Missing sections from the 'Smile' album

[rab2591]

This Little Pad Tune X discovery is outa-sight! I'm gonna make a rough vocal guide for Tune X. The only thing we need are the chords for Tune X. Has anyone on the forum ever written chords for Tones? With the chords we can confirm if Tune X became Little Pad. It's ironic that another Smile song (Child Is Father of the Man), was reworked and titled Little Bird. Is there any other Beach Boys songs that start with the word Little? There might be some clues left waiting out there to be discovered.

If Little Pad is Tune X, the only question I have is "Did the original Tones vocals sing about a Little Pad in Hawaii?" Because the instrumentation proves otherwise.

Please excuse my kaleidoscope eyes but...

Tune X seems to be something like
verse - G Dsus4 G Dsus4
prechorus - Em  A  Em C D
chorus - G  G7 C D F G C F G C

Little Pad chords are here http://www.surfermoon.com/tabs/little_pad_uku.html

The Tune X chorus is a common I-IV-V.  The Little Pad chorus is a common I-ii-V.  Similar but different.  Also note that Tune X is credited to Carl but Little Pad to Brian.  

Signs point to unprobable that they are connected...

Definitely glad you brought this up...as Little Pad shouldn't be assumed to be connected with Tune-X. I do think they are connected in some way, but it's based on a hunch and not fact, so it shouldn't be stated as such.

[leetwall97]

Please excuse my kaleidoscope eyes but...

Ha! Oh would you knock it off

Tune X seems to be something like
verse - G Dsus4 G Dsus4
prechorus - Em  A  Em C D
chorus - G  G7 C D F G C F G C

Little Pad chords are here http://www.surfermoon.com/tabs/little_pad_uku.html

God bless ya brotha! Another thing I wanted to bring up again is the writing credits to Tune X. Are we sure that Carl wrote it?? Sure he brought it in, but that's all I've heard of it.
"Tune X? Oh, Carl did that"
That's not an answer. If Carl wrote it, why did Dennis come in earlier and do I Don't Know? And don't reply with "I don't know"

[soniclovenoize]

Are we sure that Carl wrote it??

As per the Smile Sessions liner notes:
Tones / Tune X produced and arranged by Carl Wilson
Music by Carl Wilson

I Don't Know produced and arranged by Dennis Wilson
Music by Dennis Wilson

If Carl wrote it, why did Dennis come in earlier and do I Don't Know? And don't reply with "I don't know"

I do not seem to possess the answer you are requesting. 

[rab2591]

Are we sure that Carl wrote it??

As per the Smile Sessions liner notes:
Tones / Tune X produced and arranged by Carl Wilson
Music by Carl Wilson

I Don't Know produced and arranged by Dennis Wilson
Music by Dennis Wilson

When the Smile Sessions came out I recall someone saying that these sessions were done to teach Carl and Dennis the ropes of production/working the studio (by Brian)...anyone familiar with this?

[Bicyclerider]

"Not true. There's a Vega-Tables With Me Tonight version, and the full song was recorded on Harpsichord in April or March."

Unfortunately this is double not true!  It was assumed the short With Me Tonight was recorded during the April Vegetables sessions because the bass line is essentially the same as the verses in Vegetables.  But c-man has dated all versions of WMT including this one and the longer harpsichord ones to June 67.  Check out the liner notes to Hawthorne and the sessionography in TSS.

[leetwall97]

When the Smile Sessions came out I recall someone saying that these sessions were done to teach Carl and Dennis the ropes of production/working the studio (by Brian)...anyone familiar with this?

That would make perfect sense! Brian just finished the H&V single and wanted to rest. Carl was in heat with the draft refusal so let him go in a produce some sections. Make him look like an important contributor.

[rab2591]

When the Smile Sessions came out I recall someone saying that these sessions were done to teach Carl and Dennis the ropes of production/working the studio (by Brian)...anyone familiar with this?

That would make perfect sense! Brian just finished the H&V single and wanted to rest. Carl was in heat with the draft refusal so let him go in a produce some sections. Make him look like an important contributor.

Also, if Brian was thinking about the far future where he'd be less involved with making music, it makes sense he would want to pass the torch onto his brothers.

