Smiley Smile = Party! Part II

[CenturyDeprived]

The more I think about it, it seems like Smiley Smile was just as much a quickly made record to appease the record company as BB Party! was, and there are many similarities between the two.

Consider:

The two albums were made because another more important record was going to (or in the case of SS, had already) take(n) up too much time, thus necessitating a stop-gap release. In the case of both albums, I find it obvious Brian would have had the mindset of not putting his true, true heart into the projects (and getting something done QUICK was the primary concern), but no matter what happened, in that era, even Brian slapping something together quickly like SS was still going to be rad in its own way.  Also in the case of both, there were some quickly-done re-recordings of other more properly recorded BB songs.

Plus, I think they both share an atmosphere of the guys hanging around a room. Obviously, Party! is a very specific attempt to feign that imagery, but Smiley Smile (with its stoned-out laughter and bits of odd talking/chatter) to me is somewhat of a psychedelic equivalent.

Lastly, I also think that listening to these albums (both being the immediately-released albums directly prior to and post Pet Sounds), had to both be a very similar WTF moment for listeners unaware of the history and reasons for the respective albums existences. If a 1960s listener (without our geek knowledge) were to listen at the band's released output at the time (minus SMiLE of course)... the experience of hearing Pet Sounds bookended in its chronology with these two strange, comparatively minor albums had to be very odd, yet somewhat similar. Or so I would think.

Do you think the band themselves ever saw things like that, and thought of SS as a sequel of sorts to BB Party? Or at least a rehash of a similar scenario?  I can't imagine this thought was lost on Brian or the Boys either. The parallels are there, IMO. It's kinda like the Lincoln/Kennedy coincidences, only with some probable actual intention behind the parallels. Not saying that Brian wanted any listener to actually think SS was intended as a Party! sequel, only that SS feels born of similar reasons. The SS stoner party vibe, however, makes me think there may have been a modicum of intention at parallels by BW.

[Micha]

I've been thinking too that Smiley was an attempt to do the SMiLE feels in a "Party!" recording mode, a try to do it in a looser way (looser, not loser). I doubt it had to do with pressure from Capitol though.

[CenturyDeprived]

I've been thinking too that Smiley was an attempt to do the SMiLE feels in a "Party!" recording mode, a try to do it in a looser way (looser, not loser). I doubt it had to do with pressure from Capitol though.

I think if you take the pressure from Capitol part of equation out entirely, that changes things drastically; I can't imagine BW would have felt quite the same level of freakout to just get something done and released quickly. I believe that while Party! seemed to be a more concerted effort to make something more "commercial" and "relatable" to listeners, and SS seemed to give less of a f*ck (sans the inclusion of Good Vibrations + Heroes & Villains), both were in part a result of getting Capitol off BW's back. They both served that purpose, even though the latter was sort of a career killer.

But yeah, Micha - I also think that Smiley was an attempt to do SMiLE in a Party! type recording mode... just with more obviously bizarre results. And Vegetables was almost the enlightened, new age version of the promo Party! Potato Chips.  

[Willy Wilson]

A bunch of heavily stoned, not particularly creative (bar Brian) guys trying to salvage something quickly under those circumstances. That Smiley is so full of beauty and mystery is a wonder.

[Micha]

both were in part a result of getting Capitol off BW's back. They both served that purpose,

Unlike Party!, Smiley Smile wasn't released on Capitol Records, though. I admit I have no idea of the amount of pressure Brian was facing from Capitol after the band sued them.

[DonnyL]

I've considered this before, and though I think that Smiley Smile is sort of in the same spirit as Party, I'd say they are fairly different. Mainly because SS is an original album and Party is a live/covers record. I tend to think of SS as more of a transition from Pet Sounds to Wild Honey, strange as that may seem. I think of the albums that followed ('68-'73) as sort of a cross between Pet Sounds and Wild Honey really ... or rather using the stylistic concepts of those two records as a springboard for future development, under Carl's leadership (or Brian's leadership in the case of Friends).

One interesting thing to think about is that Pet Sounds is bookended by Party and Smiley Smile ... which sort of makes it all the more unique. If you just look at the original album releases from a casual point of view (minus the backstory and Smile drama), it's fascinating on it's own.

