The REAL reason Brian abandoned SMiLE?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Maybe my memory was a little foggy but here are some of them for whatever it's worth.

Nov 7 1966

Dennis Wilson: “In my opinion it makes ‘Pet Sounds’ stink - that’s how good it is.“

Published November 19 1966

Al Jardine: “Brian has done some terrific things - he is unbelievably devoted to our music - and there is more to come in the next album we must finish up when we get home.”

Published  December 17 1966

Al Jardine re. “ a very Hawaiian-influenced track, sung in Hawaiian, no less”: “This is by far the best thing we’ve ever done! Everything - the music, lyrics, singing, background - everything is perfect. “

Published January 7 1967

Mike Love: “Our [early] stage act was sort of early rhythm-and-blues - stuff by the Coasters and Chuck Berry. Not too many musical innovations there. Our progress has been slow. Because of Brian being on the road with us. He and I used to write songs. I’d contribute a lyric or rhyme, but actually, the bulk of the work has always been Brian’s. We worked after or during road tours that lasted weeks. That’s enough to kill a person without trying to come up with hit singles every few months. Somehow we did. Then when Brian stopped touring, wham! We were staggered. And he keeps doing this to us! More and more and greater and greater things.”

May 7 67

Bruce Johnston: “I’ve got some tapes at home of the new tracks to be on the ‘Smile’ LP which would blow your mind. All the ideas are new and Brian is coming up with fantastic ideas all the time.”


May 7 1967

Mike Love re. EMI release of Then I Kissed Her: “The record company didn’t even have the decency to put out one of Brian’s own compositions. The reason for the hold up with a new single has simply been that we wanted to give our public the best and the best isn’t ready yet.”

2nd week of July 67

Mike Love: "[re. Heroes and Villians] A new improvement of Brian’s capacities in this job. Once again he knows exactly what we can and what we can’t. There’s a lot of things happening on the record just like ‘Good Vibrations’…The flip is incredible. The title is ’You’re Welcome’. No other lyrics. I don’t know how Brian did it, but there’s no accompaniment. ‘Heroes and Villains’ is going to be released as the first single on our new label, Brothers Records…We are finishing it [the album] now. We knew the title and songs months ago already. Only Brian played the tapes again a few times and found it necessary to skip some songs. I don’t know how many sleeves they can throw out now, just because the lineup of songs and some songs have changed completely. He also said that we were going to make ‘Vegetables’ [the next single] instead. Brian had a photo session in a supermarket at the vegetables and fruit part."

Late 1967/early 1968

Brian Wilson: "Early 1967, I had planned to make an album entitled SMILE. I was working with a guy named Van Dyke Parks, who was collaborating with me on the tunes, and in the process we came up with a song called 'Surf’s Up,' and I performed that with just a piano on a documentary show made on rock music.
The song 'Surf’s Up' that I sang for that documentary never came out on an album, and it was supposed to come out on the SMILE album, and that and a couple of other songs were junked ... because I didn't feel that they ... I don't know why, I just didn't, for some reason, didn't want to put them on
the album ... and the group nearly broke up, actually split up for good over that, that one ... the decision of mine not to put a lot of the things that
we'd cut for the album SMILEY SMILE on the album, and so for like almost a year, we're just now kind of getting back together ... because I didn't
think that the songs really were right for the public at the time, and I didn't have a feeling, a commercial feeling, about some of these songs that
we've never released, and ... maybe I ... some people like to hang onto certain things and ... just as their own little songs that they've written
almost for themselves. And a lot of times, you know, a person will write and will realize later that they're ... it's not commercial, you know, but
what they've written is nice for them, but a lot of people just don't like it."

So, obviously it was Carl who hated Smile all along. Who knew ?

[Keri]

Actually all of the Boys gave the same support to Brian and SMiLE as Dennis did. Theirs' gets overlooked for some reason. There used to be list of the same type of statements of support all voiced by all of Boys during SMiLE.

Surely you don't believe that. Mike might have had his reasons but he did not support SMiLE. I'm sure he cared enough about Beach Boys publicity to say good things to the press at the time, but I have heard on docos, Carl (pretty sure Al), Van Dyke, Brian and Mike himself say he had issues with SMiLE. There are multiple statements from a variety of sources, for it to be entirely uncontroversial. Tony Asher even said Mike was very critical of the lyrics to Pet Sounds.

