I this Vega-Tables is a really key track.
There's a lot to be written on this, but I think you see -- across the stretch of the Smile sessions -- a conscious move by Brian away from the session guys and toward a very stripped down instrumental sound.
Vega-Tables is mainly a piano, some bass and percussion. Almost nothing else. The vocals do incredibly elaborate things, of course, but it's a real shift from the Spector-styled H&V verses. You can see how Smiley Smile was not a departure at all -- it was a logical extension of a approach that Brian had been working on for months.
And don't forget that April (?) recording of "Wonderful" that had the really pretty piano arrangement. The version on
The SMiLE Sessions with the background vocals is, in my opinion, one of the prettiest things the group has ever done. Woulda been lovely to have gotten a lead vocal on that one. Might have been even better than the harpsichord version.
And also, the "Child Is Father Of The Man" piano and vocal section was recorded around this time too? Was it for "Vega-Tables"? Regardless, we had "Wonderful", "Vega-Tables" and "Child Is Father Of The Man" worked on in this period in this stripped down, but still pretty ornate, fashion. Woulda been interesting if
that was how
SMiLE (or
Smiley Smile) ended up. Would it have had the same fate as the organ dominated
Smiley Smile? Or would a minimalistic, yet highly produced album would have changed the game? Who knows?
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