[Lee Marshall]

CentDep...A WTF "moment"?  I've been wondering WTF??? for 47 and a half years... ... ...and counting.  I disagree in a sense with Donny.  SS had Smile covers on it.  Absolutely my LEAST FAVOURITE Beach Boys album ever...even with Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains on it.  It was like they HAD to be included there.  What an insult!!!  2 roses planted it an 'ooze' that was never going to help them to live.  The presentation of these two gems was just insulting.  Well beneath their dignity and sophistication.  So far below what they deserved...what *WE* deserved.  It was a Monty Python "bunt".  I'm certain that's exactly what Barl Wilson meant.

If SS was Party Part 2...NEVER run out of beer at the recording studio again. 

"I know that you'll feel better when you send us in your letters and tell us the name of your...your favourite vege-table."  [THE ONLY decent part of that cover of a pretty wonderful song...]

So...now...at long last...I'm about to "feel better" by telling you that my FAVOURITE 'vegetable' back in the FALL of 1967 was... ...  ... ...Brian Wilson.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Nah. I think any similarities to party were probably unintended. I don't believe it was a stop-gap. Those first two awful, unnecessary best-of releases imposed by Capitol probably filled that purpose in Brian's mind. I think Smiley was a legitimate attempt at a good, creative endeavor. I think the use of SMiLE songs that were the most finished was desperation because they didnt have time to write a whole album of new songs. The few new songs they did were throwing a bone to Mike. The singles were imposed by Capitol. The minimal production was what the SMiLE sessions had been leading to, the old recordings were scrapped because Brian lost interest, they'd be too tedious to compile, and he felt he had missed the moment. The goofy moments like laughing and talking were, imo, going to be included on SMiLE had it been finished. The Boys in a room feeling was a product of the minimal production and an attempt to get that close knit feeling back after all the tension the past few months.

To me, that's Smiley. Aside from the off-putting, flow-killing singles (which wasn't Brian's doing) it's amazing we got such a cohesive, unique work of art out of all the chaos going on. I'd really love to know more about these sessions. What the Boys thought of it, if Brian was truly behind the new direction or heartbroken over SMiLE, how smooth the transition in direction was, etc.

So, no party. SMiLE. But not quite. Almost like a...Smiley Smile. Y'know?

[Please delete my account]

It shouldn't need saying but....Smiley Smile is one of their best albums. I love everything on it.

[Lee Marshall]

It shouldn't need saying but....Smiley Smile is one of their best albums. I love everything on it.

And THAT'S what makes having such a wide fan base incredible 'UB'.  The whole body of work gets appreciated...and NO DOUBT there's a MESS of that 'library' ...like the majority of it...which we BOTH love.   S'all good...as the 'saying' goes. 

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

It shouldn't need saying but....Smiley Smile is one of their best albums. I love everything on it.

It definitely takes awhile to get the feel for, but once you do it's wonderful. One of the most unique and brave albums ever released by any band. If it, or something done in that style, had come out after SMiLE, rather than in place of it, and preferably in early 1968 when the production race was winding down, it'd be hailed as a work of brilliance rather than seen as a misfire.

[CenturyDeprived]

Nah. I think any similarities to party were probably unintended. I don't believe it was a stop-gap. Those first two awful, unnecessary best-of releases imposed by Capitol probably filled that purpose in Brian's mind. I think Smiley was a legitimate attempt at a good, creative endeavor. I think the use of SMiLE songs that were the most finished was desperation because they didnt have time to write a whole album of new songs. The few new songs they did were throwing a bone to Mike. The singles were imposed by Capitol. The minimal production was what the SMiLE sessions had been leading to, the old recordings were scrapped because Brian lost interest, they'd be too tedious to compile, and he felt he had missed the moment. The goofy moments like laughing and talking were, imo, going to be included on SMiLE had it been finished. The Boys in a room feeling was a product of the minimal production and an attempt to get that close knit feeling back after all the tension the past few months.

To me, that's Smiley. Aside from the off-putting, flow-killing singles (which wasn't Brian's doing) it's amazing we got such a cohesive, unique work of art out of all the chaos going on. I'd really love to know more about these sessions. What the Boys thought of it, if Brian was truly behind the new direction or heartbroken over SMiLE, how smooth the transition in direction was, etc.