[leetwall97]

"Not true. There's a Vega-Tables With Me Tonight version, and the full song was recorded on Harpsichord in April or March."

Unfortunately this is double not true!  It was assumed the short With Me Tonight was recorded during the April Vegetables sessions because the bass line is essentially the same as the verses in Vegetables.  But c-man has dated all versions of WMT including this one and the longer harpsichord ones to June 67.  Check out the liner notes to Hawthorne and the sessionography in TSS.

Awesome discovery! I knew I was way off there with the dates, but I always thought those versions of WMT were recorded during the smile sessions. So that means this https://vimeo.com/182613822 is not part of Smile! Great! That helps clear up the questions that come flooding in. I was trying to figure out if With Me Tonight were the B-Side for the Vega-Tables Single.

[leetwall97]

Hi guys! I just wanted to bring an update. I've made some video with me singing Guide Vocals over the instrumentals to illustrate melodies. I've done this for:

Child Is Father of the Man:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,24392.0.html

And Tune X:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,24391.0.html

I'd recommend you'd watch the Tune X one first, since our goal on this thread is to stay on the topic of Tune X's Little Pad melody. But I've studied the chords and the melody notes and it's a perfect match! Little Pad is in the key of F#, while Tune X is in the key of G! Also, improved Chords for Tune X can be found on that thread.

[jiggy22]

Hi guys! I just wanted to bring an update. I've made some video with me singing Guide Vocals over the instrumentals to illustrate melodies. I've done this for:

Child Is Father of the Man:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,24392.0.html

And Tune X:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,24391.0.html

I'd recommend you'd watch the Tune X one first, since our goal on this thread is to stay on the topic of Tune X's Little Pad melody. But I've studied the chords and the melody notes and it's a perfect match! Little Pad is in the key of F#, while Tune X is in the key of G! Also, improved Chords for Tune X can be found on that thread.

These sound awesome, thanks for sharing!

[leetwall97]

2. Missing Surf's Up vocals

I'd imagine if we'd ever find the Master that contains You're Welcome with the Old Men and Ghosts, we'd have these.

3. Missing Look vocals

I can't remember if I've shown you my Good Vibes I Ran edit, but I'd imagine the reason why we haven't retained them is because they were edited into another song, and then were overdubbed.

4. Surf's Up Pt. 2 Instrumentation
- Wilson claimed in 2004 that the second part to Surf's Up's instrumentation consisted of an unheard string arrangement. Interestingly enough, Jules Siegel described a tracking session for a song consisting of strings circa December/January 1967, which got interrupted, due to Brian getting all worked up and paranoid about Siegel's girlfriend, accusing her of ESP and witchcraft... Those sessions could have been meant for anything, however...

This is true, but either way Brian still went back and held a second session and recorded what was documented as string overdubs for the 1st section. I can't remember if it said anything about the Piano "demo", although I wouldn't be surprised if that was overdubbed.

Another interesting thing we're missing is a tape of edited Psychedelic Sounds-type recordings. A Tape from November 8th, during the 1st movement session, contains these Skits:
"Basketball", "Chewing Terry's", "Chicago Cab Driver", "Kid at Fairfax", "Tea Pot" and "Water Hose".

7. The Air section from The Elements
- Brian claimed there was a piano piece that was meant to be the Air piece in his Elements suite that he envisioned for Smile. Of course, with all things Smile, it gets a little vague after that. Is there evidence such a piece was even recorded for Smile?

I use to think it was the Wind Chimes Piano tag, but Wind Chimes had further vox overdubs and was finished back in '66, so I don't believe that anymore. I have a feeling it's this.
https://youtu.be/GmWMGPKCflI?t=42s
This section is an exact copy of Love to Say Dada Part 3. Brian got the guys to record Cool, Cool Water part 1, but they never ventured into that piano thing. So it fits the bill. Piano? Check. Unfinished? Check. Never-got-into-that? Check.

