A Ten-episodes official web series on the SMiLE Sessions is now on YouTube

[Cam Mott]

But what about the chorus chant that migrates from Worms to H&V? What about the way Barnyard and IIGS became separate tracks after being originally intended for H&V? How about the brief inclusion of a CIFTTM chorus in Dada? Or the way that the intro to fire was originally, again, an H&V fragment?

It seems there's abundant evidence of Brian moving fragments he generated in the recording studio -- originally intended for one song -- into other, developing pieces. Now, I agree that he certainly wasn't moving in a confused or bewildered manner -- he knew what he was doing -- but it also strikes me that he was working in a far more flexible and experimental way than he had previously.

BR in SMiLE H&V and the intro to H&V Part 2 [there is no fire intro] were for the b side of the single, not the album. SMiLE and CIFOTM were dead before ILTSDD, so it wasn't really an attempt to re-purpose in a SMiLE song. I'm not aware of BY becoming a separate track on SMiLE, as far as I know it is a discarded fade for an early version of H&V and not shown on the tracklist. If the Humble Harv demo means IIGS was ever a part of H&V it was a section of H&V discarded to become a listed song of its own, not an attempt to unify an album, it was no longer a part of H&V apparently [if it ever was a part].

[Wirestone]

BR in SMiLE H&V and the intro to H&V Part 2 [there is no fire intro] were for the b side of the single, not the album. SMiLE and CIFOTM were dead before ILTSDD, so it wasn't really an attempt to re-purpose in a SMiLE song. I'm not aware of BY becoming a separate track on SMiLE, as far as I know it is a discarded fade for an early version of H&V and not shown on the tracklist. If the Humble Harv demo means IIGS was ever a part of H&V it was a section of H&V discarded to become a listed song of its own, not an attempt to unify an album, it was no longer a part of H&V apparently [if it ever was a part].

You seem to be talking about the album as some fixed thing that (presumably) existed toward the end of 1966. And in that context, your argument is certainly defensible. But the album wasn't released then, and the pieces were reused, so it's hard in a broader sense of the Smile sessions to say that everything was as set in stone as you suggest.

But if I take your argument further -- if we assume that Smile per se was dead by the end of 66, then the whole narrative changes. Brian isn't trying to finish the album in 67 -- he's trying to piece together singles and isn't being pleased by the results. So therefore, the whole casting about and losing the plot narrative is actually about a master producer raiding a rejected album in an attempt to make the best singles that he can. An interesting view, and one with some truth to it, I think.

[Cam Mott]

BR in SMiLE H&V and the intro to H&V Part 2 [there is no fire intro] were for the b side of the single, not the album. SMiLE and CIFOTM were dead before ILTSDD, so it wasn't really an attempt to re-purpose in a SMiLE song. I'm not aware of BY becoming a separate track on SMiLE, as far as I know it is a discarded fade for an early version of H&V and not shown on the tracklist. If the Humble Harv demo means IIGS was ever a part of H&V it was a section of H&V discarded to become a listed song of its own, not an attempt to unify an album, it was no longer a part of H&V apparently [if it ever was a part].

You seem to be talking about the album as some fixed thing that (presumably) existed toward the end of 1966. And in that context, your argument is certainly defensible. But the album wasn't released then, and the pieces were reused, so it's hard in a broader sense of the Smile sessions to say that everything was as set in stone as you suggest.

But if I take your argument further -- if we assume that Smile per se was dead by the end of 66, then the whole narrative changes. Brian isn't trying to finish the album in 67 -- he's trying to piece together singles and isn't being pleased by the results. So therefore, the whole casting about and losing the plot narrative is actually about a master producer raiding a rejected album in an attempt to make the best singles that he can. An interesting view, and one with some truth to it, I think.

I'm just trying to clarify Brian's intentions according to what is known from the time and not comments or theories years and decades later. The album was a set thing in that Brian had decided on 12 specific tracks on the list. From early in the process nothing is recorded for SMiLE that is not on the list. The list is apparently what is on the paste ups of the album cover in late March [Taylor] which were then made around April [Mike] by Bertco and Queens Litho [memos] and a QL subcontractor [Richard Roth, QL] and then sat in Capitol warehouses 'til 1972 [memos]. I think the ambiguity of the album tracklist is overrated and the 12 track list is it.