I think the point about how hard it would have been to finish are right. In the end Brian sat down with Darian and a laptop and they juggled the pieces around they got Van Dyke back to finish some lyrics and it was all good. If Van Dyke hadn't been alienated, firstly by Mike and then by Brian's increasingly eccentric behaviour, he and Brian might have been able to get together and work out a final sequence and worked out what needed to be done to finish it and then done so.

But Brian's mental state was deteriorating through this time and that might have been due to what was happening with SMiLE or it might have just happened anyway, but principally I think it was from being a sensitive person who was messed up by his father and then put under enormous pressure. So finishing SMiLE might have been a race against time that Brian lost.

[John Stivaktas]

"The real reason Brian abandoned SMiLE?"


So he could devote more time to keeping the streets of Los Angeles safe from crime, of course.

Is that the reason I felt so safe when I was over there in April this year? 

You felt safe there 'cause Phil Spector was safely behind bars.   

Thank God and Brian that the mind gangsters finally had been corralled.   

Yes indeed. But do we know if Spector didn't get twin echo chambers installed in his cell?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Actually all of the Boys gave the same support to Brian and SMiLE as Dennis did. Theirs' gets overlooked for some reason. There used to be list of the same type of statements of support all voiced by all of Boys during SMiLE.

Surely you don't believe that. Mike might have had his reasons but he did not support SMiLE. I'm sure he cared enough about Beach Boys publicity to say good things to the press at the time, but I have heard on docos, Carl (pretty sure Al), Van Dyke, Brian and Mike himself say he had issues with SMiLE. There are multiple statements from a variety of sources, for it to be entirely uncontroversial. Tony Asher even said Mike was very critical of the lyrics to Pet Sounds.

I think the point about how hard it would have been to finish are right. In the end Brian sat down with Darian and a laptop and they juggled the pieces around they got Van Dyke back to finish some lyrics and it was all good. If Van Dyke hadn't been alienated, firstly by Mike and then by Brian's increasingly eccentric behaviour, he and Brian might have been able to get together and work out a final sequence and worked out what needed to be done to finish it and then done so.

But Brian's mental state was deteriorating through this time and that might have been due to what was happening with SMiLE or it might have just happened anyway, but principally I think it was from being a sensitive person who was messed up by his father and then put under enormous pressure. So finishing SMiLE might have been a race against time that Brian lost.

Small point, but I feel a salient one - if the rest of the band were so set against Smile, why did they works their butts off recording some of the most astonishing vocals in rock music, EVER ?  Why didn't they just say "f*** this Brian, we're not doing it"  or at least call in sick ?

As for Asher saying Mike was critical of the Pet Sounds lyrics... this has exactly what to do with Smile ?

[Mike's Beard]

I'm guessing that if Mike had issues with some of the lyrical content on Pet Sounds, then it's easy to see how he would be critical of the far more 'way out there' lyrics intended for Smile.

[Keri]

I'm guessing that if Mike had issues with some of the lyrical content on Pet Sounds, then it's easy to see how he would be critical of the far more 'way out there' lyrics intended for Smile.

Yep

[John Stivaktas]

Firstly, Murry had issues with Brian writing with people outside 'the family' and therefore sharing songwriting royalties with 'strangers' outside the family business. Then Mike had issues with anyone taking away from his songwriting royalties...that might be closer to the truth.

[Micha]

As for Asher saying Mike was critical of the Pet Sounds lyrics... this has exactly what to do with Smile ?

Exactly this: If Mike was critical of the Pet Sounds lyrics and Pet Sounds still got done, then Mike being critical of the SMiLE lyrics cannot be the reason for SMiLE not getting finished. It may have contributed, but can't be the reason.