[The Old Master Painter]

As per the helpful and insightful suggestions made by the courteous members on this thread, I am taking the liberty of correcting some of my glaring factual mistakes while writing for this topic.  I would like THIS updated version to be the version we will refer to as a list of lost/missing Smile fragments-

PART 1- 1966 PIECES-

1. I'm In Great Shape (October, 1966 vocal sessions) - What we KNOW is that there was a vocal recording session held for a piece that was meant to be an insert for the tentative "Heroes and Villains" single, which was referred to as "I'm In Great Shape." People believe all 6 Beach Boys were at this recording session. Some have suggested in the past that this was merely a recording session for "Vega-Tables", and the end result we have from this session is the "cornucopia" version of "Vega-Tables." I don't completely buy into to this theory due to the reasons that follow-
- As if Smile wasn't complicated enough, let's assume that this WAS indeed a recording session for "Vega-Tables", then that would mean a) Brian confused "Veggies" with "Great Shape', which is HIGHLY unlikely because they are both contrasting musical pieces, with different lyrical themes, chord structures, and time signatures. I don't get how Brian could possibly be confused about his own music on such a grand scale, especially when those two songs are completely different. IF "Veggies" was taped at this session, that would mean that it was intended to be a part of "Heroes and Villains" at that time, which would add more questions to an already complicated matter... How did "Veggies" go from being in "The Elements" (there is written proof of such a claim, AND during Brian's taping sessions for the "Psychedelic Sounds" sessions, he taped skits related to Wind, and Air [Fire is complicated!], but how come he didn't do skits on Earth? Oh wait, he did. I honestly believe that the "Veggie" skits were once considered to be part of the Earth sequences in "The Elements", and Frank Holmes claimed "Veggies" WAS indeed conceived as Earth in 1966.). How did we get from "Veggies" being in "The Elements" to now ending up in "Heroes and Villains"?
- If "Great Shape" vocals were indeed recorded that October, then why weren't "Barnyard" vocals attempted later that November? Did Wilson decide to scrap Barnyard by December?

2. Surf's Up (December 15th, 1966, vocal sessions)
- Although, this doesn't pose the type of revelations the missing "Great Shape" vocal piece could pose for the early development of "Heroes and Villains", it is nevertheless important, as it could give us a sense of how complete Smile was that December. We have evidence that this vocal session took place because we have another recording of "Wonderful", that is circulating, that took place on the same day as the "Surf's Up" vocal sessions, as well as some "Cabin Essence" vocals that made it on to the masters, so it is more than likely that this song was worked on too that day.

3. Look (aka "I Ran) (October(?), 1966 vocal sessions)
- This is the most mysterious missing vocal bit from Smile. We have an idea of how "Great Shape" was supposed to work, thanks to Brian's radio demo he recorded in November 1966, and we have a released version of "Surf's Up", so we also have an idea of how Surf's Up should have went as a song, but we have absolutely no idea what the lyrics were for this song, or what the melody was, etc. And why was this once called "I Ran?" Was this all connected to "Cabin Essence" or something? There isn't any information about this missing vocal session besides the fact that it supposedly happened.

4. Surf's Up ( December/January, 1967 Pt. 2 recording sessions)
- Wilson claimed in 2004 that the second part to Surf's Up's instrumentation consisted of an unheard string arrangement. Interestingly enough, Jules Siegel described a tracking session for a song consisting of strings circa December/January 1967, which got interrupted, due to Brian getting all worked up and paranoid about Siegel's girlfriend, accusing her of ESP and witchcraft... Those sessions could have been meant for anything, however, like as suggested, they could have merely been "sweetening" overdubbing sessions for the pre-existing "Pt. 1" backing track.

[guitarfool2002]

When the Smile Sessions came out I recall someone saying that these sessions were done to teach Carl and Dennis the ropes of production/working the studio (by Brian)...anyone familiar with this?

That would make perfect sense! Brian just finished the H&V single and wanted to rest. Carl was in heat with the draft refusal so let him go in a produce some sections. Make him look like an important contributor.

Also, if Brian was thinking about the far future where he'd be less involved with making music, it makes sense he would want to pass the torch onto his brothers.