So, no party. SMiLE. But not quite. Almost like a...Smiley Smile. Y'know?

I love Smiley Smile to death. I really do! But I think there's a difference in BW putting his heart into something, and PUTTING HIS HEART INTO SOMETHING (!!) - you know what I mean, Mujan? With Pet Sounds, SMiLE, Brian was bleeding for his art, trying so, so hard to make perfection. I feel an element of dejection on SS, even though he found it in himself to keep forging ahead. IMO, even though there's a careless element in both SS + Party, I think to a degree Brian was ultimately trying to make good product both times. One could argue the self-sabotage route with SS (this has been pondered for years by fans), but in the end, I think he wanted both albums to be good. Even Party!.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Nah. I think any similarities to party were probably unintended. I don't believe it was a stop-gap. Those first two awful, unnecessary best-of releases imposed by Capitol probably filled that purpose in Brian's mind. I think Smiley was a legitimate attempt at a good, creative endeavor. I think the use of SMiLE songs that were the most finished was desperation because they didnt have time to write a whole album of new songs. The few new songs they did were throwing a bone to Mike. The singles were imposed by Capitol. The minimal production was what the SMiLE sessions had been leading to, the old recordings were scrapped because Brian lost interest, they'd be too tedious to compile, and he felt he had missed the moment. The goofy moments like laughing and talking were, imo, going to be included on SMiLE had it been finished. The Boys in a room feeling was a product of the minimal production and an attempt to get that close knit feeling back after all the tension the past few months.

To me, that's Smiley. Aside from the off-putting, flow-killing singles (which wasn't Brian's doing) it's amazing we got such a cohesive, unique work of art out of all the chaos going on. I'd really love to know more about these sessions. What the Boys thought of it, if Brian was truly behind the new direction or heartbroken over SMiLE, how smooth the transition in direction was, etc.

So, no party. SMiLE. But not quite. Almost like a...Smiley Smile. Y'know?

I love Smiley Smile to death. I really do! But I think there's a difference in BW putting his heart into something, and PUTTING HIS HEART INTO SOMETHING (!!) - you know what I mean, Mujan? With Pet Sounds, SMiLE, Brian was bleeding for his art, trying so, so hard to make perfection. I feel an element of dejection on SS, even though he found it in himself to keep forging ahead. IMO, even though there's a careless element in both SS + Party, I think to a degree Brian was ultimately trying to make good product both times. One could argue the self-sabotage route with SS (this has been pondered for years by fans), but in the end, I think he wanted both albums to be good. Even Party!.

I understand. I chalk it up to the production race and self-imposed competition with the Beatles. Pet Sounds is so good because he purposely wanted to make an album with all good stuff that sounds completely cohesive like Rubber Soul. And with SMiLE, he wanted to make something beyond a pop album. A teenage symphony to God, music people could pray to, a two movement cantata, I think he's on record describing in those terms exactly.

With Smiley, and later on Love You, I think he was more making experimental music he wanted to make and not giving a damn what anyone might think. Smiley doesn't have that same blood sweat and tears feeling because he wasnt about that anymore. He thought the Beatles, and I assume other psychedelic bands like Jefferson Airplane and all the other up and comers had beaten him to the big production sound. So why bother? Instead, he'd do something different. A stripped down sound, with "mistakes" and human elements like laughing, drinking water and studio chatter in there. Something unique and capturing the druggie scene but from another angle. I think if anything was self sabotage, it was 15 Big Ones years later.

[Wild-Honey]

Was it a kind of snub to the guys in the band that weren't supportive of Smile??  I don't personally think all the giggling etc would have been put on Smile, he meant business then.  He gave up a little after that and you got SS.   Eh, dunno.

[TMinthePM]

I can see the validity of considering Smiley as a weird druggy version of Party - to a point. There is some truth to the view that each was a stopgap intended to buy time and/or satisfy Capitol. Party is sort of a roots project, an exercise in nostalgia in light of where rock n roll had progressed to that point in '66. And, stripped of the bogus party chatter is a pretty impressive recording in its own right - Devoted To You is a jewel.  

Smiley, though, could be, and has been, viewed as the logical summation of the Smile project.  It has been argued that Smile could never have been completed in the form in which it was eventually released for the simple fact that it was physically impossible in 1967 to assemble all the pieces - cut and paste.  