However imo, the album is just a collection of songs, so the songs are created and creation involves change but Brian's method was to know what the song was going to be when he got to the studio. When he creatively edited the song, he did it with a plan. So content within the songs might change but once the list was submitted to Capitol the list of songs remained the same until he quit. To me it seems he had most of the songs well thought out and more or less settled [like he had PS] but he decided it wasn't where he wanted to go before he got everything he planned recorded. He did give extra planning and work to the two proposed singles which just follows his MO in GV where he was on task also. The problem wasn't not being able to pull songs together, he apparently pulled successive versions together and then thought it wasn't doing it for him or he had a better idea or felt some reason to create another planned out version. Anyways, I think the "couldn't pull it together" theory is not credible.

[Tristero]

BR in SMiLE H&V and the intro to H&V Part 2 [there is no fire intro] were for the b side of the single, not the album.

Do we know for a fact that Brian planned to make H&V a two part single like this all along?  I know it's been theorized that Part 2 would have been the repository for the dizzying array of various bits that didn't fit into the song proper, but how much hard evidence is there to support this theory?  Even if this were the case, I don't think Part 2 could have comfortably housed all of the different experiments that Brian attempted in January and February, intriguing though they may have been.  I mean, Bag of Tricks?  Was there really any chance that this 'intro' was going to make the cut?  You can argue "Well, Brian knew exactly what he was doing, but he just didn't like the results, so he chucked it", but when an artist keeps trying different ideas and discarding them, to me, that does not suggest that he always had a clear idea of what he was searching for in the first place.

[PongHit]

This webisode is filled with quotables (aside from 'We couldn't unstone ourselves,' and 'Drugs, and drugs, and drugs,' we have this):

Q: What would you say to Brian Wilson if you could go back and talk to him right now?
BW: "If you write a song, don't crap-out halfway — write your whole song — like my father used to teach me."

Cue: CIFOTM

So, once again, everything comes back to Murry; it's all about The Murr.

[hypehat]

This one is so sad 

[Wirestone]

So, once again, everything comes back to Murry; it's all about The Murr.

Something to consider: Murry could easily be alive today. He'd be 94. Can you imagine?

[P.J.]

Did anyone else notice that the "Ten-episodes" has no become twelve? 

Oh yeah! Righteous! 

[Cam Mott]

BR in SMiLE H&V and the intro to H&V Part 2 [there is no fire intro] were for the b side of the single, not the album.

Do we know for a fact that Brian planned to make H&V a two part single like this all along?  I know it's been theorized that Part 2 would have been the repository for the dizzying array of various bits that didn't fit into the song proper, but how much hard evidence is there to support this theory?  Even if this were the case, I don't think Part 2 could have comfortably housed all of the different experiments that Brian attempted in January and February, intriguing though they may have been.  I mean, Bag of Tricks?  Was there really any chance that this 'intro' was going to make the cut?  You can argue "Well, Brian knew exactly what he was doing, but he just didn't like the results, so he chucked it", but when an artist keeps trying different ideas and discarding them, to me, that does not suggest that he always had a clear idea of what he was searching for in the first place.

No, it's not for sure but you have Brian making an H&V Part 2 master separate from the H&V master just as you would when you are making a single with two sides which requires two separate masters and you have eye [or ear?] witnesses claiming Brian was making the H&V single with two sides. According to the master H&V Part 2, the presumed b side, seems like a sampler of non-H&V tracks from the album not really a home for discarded H&V, the presumed a side, sections or album track discards. Not sure if the new info in BBSS still aligns with that or not.

Well maybe I'm wrong headed about this but since when has changing something you are creating mean you don't know what you want or are doing or can't pull a song together? To me it seems back in the day it was interpreted that Brian was trying to do something he wasn't and his work method got labeled as an inability to pull his sh*t together.  Then personal problems and mental issues got erroneously post dated to the SMiLE period and became another "reason" to think he couldn't maintain. All just my opinion based on facts as I understand them.

[Wirestone]

since when has changing something you are creating mean you don't know what you want or are doing or can't pull a song together?

Of course it doesn't mean that. But it's also different from saying that Brian knew precisely what he wanted for every song and the location of every section before he went into the studio to record it.

These days, I doubt most Smile fans actually believe that Brian didn't know what he was doing. Or that he couldn't pull a song together. The box proves that each of those things are untrue. What folks have actually noted is that, over the course of the sessions, Brian seems to lose some of his confidence and direction. He starts retracing his steps. He started shuffling pieces around. That crystal-clear vision of the album (that he may have held in late 66!) starts to blur.