That's been reported as what Tones and Tune X were - Not as much tracks designated for an album, but rather Brian mentoring his younger brothers on how to produce a record. It's not accident they sound like Smile tracks because that's obviously what Brian was working on, that was his sound at that time. Up to that point, there were no notable attempts by either Carl or Dennis to produce a track in the studio, much less write one. So consider it on the job training and mentoring, where that studio time was booked to give them hands-on experience doing a full session. Carl had observed, obviously, as did Dennis to a lesser degree, but these were a chance for them to actually get their feet wet. Yet, when you listen, it's still as much Brian as either Carl or Dennis in terms of sound and style. And that was pretty much how it would be in the near future of Brian handing off the production duties to his brothers.

I don't see much if anything due to Carl and the draft issues. I think they were simply learning how to produce records especially with the formation of Brother in the works, and one of Brother's main goals was to give the band an outlet to bring in, produce, and release things from outside artists.

But they had to learn how to do that first. In 1967 in terms of the core Beach Boys at that time (excluding Bruce) only Brian could do it, that's a basic fact.

[guitarfool2002]

Another interesting thing we're mission is a tape of edited Psychedelic Sounds-type recordings. A Tape from November 8th, during the 1st movement session, contains these Skits:
"Basketball", "Chewing Terry's", "Chicago Cab Driver", "Kid at Fairfax", "Tea Pot" and "Water Hose".

Could you provide a source for those titles? I ask for a reason - Of those six titles, two are redundant as they describe the same piece of audio, one is a definite "known" but I'm wondering where that title info came from, another could be something else but the title is misleading, and the other could be a part of a group of tapes that has been reported since the 1970's.

Chewing Terry's...no clue what that refers to without more background or info.

But these are not missing, they do exist. It's just those titles are a little odd.

[leetwall97]

Another interesting thing we're mission is a tape of edited Psychedelic Sounds-type recordings. A Tape from November 8th, during the 1st movement session, contains these Skits:
"Basketball", "Chewing Terry's", "Chicago Cab Driver", "Kid at Fairfax", "Tea Pot" and "Water Hose".

Could you provide a source for those titles? I ask for a reason - Of those six titles, two are redundant as they describe the same piece of audio, one is a definite "known" but I'm wondering where that title info came from, another could be something else but the title is misleading, and the other could be a part of a group of tapes that has been reported since the 1970's.

Chewing Terry's...no clue what that refers to without more background or info.

But these are not missing, they do exist. It's just those titles are a little odd.

A couple of tapes were labeled November 4th; Surf's Up movement 1, Brian falling into the piano and Mic bits. The Humble Harv' Demo. And then there was a tape with those tracks written on it.

You are right about 2 of them being one. The Basketball and the Fairfax kid, right? That's on the Psych Sounds boot. But just those 2 and Taxi driver if I recall, so we're missing 3 others. I think teapot and water hose can be easily replicated. But I have no idea what Chewing Terry's is either. Maybe Terry's is a gum brand or something.

Brian put's reverberations on certain areas on those tracks, which is interesting. I remember for the Taxi Driver track, it's near the end, a part where the driver shouts something about property. Maybe Brian was marking what he wanted to use with the reverberations. Either he wanted to use the reverberated part, or the parts after. I'll have to go back and look.

[guitarfool2002]

Another interesting thing we're mission is a tape of edited Psychedelic Sounds-type recordings. A Tape from November 8th, during the 1st movement session, contains these Skits:
"Basketball", "Chewing Terry's", "Chicago Cab Driver", "Kid at Fairfax", "Tea Pot" and "Water Hose".

Could you provide a source for those titles? I ask for a reason - Of those six titles, two are redundant as they describe the same piece of audio, one is a definite "known" but I'm wondering where that title info came from, another could be something else but the title is misleading, and the other could be a part of a group of tapes that has been reported since the 1970's.

Chewing Terry's...no clue what that refers to without more background or info.

But these are not missing, they do exist. It's just those titles are a little odd.

A couple of tapes were labeled November 4th; Surf's Up movement 1, Brian falling into the piano and Mic bits. The Humble Harv' Demo. And then there was a tape with those tracks written on it.

You are right about 2 of them being one. The Basketball and the Fairfax kid, right? That's on the Psych Sounds boot. But just those 2 and Taxi driver if I recall, so we're missing 3 others. I think teapot and water hose can be easily replicated. But I have no idea what Chewing Terry's is either. Maybe Terry's is a gum brand or something.

