So... why wasn't SMiLE released in 1967?

[guitarfool2002]

The other piece, of course, is that popular music itself shifted from ‘67-‘68, from elaborate psychedelia to more stripped down takes. John Wesley Harding, White Album, Beggars Banquet, the emergence of country rock. This was a big part of Paul Williams’ contemporaneous take — Brian couldn’t have gone back to the big sound, because he was still trying at some level to play the game. Smiley was, in a very real sense, him moving with the times. Both it and BWPS, in their own ways, have as much a right to be called Smile — or performances of the same — as the original sessions.

I would amend this by saying if the "stripped down" movement was a legitimate movement in rock, Brian would actually have been far ahead of the pack in that regard, and the timeline of events playing out has to be considered as it happened in the moment versus looking back 50+ years after the fact. If Brian decided to do a stripped down, deconstructed production in the summer of '67, that was when other musicians were still feeling the effects of Sgt Pepper which was released in June '67, and the results of that influence were being felt well into 1968 with many artists releasing overblown, over-orchestrated attempts to ride the Sgt Pepper sound. Perhaps the most infamous example of this was the Stones with Their Satanic Majesties Request, released in December '67. And there are many examples of other artists still following that trend well into '68 and even '69. It was as 1968 progressed along with what turned out to be one of the most turbulent years of the 20th century politically and within American society that artists began to change and develop either a more laid back sound or a harder edge than the aftereffects of The Summer Of Love.

So I'd suggest if Brian was indeed going for a stripped down sound for The Beach Boys, and I think he was even going into Wild Honey in Fall '67, he was actually ahead of the curve rather than moving with the times. And I think that's also what some would say is among the tragedies of the original Smile project not being released on schedule, because if it had been released "coming soon in January (67)", he would have beaten The Beatles to the punch as well with that level of production on a pop album.

One more note on that "stripped down" sound: That long Smile thread which was linked and reposted a few days ago has some suggesting Brian did not strip down his sound or technique specifically for Smiley Smile, a point which I pretty strongly disagreed with and debated those points as such.

[guitarfool2002]

Ironically, its allure has actually been diminished as a result of it being completed, and the more prevalent view of the band as a treasure trove of great singles (Endless Summer...) has overtaken the "art-rock" side of the band (which was, of course, Brian). That might lead some of those feathered "ex-friends" of ours over at the Nearest Faraway Place to parse SMiLE as a tragic mistake rather than a tragedy with a happy ending. (Even though, as noted earlier, they were celebrating that happy ending just two decades ago...)

It strikes me that those folk have a strange desire to put Mike Love on the same level as Brian Wilson, which is a totally ridiculous position to take. If you can find a way to diminish/argue away/ignore SMiLE, such an effort becomes a little less absurd, but it's still ridiculous--the remaining history of the band completely refutes such a claim.

I wanted to pull this one section out of Don's post to comment: I think both segments tie in to what was happening in 2004 and 2005, and it continues today. When Brian released Smile, it overshadowed Mike Love and what he was doing touring with his then-current lineup of The Beach Boys band. It's as simple as that. Brian's tour and album was getting more positive attention and attention overall than anything Mike was doing, and it threatened Mike's bottom line. When the Smile tours were active, there was little if anything on the road at that time to compare to Brian's band, the musicianship was simply off the charts and what they were playing on stage each night was thought to be an impossibility for several decades before that tour. Yet here they were - and there was Brian center stage - doing it, and doing it extremely well. Then compare that to where Mike's band was at that time. And that would naturally cause some resentment and lead to a counterpunch of some kind.

And that's exactly what we got when Mike filed that bogus lawsuit naming Brian, Melinda, David Leaf, et al in his Love v. Mail On Sunday case. The lawsuit specifically called out Brian's "stealing" the Smile music from The Beach Boys who paid for the original sessions, suggested Brian's live shows were sub-par due to his mental issues (which was complete bullshit), and for no reason since he was not named as a defendant in the case completely ripped apart Al Jardine...who was very publicly touring with Brian playing Smile instead of playing with Mike. And that was just perhaps the most comprehensive public airing of Mike's grievances with Brian, Al, and Smile from that time. The fans online would eventually pick up that torch and it's barely flickering today but still being carried.

So going back to 2004-05, the seeds for a lot of what is going on now were firmly planted in the resentment over Brian's completed Smile overshadowing Mike's Beach Boys activities, and how there could very well have been a notion that Brian and his tours getting all of the attention threatened Mike's bottom line. Is it any accident that Mike tried to up his game on the road and try to boost up his band with different musicians and deeper setlists in the wake of all this? Not to mention the lawsuit(s) and derogatory public comments about Brian that followed too...and the whole "Mike is a genius too!" campaign in the mid-2010's.

