Pet Sounds and Smile

[groganb]

I was just raking leaves and listening to Pet Sounds on my iPod (stereo mix for earbuds, mono for speakers). Boy, what a beautiful album, and what a beautiful job Mark did on the stereo mixes.
I've long considered PS to be Brian's peak, and I'm increasingly thinking Smile is in many ways the soundtrack of Brian emotional nosedive. There's no question the amazing control and sophistication of PS is largely replaced by a scattered string of unfocused nursery-rhyme-level segments in Smile. Maybe he was trying to be childlike/funny, or maybe he was just losing it. But then there's "Wonderful," and "Surf's Up," and a few others. It's hard to know what to think, even after all this time.
I can't wait to experience it anew next week.

[runnersdialzero]

The sophistication and control over his music was certainly there during the Smile sessions, as well. I wouldn't consider it the soundtrack to his "emotional nosedive" (as you put it), I really feel he was just as on top of things during those sessions as he was the Pet Sounds sessions.

[Mark H.]

He never lost his talent just his focus IMO.  This Whole World is more satisfying to me in many ways than all the songs on Pet Sounds or Smile. 

[Iron Horse-Apples]

SMiLE makes Pet Sounds stink, that's how good it is

[groganb]

Just for the record, I don't think he lost his talent, either. I think he lost his drive and therefore focus.

[runnersdialzero]

Focus maybe, but drive? Naw.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

There's no question the amazing control and sophistication of PS is largely replaced by a scattered string of unfocused nursery-rhyme-level segments

Refinement. A constant process of.

Imagine SMiLE finished then compare it to Pet Sounds.

Simplicity hides complexity

Unfocused nursery rhymes!!!!

Get back to the bloo board

Cease and desist.

Listen.

[groganb]

Iron Horse,
I wondered how long it would take for someone to Go Rude. You win!
lol
(No offense taken.)

[onkster]

Brian was at his peak with Smile, no doubt about it for me. But I think he created a monster--something so huge, he couldn't wrangle it to the ground. I'm sure he thought: hey, I spent months working on a modular song--Good Vibrations--and look, that came out fantastically and was a huge hit! Now, if I can just apply the same approach to a whole album...

And it became simply gigantic. Option paralysis set in: so many great roads to go down, how might he pick the best one? And farther down, the path was a mystery...multiple paths, multiple choices...

He did a *ton* of work on it. Then got exhausted.

Maybe if he'd written the whole thing on the piano first, laid down the whole order in a simple series of connected demos, and only then, went into the studio. But nope: he was using the studio as his instrument, and making up a lot of stuff as he went. Just thinking about what he must have gone through feels exhausting. If only he could have taken a breather, then gone back with a clear head to finish it off. But there were so many other things going on at the same time--so many other pressures--and he, with a troubled psyche that needed care nobody yet knew how to give it. I'd say he held up magnificently under the circumstances, and for quite a long time, too. I don't hear any session tapes where he's acting truly weird or cracked--he generally sounds very alert, creative, and knows what he wants to get on tape.

So he didn't finish it then--so what. It's still magnificent. It's been my favorite album ever since Smile#2, which is testament to its power even as an unfinished piece. The man did good. And still does.

[Keri]

So he didn't finish it then--so what. It's still magnificent. It's been my favorite album ever since Smile#2, which is testament to its power even as an unfinished piece. The man did good. And still does.

Good post onkster, he did do good and really after this release there aren't that many what ifs left. I think this release will show that even unfinished it is magnificent and with BWPS you have a finished version.

I'm still of the school that if Brian had had support & enthusiasm around him instead of rejection it might have been finished. It was supposed to be a fun playful record, but trying to carry it on his own, his collaborator gone the last part was too much. What had been fun became a slog when there were supposed to be good vibrations. Did mental illness kill SMiLE, or did the collapse of SMiLE cause mental illness? Or drugs? These all have a part to play.