Brian put's reverberations on certain areas on those tracks, which is interesting. I remember for the Taxi Driver track, it's near the end, a part where the driver shouts something about property. Maybe Brian was marking what he wanted to use with the reverberations. Either he wanted to use the reverberated part, or the parts after. I'll have to go back and look.

Where is the source that reported those specific titles? Is the source saying those titles were written on the tape boxes originally?

The taxi driver tape is Brian and Michael Vosse talking to their cabbie when they flew out to the gig so Brian could rehearse the band premiering Good Vibrations.

[leetwall97]

Another HUGE section we're missing is the Heroes and Villains Part II Insert. If we had this, we could finish the H&V single.
There's also another H&V section they worked on for a couple days in a row back in December called H&V Insert. The Boys worked on it, then Brian for a couple of days. It's probably just the scat vocals or something. Idk. I'll have to go back and see if there was instrumentation. But the missing Part II Insert is a huge blow

[thorgil]

6. Lost Tones/Tune X vocals
- This was brought forth by another member from this forum... He alleges there were vocal sessions for this song... I would like more insight on this topic, if possible. Could anyone confirm this claim?

I'm gonna veer this off-topic for a second. A guy recorded a phenomenal mash-up of Tune-X and Little Pad back in 2000. The lyrics/melody of Little Pad fit perfectly over Tune-X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAf8zavRG8

If the Beach Boys recorded something remotely similar to this I would have to change my list of top 10 favorite Beach Boys songs to include such a track.

I just was able to listen to this! FANTASTIC, thanks for sharing!

[AllIWannaDo]

6. Lost Tones/Tune X vocals
- This was brought forth by another member from this forum... He alleges there were vocal sessions for this song... I would like more insight on this topic, if possible. Could anyone confirm this claim?

I'm gonna veer this off-topic for a second. A guy recorded a phenomenal mash-up of Tune-X and Little Pad back in 2000. The lyrics/melody of Little Pad fit perfectly over Tune-X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAf8zavRG8

If the Beach Boys recorded something remotely similar to this I would have to change my list of top 10 favorite Beach Boys songs to include such a track.

I just was able to listen to this! FANTASTIC, thanks for sharing!

Great!

[Mr. Verlander]

A few (maybe more) years ago, somebody had tracked down the session notes from the "Inside Pop" stuff that was filmed. Does anybody happen to know (or remember) anything about those, or where we could find them? I recall that it would say something like "guys doing open country song", or something like that. Maybe if we re-read those notes now, things on it would make more sense. Or maybe I'm just dreaming all of this.

[Bicyclerider]

They are reproduced on this board somewhere - maybe an admin could find the link?  If not, I have a copy I could post here.

[guitarfool2002]

Here are some of them - I have the full set on another drive. For those who missed it the first times around, I'll also paste some analysis of the notes too, and a background of how all of this came together. It's long.


84
9. Let's work on microphone
boys around mike
Do wa


85 Brian at piano working out
Yodelledo
then group sings at mike


86 Group around mike Yodelledo
Playback Yodelledoo's control in b.g.
Inside control room Group & Engineer Da daum(?)
Go out into studio Brian eating cereal record da da da


Beach Boys


86

1. around mike Yodeladeeo pan to Piano
Brian walks out frame(?) to outside booth playback
walks to control board

2. Brian talking ?  (bad pa toheps) to engineer
3. dark 4/s listening to playback
Brian goes to ?   (sirke?!) eats, put on headphones
sing dine dine

Scratch

87
1. control board thru window track on(?)
dine dine
Let's go have some Zen accompaniment
2. Brian at piano from behind
plays chords


87
engineer thru glass to group in(?) b.g. record da da
group comes back into room & listens to da da da
let's go lets have some zen compliment

Brian at piano from behind accomp. to Surf's up
to hands to face CL around to x & back to CL


88 Brian eating
headphones listening to piano track
sings lead on(?) thru piano
1 more time
--> tone(?) & start again side view CL
-> start at 2nd verse hung velvet
misses the glass
pickup hung velvet stop at dove nested
have echo on me
pickup again at hung velvet


89 Overdubs
hung velvet lead on(?)  (jumoles?!?!) -- let's overdub
it
move to CR side (?).s. 11(?) more around behind
move around to face CL he gestures
he talks while voice go(?)

