villains. There was talk somewhere (can't remember where, sadly - I think it's in a 1966-era interview that might be in LLVS, but might not) about another version of You Are My Sunshine (or, at least, a different song incorporating elements of YAMS) that Brian had recorded which everyone around him thought would be a smash hit back in 1966. I remember a discussion on the old SMiLE Shop about how perplexing this was, as the version of YAMS that was recorded in late 1966 for SMiLE is very short, slow, in a minor key, and generally resolutely completely UNLIKE a 1966 radio hit. Surely, the guys in that contemporaneous interview must have been talking about the version of H&V with the 'You Are My Sunshine' feel? We may never know, but it would make sense, would it not? IF that early version of H&V was anything at all like the later one (and, of course, that in itself is a big assumption), then we'd be talking about something upbeat, fast, full-on; 'Hitsville', as an engineer (Chuck Britz?) said at a later H&V session, in fact! If something like that had elements of YAMS in it, I can well imagine it would have sounded like a hit in the making to contemporary associates of Brian's…!

2) Good Vibrations

Now that Catbirdman has clarified that by 'new' on the forthcoming SMiLE box, he meant 'anything not yet in general circulation, either commercially released or on widely distributed bootleg', I think there's even less chance of something 'new' coming out relating to the 1966 version of Good Vibrations. This is the song that got a whole SOT box to itself, after all! Unless the long-gone tape with the vocals has turned up, or someone has managed to extract the vocals from the mono mix and do a new stereo mix with those, like that chap here the other week (Austin, was it?).

3) Wind Chimes (the mix Vosse heard)

Not much to add here to what I said earlier; everyone seemed to agree, which is nice, but doesn't mean I was right, of course!

4) Look/I Ran vocals

Ah, the dates. Catbirdman correctly advises above that the dates don't stack up for this theory (that the vocals Brian had in mind for Look were recycled into Good Vibrations to finish that off), as GV was completed and released just before the mystery vocal session for Look. Good point. I'll happily concede that one.

5) Wonderful yodels, bvs and leads

I don't know anything about the dates for the yodelling vocals, but maybe someone else here does?

6) Cabin Essence previously unheard section

Remember I said that maybe the mysterious session for Cabin Essence was logged as that, but possibly ended up as something else? I re-read the Vosse Fusion interview the other day, in which he stated that the original track (which he referred to as 'Who Ran The Iron Horse?') had at one point incorporated the Bicycle Rider theme. Now, the chorus to the Cabin Essence we know bears a resemblance to the 'Heavy' Bicycle Rider chorus used later in H&V, with the chromatic rising bass, and also to the 'Bells and Whistles' version (with tuned percussion) of what we know, on the GV box set, as 'H&V (Intro)'. And interestingly, we don't have (at least to my knowledge), confirmed recording dates for EITHER of those bits. Does anyone who remembers the session musicians used on the mystery Cabin Essence session (paging Mr Mott!) know if they match up to the instruments we hear either on any of the Bicycle Rider variants, or to 'Bells and Whistles'? (not for the last time, I wish we had standardised names for all of these pieces!) Just another idea to throw out there…

7) Cabin Essence 'reconnected telephone' lyrics

I absolutely accept Catbirdman's point that the known unused Cabin Essence lyrics would be hard to fit over the middle part of Cabin Essence, where the 'truck driving man' lyrics fit in the 1968 20/20 version, but then… the 'truck driving man' lyrics ALSO only fit over it thanks to their being sung in a very odd, syncopated style that is almost, but never quite completely, at odds with the rhythm in that part of the track. Dennis's delivery of those lyrics on the released 'Cabinessence' is almost like a litany or rosary bead recital. If they can fit over that bit of the track like that, I would have thought the equally odd 'this is a recording' stuff could have 'filtered through the pines' in a similarly peculiar way. None of which means I'm right, of course!

Points and 9) Child Is Father Of The Man

As pointed out earlier, you have multiple versions of verse and chorus for this, some in a major key, some minor (and the latter were the ones used in the 2004 SMiLE). As I hinted earlier about Holidays, this is another one of the mysteries of SMiLE that we can't work out from all the pieces we have. With a jigsaw, you know that all the bits in the box are definitely designed to fit together into one whole with no parts missing or left over. We have absolutely no such assurance with the SMiLE fragments - quite the opposite, in fact. Were all these pieces meant to fit together in one single version of a song, or were they re-recorded versions of the same section designed to *replace* the earlier versions: or were they even recorded to insert into a completely different song? The piano-led major key versions of CIFOTM go together remarkably well with some of the parts recorded for Vega-Tables in April 1967 (they are edited like that on SOT 16 and 17, if I remember rightly, though there's no evidence that sequencing comes from Brian Wilson, and it may just have been the SOT manufacturers mucking about)… and of course there's that 'Air Dada' session from May 1967 which has a second section that sounds REMARKABLY like CIFOTM… except that the session players only give us a couple of bars of that section before the take ends. Does this mean that parts related to CIFOTM were destined to be heard in the track itself, Vega-Tables, I Love To Say Dada, AND (if the 1971 track is anything to go by, which it may not be), at the end of Surf's Up? Impossible to say, as they may simply have been ideas Brian had for gluing tracks together on the day those sessions were recorded, and probably weren't all meant to be part of one single finished concept for SMiLE. Otherwise, we'd have had bits resembling CIFOTM in four different tracks! But then that is sort of true of Heroes & Villains, so maybe there IS something in that approach, which would certainly be taking the modular approach to songwriting to new heights…