[Keri]

Small point, but I feel a salient one - if the rest of the band were so set against Smile, why did they works their butts off recording some of the most astonishing vocals in rock music, EVER ?  Why didn't they just say "f*ck this Brian, we're not doing it"  or at least call in sick ?

i didn't say the rest of the band, I said Mike, and as i said Mike's objections have come to us from a variety of sources and they're all pretty consistent and i know you are aware of them and it would be an amazing piece of mental gymnastics to explain them all away. What do you expect the Beach Boys to do?  They were good singers that's what they do, Brian wrote amazing parts for them. Those are the tracks that Brian had prepared for them, they could do them or do nothing at that stage, he was unlikely to suddenly change direction and make it an album of surf and car songs. Reading the account I just read in Carlin's biography he writes "Mike had no intention of singing a word of this until someone could explain it to him..." which led to his confrontation with Van Dyke, which ended with Van Dyke feeling he was not welcome.  Earlier Carlin says "Brian began to dread the vocal sessions".  

[Mike's Beard]

Well put Micha. I have never heard Mike say anything but positive comments for the music of Smile. However, being the a business savvy guy that he is, it's understandable he may have had concerns with how well the new direction would have gone over with longstanding fans. Let's face it, a fair few didn't get on the Pet Sounds train did they?

Also the group as a whole must have wondered how on earth they were going to reproduce much of the material live as just a 5 piece band. They may have worried that a schism was on the verge of developing  between what the band could achieve on record and what they could perform live. In a few years time did they still want to be stuck performing nothing but the "Little Deuce Coupes" and "Surfin' USA's" of their past because the new material was too complex to play?

One last point, if the group did come close to breaking up when Brian wouldn't allow several of the Smile tunes to be resurrected for Smiley, then that's a clear indication of how much they still thought of his compositions during this period.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Reading the account I just read in Carlin's biography he writes "Mike had no intention of singing a word of this until someone could explain it to him..." which led to his confrontation with Van Dyke, which ended with Van Dyke feeling he was not welcome.  

You point here is invalidated by the following:

1 - VDP told Mike "I have no idea what they [the "Cabin Essence" lyrics] mean".

2 - Mike sang them anyway.

Like I said earlier, Brian's explanation of why Smile wasn't released changes roughly every five years. In the ultimate final analysis, that he chose to abandon it was far more important than the reason why.

[adamghost]

Vis a vis the absence of pro-SMiLE comments (even PR ones) from Carl, I'm not sure the idea that Carl hated SMiLE is all that far-fetched.  Yes, he was onboard in '72 when Jack Rieley was calling the shots, but he was pretty quiet about it, relative to the things he had to say about PET SOUNDS, before and after.  I was surprised to hear third-hand (don't remember from who) that Carl apparently dissed the music later in life when he was talking about it with a friend.  That's hearsay, so take it for what it's worth, but I raised an eyebrow when that story was told to me, and I started to think that Carl had surprisingly little to say on the topic over the years.  I also recalled an interview with Brian where he specifically said SMiLE didn't happen because "Carl didn't like it."  I had dismissed it at the time as just one of Brian's "Norbit" moments but after hearing that story I started to wonder if it didn't spring from a grain of truth.

If Carl was resistant to SMiLE, after having been supportive of PET SOUNDS and being Brian's right-hand man in the studio all through those years...that could have had a REALLY big impact on Brian's confidence.  Brian clearly knew Mike's aesthetic judgment couldn't be trusted, but Carl...Carl was a different matter.  If Carl was dubious, I could see Brian getting dubious real fast.

It's something to consider.  I have no idea above and beyond the above whether it's true or not.

[Cam Mott]

Mike himself has said he thought the lyrics were beautiful but he wondered what the fans would make of them. Apparently the same opinion Brian had. Mike can have those issues and still support and promote and work his tail off to make it happen and even object to Brian wanting to scrap the same songs. We overlook the fact that the same sources used to vilify Mike or the Boys tell us Brian had issues with Van Dyke's lyrics and Van Dyke had issues with Brian's music and they claim that conflict is the reason SMiLE was cancelled. For some reason we choose to ignore this and don't have any problem with believing that they can issues with and still love and be supportive of SMiLE. Whatever issues any of them had they were all swept along by their appreciation of the music and Brian and Brian's enthusiasm. There is not just this press evidence of their support, you hear it all over the tapes imo, all you hear is Brian in complete control of the music, the musicians, the Boys, and himself with the Boys in team effort mode working their tails over hundreds of takes. Sidebar: to me the tapes and their documentation also put to sleep the theories that Brian was obsessive, or confused, lost, or drug addled but that's just me [and the actual events and documentation ;-)].