Nothing happens in a vacuum. It's just a shame there has to be lingering resentment instead of celebrating achievement and success mutually. But if knocking down what Brian did with Smile is perceived as a way to boost Mike Love in the process, perhaps some see that as the tactic to use.

[Steve Mayo]

Didn’t Alan Boyd and Mark Linett say the tape splicing technology in 1967 wasn’t enough to finish SMiLE?

I seem to remember this too.

Guitarfool, GREAT post. I never knew he was close to giving the song away…to whom was he going to give it to?

I can't cite where either one said that, but I'm sure I remember they did especially during the Smile Sessions box time. I know I said it more than a few times through the years, chalking up the lack of available technology in 1966-67 to the project not being completed, and in a few cases I got a STRONG pushback to that opinion. I still think lack of technology at that time was a factor, for time restrictions alone if not the frustration of not being able to easily and quickly "audition" the sequences of various segments, and I'll stand by that notion. There are examples of "test edits" that may or may not have been released (I don't know) where Brian was trying to audition different transitions and segments and a few sound like he was doing a very primitive way of editing existing acetates together doing needle-drops on tape. It's been many years so I cannot cite the exact titles but that's what it sounded like to me.

 To do the kind of editing which is taken for granted in modern studios using digital technology in 1967 would have taken a much longer time and more effort, surely more than it did when they compiled the Smile Sessions box set using DAW's and almost instant crossfades available on any recording tool. So yeah, I'm sure one of those guys mentioned it, and I know I definitely did (if I can dig up any old threads, it goes back to the Smile Shop days.)

Thanks Rab! The one name I've heard mentioned was Danny Hutton, who David Anderle was managing at the time, but there was a point where Brian was frustrated with Good Vibrations enough to tell people he was going to give it to another artist to record instead, he couldn't get what he was looking for with the recordings of the song he had done up to a point. People around him talked him out of it, and he came to his senses and held onto the song. I can't give a date in 1966 as to when this was in the process, but it has been reported at least several times if I recall, one may be in the Preiss book? Maybe it was Anderle or Hutton who mentioned it too? If I find it I'll post it.

Brian also at one time wanted to sell GV to Warner Brothers for a r&b group to record. Wilson Pickett’s name was thrown around by the group at that time.

[Steve Mayo]

The above info came from leaf’s book.
Gaines book says same thing in a little more detail in his book.

[Steve Mayo]

And you may want to edit your last post. In your long winded “debates” one should get the facts straight. Alan did not tour with brian playing smile in the 2004-2005 timeframe you set. Alan started in 2006 with brian. Details matter in “debates”.

This info came from your favorite poster on eh board.

[HeyJude]

And you may want to edit your last post. In your long winded “debates” one should get the facts straight. Alan did not tour with brian playing smile in the 2004-2005 timeframe you set. Alan started in 2006 with brian. Details matter in “debates”.

This info came from your favorite poster on eh board.

Al first reappeared with Brian in 2006. He wasn't even fully touring with Brian at that stage, as he wasn't showing up at every show, and even at the shows he appeared, he wasn't playing the full show; he would come on a half dozen or so songs into the show as a "Special Guest." He did a few "Pet Sounds" gigs in late 2006 and early 2007, did two of the six Spring 2007 US "European warm up" shows, and disappeared again until 2013. I think I counted at one point, and it was something like 11 or 12 shows Al did with Brian in 06/07.  

Al appearing with Brian in 2006 probably *is* at least tangentially related to Mike's 2004/05 "Smile" lawsuit though, as buried in Mike's suit is a mention of Brian threatening to yank Mike's license and tour with Al Jardine as "The Beach Boys." It's probably not a coincidence that Al not too much later showed up and did some gigs with Brian. But all of that was just posturing.

Al joining up with Brian in 2006 was not a kumbaya sort of moment, though. I suspect they agreed to Al doing some gigs for the aforementioned internecine political reasons, and Al joined up because he had little else on his schedule and wanted to get back playing with *somebody*. Al supposedly was not even paid for those 06/07 gigs with Brian; Al supposedly paid all of his own expenses. Which probably helps to explain why it didn't last very long. But that's a whole other topic of course...

But it is true that Mike's "Smile" lawsuit was weirdly and perplexingly extra nasty in how it talked about Al Jardine, who, as correctly mentioned in a previous post, was not even a party to the lawsuit. Had it not had the protection of being verbiage in a court filing, if it had been published in a book or magazine or something, those comments I think could have easily been grounds for a libel lawsuit from Al. But again, mostly a separate topic. But I think it does speak to the weird and misplaced (and ultimately proven legally unsound) vitriol Mike had towards Brian regarding that "Smile" project at that time.

[guitarfool2002]

And you may want to edit your last post. In your long winded “debates” one should get the facts straight. Alan did not tour with brian playing smile in the 2004-2005 timeframe you set. Alan started in 2006 with brian. Details matter in “debates”.