And just to muddy the waters still further, some of the multiple versions of the same 'song' or section are CLEARLY re-records. I don't think anyone seriously thinks the 1966 harpsichord Wonderful, the January 1967 'Rock With Me Henry' version AND the April 1967 re-records were ALL meant to be included in one version of SMiLE. They're surely recut versions of the same idea. But can we say that of the different versions of all the CIFOTM parts… or, for that matter, of the multiple attempts at a chorus for Heroes & Villains, as heard on the 'H&V Sections' mix on the '93 GV box set, or the two different versions of 'False Barnyard'? Not with any certainty. I think…


Points 10) to 24): not much to add to any of this so far.

25/26) Heroes & Villains

I said I could wish for a more developed version of the stereo panning piano theme identified by the session engineer as 'Tag To Heroes & Villains, Part One, Revised Version', which sounds remarkably like the 'Do A Lot' part of Vega-Tables. In fact, there *is* a more developed version which I had completely forgotten about. It has the 'Eat A Lot, Sleep A Lot' vocals, and it's NOT the recording used for the GV box set version of Vega-Tables. It's on the H&V Sessions boot (the last 37 seconds of Track 2), has group vocals, and is much 'poundier' on the piano than the Vega-Tables version of that section. So there you go. Be careful what you wish for…

That's it for now, but it's more than enough to be going on with…

MattB

[Iron Horse-Apples]

I have a feeling, or maybe it's just wishful thinking, that if we are going to get anything major, it's going to be an unheard version of H&V.
I got into SMiLE back in the 80's, and there were rumours then of the multiple version of this song. It's the only thing that's been rumoured for years from several different sources (acetates, people hearing them). It's the only thing that we know for sure did exist at one point.
And one of them did turn up in 1990. And forgive me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Cantina version unbooted before it was released?
This stuff does turn up, and if it has  they will be keeping it close to their chests in light of the release.
Roll on the track listings

[Chris Brown]

I have a feeling, or maybe it's just wishful thinking, that if we are going to get anything major, it's going to be an unheard version of H&V.
I got into SMiLE back in the 80's, and there were rumours then of the multiple version of this song. It's the only thing that's been rumoured for years from several different sources (acetates, people hearing them). It's the only thing that we know for sure did exist at one point.
And one of them did turn up in 1990. And forgive me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Cantina version unbooted before it was released?
This stuff does turn up, and if it has  they will be keeping it close to their chests in light of the release.
Roll on the track listings

I would have to agree - given how much Brian worked on the track, it would stand to reason that there were more than just two "finished" versions that he mixed down.  Somebody somewhere must have had an acetate of a version we've never heard (my money would be on Bruce or Alan), so I wouldn't be surprised to hear a new acetate mix. 

Ideally (in my mind anyways) hearing a mix from '66 would be most interesting/relevatory, since it would be the closest thing we've heard to Brian's original vision for the song, before he started recording section after section in the search for something that worked.

[buddhahat]

Somebody on this board a couple of years ago claimed to know somebody who claimed to have heard a version of H&V that incorporated With Me Tonight! Tenuous of course but another edit could indeed be out there.

I like this line of reasoning that an unheard H&V is the most feasible 'new' material that will show up on the box, if we get any new material. An alternate H&V is probably the thing I'd most like to hear.

[buddhahat]

To follow up from my last post, I did some searching and here's the post I'm referring to courtesy of Jeff:

So, everyone's is 99,9% sure that what's circulating out there is all we are ever going to listen to or know about Smile. That's all. I'd rather debate Bambu or the MIU sessions.

That's quite a definitive statement.  And yet, a very credible poster to this very board has heard Smile material that has not been booted or released.  I certainly don't know all the details, but I recall reading about a version of H&V he heard that included a section of With Me Tonight with bells & whistles overdubs.  But you're 99.9% sure that the rest of us will never hear this?  How can you be so confident?

not sure if you're still a regular here jeff, but if so do you have any other info on the above? Perhaps the poster's name, or whether he can be contacted and pointed in Alan Boyd's direction if he hasn't already?!

[Matt Bielewicz]

I remember that news floating about the place, yes. But I can honestly say that I've never heard that version of H&V myself.

I don't know if this is true or not (really I don't)... but is it possible that the poster in question WAS Mr Boyd? I'm only saying because I believe I'm right in saying not only that he did post here regularly until not too long ago (see the honoured guest thread) - and of course, I can understand why he might have gone awfully quiet of late    - but also, he used to post back when this board was the original SMiLE Shop, and, back then, under the name of The Vault Rat, was known to share the occasional bit of hardcore BB archive-related info.

Could this info about some sort of alt version of H&V, incorporating With Me Tonight, and Bells & Whistles have come from him...? If so, we might hear it come August. I mean September. Or on January 15th, 1967. Oh, hang on. Hasn't that one been and gone...?