I don't know if it has ever been clarified as to why Brian went minimalist, other than that he began working at home rather than in a proper professional studio. The Hawaiian shows seem to reveal a conscious decision to go minimalist. A rock n roll show with nary a guitar in sight nor sound? WTF indeed! Both the rehearsals and the latter studio sessions recorded to salvage the live recordings reinforce the perception that minimalism was the chosen aesthetic in the summer and fall of 1967.

The release in 2012 of a remastered Smiley confirms, in my view, that rather than a sloppy throwaway, it was in fact a conscious artistic departure. Druggy? For sure, but the delicacy of effects reveals an artist in full control.

In the end, I have to wonder why it was released in the form in which it has come down to us? Why was the mastering so muddy as to obscure the subtle delicacies? Why is it sequenced as it is? And why, if it is the summation of the Smile project, are key pieces missing? Pieces that might have been completed with little additional effort? - Sit down to the piano and knock out a stripped down version of Surf's Up that would itself be a knockout in 3 or 4 minutes!!! A live, in the studio Good Vibrations? 4 more minutes!!! Finishing touches to Cabinessence? OK, maybe an afternoon!!!

Why, why, why???  

[CenturyDeprived]

I can see the validity of considering Smiley as a weird druggy version of Party - to a point. There is some truth to the view that each was a stopgap intended to buy time and/or satisfy Capitol. Party is sort of a roots project, an exercise in nostalgia in light of where rock n roll had progressed to that point in '66. And, stripped of the bogus party chatter is a pretty impressive recording in its own right - Devoted To You is a jewel.  

Smiley, though, could be, and has been, viewed as the logical summation of the Smile project.  It has been argued that Smile could never have been completed in the form in which it was eventually released for the simple fact that it was physically impossible in 1967 to assemble all the pieces - cut and paste.  

I don't know if it has ever been clarified as to why Brian went minimalist, other than that he began working at home rather than in a proper professional studio. The Hawaiian shows seem to reveal a conscious decision to go minimalist. A rock n roll show with nary a guitar in sight nor sound? WTF indeed! Both the rehearsals and the latter studio sessions recorded to salvage the live recordings reinforce the perception that minimalism was the chosen aesthetic in the summer and fall of 1967.

The release in 2012 of a remastered Smiley confirms, in my view, that rather than a sloppy throwaway, it was in fact a conscious artistic departure. Druggy? For sure, but the delicacy of effects reveals an artist in full control.

In the end, I have to wonder why it was released in the form in which it has come down to us? Why was the mastering so muddy as to obscure the subtle delicacies? Why is it sequenced as it is? And why, if it is the summation of the Smile project, are key pieces missing? Pieces that might have been completed with little additional effort? - Sit down to the piano and knock out a stripped down version of Surf's Up that would itself be a knockout in 3 or 4 minutes!!! A live, in the studio Good Vibrations? 4 more minutes!!! Finishing touches to Cabinessence? OK, maybe an afternoon!!!

Why, why, why???  

The other idea I had about the SS/Party! connections is this: the BW-penned original songs that were recorded on Party! were goofy renditions of preexisting songs (for which superior studio versions existed); obviously the BB (not cover songs, but BB songs) on Party! were not meant to be THE versions of the songs, only a sort of minimalist/goofy versions of them.

Consider, if (and it's a BIG if) BW had, at the time of SS's release, thought to himself that perhaps he'd go back and finish working on SMiLE at some later point (and I don't think this is out of the question, I think he may have considered this, but gradually avoided doing so), that the SS re-recordings of SMiLE songs were possibly filling that same role, in that they were minimalist/goofy (still totally rad) versions of the songs, but that eventually it may have been planned for the superior much-labored-over studio versions to be released. This would be the inverse of Party!, in that unlike Party!, the superior studio versions hadn't been released yet.

Just a thought. I may be talking out of my rear end, but I find it interesting to ponder/discuss this stuff.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Was it a kind of snub to the guys in the band that weren't supportive of Smile??  I don't personally think all the giggling etc would have been put on Smile, he meant business then.  He gave up a little after that and you got SS.   Eh, dunno.

