In The Aftermath of SMiLE's Collapse......

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I always thought he just gave up and Smiley smile was a Passive agressive thing  by him,,

Yeah, it can be viewed as his "fine, here's your album" to Capitol, that's an easy one, but I wouldn't say it's the definitive answer. On top of all the existing information, they must have been pressuring him like crazy. The blame can't be placed on Capitol really - they were just doing what any label does - there should be product as scheduled to satisfy markets and make green. They were being held at the (love and) mercy of Brian - imagine the suits sweating in the tower. I don't know if Brian ever thought of them, I suspect he did but his attempts at completing the album were still stunted by too much of everything. Too many fragments, different sections, and also complicated by the prehistoric way of editing done in '67. And there there was the fact that Brian was always coming up with new ideas (pipe dreams, some of them), and focusing on too many ideas at once, leaving many incomplete thoughts to just sit. He probably realised all of this, and the "screw it, let's do it this way (Smiley Smile)" was probably more of an idea to take the pressure off himself rather than the Capitol execs.

And, still, this has to be brought up every so often, the session tapes of Smiley Smile show Brian to be totally in control and aware of what he wants. It's the same producer of Pet Sounds and SMiLE, but just leading his team in a different direction.

Yeah, I mean there were other pressures too - like the pressure to be relevant at a time when there were so many new things being done. It's hard to appear relevant when you're not actually releasing anything. Also, the time was really ticking to capitalize on the overwhelming success of Good Vibrations. In fact, by the time Smiley Smile came out, that time had surely passed anyway. But that huge success was a major opportunity for Brian to increase and maybe change his audience somewhat but in order for that to happen, he would have had to put out something. In some ways, I think the success of Good Vibrations did a real number on him and helped create even larger hurdles for Brian to jump over with Smile.

[Jeff]

After Brian's original sprawling vision for 'SMiLE' collapsed, I've often wondered why he didn't simply pick out the best completed pieces and put that out as 'SMiLE'. In other words - why go and re-record a bunch of stripped down versions and make 'Smiley Smile'? We know he had 'Good Vibrations', 'Heroes & Villains', 'Wonderful', 'Wind Chimes', 'Surf's Up', 'Vegetables', 'My Prayer', 'Cabinessence', 'Roll Plymouth Rock', and 'You're Welcome' in the can. Why not just release those songs? Cue them up in any running order. And in time to compete with 'Sgt. Peppers'. They were done and they were brilliant! That's a far superior package to 'Smiley Smile' in my humble opinion.

Because a bunt if usually preferable to a fly out.

A fly out can be impressive, but is ultimately a failure.  A bunt is far less ambitious, but if executed right, is a success.

[originals]

I always thought he just gave up and Smiley smile was a Passive agressive thing  by him,,

Interesting. I seem to remember Marilyn intimating something along those lines once.....

[OneEar/OneEye]

Or how the original 'Windchimes' could be transformed into the inferior version on 'Smiley Smile' and released instead.

I may be alone on this, but personally I think The Smiley version of Wind Chimes is so much more incredible than the Smile version.    i love Smiley Smile.   

[Cabinessenceking]

Or how the original 'Windchimes' could be transformed into the inferior version on 'Smiley Smile' and released instead.

I may be alone on this, but personally I think The Smiley version of Wind Chimes is so much more incredible than the Smile version.    i love Smiley Smile.   

nah you're not alone! Personally I think SS showcases Brian abilites even more than Smile given that he could twist some of those gorgeous songs and remake them in a completely different but equally endearing way. Not many (is there anyone else?) can achieve something as anti-ambitious as that ^^

[hypehat]

Agreed - the Smiley version has an absolutely great chord sequence. So eerie. And that vocal bit just before the fade is sublime.

[I. Spaceman]

I can't understand why a great song like 'He Gives Speeches' could become the bizarre and silly throwaway 'She's Going Bald', for example. Or how the original 'Windchimes' could be transformed into the inferior version on 'Smiley Smile' and released instead. 

I think the opposite on both of those.

[Matt Bielewicz]

...and I like both versions! For the songs where the SMiLE tracks have a direct 'mirror' on Smiley Smile, like Wind Chimes & Wonderful, I think that both attempts are absolutely magisterial. They're clearly the same song in each case, but each executed with a completely different feel, and each has fabulously interesting aspects that the other version doesn't.

Ah, I could write a bloody *essay* on the Smiley Smile Wind Chimes. There is so much to that track - weird chords, creepy feel, fascinating production tricks, a vocal performance by the group that is nothing short of electrifying... It's just so deep.

Sadly, with a terminally sick father and a bouncing nine-month year-old baby, I just can't spend the time. One day... one day soon...

[adamghost]

There's a holistic factor to this that might be a little abstract to get one's head around, but let me try:

These days, if you put a bunch of music in a sound file, you can physically SEE it.  You have an instant grasp of the big picture.  Darian was able to load all of SMILE into a ProTools file and mess around with it.