In spite of their support and overall enthusiasm, in the end as Brian explained in '67,  Brian himself had a change of Muse or mind and dumped all of their hard work against their wishes. Apparently, according to Brian, there was a big blow up with the Boys wanting to keep the SMiLE songs and Brian dumping them anyway. End of story [right?]. They all dusted themselves off and went back to enthusiastically supporting Brian's every whim even on some of the most brilliantly weird Pop music committed to vinyl. 

[Keri]

Reading the account I just read in Carlin's biography he writes "Mike had no intention of singing a word of this until someone could explain it to him..." which led to his confrontation with Van Dyke, which ended with Van Dyke feeling he was not welcome.  

You point here is invalidated by the following:

1 - VDP told Mike "I have no idea what they [the "Cabin Essence" lyrics] mean".

2 - Mike sang them anyway.

Like I said earlier, Brian's explanation of why Smile wasn't released changes roughly every five years. In the ultimate final analysis, that he chose to abandon it was far more important than the reason why.

That doesn't invalidate my point. Mike did sing the lyrics anyway but not before he had alienated Van Dyke who was Brian's collaborator on the project, it can't have helped. I feel a bit like Mike Love as I don't understand what you mean when you say "In the ultimate final analysis, that he chose to abandon it was far more important than the reason why." In this world we don't get much ultimate analysis and for Brian I suspect that both the reasons why and the fact that he did abandon the project were very important. As for us its all pretty good, we have a wonderful set of sessions and a completed work with BWPS.

[Cam Mott]

Maybe my memory was a little foggy but here are some of them for whatever it's worth.


Published January 7 1967

Mike Love: “Our [early] stage act was sort of early rhythm-and-blues - stuff by the Coasters and Chuck Berry. Not too many musical innovations there. Our progress has been slow. Because of Brian being on the road with us. He and I used to write songs. I’d contribute a lyric or rhyme, but actually, the bulk of the work has always been Brian’s. We worked after or during road tours that lasted weeks. That’s enough to kill a person without trying to come up with hit singles every few months. Somehow we did. Then when Brian stopped touring, wham! We were staggered. And he keeps doing this to us! More and more and greater and greater things.”

Just wondering why this was never brought up during the royalties lawsuit...

How do we know it wasn't?

[Mike's Beard]

The guy's not perfect, but the way some people go off at Mike for Smile, you'd think he was the first and only person in a band to ever have had a creative difference of opinion.

[37!ws]

Just a couple of thoughts:

- As someone who's much more of a Beatles fan than a Beach Boys fan, I can tell you this: the Beatles were probably the least of the worries around the time of Smile. They only released one album in 1966 (except for a compilation cobbled together by Capitol in the US), they hardly had any singles compared to previous years, and they were pretty mum about what was going on. In fact, John Lennon was off working on How I Won The War, and Paul McCartney was composing the music to The Family Way. Rumors were that the Beatles were over.

- Speaking of The Beatles, David Prokopy wrote in his tape set notes back in 1993 that explaining why Smile wasn't finished is like explaining why The Beatles broke up. Ergo, I conclude that the reason Smile didn't come out? It was because of Yoko. *snort!*

- Thank God Smile did NOT come out when it was supposed to; it so wouldn't be the legend that it is now.

[guitarfool2002]

If we're going to bring Jack Reiley into the discussion, hinting at more evidence or proof of a reason why Smile happened as it did, I'd suggest first that Reiley wasn't there when it originally unfolded in 66-67, and while his memory of the facts coming from what he was told can be added to the discussion, why not weigh more heavily the words of those who were actually there?

In other words, Michael Vosse who was perhaps closer to Brian on a daily basis as any "outsider" at that time, and David Anderle, who was the man behind the business dealings with Capitol and who, as acting manager, would probably have had firsthand negotiations with Capitol staff over promotions, the lawsuit, contracts, etc.