Well, thats the alternative theory. And the one that's been the most popular until very recently. This is why I'd really like to know more. What the day to day sessions were actually like, Brian's general demeanor at the time, what the boys thought, etc. Could really shed some light on things. But for me personally, Brian and Mike seemed fairly positive about it. Mike even seems to consider SMiLE/Smiley one and the same in an interview I recall reading from the time. I'm of the opinion that Brian was making the best of a bad situation--the initial spark of the SMiLE project was done, for a variety of reasons he lost interest in it and his collaborator so it'd just be somewhat phony to him to continue that project. The modular style of recording coupled with his inability to make up his mind meant it'd be an endless tedium to edit together. And since he knew the Beatles and other bands were destined to beat him to the punch, he figured it'd all be pointless anyway.

So he went in a new direction, but with Capitol breathing down his neck he didnt have time to start completely fresh. So he recycled a few SMiLE songs that were the most complete and could work outside the original intended context. Meanwhile he has Mike write a few songs to soothe any hurt feelings and quickly fill the gaps. Some of the more salvageable ideas like the comedy and sound effects were used. It's debateable how exactly it would have fit exactly, but Brian *is* on record saying spoken word humor would be on the original SMiLE LP. He was serious about SMiLE...and Smiley Smile. He was aiming for high art with SMiLE but only a fun but great, album with Smiley. I don't see why comedy and off-the-wall additions like sound effects should negate either. It'd be a cool little idea that was completely unprecedented at the time. Frank Zappa, Hendrix and other artists ended up doing similar things on albums that'd be considered brilliant in the months to come.

[TMinthePM]

An entirely plausible scenario.

And yet, the pieces with which to produce a coherent and artistically satisfying statement were either completed, (the non-single tracks released on the album, plus You're Welcome, released as the flip side to Heros) close to completion (Cabinessence, Cool Water) or might be produced in the minimalist manner in a minimum of time, (Surf's Up, Good Vibrations).

Such an assemblage, properly sequenced and mastered to the highest fidelity sound available at that time would have, in my view, fulfilled the promise of Smile.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

An entirely plausible scenario.

And yet, the pieces with which to produce a coherent and artistically satisfying statement were either completed, (the non-single tracks released on the album, plus You're Welcome, released as the flip side to Heros) close to completion (Cabinessence, Cool Water) or might be produced in the minimalist manner in a minimum of time, (Surf's Up, Good Vibrations).

Such an assemblage, properly sequenced and mastered to the highest fidelity sound available at that time would have, in my view, fulfilled the promise of Smile.

I agree 100%. While I love Smiley (minus the singles) I think it was a mistake to release it when SMiLE, in some form, could presumably have been finished over the summer if Brian really wanted to. I think he just...didn't really want to.

I can't say this enough, I want to know more about these sessions. I really hope Brian and Mike's new books go in depth about it. I think Mike's might, but I don't hold out much hope for Brian.

[TMinthePM]

I take the time to repost here some ideas I had awhile back:

 I have, filed away somewhere, an article entitled “Smiley Smile is Smile,” written by I can’t remember who and don’t know when, but posted somewhere on-line sometime around the year 2000, plus or minus 4 or five years before or after.

OK, so there’s my bow to the citation gods, but what follows is not really about that article.

Well, yes it is, insofar as what I’m about here takes the idea that Smiley was not merely a poor substitute, but in fact a perfectly logical, internally consistent, culmination of the Smile project. And that as released was poorly mastered, improperly sequenced and, despite the fact that all the pieces were readily at hand, inexplicably incomplete.

An incomplete album, the pieces of which can now be brought together to reveal a coherent artistic statement, on a par with Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which must remain the benchmark against which all others are measured.

Guitars have been almost wholly removed, producing a minimalist aesthetic that is nevertheless “musical” – these guys were not simply producing an aural account of their hash parties – although the sweet, dreamy aroma of hashish does indeed permeate

The 1967 production is muddy, the 2012 Stereo Remaster reveals, not a stoned out indulgence, but rather a masterwork.