Back in the analog days, things existed on tape.  To find out what was on it, you either had to have detailed notes, acetates of what was on it, or go back and listen.  Usually some combination of same.

So there's a factor that, yes, Brian had a ton of stuff recorded, and some of it could have been completed with a little more elbow grease.  But I think he had just piled up so much tape that there was no really good way to assess what he had....it was this amorphous blob of ideas.  Just that step of getting the tape together, figuring out what was on it, editing and splicing by trial and error...forget actually doing it.  Just contemplating that in a burnt out frame of mind would simply suck.

I can totally see why the simplicity of just sitting the band down and banging out semi-live versions in a couple of weeks seemed a much more attractive prospect.  It probably would have taken at least that long just to catalog what he already had and think through what might be done with it....without having an advanced an inch in terms of finishing.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I can't understand why a great song like 'He Gives Speeches' could become the bizarre and silly throwaway 'She's Going Bald', for example. Or how the original 'Windchimes' could be transformed into the inferior version on 'Smiley Smile' and released instead. 

I think the opposite on both of those.

Fucking-A right!

[Cam Mott]

I don't think too much material was ever a problem because he wasn't considering it all as in play at any given time. He knew when he got to the studio what was what and for where. He kept very good records of what was what and where it went and what new bits were replacing what and where.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I can totally see why the simplicity of just sitting the band down and banging out semi-live versions in a couple of weeks seemed a much more attractive prospect. 

And, I think that's exactly what happened. However....

I can't help but think, at that precise moment, when Brian decided to do that - Smiley Smile-ize the tracks if you will - is when Brian took his first step backwards, artistically speaking. Yes, some people see great art in Smiley Smile, and I respect those opinions. I don't agree, though.

I'm not criticizing Brian, blasting him, or second-guessing him. I just think at that moment in time, he gave up in a lot of ways - physically, mentally, and spiritually. And, he was never really the same again. Or, I should say his music was never the same again. One can't deny the occasional flashes of brilliance in subsequent efforts, and, yes, there were some. But, in my opinion, just one man's opinion, there just seemed to be gradual decline.

I don't want to oversimplify it, but if you used a graph to track Brian's "performance", I would probably peak it at SMiLE and start a gradual decline the moment he decided on Smiley Smile.

[18thofMay]

It has been said before but I will state it again. The impact of the actual "Industry", the churn and burn. Why even bother if no one "get's" it?
Like an actor that is remembered for that one lead role, Brian no matter how hard he tried could not shake what he was now part of.. The Industry! Did he want to play the game? He was building to something that even he could understand fully.. Brian was at the absolute cutting edge and that was hard work, why bother anymore when you have made Good Vibrations? Heroes could in my opinion NEVER live up to GV's no matter how long or with cantina without cornacopia etc. Surely he knew that the cycle was coming to an end perhaps. He needed a break, his family needed him?

[Sheriff John Stone]

Brian was at the absolute cutting edge and that was hard work, why bother anymore when you have made Good Vibrations? Heroes could in my opinion NEVER live up to GV's no matter how long or with cantina without cornacopia etc. Surely he knew that the cycle was coming to an end perhaps.

In one of the BB biographies (I'm sorry I don't remember which one), I believe it was David Anderle who said something that would disagree with your perspective. He stated that Brian and the group didn't view "Good Vibrations" as a peak or something that couldn't be topped, but a starting point or a springboard to even greater things. I'm paraphrasing of course. Maybe somebody is more familiar with the quote.

[18thofMay]

Brian was at the absolute cutting edge and that was hard work, why bother anymore when you have made Good Vibrations? Heroes could in my opinion NEVER live up to GV's no matter how long or with cantina without cornacopia etc. Surely he knew that the cycle was coming to an end perhaps.

In one of the BB biographies (I'm sorry I don't remember which one), I believe it was David Anderle who said something that would disagree with your perspective. He stated that Brian and the group didn't view "Good Vibrations" as a peak or something that couldn't be topped, but a starting point or a springboard to even greater things. I'm paraphrasing of course. Maybe somebody is more familiar with the quote.

Yes I remember something similar,but that is what they were saying publicly! And we can only go on what we have read or heard, I guess. The Industry was a buzz the publicity machine was in overdrive, the vibe was there, which only made the decline even more spectacular.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

It has been said before but I will state it again. The impact of the actual "Industry", the churn and burn. Why even bother if no one "get's" it?

Plenty of people were getting it - the Wrecking Crew, Van Dyke, Leonard Bernstein. The success of Good Vibrations alone suggested that Brian's weird experiments could have enormous commercial success.

[DonnyL]

1. Because all of the tracks you mentioned were far from 'complete'.

2. Because he didn't feel that any of the individual recordings 'worked' right (and in a sense, he was right).

3. Because he didn't know up from down with SMiLE, it became a big downer, and he was no longer inspired by it -- he lost the vision for it; he lost the moment.