And this is supported by the stories people around him tell. Brian's world was changing in dramatic ways, and he was clearly having some paranoid episodes. When you add paranoia to an already depressive person (I'm not even saying he was seriously mentally ill at this point, either), you have a perfect recipe for self-doubt. Brian Wilson was not only an external, outward actor. He was a person with an internal life.

[bossaroo]

turns out it's a 12-episode series. cool!

[runnersdialzero]

Haven't there only been nine?

[Pretty Funky]

Bottom left of picture now reads '9 in series of 12' or the like.

[mammy blue]

I think that neither the David Leaf Doc nor this Youtube series gets the reality of the downfall of Smile quite right. I can perceive not so hidden agendas and obfuscation in both presentations. The "truth" is somewhere in between, and whether this is closer to the David Leaf/VDP account or the Beach Boys Inc version of the event is really in the eye of the beholder.

[Cam Mott]

Paranoid as in mentally ill? Or as temporary high induced? There is no way anyone will know but my donut is on either the supposed transient high induced paranoia or a brilliant mind who is superstitious and not mental illness. If it matters but to me even if, Brian is still operating in the studio at the highest levels [of anyone at any time] and he is identifying everything he is recording at the time it is recorded as to what it is in which song it is for.

Anyways, we can agree to disagree.

[Roger Ryan]

What I see is a Brian Wilson who falls in love with the idea of modular recording and the freedom it represents...then becomes frustrated that the experiments, combined with the general themes and music of SMiLE, aren't living up to his expectations. The saga of "Wonderful" seems especially telling. Here's a track that Brian actually finished for the most part with a full vocal and mix early in the process. He then attempts two different versions months later, but neither of these are as complete as the first version he attempted. What's going on here? We even know that Mike was keen on this song (which is probably why it's him doing the background vocals on the third attempt)!

If we accept that Brian knew exactly what he was doing at all times, then the result would have been a released album just like the ten previous studio album releases. The mere fact that Brian spent nearly a year recording sessions that did not see a release suggests a strong degree of uncertainty. Not necessarily due to drug intake or mental illness, but uncertainty nonetheless.

[Autotune]

So, once again, everything comes back to Murry; it's all about The Murr.

Something to consider: Murry could easily be alive today. He'd be 94. Can you imagine?

Well, Milton Love is alive. Or was until recently, as per AGD.

[Dr. Tim]

Agree with about 85% of this.  I would add: the paranoia is not mental illness as such.  It is a side-effect of the self-induced stress brought on by: round-the-clock overwork; the new ideas are coming too fast and furious; maybe the results aren't good enough; deadline pressures; unfinished song lyrics; the Brother Records lawsuit; and - big one guys - the refusal to delegate, to ask advice or hand out work assignments (as in: each of you guys dub these acetates to tape, then Steve, you assemble it one way, Chuck you do it this other way, Jim you do a third order like this, then I'll listen and pick one).

Seen this way, the bizarro behavior is a manifestation of workplace stress.  The drugs are used to medicate it.  To all and sundry, Brian is absolutely in total control, but in his own mind he's not making it happen, and can't find his way through the thicket.  Again, totally self-inflicted.  I'm sure Murry would have loved to take over, as he always did, but for this period he's not even in the room.

I also like Cam's theory - which the documented evidence supports - that by January 67 Smile was already scrapped sub silentio, or at least set aside for awhile, and Brian was concentrating on finishing the Next Killer Single.  Which was to be H&V, until it was held hostage in the Capitol records suit, then, uh, uh, gotta pick something for a single, there must be something we can use, er, ah, OK:  Vegetables.

[doinnothin]

Ep. 10 "From Fragments to Finish" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-ODpUwR_k7M

[P.J.]

Ep. 10 "From Fragments to Finish" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-ODpUwR_k7M

Sounds like Darian is not a huge fan of TSS. Of course his taste is obviously biased towards BWPS. I don't know if I could ever see BWPS as the finished SMiLE. I enjoy the original recordings too much.

[hypehat]

Are you kidding? I bet Darian goes to sleep cradling the box in his arms. He's just saying that he feels BWPS finished the material, in his view. You could say the same for Alan and Mark!