mono mix - Id like it softer
let's go to top is that cool

LS CL overdub
LS hung velvet out sync
LS thru control room
2nd shot n.g.(?)
needle
recorder pan to engineer back to recorder


90
--> playback engineers bg Wilson fig.
fade in(?)
kneels -- can have muted trumpet go bleep(?)
move to us(?) half of Jules
Brian coat on walks out



>>>In the span of these reels, Brian is working on and showing them the "yodel" harmony parts to "Wonderful" which they sing as a group, then the focus seems to shift to "Cabinessence" with the "dine dine dine" backing vocal parts, and then perhaps back to "Wonderful" with the "da da da da" countermelody vocal part as heard on the box set version.

So that is hard to dispute. This is the group session in question

Then, mention is made of Brian doing Surf's Up, and one reel places Jules Seigel at the scene for further validation (and it was his article which for years was the main research source for this incident).

Before that, though, at reel 87 it seems like a break may have been called "Let's go have some Zen...", and just prior to that notation the group was definitely there in the studio to listen to a playback of Wonderful.

Now, what happened after reel 87? Because the next reel picks up with Brian working on Surf's Up, and no mention of the group is made in the next few reels. Then Brian puts his coat on and leaves at reel 90.

From that evidence, I don't think you can totally rule out a point in time that day/night when a discussion on Surf's Up may have happened, because the group *was* there, and Brian worked on that track after it seems they left after Wonderful and Cabinessence were tracked. So the SU track was on the agenda for that period of time - a discussion could have happened.

And you also can't rule out the possibility that one of the earlier sessions, Wonderful or Cabinessence, may not have gone well.<<<

Putting some context to the reel descriptions and my repost of that old discussion.

First, the session filmed was held December 15, 1966 at Columbia's Studio A. It was logged from 7-10 PM, and Brian returned around midnight taking it into Dec. 16 to track his famous Surf's Up vocal. This was filmed in studio, but obviously CBS filmed it again at his house and used that in their broadcast instead.

This was over ten years ago, and I put the old text in yellow to separate it for a reason. The discussion which led to more than what is shown here centered around the notion of a session "which had gone very badly", according to Jules Siegel who was there, is mentioned in Oppenheim's camera notes, and which I believe is the only description of that session that was used for reference from 1967 onward. The CBS crew was there, Jules wrote that a Beach Boys vocal session had gone badly. That was it.

Fast forward, as "Dancing Bear" said there were articles written decades later suggesting more than that based on speculation of what had gone badly according to what Jules had described. Some of that speculation centered around "Surf's Up", where some took what was written to assume and speculate there were issues surrounding Surf's Up, even suggesting there were issues raised about the lyrics at this session in front of CBS cameras.

At that point, again, most people only knew Surf's Up had been recorded that night after the Beach Boys had gone home, so the speculations centered on the possibility that something about that song was what had gone badly.

Fast forward to the early 2000's, and Oppenheim's notes turned up thanks to Dan Lega digging them up in a college archive and getting them into the public discussion.

The notes revealed that yes indeed, Surf's Up was tackled at that session and the notes played out similar to what Jules had written back in '67, so that was confirmed if we connected the cryptic camera descriptions and Oppenheim's abbreviated notes to Jules' article.

What the notes also revealed was that the Beach Boys not only were there for Surf's Up, but that they had also worked on vocals for "Wonderful" and "Cabinessence", and this had to be deciphered using words and nonsense backing vocal syllables that Oppenheim used in the notes which could be translated into the songs they were doing. In the post I described, "doin doin" was Cabinessence, "yodelledoo" was the reworked "Wonderful", etc.

When I wrote those added comments in yellow, it was in a discussion where the possibility of "Surf's Up" getting challenged that night was being hashed out, and AGD for one reported that someone who was there says nothing was argued about Surf's Up that night. That's where his initials AGD showed up in the post.

And at that point, as little was known beyond what was in the notes, I was speculating too about what happened in the reel sequence where the session seems to have broken up, the Beach Boys left, and Brian goes for some "Zen accompaniment", which Jules described as Brian perhaps smoking in a car. Was that BW's code for toking up? Who knows, but he used similar code during earlier sessions when he says something about getting turned on, which was his code to light up a joint, apparently.

