One Year On [Nearly] - The SMiLE Sessions - Thoughts

[GuyOnTheBeach]

I thought it might be cool that now the dust has settled and the initial excitement [excitations?] or disappointment in a few has subsided that we should think about how we feel regarding this now.

[Mods, please feel free to merge with one of the many other SMiLE threads if necessary]

Personally I still love it with one exception - the tape "explosion" on "I'm in Great Shape" that was replaced by the rattly digital reverb, hell, I miss the big boom. As a personal preference I still prefer the 20/20 mix of "Our Prayer" with the added overdubs, it just always sounded more full to me.

The extended version of "Good Vibrations" has now replaced the "Original" in terms of what I call the definitive version and is the one I play to people now. I also love the clarity of it all, I stated a few threads back that for me SMiLE is found within the eeriness of the tape hiss and muddiness, and this is true, however it is nice to have a "clean" version to listen to. "Wonderful" with the "yodel" backing vocals in a clean version is just beautiful, I remember this song as the first SMiLE recording I heard, from the 1993 box I believe, and in my naivety, when I first heard BWPS I thought they were a new thing, wasn't until I heard a version from some muddy transfer on a boot that I discovered it was from the original ideas/sessions.

Other things which weren't possible for us to hear, such as the isolated backing vocals, are brilliant too, they really show off the brilliance in Brian's vocal arrangements at the time.

As a set I've found the Box it's self isn't as durable as I had hoped, it's still intact and in decent condition, but one of the corners seems to sink in further than the others now.

[buddhahat]

I listen to disc 1 nearly every day. Prior to that I would listen to my own shifting sequence as regularly but once the official version came out I had no urge to patch my own version together. There things I'd have done differently, but as a kitchen sink mix it's the best I've heard.

I don't listen to discs 2 - 5 as much although dug them out after reading the Alan Boyd thread the other day and was knocked out all over again by the brilliance of all the little sections that didn't make the album mix. That on shuffle (although I'm not such a fan of the Good Vibrations disc) is the perfect Smile mix really.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I love the box. I love walking into my music room and seeing it on the shelf. It's release was one of the highlights of my life as a Beach Boys fan and music collector.

I do not listen to the disc one suite. I don't like it. The fly-ins annoy me, especially the unecessary ones in "Look" and "Dada", which just sound silly.

But that's okay. Using the box I have finally found my perfect personal Smile track lineup. It is this which I listen to in the car and it brings me great pleasure.

Shameful admission - I have yet to play the entire Good Vibrations sessions disc all the way through. I always mean to but get sidetracked with the other stuff.

Still waiting to hear the tale of the "Child is Father of the Man" acetate discovery.

Wish we knew what the muscians were instructed to talk about in the pauses of "Love to Say Dada". What a tantalizing segment.

Has anyone isoltated what Brian is singnig while playing the piano in the studio on "HOlidays"? Has anyone isoltated the vocals buried in "Barnshine"? Why not? You've had a year, get to it.

[hypehat]

I love it. It's perfect. The only quibble I could possibly have with it is that the boxset doesn't come with the badge.

I just remember getting it in the post and FREAKING OUT because it was all so wonderful. Ah, TSS.

[buddhahat]

Wish we knew what the muscians were instructed to talk about in the pauses of "Love to Say Dada". What a tantalizing segment.

Has anyone isoltated what Brian is singnig while playing the piano in the studio on "HOlidays"?

These are two of the 'new discovery' highlights of the sessions for me, along with with the Worms new melody.

Is that the All Day session you're referring to, where Brian talks about the snippets of dialogue he's planning? It certainly gives a different perspective on Dada and is another reason why I don't think it was planned as part of The Elements initially.

As for the Holiday meolody he's singing, I love it! I can't help humming it now whenever I listen to the song. It's much better than the 'new' worms melody whch sounds clumsy whichever way you try and shoe-horn Holmes' lyrics in.

[buddhahat]

I love it. It's perfect. The only quibble I could possibly have with it is that the boxset doesn't come with the badge.

I just remember getting it in the post and FREAKING OUT because it was all so wonderful. Ah, TSS.

Yeah I remember the postman arriving and my partner hiding the package from me before I could get downstairs. I have to say nothing has bought me as close to that little kid on xmas day feeling since getting the AT-AT for christmas in 1981!

I then loaded the cds onto my ipod and went out for a walk in the sunshine. Bliss.

[GuyOnTheBeach]

Shameful admission - I have yet to play the entire Good Vibrations sessions disc all the way through. I always mean to but get sidetracked with the other stuff.

I haven't been able to listen to any of the other disks in one sitting, I tried but found myself getting distracted, but when seeking out something in particular they are incredible.

[rab2591]

I love it. It's perfect. The only quibble I could possibly have with it is that the boxset doesn't come with the badge.

I just remember getting it in the post and FREAKING OUT because it was all so wonderful. Ah, TSS.

Yeah I remember the postman arriving and my partner hiding the package from me before I could get downstairs. I have to say nothing has bought me as close to that little kid on xmas day feeling since getting the AT-AT for christmas in 1981!

I then loaded the cds onto my ipod and went out for a walk in the sunshine. Bliss.

I had a grin from ear to ear for 4 hours after the boxset arrived. I was waiting and waiting for the postman to drop the package off day after day. Finally it arrived and I remember being completely awed at the packaging. I put on disc one and it was amazing.
_____

Dislikes (a year later):

- the missing vocals/lyrics: disc one seems bare to me.
- the tag on Holidays really bothers me.
- I really dislike that an entire disc was devoted to GV (however, track 17 is probably my favorite session-takes track out of the entire BB catalogue, so despite my displeasure with the disc, I'm still thankful for it)

Likes:

- the packaging is spectacular.
- the session tracks are well organized and edited.
- Vega-Tables mix is one of the best Beach Boys songs I've heard.
- the 'Hum-Be-Dum' vocals in GV are mixed perfectly into the mix - it's now my favorite version of the song.
- the string tag on H&V
- the entirety of CIFOTM
- the reverb in 'Columnated Ruins Domino' in Surf's Up.
- Surf's Up '67
- Vocals montage

Even counting my dislikes, this boxset is far better than I imagined it being. I love it.