4. Because it was scary stuff and he wanted to cool out.

5. Because Smiley 'works' better than Smile work have -- it makes sense as a cohesive piece. Brian knew what he was doing in '67, and he understood that SMiLE could not happen.

[MBE]

It's very simple, Brian didn't want to do Smile by the late spring of 1967 and went on to do other things through the rest of the year. He was very active the whole of 1967.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

It's very simple, Brian didn't want to do Smile by the late spring of 1967

I respect you a lot. But I don't believe that.

[DonnyL]

It's very simple, Brian didn't want to do Smile by the late spring of 1967

I respect you a lot. But I don't believe that.

believe it ... for whatever reason, he wasn't feeling it anymore.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

It's very simple, Brian didn't want to do Smile by the late spring of 1967

I respect you a lot. But I don't believe that.

believe it ... for whatever reason, he wasn't feeling it anymore.

Yes, I've heard the argument and seen the proof. I don't believe it.

[18thofMay]

It has been said before but I will state it again. The impact of the actual "Industry", the churn and burn. Why even bother if no one "get's" it?

Plenty of people were getting it - the Wrecking Crew, Van Dyke, Leonard Bernstein. The success of Good Vibrations alone suggested that Brian's weird experiments could have enormous commercial success.

I think we look at these as positives retrospectively. Good Vibes success aside, Van Dyke bailed on the project and when did the Bernstein thing actually air? Was Bernsteins opinion of one song or direction relevant to the "industry" and the bands/Capitol's direction.What did the Wrecking Crew think at the time? They were recording pieces or fragments, it was only after voices were added to songs that they actually got what Brian was doing, I think Hal said something similar to that.

[Dunderhead]

It's very simple, Brian didn't want to do Smile by the late spring of 1967

I respect you a lot. But I don't believe that.

believe it ... for whatever reason, he wasn't feeling it anymore.

Yes, I've heard the argument and seen the proof. I don't believe it.

He was down on himself R&R. I don't think there's anything else to it. Brian has some serious self esteem issues, he'd rather put out something that he knew would fail than something that would likely fail. I think that's why he was always working on stuff like Good Time and HELP. Desper has commented in the past that Brian would record and then erase songs for himself. He had very personal, serious music written, but he wasn't willing to take a chance and see it rejected.

That's the reason for Smiley Smile. He didn't want to put his all into the project if there was even a kernel of doubt as to whether it would succeed. Smiley was a cop out, he wanted Smile to succeed but thought there was a chance that it wouldn't. He knew Smiley would fail and didn't care if it did. Given those two options, Smiley was just the one that Brian felt himself capable of taking.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I think we look at these as positives retrospectively. Good Vibes success aside, Van Dyke bailed on the project

Not because he didn't get it.

and when did the Bernstein thing actually air?

What difference does it make?

Was Bernsteins opinion of one song or direction relevant to the "industry" and the bands/Capitol's direction.

I don't know what this part of your discussion means, to be honest. I was simply responding to you point that no one got it.

What did the Wrecking Crew think at the time? They were recording pieces or fragments, it was only after voices were added to songs that they actually got what Brian was doing, I think Hal said something similar to that.

If you listen to the box set, as I'm sure you have, you can tell that the session musicians "got it" just fine - hell, they even chipped in ideas.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

It's very simple, Brian didn't want to do Smile by the late spring of 1967

I respect you a lot. But I don't believe that.

believe it ... for whatever reason, he wasn't feeling it anymore.

Yes, I've heard the argument and seen the proof. I don't believe it.

He was down on himself R&R. I don't think there's anything else to it. Brian has some serious self esteem issues, he'd rather put out something that he knew would fail than something that would likely fail. I think that's why he was always working on stuff like Good Time and HELP. Desper has commented in the past that Brian would record and then erase songs for himself. He had very personal, serious music written, but he wasn't willing to take a chance and see it rejected.

That's the reason for Smiley Smile. He didn't want to put his all into the project if there was even a kernel of doubt as to whether it would succeed. Smiley was a cop out, he wanted Smile to succeed but thought there was a chance that it wouldn't. He knew Smiley would fail and didn't care if it did. Given those two options, Smiley was just the one that Brian felt himself capable of taking.

Maybe this comes down to a question of wording then. I can sort of see what you're saying but that doesn't suggest to me that he didn't want to do it - simply there were competing interests: he wanted to do Smile, and he didn't want it to fail. The latter won out, and he didn't make the album.

Ultimately though, I think there were lots of things going on. He lost confidence in the album by the end of 1966, he felt overwhelmed by the success of Vibes, he needed to put an album out soon, he wanted to make something approaching perfection but never quite got there to his liking so he kept recording until it got like that last second of Tetris before you die and you scramble to fit a piece somewhere even though you are all filled up to the top. Seems to me all these factors make more sense then simply saying he didn't want to do it anymore. I mean maybe you could say that all these factors led to him not wanting to do it anymore...