OK, so the discussion basically got to the point that Surf's Up was most likely not challenged, and a fight did not ensue over Surf's Up that night according to someone who was there. Myth busted.

Also, as Cabinessence was listed in the CBS notes, some I think considered a possibility that this could have been something connected to Mike challenging the lyrics of that song, but nothing - not Jules' article or the film notes - suggest that Van Dyke was there that night. Or was he? We don't know.

But what we do know is that perhaps some liberties were taken when a session that had "gone very badly" led to reports of Mike challenging lyrics in front of the CBS film crew. They also did "Wonderful" and Cabinessence that night, along with Surf's Up, so who knows what going badly actually meant?

Did the Boys just not sing it well and packed it in? Was Brian not satisfied with that night's work? Was he upset that he didn't get what he had hoped to get on tape from himself or the Boys? Did his ideas not work out as he thought they would when he demo'ed them?

Again, who knows. But it did raise more questions and doubts that the "gone badly" description was about Mike challenging lyrics. Doubts, at least, suggested "gone badly" could have referred to anything on three songs that were worked on that night.

Fast forward again to recent years.

c-man uncovered and reported Capitol Records' documents of that night's session. It was booked as a "Surf's Up" session, running from 7-10, as c-man reported all six Beach Boys were there. Jerry Hockman engineered Brian's solo vocals, the engineer for the 7-10 group work isn't noted. Backing vocals for Wonderful were also logged for this night, confirming Oppenheim's notes. Cabinessence is not logged as a session, however. Perhaps they were just listening to a playback or rough mix, because there is no mistaking what song "doin doin" comes from, only we list it as "doyn doyn".

The session tapes have not turned up from these sessions, again according to c-man's notes.

So we can date the reels, match them up with both Jules and the session documents, and trace the storyline of how the action unfolded that night from Oppenheim's cryptic descriptions in those notes.

Aside: It shows more than the fact that the Beach Boys held a session, so I still don't appreciate that kind of reply when I was trying to spell out something based on what was being discussed. Let's stop that garbage, shall we?

Back to the post:

As Jules' account lines up with the film notes, it's hard to think he took journalistic license and made up the "going badly" part. Obviously something happened for him to write that. Unfortunately, all we have is what I've posted above, from Jules, the film notes, the memory of someone who was there via AGD, and the Capitol documentation of what that session was.

So take it all together, it can't be assumed there was a blow-up over Surf's Up any more than it can be assumed there was a blowup over something else done at that session.

What we know is the Boys and Brian showed up, they worked, Brian ate, they took a smoke break, they tracked Wonderful perhaps listened to Cabinessence, who knows what went down with Surf's Up, and then they left.

Then Brian ducks out for a break, comes back, and records the version of Surf's Up that we're all familiar with, but the film footage isn't used in favor of what they did at his house.

Then Brian puts on his coat and leaves.

And that's about it. We can try filling in the gaps, speculating on what may have gone down, but bottom line it's a helluva lot more info than was there when Jules' article was the main source, and it can also put more doubt onto certain specific theories suggesting a blowup over one particular song or issue that night.

What we don't know is still greater than what we do know, which is the story of Smile in general...but it's neat to at least see more pieces of the puzzle that did not exist for decades. 

[Bicyclerider]

Here's some earlier reels (in terms of numbering, although 77, if it's the candelabra version of Brian singing Surf's Up at home that was used in Inside Pop actually was filmed after the Wonderful/Cab/Surf's Up session, Dec 17 vs. Dec 15):

(Page 1)

75 (signifying Reel #75)

1. hands to face CR angle
can't see hands pan to hands in dark
child Is the Father of man

2. Heroes & Villains plays
Vandyke Parks has been working on lyrics
sings open country song

Sunshine


76 Surf's up cu (or cw? or au?) CR
-> takes guts to catch wave
can visualize intervals on piano


77 x piano Surf's Up
PB

Surf's up candelabra shot CL

(Page 2)


83

1. engineer
2. pan up to Brian
3. board
4. Boys singing who Ran The Iron Horse
(Above "who Ran" is the scratched out word "Hooray"
as if he wasn't sure what the words were.)
5. Wilson ? (judging, foda?!?!)
6. Boys singing who Ran The Iron Horse
7. Do Wa Wa in circle
8. Wilson (shelving?!)
84 9. Let's work on microphone
boys around mike
Do wa

Comment:  the Do Wa Wa in circle is interesting - could this be an early version of the Water chant?  Also despite the track listing from Dec 10th it appears Great Shape is still part of Heroes (which goes along with the Dec 19th Shape session for Heroes and the Durrie Parks acetate), and Brian was perhaps considering My Only Sunshine as the fade for the song??