[John Stivaktas]

I was just raking leaves and listening to Pet Sounds on my iPod (stereo mix for earbuds, mono for speakers). Boy, what a beautiful album, and what a beautiful job Mark did on the stereo mixes.
I've long considered PS to be Brian's peak, and I'm increasingly thinking Smile is in many ways the soundtrack of Brian emotional nosedive. There's no question the amazing control and sophistication of PS is largely replaced by a scattered string of unfocused nursery-rhyme-level segments in Smile. Maybe he was trying to be childlike/funny, or maybe he was just losing it. But then there's "Wonderful," and "Surf's Up," and a few others. It's hard to know what to think, even after all this time.
I can't wait to experience it anew next week.

It's been my theory (and some may disagree of course) that the Pet Sounds era focused on descending scales around inverted chords, hence the emotionality you speak of. Wonderful and Surf's Up are written in that same Pet Sounds style. With SMiLE the emotional effect was to be replaced by songs that had simpler chord structures with more complex backing vocals, often chromatic scales which were ascending and descending. The contrast in the SMiLE era songs come from the fragments or parts mixed together to give a new listening experience, like you are going on a 'ride'. Don't you think this when listening to Heroes and Villains for example? It's all very deliberate, the first song written using the SMiLE composition method was actually Here Today on Pet Sounds, then there was Good Vibrations. The whole SMiLE album was to be this way, carrying the theme of the discovery, birth and growth of America. I don't blame Brian for saying that SMiLE was ahead of its time, the recurring themes and motifs really required the digital music era of today to save time on the editing.

[Bill Tobelman]

SMiLE was/is definitely philosophically superior to Pet Sounds. It's completely on another philosophical level altogether (and philosophically beyond anything by anyone created before or since BTW).

The jump from Summer Days to Pet Sounds was a new level of complexity & Pet Sounds to SMiLE was an astounding level of complexity (one not understood to this day for the most part).

Sgt. Peppers is awesome but philosophically pedestrian compared to SMiLE.

SMiLE didn't happen because its radical advanced nature & the inherent burden of such a work was too much for Brian to bear.

[John Stivaktas]

SMiLE was/is definitely philosophically superior to Pet Sounds. It's completely on another philosophical level altogether (and philosophically beyond anything by anyone created before or since BTW).

The jump from Summer Days to Pet Sounds was a new level of complexity & Pet Sounds to SMiLE was an astounding level of complexity (one not understood to this day for the most part).

Sgt. Peppers is awesome but philosophically pedestrian compared to SMiLE.

SMiLE didn't happen because its radical advanced nature & the inherent burden of such a work was too much for Brian to bear.

Yes, well said Bill.

[groganb]

I pretty much agree with Onkster in his recap, really. It's what I suspect, too. But I do wonder.
As far as philosophical depth, tho, William: Well, okay. I don't think PS is philosophically deep. But emotionally, it's beyond deep. ("Surf's Up" has got both aspects going on, IMHO.)
For me, music's power and magic is in how it works on the heart, not the head. And Pet Sounds is simply masterful in this regard. What Brian had command of there is just mind-boggling.
I've read your compelling theories about Smile's meaning, and maybe you're right. But we're talking brain. And, for me, that's just not as important as the heart when it comes to music, especially with Brian. If it was, I'd have missed "Don't Worry Baby," obviously one of the most sublime pieces of music ever.
Anyhow, as I said in my first post, I'm not sure what to make of Smile. That's part of its mutli-decade intrigue for me. Can't wait for the box set.

[Bill Tobelman]

The heartfelt personal narrative and loving sounds of Pet Sounds is going to obviously give the listener a different feel than an experimental album with the possible potential of conjuring the experience of spiritual enlightenment.

[Keri]

I don't blame Brian for saying that SMiLE was ahead of its time, the recurring themes and motifs really required the digital music era of today to save time on the editing.