Compile quotes and statements from those two men, readily available, and add that part of the story to what is a multi-layered puzzle that I doubt will ever be narrowed down to a simple answer. What factors do they cite in various interviews?

Although the "Yoko" answer is pretty damned funny.

[37!ws]

Small point, but I feel a salient one - if the rest of the band were so set against Smile, why did they works their butts off recording some of the most astonishing vocals in rock music, EVER ?  Why didn't they just say "f*ck this Brian, we're not doing it"  or at least call in sick ?

Ever think they actually DID? And maybe that's why vocals were never recorded for a lot of material?

[Justin]

Small point, but I feel a salient one - if the rest of the band were so set against Smile, why did they works their butts off recording some of the most astonishing vocals in rock music, EVER ?  Why didn't they just say "f*ck this Brian, we're not doing it"  or at least call in sick ?

Ever think they actually DID? And maybe that's why vocals were never recorded for a lot of material?

+1

[adamghost]

You don't really have to take sides to see that everyone had a point.  You're Brian: you're making this amazing music, you've been busting your ass for years, you've delivered the band wealth and fortune, why can't they shut up and do their jobs?

You're Mike, or Carl:  I just got off the road, got a bunch of acclaim for making a certain kind of music, now here's this completely different thing, Brian's not communicating his vision really well, he's acting weird, and his friends kind of freak me out.

You're Van Dyke:  I've got my own options and career.  I did this to help out Brian and achieve this vision.  Now here's all these rubes acting superior and implying I'm a hanger-on and my lyrics suck.  Who needs this?

You're Capitol:  We're spending HOW much?  And the dude's got a sandbox in his house?  WTF?  Where is the single?

They're all valid viewpoints.  It just depends on where you're standing.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

This is beyond stupid!

If you're Brian Wilson at the height of your powers and it's 1967 and you have complete control and complete say over the music you're creating, you have these amazing vocalists who will sing exactly what you tell them to no matter if they like it or not (and the only concrete evidence we have IS the Beach Boys singing these parts) and you scrap the whole thing because Mike Love questions a single line of lyric or is generally not exploding with enthusiasm, it's YOUR decision and your mistake. Mike did what he was told and would have continued doing so just like the others. Brian dropped the ball and it's his responsibility. He put himself in the position to make that decision. End of story.

[runnersdialzero]

In no particular order:

a) Brian had no friggin' idea how to put this sh*t together - too open ended, couldn't decide which structures were best, etc.
b) Van Dyke jumping ship
c) Drugs
d) Varying degrees of opposition from Capitol, Murry, Mike, etc.
e) Worsening mental condition

But mostly A.

How's this still being argued about?

In no particular order:

a) Brian had no friggin' idea how to put this sh*t together - too open ended, couldn't decide which structures were best, etc.
b) Van Dyke jumping ship
c) Drugs
d) Varying degrees of opposition from Capitol, Murry, Mike, etc.
e) Worsening mental condition

But mostly A.

How's this still being argued about?

In no particular order:

a) Brian had no friggin' idea how to put this sh*t together - too open ended, couldn't decide which structures were best, etc.
b) Van Dyke jumping ship
c) Drugs
d) Varying degrees of opposition from Capitol, Murry, Mike, etc.
e) Worsening mental condition

But mostly A.

How's this still being argued about?

[runnersdialzero]

This is beyond stupid!

If you're Brian Wilson at the height of your powers and it's 1967 and you have complete control and complete say over the music you're creating, you have these amazing vocalists who will sing exactly what you tell them to no matter if they like it or not (and the only concrete evidence we have IS the Beach Boys singing these parts) and you scrap the whole thing because Mike Love questions a single line of lyric or is generally not exploding with enthusiasm, it's YOUR decision and your mistake. Mike did what he was told and would have continued doing so just like the others. Brian dropped the ball and it's his responsibility. He put himself in the position to make that decision. End of story.

Surely you realize it's not so simple? That Brian didn't "drop the ball", for instance?

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I'm not saying it's simple: I'm saying that the man in charge made the decision to not finish the album when he had every tool to indeed finish it at his disposal. Now, we can point to whatever hurdle we want and assign blame there, but in the end is was Brian's decision.