[guitarfool2002]

Here's some earlier reels (in terms of numbering, although 77, if it's the candelabra version of Brian singing Surf's Up at home that was used in Inside Pop actually was filmed after the Wonderful/Cab/Surf's Up session, Dec 17 vs. Dec 15):

(Page 1)

75 (signifying Reel #75)

1. hands to face CR angle
can't see hands pan to hands in dark
child Is the Father of man

2. Heroes & Villains plays
Vandyke Parks has been working on lyrics
sings open country song

Sunshine


76 Surf's up cu (or cw? or au?) CR
-> takes guts to catch wave
can visualize intervals on piano


77 x piano Surf's Up
PB

Surf's up candelabra shot CL

(Page 2)


83

1. engineer
2. pan up to Brian
3. board
4. Boys singing who Ran The Iron Horse
(Above "who Ran" is the scratched out word "Hooray"
as if he wasn't sure what the words were.)
5. Wilson ? (judging, foda?!?!)
6. Boys singing who Ran The Iron Horse
7. Do Wa Wa in circle
8. Wilson (shelving?!)
84 9. Let's work on microphone
boys around mike
Do wa

Comment:  the Do Wa Wa in circle is interesting - could this be an early version of the Water chant?  Also despite the track listing from Dec 10th it appears Great Shape is still part of Heroes (which goes along with the Dec 19th Shape session for Heroes and the Durrie Parks acetate), and Brian was perhaps considering My Only Sunshine as the fade for the song??

A great question - was it a version of "water chant" or was it a background vocal intended for Iron Horse? Is such a "do wa" vocal buried in the Cabinessence/Iron Horse mix, was it tried and left unused? These notes after a decade still make me want to pull out the audio and listen. The obvious guess would be water chant, but then again the reel seemed focused on Iron Horse so why would that be thrown in there? All the reels as cryptic as they can be do actually line up song by song for the most part. As much as it suggests "waa do waa do" type of water chant sounds, it was filmed during the Iron Horse segment, so it's a tough call.

I did have and still may have unless they got wiped out in a drive crash the full set of notes, as turned up by Dan those years ago. On one of the later random reels, if I'm remembering, there were notes suggesting the filming at the swimming pool, which Vosse described as Murry wanting to be filmed diving into the pool. As random as that was, it was odd if I recall where in the sequence of notes that pool sequence turned up. Does that ring a bell?

Reel 75, #1 Child Is Father - Is this the one some of us were speculating as a possible source for that clip shown in American Band of Brian wearing the red shirt at the piano, where they dubbed in a piano part to try matching the notes he was playing for the AB project? I think it created what some thought was a "new" version of "wa halla lu ley" for the film, but that notation suggests it could have been the same film clip and if so, it was CIFOTM.

[Bicyclerider]

As far as reel 75, it seems to match up visually with the AB clip, but the description is pretty nonspecific, really just Brian playing the piano and it being dark (not unusual in a studio), which certainly could be a completely different time.  And if the Inside Pop reels were the source, shouldn't they have the audio with the film - it's printed on the film, isn't it?

Could the "Do Wa Wa" vocals be backing vocals for the "Reconnected telephone direct dialing" lyrics of Cabinessence?  Of course we don't have any corresponding music tracking for that section.  I've been thinking lately that those lyrics were intended to go in the Who Ran the Iron Horse section like the "Truck Driving Man" lyrics, Telephone in the first chorus and Truck Driving in the second.  When Carl and Dennis worked on the song in 1968 they either intentionally left out those lyrics from the first chorus (which was a good move IMO) or they forgot/didn't know about them.