Mark Linnett said something similar in terms of why the SMiLE sessions hadn't come out until now. And definitely what Brian was trying to do was so much harder in an analogue era. I think he could have done it though, with support and mental health.

[Keri]

SMiLE was/is definitely philosophically superior to Pet Sounds. It's completely on another philosophical level altogether (and philosophically beyond anything by anyone created before or since BTW).

Sgt. Peppers is awesome but philosophically pedestrian compared to SMiLE.

Van Dyke Parks was more of an intellectual than Brian or any of the Beatles, and i love his words on SMiLE, but he is wary of fixing any particular meaning to them & said to Mike L he didn't know what "Over and over the crow flies uncover the cornfield meant". We can certainly find meanings in it if we like but I find the lyrics generally give me satisfying image fragments that complement the music, rather than reach down into a strong central and DEEP meaning. But Within You and Without you has philosophically clearer meaning than anything on SMiLE and overall I'd say the other songs on Pepper are engaging and as inspired as the SMiLE songs are overall while not being as intellectual or articulate.

[Keri]

I've read your compelling theories about Smile's meaning, and maybe you're right. But we're talking brain. And, for me, that's just not as important as the heart when it comes to music, especially with Brian. If it was, I'd have missed "Don't Worry Baby," obviously one of the most sublime pieces of music ever.
Anyhow, as I said in my first post, I'm not sure what to make of Smile. That's part of its mutli-decade intrigue for me. Can't wait for the box set.

Good post. Don't Worry Baby and In My Room for me are very deep cuts of early Beach Boys, feeling is strongly expressed through the lyrics and perfectly fused with the music and vocal delivery. I regard them as great pieces of art.

[JohnMill]

SMiLE was/is definitely philosophically superior to Pet Sounds. It's completely on another philosophical level altogether (and philosophically beyond anything by anyone created before or since BTW).

The jump from Summer Days to Pet Sounds was a new level of complexity & Pet Sounds to SMiLE was an astounding level of complexity (one not understood to this day for the most part).

Sgt. Peppers is awesome but philosophically pedestrian compared to SMiLE.

SMiLE didn't happen because its radical advanced nature & the inherent burden of such a work was too much for Brian to bear.

My thoughts:

Oddly enough I find some of this discussion mirrors the great "Explain This..." debate involving Mike Love and VDP.

"Pet Sounds" for me since the day I heard it almost twenty years ago now in my opinion is the greatest album of all time.  I think there is something about that music that really connects with the listener (if they are open to it obviously) on many different levels.  I think in many ways it's the best of what The Beach Boys were about being able to communicate with their audience on issues that are so common but often left unstated.  First love, loss of love, finding love again, isolation, feelings of doubt.  It just really does run a whole gamete of emotions that are common to a lot of people.

"SMiLE" to me doesn't have that type of emotional impact.  We can talk about the spiritual quality of the music all day but the complexity of SMiLE at times is exactly what Mike Love took issue with.  There are going to be a great many people out there who it's not going to connect with on the emotional level that "Pet Sounds" did.  I hope I'm not simplifying it too much but "Pet Sounds", "Sgt. Pepper" almost every other album that is spoken of as being contemporaries with "SMiLE" did a far better job as far as reaching a broad audience. I'm in no way saying that is a failing of the "SMiLE" album but I must admit I sometimes shudder to think what The Beach Boys' target audience would've thought if they actually released this record in 1967.  I mean, you have to look no further than "American Bandstand" when they aired SFF/Penny Lane, the teenagers were more concerned about The Beatles' change of appearance, the aesthetic element then they were the beautiful music that was unfolding before them.

I still think now over forty years later there are still going to be some people who aren't going to be popping "SMiLE" into their cd player on a regular basis as they drive to work each morning.  I don't think it's that kind of record quite frankly no matter how you arrange it.  I think that people who have a serious interest in music and in poetry or songwriting (lyrics) can derive a lot more from something like this than someone who just spins cds to pass time or have something to listen to or however you want to phrase that.  

