Child Is Father Of The Man chorus - what multi-tracks still exist?

[Paul2010]

Dear all,
Since a few weeks I've got some spare time to fill (many of you probably have), and inevitably at some point I had to revisit my ongoing Smile tinkering/researching.

Been listening to / editing Child Is Father of the Man a lot. Such a mystery this track...always been one of my favorites. Especially the chorus. So I started to wonder again - is there actually still a multi-track of the vocal session available? I never found a definitive answer on this subject. Evidence points towards affirmative though...

-there's this track on Secret Smile, a vocal overdub session, including a count-in, some vocal warm ups..unless this was made into an acetate it probably originates from a still existing multitrack. (Is this a correct way of thinking?)

-the chorus on 2011 Smile is a newly made mix of the two existing choruses (as available on Vigotone among others). There don't seem to be any artifacts which you would expect if the 2011 mono mix would be an actual 'blend' of these two choruses. So to put it simply, it sounds like it was compiled from the multi-tracks. Or were the vocal parts digitally extracted and then mixed with the instrumental backing track?

-I found a quote floating around the internet in an article on BWPS. Not entirely clear if this is actually about the CIFOTM chorus...but it could be.

"And while listening to the multitracks for the song 'Child Is Father Of The Man', Darian soloed a chorus lead vocal by Brian's late brother Carl and made discoveries which were later incorporated into the finished arrangements. Mark Linett explains: "When he's not singing, you can hear faint background vocal parts that no longer exist on the multitrack. They must have been in his headphones, and were picked up by the vocal mic. It could be that Brian decided he didn't need them, or that he was going to re-record them, but never did. You hear this sort of stuff throughout the tapes." (https://www.soundonsound.com/people/resurrection-brian-wilsons-smile)

-If the multi-tracks exist though, why would they not be in a stereo or vocal only track on the boxset? That would suggest they, in fact, do not exist..

So, I'm very curious to hear opinions and thoughts from the rest of you.

Take care

[WillJC]

Basically, the answer is yes, but there isn't very much. There are two vintage mono mixes each with an entirely different set of chorus vocals, and a third, unfinished set of vocals on the surviving multitrack. Here's a breakdown:

The first chronologically is an edited mix of the verse and chorus dated October 13. This is on Vigitone and Archeology. The main chorus vocals feature everyone except Dennis, all double-tracked, and it's backed by a wall of "ahhhh" harmonies seemingly by the whole group. They used it for the first chorus on the Smile Sessions but flew-in some parts.

The second chronologically (I think) is an acetate mix with a revised, more complicated main vocal arrangement but no block harmony layer. Also all double-tracked, no Dennis again, possibly from December 2. It was used for the second chorus on TSS.

The third chronologically is what's on the multitrack - just Brian, Carl and Mike (and Al?) adding a single layer of an incomplete new arrangement (or additions to other parts Brian then erased?) with Mike overdubbing a separate bass vocal. Possibly from December 6. These were used in the 1988 rough mix, they were flown-in to the first chorus mono mix on the Smile Sessions, and I'm guessing it's where parts of the older arrangements were picked up via headphone bleed while working on BWPS.

So some isolated vocals could've been included on TSS... They just weren't. I'm guessing disk space booted them off the backing vocals montage in favour of other more finished-sounding things.

[Paul2010]

What a great, comprehensive and informative answer. Thanks a lot!

So it seems that it might be a classic case of continuous work on the vocal arrangement, and Brian not being able to make up his mind...well, we've now got three great versions of 'em, four even if you count the 2011 combination of the block harmony with the multitrack parts. Although there's probably no evidence those were actually meant to be combined into one, they sound quite good together, almost 'complete'.

Makes me dream of a Smile Sessions Extensions Set, one or two discs with (raw) material that couldn't fit in the 2011 box set. Barnyard, CIFOTM vocals, available (vintage) acetates in upgraded quality, some stereo mixes. One can always dream.