[buddhahat]

Shameful admission - I have yet to play the entire Good Vibrations sessions disc all the way through. I always mean to but get sidetracked with the other stuff.

I haven't been able to listen to any of the other disks in one sitting, I tried but found myself getting distracted, but when seeking out something in particular they are incredible.

They're great as background music I find. If you're working they're cool to listen to. Especially sequenced chronologically. There's a real narrative to it all - like in the Do A Lot session where you hear a strained Brian emploring the others " If there's not any more cooperation I'm splitting".

[Paul J B]

CONFIRMATION........ that Brian Wilson was a gifted, special, talented person musically, and that he and his "messengers" were way ahead of their time. These were the same "boys" that were cutting cuckoo clock just 4 plus years earlier. Smile was not hype and neither was the notion of Brian being a genius. Not that I had any doubts, but it's nice that people who don't collect bootlegs, or may not be huge BB's fans have access to a piece of work that is as good or better than anything that has ever been done when it comes to rock/pop music.

[Micha]

I remember picking it up at the record shop the day it was released here, then driving home, plugging the new speakers I had bought a few days earlier, and then listening to audiophile vinyl pressings of Today, Summer Nights, Pet Sounds and then SMiLE... My greatest listening experience ever!!!

Now the box sits on one of the speakers, so beautiful to behold. A friend of mine who isn't that much into the Beach Boys was really stunned by its beauty when he saw it.

Dislikes: a few, but not worth mentioning considering its greatness.

Later I learned the ex-wife of a friend of mine committed suicide about the time I was in the record shop. Well, that doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the box.

[Aegir]

Owning an official Capitol Records Smile LP provides me more satisfaction than most other things in life possibly could.

[buddhahat]

Now the box sits on one of the speakers, so beautiful to behold.

It really is. That text on the side of the big box just looks incredible on a shelf of records.

[ash]

Although i'm not keen on some of the fly-ins i think Alan and everyone did an excellent job. Apart from the still missing tapes i would have liked the book to contain more info on the compositions.
I think the vast majority were basically finished from  a song point of view - tracks such as Holidays, Worms, Child had lyrics and vocal lines and it seems likely I Ran did although the vocal tape is missing. The only really unknown entity is The Elements. This is not explained very clearly in the book and an innocent bystander could get very lost.
A few paragraphs could have been spent outlining the different stages of Heroes - it started with I'm in great shape,changed to a barroom brawl,became in the cantina, then gee etc was inserted and then there was one last attempt at the end of february which appears to have gone nowhere. Maybe Brian and Van could have been asked to comment. What if those 2 sat down at a piano with Alan Boyd, a few questions and lyric sheets - hey Brian listen to this bit of Worms sessions - hear that bit your're singing ? Ring any bells ? Same for Holidays. Sadly it seems involvement from Brian and Van was minimal at best. Listen to this bit of heroes that you played to Humble Harv  - how did the rest of it go?
What about all those bells and whistle bits from Heroes ? What's the story behind that? How do we get to them and back to the song, what do they represent ? Maybe Derren Brown could handle that side of things if memories are faulty.
Van Dyke Park's handwritten lyrics should have been reproduced alongside Frank Holmes artwork.
That's the single biggest omission in my opinion. The surviving original lyric sheets.
Which songs survive in that form? Worms,cabin essence, holidays ?
If we had those lyric sheets it might help us work out some of the missing lead vocals (or not).
A few extra tape box pictures wouldn't have gone amiss either especially any with useful geek/trainspotter info.

[buddhahat]

Maybe Derren Brown could handle that side of things if memories are faulty

 

I agree the content of the book was lacking to a certain extent.

Darian I'm sure asked many of the questions you suggest above. I think things like the remembered vocal lines to Worms on BWPS are as good as we're ever going to get from Brian these days and I'm not complaining. He must have forgotten so much of the tiny details (that were apparently in a state of flux on a daily basis anyway).

[Runaways]

I want a disc 1 mono/stereo remaster!

[Mike's Beard]

One year on and I still don't know what the lyric "over and over the crow flies uncover the cornfield" means.

[Shady]

Just a remarkable box set..

You can't beat Smile in stereo though, god bless the stereo fan mixes

[buddhahat]

Just a remarkable box set..

You can't beat Smile in stereo though, god bless the stereo fan mixes

What's the best one - like just a straightforward one that does the stereo well, and gets rid of maybe the fly ins? Anyone tried that?

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

What's the best one - like just a straightforward one that does the stereo well, and gets rid of maybe the fly ins? Anyone tried that?

Yes.

[buddhahat]

What's the best one - like just a straightforward one that does the stereo well, and gets rid of maybe the fly ins? Anyone tried that?

Yes.

Care to share it? 

[Mooger Fooger]

Off the bat, I don't like that 3 Blind Mice is on there. It predates Pet Sounds and has nothing to do with Smile at all. Those minutes devoted to that session would have been better filled with some more proper session material (more takes of DYLW, perhaps).

That said, the sonic clarity of the material is astounding. I also like how for alot of the session banter, you can properly hear what is being said.

One thing I would have liked to have had is a way to download the complete sessions via an official website path. Those who wanted, say, the complete Fire Session, could do so for a fee. I would have happily parted with my cash for that availablity.