So I guess the word I'm searching for to sum all this up is accessibility and while part of that is on the listener as well (see above) I think that has always been something that has for better or worse circled around this album.  

[onkster]

Pet Sounds feels like it's your first semester away from home at college, and you've gone off for a weekend away somewhere to decompress and think over all the changes and uncertainty you've gone through as you become an adult.

SMiLE is way more than a weekend away...it's a wild road trip across America, celebrating its richness and crazy variety, while still acknowledging the dark parts underneath.

It's two different feels or themes entirely.

And I still imagine that if SMiLE had come out back then, the next album still would have been one to "chill out by"--seems like most of those wild trips of the sixties* generally were followed by returns to one's roots. (After all, where do you go after a long, rambling vacation? Home!)


*(Sgt. Pepper/Mystery Tour lead to White Album and Let it Be; Blonde on Blonde leads to New Morning, etc.; and an 80s example might be: Squeeze's 'Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti', followed by the more typically Squeeze-like 'Babylon and On'.)

[JohnMill]

And I still imagine that if SMiLE had come out back then, the next album still would have been one to "chill out by"--seems like most of those wild trips of the sixties* generally were followed by returns to one's roots. (After all, where do you go after a long, rambling vacation? Home!)

So you think we still would've gotten "Wild Honey"?

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Iron Horse,
I wondered how long it would take for someone to Go Rude. You win!
lol
(No offense taken.)

Saturday night is beer night 

[mammy blue]

Smile is a head spinning experience. Cerebral. Pet Sounds hits you right in the gut. Both are great. Brian's creative path during this brief period was nothing short of astounding. Icarus flying too close to the sun, indeed.

[buddhahat]

I was just raking leaves and listening to Pet Sounds on my iPod (stereo mix for earbuds, mono for speakers). Boy, what a beautiful album, and what a beautiful job Mark did on the stereo mixes.
I've long considered PS to be Brian's peak, and I'm increasingly thinking Smile is in many ways the soundtrack of Brian emotional nosedive. There's no question the amazing control and sophistication of PS is largely replaced by a scattered string of unfocused nursery-rhyme-level segments in Smile. Maybe he was trying to be childlike/funny, or maybe he was just losing it. But then there's "Wonderful," and "Surf's Up," and a few others. It's hard to know what to think, even after all this time.
I can't wait to experience it anew next week.

I think conversely the nursery rhyme elements signal an increased level of sophistication in BW's composing at this point. Anderle makes the parallel with Picasso moving from his blue period to cubism and it's a great analogy. Picasso's later cubist works appear child like, yet explode reality in the most sophisticated way. I think Brian was doing a similar thing with Smile.

I agree that Pet Sounds was his peak though because he succeeded in completing it. If he'd managed to finish Smile, who knows. It will always be his most exciting, groundbreaking music for me. I do hear it, at times, as the soundtrack to an emotional collapse. There is something haunting about the chords he uses in Child and Look that sound like a man on the edge, and this haunted quality only makes the music more compelling imo.

[onkster]

And I still imagine that if SMiLE had come out back then, the next album still would have been one to "chill out by"--seems like most of those wild trips of the sixties* generally were followed by returns to one's roots. (After all, where do you go after a long, rambling vacation? Home!)

So you think we still would've gotten "Wild Honey"?

Maybe. I think more along the lines of something like Smiley Smile: something spare, acoustic, and quiet. It feels more 'rootsy' to me than Wild Honey (which I still don't care much for--I know other people love it, but somehow it doesn't speak to me except for a couple of songs.) It's like living-room doo-wop, minus the teenage love thing. I imagine the alternate universe Smiley as having different songs--less Smile crossover, of course--and certainly a different title, but still that made-at-home vibe.

After that, who knows? Yeah, probably something like Wild Honey, as they stretched back out.