This info came from your favorite poster on eh board.

Al first reappeared with Brian in 2006. He wasn't even fully touring with Brian at that stage, as he wasn't showing up at every show, and even at the shows he appeared, he wasn't playing the full show; he would come on a half dozen or so songs into the show as a "Special Guest." He did a few "Pet Sounds" gigs in late 2006 and early 2007, did two of the six Spring 2007 US "European warm up" shows, and disappeared again until 2013. I think I counted at one point, and it was something like 11 or 12 shows Al did with Brian in 06/07.  

Al appearing with Brian in 2006 probably *is* at least tangentially related to Mike's 2004/05 "Smile" lawsuit though, as buried in Mike's suit is a mention of Brian threatening to yank Mike's license and tour with Al Jardine as "The Beach Boys." It's probably not a coincidence that Al not too much later showed up and did some gigs with Brian. But all of that was just posturing.

Al joining up with Brian in 2006 was not a kumbaya sort of moment, though. I suspect they agreed to Al doing some gigs for the aforementioned internecine political reasons, and Al joined up because he had little else on his schedule and wanted to get back playing with *somebody*. Al supposedly was not even paid for those 06/07 gigs with Brian; Al supposedly paid all of his own expenses. Which probably helps to explain why it didn't last very long. But that's a whole other topic of course...

But it is true that Mike's "Smile" lawsuit was weirdly and perplexingly extra nasty in how it talked about Al Jardine, who, as correctly mentioned in a previous post, was not even a party to the lawsuit. Had it not had the protection of being verbiage in a court filing, if it had been published in a book or magazine or something, those comments I think could have easily been grounds for a libel lawsuit from Al. But again, mostly a separate topic. But I think it does speak to the weird and misplaced (and ultimately proven legally unsound) vitriol Mike had towards Brian regarding that "Smile" project at that time.

Yes I misspoke about Al "publicly touring and playing Smile with Brian", it should have been worded differently. As HeyJude said, it was the Pet Sounds live shows in 2006 where Al was publicly seen playing with Brian again.

The rest of what I said stands. I would only add that Mike's 2005 lawsuit specifically mentions Brian's live performances (including those of the Smile music) causing damage to Mike's touring operation, i.e. his bottom line financially.

And as the bomber crews used to say in WW2, the flak gets heaviest when you're over the target.

[SMiLE Brian]

Al is Brian's actual high school friend from the Hawthorne High School football team.

[Zenobi]

The greatest divide in BB fandom is probably that between the music-oriented and the lawyer-oriented.

[Robbie Mac]

And you may want to edit your last post. In your long winded “debates” one should get the facts straight. Alan did not tour with brian playing smile in the 2004-2005 timeframe you set. Alan started in 2006 with brian. Details matter in “debates”.

This info came from your favorite poster on eh board.

Al first reappeared with Brian in 2006. He wasn't even fully touring with Brian at that stage, as he wasn't showing up at every show, and even at the shows he appeared, he wasn't playing the full show; he would come on a half dozen or so songs into the show as a "Special Guest." He did a few "Pet Sounds" gigs in late 2006 and early 2007, did two of the six Spring 2007 US "European warm up" shows, and disappeared again until 2013. I think I counted at one point, and it was something like 11 or 12 shows Al did with Brian in 06/07.  

Al appearing with Brian in 2006 probably *is* at least tangentially related to Mike's 2004/05 "Smile" lawsuit though, as buried in Mike's suit is a mention of Brian threatening to yank Mike's license and tour with Al Jardine as "The Beach Boys." It's probably not a coincidence that Al not too much later showed up and did some gigs with Brian. But all of that was just posturing.

Al joining up with Brian in 2006 was not a kumbaya sort of moment, though. I suspect they agreed to Al doing some gigs for the aforementioned internecine political reasons, and Al joined up because he had little else on his schedule and wanted to get back playing with *somebody*. Al supposedly was not even paid for those 06/07 gigs with Brian; Al supposedly paid all of his own expenses. Which probably helps to explain why it didn't last very long. But that's a whole other topic of course...

But it is true that Mike's "Smile" lawsuit was weirdly and perplexingly extra nasty in how it talked about Al Jardine, who, as correctly mentioned in a previous post, was not even a party to the lawsuit. Had it not had the protection of being verbiage in a court filing, if it had been published in a book or magazine or something, those comments I think could have easily been grounds for a libel lawsuit from Al. But again, mostly a separate topic. But I think it does speak to the weird and misplaced (and ultimately proven legally unsound) vitriol Mike had towards Brian regarding that "Smile" project at that time.

Yes I misspoke about Al "publicly touring and playing Smile with Brian", it should have been worded differently. As HeyJude said, it was the Pet Sounds live shows in 2006 where Al was publicly seen playing with Brian again.

