SMiLE Recreation (Suite One), played and sung from scratch by me. Have a listen!

[egon spengler]

I ordinarily only post my covers on the musicans' forum, but there aren't many visitors over there and I'm really excited to share this with everyone.  It's taken me about 3 (on-and-off) years, but I've just finished recording and mixing my own recreation of the first suite of SMiLE.  It's about 18 minutes long and loosely follows the formats we know and love.. part TSS, part BWPS (but with no newly recorded bits), and part my own mix (with a tiny sprinkle of Smiley Smile and 20/20, and lots of "Heroes and Villains (Sections) bits, mixed in).  

Youtube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJb8ZQdLTzY
Soundcloud version: http://soundcloud.com/adwolf16/smile-recreation-suite-one
by request, mp3 here: http://www.mediafire.com/?jkibppsva0r0022

I think you guys will get a kick out of (and be surprised by) some transitions, including a brief acapella H&V part hinted at in TSS but (as far as I know) never recorded by the Boys. The only meaningful omission is the Barnshine fade, which I left out because I love the way YAMS flows into Cabin Essence on BWPS, couldn't find another good place for it, and it's near the bottom of my personal SMiLE list (blasphemy, I know  ).

I taught myself all of the parts, then sang and played them all myself--on top of the drums, guitars, keyboards, harmonica, banjo, fender bass guitar, etc. that I already had, I bought a fretless bass guitar, melodica, siren whistle, ukulele, lots of weird percussion instruments, a frech horn, flute, violin, and trumpet to fill it out (the last four of which I had never played before starting this project).  I'm sure it'll prompt some "Why bother covering it if you're not going to add your own spin?" comments, but I really just did it for my own enjoyment, not to break any new ground (and if the Wondermints could do it, why can't I?  )

As for Suites Two and Three, they're largely recorded already, but I have no idea when I'll be able to finish recording, mixing, and mastering them. My wife and I just had our first little one a few weeks ago, which prompted me to finish mixing and mastering Suite One while I can still sort of pay attention to my music.  If you're interested, I posted a (vocal-free) Look/SFC recording a month or two ago.  You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNhBvss1D2k

I'd love to get some feedback.. I hope you all enjoy!

[RadBooley]

I wish I had something profound to say here... but I don't.

Really, really great work. Great instrumentals, great vocals-- love it.

[egon spengler]

I wish I had something profound to say here... but I don't.

Really, really great work. Great instrumentals, great vocals-- love it.

Thanks! No need for profundity. Wow, I didn't realize that was a word until it didn't get autocorrected. Sweet!

[MyGlove]

Absolutely beautiful. Excellent job sir. Best cover of the full thing i've heard ever. Is there anyway i could get an mp3 of that?

[egon spengler]

Absolutely beautiful. Excellent job sir. Best cover of the full thing i've heard ever. Is there anyway i could get an mp3 of that?

Thanks for the flattering words .  I just uploaded an mp3 version to http://www.mediafire.com/?jkibppsva0r0022

[Summertime Blooz]

Nice! I wish I had half of your musical talent.

[EgoHanger1966]

I thought this was INCREDIBLE. Can't wait for the mixing of your next Suite. Thanks so much for sharing this!

[seltaeb1012002]

Wow, great job!

Love hearing that H&V a capella piece fleshed out.

[Shane]

This is amazing!

Why does something tell me you will never finish parts two and three, you'll tell everyone you burned the tapes but in reality you didn't, and then you'll re-record the thing 40 years later with a bunch of other people helping you?   

[Iron Horse-Apples]

I think you guys will get a kick out of (and be surprised by) some transitions, including a brief acapella H&V part hinted at in TSS but (as far as I know) never recorded by the Boys.

And that's exactly where I put it too. And the "Bridge To Indians" into worms. Great minds..........

You just need to get the "new" worms melody in there, and it will be perect

[king of anglia]

That's really amazing. The bit at 5.45 - superb.

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

How do we get egon into the touring group? Do we need a petition? Unbelievable. Sometimes you sound a lot like Bruce, sometimes Mike, but all of it sounds amazing. I love this. I love this more than BWPS. A remarkable, beautiful achievement.

[STE]

This is insane!!

Amazing, amazing work!
Incredible talent!

Really enjoyed it!

[rab2591]

amazing!!! Your hard work really shows!

[Wild-Honey]

What an achievement, and what talent!  Amazing...

[Roger Ryan]

Superb.

[Ron]

The most astounding thing in this, is (like said above) how you were able to sound like the different Beach Boys at different parts.  I almost fell off my chair when you started in with the Mike Love 'Heroes and Villians" lol.  Awesome! 

Pretty good stuff.  You better watch out, you might end up in Brian's band. 

[Shady]

Incredible, great job

[AllIWannaDo]

hi there

Sounds great this! could i have an mp3 if possible?

[hypehat]

DUDE. That's incredible, you deserve that break 

[Quzi]

Absolutely phenomenal! I can't get over how good Heroes and Villains sounded, hot damn, part two blows my mind

It's a shame that parts two and three won't be coming for a while yet, but it's understandable! I just hope for the sake of everyone who's heard part one and is left wanting more that it doesn't take you another 3 years!

[TerryWogan]

Incredible attention to detail. What perfectionism!

Can you give us any detail on the recording setup you used?

[Justin]

Bravo, excellent piece of work there!

[egon spengler]

Thank you all for the compliments! I was hoping folks would enjoy listening to it half as much as I enjoyed making it 

How do we get egon into the touring group? Do we need a petition? Unbelievable. Sometimes you sound a lot like Bruce, sometimes Mike, but all of it sounds amazing. I love this. I love this more than BWPS. A remarkable, beautiful achievement.

Truly humbling.. I'm proud to have added to your SMiLE experience 

Why does something tell me you will never finish parts two and three, you'll tell everyone you burned the tapes but in reality you didn't, and then you'll re-record the thing 40 years later with a bunch of other people helping you?   

  seriously, i did have a lot of "how the hell am i going to piece this all together?" moments once i decided i wasn't stick to any "official" sequence.

I think you guys will get a kick out of (and be surprised by) some transitions, including a brief acapella H&V part hinted at in TSS but (as far as I know) never recorded by the Boys.

And that's exactly where I put it too. And the "Bridge To Indians" into worms. Great minds..........

You just need to get the "new" worms melody in there, and it will be perect

I have to assume "Bridge To Indians" was always supposed to transition straight into Worms. I mean, it's like a bridge.. to the song about Indians. duh. once I realized how well they flowed, I got annoyed that they wrote a new transition piece in 2004 when they had a vintage piece sitting right there that fit perfectly. I did try to add in the "new" Worms melody, but it just wasn't happening.

Sounds great this! could i have an mp3 if possible?

Thanks! I just added an mp3 link in the first post.

Incredible attention to detail. What perfectionism!

Can you give us any detail on the recording setup you used?

i've got a pretty basic setup. the whole thing was recorded in a spare bedroom. back when i started the project i was using a cheap mic from Best Buy for the "acoustic" parts, and pumped my guitars and keyboard straight into my computer's audio-in jack with a $5 1/4" to 1/8" cord from Radio Shack. I upgraded to an MXL 3000 mic run through an ART Tube MP Project Series preamp about a year ago and rerecorded all the vocals and some (but not all) instrumental parts, but still used the cheap cord for lots of the guitar and keyboard parts. 

[RadBooley]

Still listening to this, still think it's nothing short of brilliant. Can't wait for the rest of it!