 1. Well, You’re Welcome (Smile Sessions)
 2. Heros and Villains (2001 Stereo Mix) edit sections sequence from 1,2,3,4 to 1,3,2,4
 3. Wonderful (2012 Stereo)
 4. Gettin' Hungry (2012 Stereo) edit out 1st instru section to “I wake up in the morning…”
 5. You're With Me Tonight (Previously Unreleased)(Hawthorne)
 6. With Me Tonight (2012 Stereo)
 7. She's Goin' Bald (2012 Stereo)
 8. Whistle In (2012 Stereo)
 9. Good Vibrations (Concert Rehearsal) (Previously Unreleased) (Hawthorne)
10. Mama Says (2000 Wild Honey)
11. Vegetables (Stereo Extended Mix) (Previously Unreleased) (Hawthorne)
12. Wind Chimes (2012 Stereo)
13. Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony) (2012 Stereo)
14. Cool, Cool Water (Track)/ Water [Stereo Mix] (Unsurpassed Masters)
15. Little Pad (2012 Stereo) edit out
16. Surf's Up (1967 Solo Version)(Bonus Track)(Smile Sessions)
17. Cabin Essence (Smile Sessions)
18. Cabin Essencence Tag (Unsurpassed Masters)

Running Time: 42:22

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I take the time to repost here some ideas I had awhile back:

 I have, filed away somewhere, an article entitled “Smiley Smile is Smile,” written by I can’t remember who and don’t know when, but posted somewhere on-line sometime around the year 2000, plus or minus 4 or five years before or after.

OK, so there’s my bow to the citation gods, but what follows is not really about that article.

Well, yes it is, insofar as what I’m about here takes the idea that Smiley was not merely a poor substitute, but in fact a perfectly logical, internally consistent, culmination of the Smile project. And that as released was poorly mastered, improperly sequenced and, despite the fact that all the pieces were readily at hand, inexplicably incomplete.

An incomplete album, the pieces of which can now be brought together to reveal a coherent artistic statement, on a par with Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which must remain the benchmark against which all others are measured.

Guitars have been almost wholly removed, producing a minimalist aesthetic that is nevertheless “musical” – these guys were not simply producing an aural account of their hash parties – although the sweet, dreamy aroma of hashish does indeed permeate

The 1967 production is muddy, the 2012 Stereo Remaster reveals, not a stoned out indulgence, but rather a masterwork.


 1. Well, You’re Welcome (Smile Sessions)
 2. Heros and Villains (2001 Stereo Mix) edit sections sequence from 1,2,3,4 to 1,3,2,4
 3. Wonderful (2012 Stereo)
 4. Gettin' Hungry (2012 Stereo) edit out 1st instru section to “I wake up in the morning…”
 5. You're With Me Tonight (Previously Unreleased)(Hawthorne)
 6. With Me Tonight (2012 Stereo)
 7. She's Goin' Bald (2012 Stereo)
 8. Whistle In (2012 Stereo)
 9. Good Vibrations (Concert Rehearsal) (Previously Unreleased) (Hawthorne)
10. Mama Says (2000 Wild Honey)
11. Vegetables (Stereo Extended Mix) (Previously Unreleased) (Hawthorne)
12. Wind Chimes (2012 Stereo)
13. Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony) (2012 Stereo)
14. Cool, Cool Water (Track)/ Water [Stereo Mix] (Unsurpassed Masters)
15. Little Pad (2012 Stereo) edit out
16. Surf's Up (1967 Solo Version)(Bonus Track)(Smile Sessions)
17. Cabin Essence (Smile Sessions)
18. Cabin Essencence Tag (Unsurpassed Masters)

Running Time: 42:22

Yes, I've read that article. At the time, I thought it was revisionist borderline apologist. Now, I think there's some truth to it but the real story is more complicated and sad. Smiley isn't SMiLE. It's Brian trying to salvage what he could after the initial project collapsed and he decided to go in a different stylistic direction, while the record company demanded product ASAP and without his collaborator. It contains many elements, mostly the humor and weirdo druggie vibe of its predecessor and some radically redesigned songs but that's really it. Musically and thematically they are worlds apart and many things Brian wanted to explore with SMiLE, like reinventing the band's image, the actual elements, and the idea of a symphony that could be spiritual are all absent on Smiley.

I like that setlist, barring a few changes in the order. Very interesting idea though. I'd like to try it out.

Ugh. Sgt Pepper is NOT the benchmark. The United States of America, We're Only In It For the Money, Forever Changes, In the Court of the Crimson King, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Surrealistic Pillow, Cheap Thrills, Axis: Bold as Love, Strange Days...