MattB

[Iron Horse-Apples]

And though I may be called out on this, I have to say that I can't see them doing a SMiLE box unless they had at least one big revelatory surprise up their sleeves.

Like I said, roll on the track listing

[Jim V.]

I still think we will get "Barnyard" with completed vocals and maybe "I'm In Great Shape" too.  I just have a feeling. I don't think we'll see "Child" or "Worms" with full vocals but that's ok. However, a 1966 mix of "Heroes" would probably be the best thing possible. If we got ALL of those things I'd probably go nuts.

[Roger Ryan]

3) Wind Chimes (the mix Vosse heard)

Not much to add here to what I said earlier; everyone seemed to agree, which is nice, but doesn't mean I was right, of course!

Re-reading Mr. Vosse's 1969 interview, I was struck by his accuracy in describing the sessions that eventually saw the light of day. Therefore, I think he may not be that far off when discussing things we haven't heard. His description of the "music box" ending for "Wind Chimes" absolutely has to the version that was released on the GV Box Set, but the way he describes the idea of vocals used as percussion on the same song doesn't seem to jibe with anything I've heard before - I don't think Brian editing the count-in before the chorus would qualify. Is he simply referring to the wordless vocals that appear during the chorus? That doesn't really seem to fit the description.

[Matt Bielewicz]

I agree about the vocals, Roger. Nothing on what we know of the vocals on the SMiLE Wind Chimes recordings really fits the 'percussive' description given by Vosse. But perhaps those were vocals that were present when Vosse was listening, but were erased from the multitrack by the time Mark Linett came to do his box set mixes in the late 80s... and so we've never heard them?

Just guesswork, of course, like most of this is...!

MattB

[Jeff]

To follow up from my last post, I did some searching and here's the post I'm referring to courtesy of Jeff:

So, everyone's is 99,9% sure that what's circulating out there is all we are ever going to listen to or know about Smile. That's all. I'd rather debate Bambu or the MIU sessions.

That's quite a definitive statement.  And yet, a very credible poster to this very board has heard Smile material that has not been booted or released.  I certainly don't know all the details, but I recall reading about a version of H&V he heard that included a section of With Me Tonight with bells & whistles overdubs.  But you're 99.9% sure that the rest of us will never hear this?  How can you be so confident?

not sure if you're still a regular here jeff, but if so do you have any other info on the above? Perhaps the poster's name, or whether he can be contacted and pointed in Alan Boyd's direction if he hasn't already?!

I think I was referring to a post or posts from AGD.

Here's a link to an archived thread in which you (Buddha) and AGD are discussing it.  http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?action=printpage;topic=9199.0.  AGD says "over 20 years ago, I was listening to a whole bunch of Smile sessions while visiting a US friend high in the thin, cold air, and smack in the middle of an "H&V" session, up popped a longer version of "WMT" that I can only describe as "bells & whistles", very upbeat vocals and lotsa clapping. It was like being slapped in the face with a halibut. In a good way."  He goes on to say that he has not heard that session since then.

The thread I'm linking to is actually later than the date of my post above, but I think AGD also posted similar things earlier.

AGD, does this ring any bells?  Maybe you can chime in...

[buddhahat]

To follow up from my last post, I did some searching and here's the post I'm referring to courtesy of Jeff:

So, everyone's is 99,9% sure that what's circulating out there is all we are ever going to listen to or know about Smile. That's all. I'd rather debate Bambu or the MIU sessions.

That's quite a definitive statement.  And yet, a very credible poster to this very board has heard Smile material that has not been booted or released.  I certainly don't know all the details, but I recall reading about a version of H&V he heard that included a section of With Me Tonight with bells & whistles overdubs.  But you're 99.9% sure that the rest of us will never hear this?  How can you be so confident?

not sure if you're still a regular here jeff, but if so do you have any other info on the above? Perhaps the poster's name, or whether he can be contacted and pointed in Alan Boyd's direction if he hasn't already?!

I think I was referring to a post or posts from AGD.

Here's a link to an archived thread in which you (Buddha) and AGD are discussing it.  http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?action=printpage;topic=9199.0.  AGD says "over 20 years ago, I was listening to a whole bunch of Smile sessions while visiting a US friend high in the thin, cold air, and smack in the middle of an "H&V" session, up popped a longer version of "WMT" that I can only describe as "bells & whistles", very upbeat vocals and lotsa clapping. It was like being slapped in the face with a halibut. In a good way."  He goes on to say that he has not heard that session since then.

The thread I'm linking to is actually later than the date of my post above, but I think AGD also posted similar things earlier.

AGD, does this ring any bells?  Maybe you can chime in...

Thanks Jeff for taking the time to search. Now you mention I remember AGD discussing that.

[bgas]

I think I was referring to a post or posts from AGD.
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?action=printpage;topic=9199.0[/url].  AGD says "over 20 years ago, I was listening to a whole bunch of Smile sessions while visiting a US friend high in the thin, cold air,

So,  AGD must have been doing some drugs when he went to see a friend in the mountains?
Probably his friend doesn't live in those mountains anymore.