[mammy blue]

Darian is talking about "finished" in terms of the sequence of Smile, not the specific recording in 2004.

[Cam Mott]

Whatever paranoia is, I do not see where it was present at or affected the creation, recording and development of SMiLE either.

I suppose it is possible, the one effect it did possibly have illustrates my interpretation: Fire. He got it the way he wanted it, it got bagged by his feeling about it after he had it. Paranoia, superstitious thinking, he said because it was too scary, but whatever  it was not because he couldn't get what he wanted or couldn't pull it together, it was bagged after he got it together for his feelings about it. Still  after all of our arm chair diagnosis, pulling it together and knowing how the songs fit together or obsessiveness or any of the usual suspects weren't the problem. Brian was pulling it together and did know what he wanted with each session and revision [and he spelled it out], the problem was he didn't like it after he did pull it together. He was getting it the way he wanted but when he did he didn't want it. He didn't stop because of any problems putting the songs together he stopped pulling them together. He didn't point to paranoia  or confusion or any of the rest as the problem. The problem was he didn't like it when/after he did get it. He thought the lyrics were too arty, the music too elaborate, old fashion, scary, they weren't satisfying after the hard work of getting them, he wanted a new mood and approach, all the reason he actually gave at the time. [broken record I]

[Tristero]

Darian is talking about "finished" in terms of the sequence of Smile, not the specific recording in 2004.

I got the impression that he was talking about BWPS there, including bringing in VDP to finish tracks like Worms and Dada (though I don't think this is any kind of slight against TSS at all on Darian's part).  In the eyes of BW and VDP, I think that BWPS is SMiLE, the project brought to completion, and I can certainly respect that point of view.  For me, nothing will ever surpass the haunted magic of those original sessions, fragmentary though they may be.  

[Tristero]

Whatever paranoia is, I do not see where it was present at or affected the creation, recording and development of SMiLE either.

I suppose it is possible, the one effect it did possibly have illustrates my interpretation: Fire. He got it the way he wanted it, it got bagged by his feeling about it after he had it. Paranoia, superstitious thinking, he said because it was too scary, but whatever  it was not because he couldn't get what he wanted or couldn't pull it together, it was bagged after he got it together for his feelings about it. Still  after all of our arm diagnosis, pulling it together and knowing how the songs fit to together or obsessiveness or any of the usual suspects weren't the problem. Brian was pulling it together and did know what he wanted with each session and revision [and he spelled it out], the problem was he didn't like it after he did pull it together. He was getting it the way he wanted but when he did he didn't want it. He didn't stop because of any problems putting the songs together he stopped pulling them together. He didn't point to paranoia  or confusion or any of the rest as the problem. The problem was he didn't like it when/after he did get it. He thought the lyrics were too arty, the music too elaborate, old fashion, scary, they weren't satisfying after the hard work of getting them, he wanted a new mood and approach, all the reason he actually gave at the time. [broken record I]

Can you see why that bolded statement seems a little confusing?  If he wasn't happy with the results, then either he didn't execute properly or the thing he thought he wanted wasn't really what he wanted.  Either way, it suggests uncertainty on the part of the author.

You raise an interesting point with the Fire sessions.  I think that November/December time frame was where SMiLE began to sour and it was effectively dead in the water by the beginning of the year.  Up until that point, things were humming along pretty well.  As you say, he did execute with Mrs. O'Leary's Cow and paranoia that emerged after the fires broke out put a real scare into him, causing him to doubt the nature of the project he'd embarked on with such high hopes only a few months before.  He never regained his confidence in SMiLE and that's where all of the second guessing crops up (going back to Wonderful repeatedly being one of the more baffling examples).

How do you explain what happened with H&V?  He records a dizzying array of diverse sessions--countless different bits, some recycled from other tracks, most of which likely never would have made a finished single (even a two parter).  He labored over that one for two month at no small expense and still he couldn't come up with an edit that satisfied him, apparently.  (We have the possibly apocryphal story of him playing one mix for an acquaintance and then chucking it when that person wasn't enthusiastic.  Personally, I think he was batty because there's plenty of material there for a great track, but that's beside the point!)  So he embarks on another attempt at a single that doesn't come together.  If he was so confident and clear in his vision, why did he spend so much time working on tracks that didn't come together?  To say that he didn't like the results suggests to me that he didn't really know what he wanted in the first place.