I could go on. Those are all better benchmarks of the age, better overall albums and far more psychedelic and progressive than Pepper and that's just off the top of my head. Even Revolver is a better Beatles/psychedelic album than Pepper. Pepper is only the benchmark by posers who dont know anything about music and blindly place the Beatles as the unquestioned gods of pop music for the sole reason that they're the Beatles and everyone tells us they are. /rant.

[TMinthePM]

hmmm...?

[Micha]

Pepper is only the benchmark by posers who dont know anything about music and blindly place the Beatles as the unquestioned gods of pop music for the sole reason that they're the Beatles and everyone tells us they are. /rant.

That is not a nice thing to say about TMinthePM.

If you look at an even bigger picture, the evolution starts at an album project called "Dumb Angel" - with high philosophical aims and an intro which is a prayer sung by angels. Sad themes like the destruction of the American Indian and the downfall of civilizations in a columnated-ruins-domino. Then humor is inserted, the project gets renamed "Smile". The music causes turmoil and grief. Thus humor is accentuated even more, it becomes "Smiley Smile", smilier than smile. A lot of fantastic music recordings gets lost in the process, some are created newly. That's what happened. I think.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

Pepper is only the benchmark by posers who dont know anything about music and blindly place the Beatles as the unquestioned gods of pop music for the sole reason that they're the Beatles and everyone tells us they are. /rant.

That is not a nice thing to say about TMinthePM.

If you look at an even bigger picture, the evolution starts at an album project called "Dumb Angel" - with high philosophical aims and an intro which is a prayer sung by angels. Sad themes like the destruction of the American Indian and the downfall of civilizations in a columnated-ruins-domino. Then humor is inserted, the project gets renamed "Smile". The music causes turmoil and grief. Thus humor is accentuated even more, it becomes "Smiley Smile", smilier than smile. A lot of fantastic music recordings gets lost in the process, some are created newly. That's what happened. I think.

I didnt state it as kindly as I could have, but Pepper is as overrated as anything could possibly be regarding music. It's a nothing special album that's only considered the greatest ever because they adopted psychedelia at just the right moment and hopped on the bandwagon. There's no musical or thematic cohesiveness except the reprise before A Day in the Life. Which isnt even that great or "deep" of a song even though everyone likes to pretend it is. Because the Beatles wrote it, I guess, or something. I'm sorry, but thats where I stand. In any case, there's far better albums out there. I'd personally consider Pet Sounds, Forever Changes, USA, WOIIFTM and In the Court of the Crimson King to be far worthier candidates of any benchmark by which other late 60s and/or psychedelic albums are measured. Just about any other album from the time period, even the unfairly maligned Their Satanic Majesties Request are just as good if not far, far better.

Sorry for the rant, but that's an opinion I feel very strongly about thats been brewing for awhile. To get back on topic, I actually think the SMiLE fragments, unfinished tho they are, are even better than those five albums or any other music any band at the time or since was making. And, I think your timeline of the project shifting focus and name is quite interesting. I think Dumb Angel would have been a cooler titled than SMiLE in any case.

[TMinthePM]

Cabinessence certainly ranks alongside A Day in the Life, which is one reason I place it at the end of the comp. There is simply nothing that can follow it. And it rather neatly ties up the whole by recapitulating the Frontier Theme of Heros, which I would not take too literally as I hear the whole as a journey to the frontiers of the psychedelic American psyche circa 1967, the western imagery being best understood metaphorically.  Even in completed form there is a minimalist feel to it, a spacious vastness. Good Vibrations I think should remain at the center, the heart of it all, but not the single version. The rehearsal version sits so comfortably in the midst of the other tracks and concludes a string of - for want of a better word - love songs, each being thematically boy/girl. I see it as a two sided lp with Vegetables opening Side Two and taking us thru the Elements - Earth, Air, Fire and Water - Vegetables, Wind Chimes, FallBreaks, Water Chant - resurfacing on Hawaiian shores with Little Pad, cosmic rumination with Surf's Up and cosmic grandeur with Cabinessence.   

Oh why didn't they consult me back then!?! I could have taken time off from the tenth grade - cheez.

No offense taken above. Strong argument, well supported, eloquently expressed - a pleasure to read and ponder.