The rest of what I said stands. I would only add that Mike's 2005 lawsuit specifically mentions Brian's live performances (including those of the Smile music) causing damage to Mike's touring operation, i.e. his bottom line financially.

And as the bomber crews used to say in WW2, the flak gets heaviest when you're over the target.

But, but, but you got one fact wrong, therefore your entire argument must be thrown out!!!*




*According to the Great Historian who would have made a terrific defense lawyer.

[SMiLE Brian]

On Judge Judy!

[Zenobi]

Yes, just one fact wrong among 100 and you are labeled an "unreliable witness".
And, like someone around likes to say, "consider the source" (used to be "the sauce").

[Zenobi]

Returning to the music, I thiing there was yet another reason SMiLE was not only not completed in 1967, but was probably UNCOMPLETABLE: it had become a FRACTAL, where single parts of the whole had become as complex as the whole! And you can't complete a fractal, you can only keep zooming into it!
That was the result of the "modular approach" carried to the extreme: the modules had modules, which had modules...
To complete SMiLE in 2004, it was necessary to take a "snapshot" of a specific iteration of the fractal structure. So, BWPS is legitimately "SMiLE the snapshot", but not the same as "SMiLE the fractal".

Not sure I made sense...

[Wirestone]

It can be easy to recall that Brian was, for a good decade or so, a bigger name than the Beach Boys. In some ways, he was more commercial. If you look at the vibe around him in the mid-90s, then the way Imagination and the touring band were received, then the Pet Sounds live shows -- he was building a juggernaut. The shows were often bigger than the BBs, and he landed major label deals for all of his projects.

[juggler]

Returning to the music, I thiing there was yet another reason SMiLE was not only not completed in 1967, but was probably UNCOMPLETABLE: it had become a FRACTAL, where single parts of the whole had become as complex as the whole! And you can't complete a fractal, you can only keep zooming into it!
That was the result of the "modular approach" carried to the extreme: the modules had modules, which had modules...
To complete SMiLE in 2004, it was necessary to take a "snapshot" of a specific iteration of the fractal structure. So, BWPS is legitimately "SMiLE the snapshot", but not the same as "SMiLE the fractal".

Not sure I made sense...

I get your point, but I suspect that there's a fair amount of "hindsight bias" baked into that hypothesis.  In his '67-'68 conversations with Paul Williams, David Anderle said that Brian had cut enough instrumental tracks for Smile to make 2 or 3 albums.  That may or may not have been true, but consider the December 1966 12-track list submitted to Capitol (which though I know Brian disavowed decades later but other knowledgeable observers insist wouldn't have been accepted by Capitol unless the producer, Brian, had at least verbally signed off on it). We can look at that track list and point to more-or-less completed tracks for nearly everything except the elusive 2nd movement of Surf's Up and The Elements.  If Brian had forced the issue in the Spring of 1967 and corralled the group into completing vocals on those 12 tracks, we would have *a* Smile album, perhaps not the theoretical masterpiece album-to-end-all-albums Smile album that uniquely exists in each of our minds now, but to me it doesn't take a huge leap to think that *a* Smile album could have completed and released from the extant tracks if perhaps 40% more vocal work had been added in the spring.

[Zenobi]

Returning to the music, I thiing there was yet another reason SMiLE was not only not completed in 1967, but was probably UNCOMPLETABLE: it had become a FRACTAL, where single parts of the whole had become as complex as the whole! And you can't complete a fractal, you can only keep zooming into it!
That was the result of the "modular approach" carried to the extreme: the modules had modules, which had modules...
To complete SMiLE in 2004, it was necessary to take a "snapshot" of a specific iteration of the fractal structure. So, BWPS is legitimately "SMiLE the snapshot", but not the same as "SMiLE the fractal".

Not sure I made sense...

I get your point, but I suspect that there's a fair amount of "hindsight bias" baked into that hypothesis.  In his '67-'68 conversations with Paul Williams, David Anderle said that Brian had cut enough instrumental tracks for Smile to make 2 or 3 albums.  That may or may not have been true, but consider the December 1966 12-track list submitted to Capitol (which though I know Brian disavowed decades later but other knowledgeable observers insist wouldn't have been accepted by Capitol unless the producer, Brian, had at least verbally signed off on it). We can look at that track list and point to more-or-less completed tracks for nearly everything except the elusive 2nd movement of Surf's Up and The Elements.  If Brian had forced the issue in the Spring of 1967 and corralled the group into completing vocals on those 12 tracks, we would have *a* Smile album, perhaps not the theoretical masterpiece album-to-end-all-albums Smile album that uniquely exists in each of our minds now, but to me it doesn't take a huge leap to think that *a* Smile album could have completed and released from the extant tracks if perhaps 40% more vocal work had been added in the spring.

In a way, Brian DID take a "snapshot" of the SMiLE project, called Smiley Smile.
He could have taken, instead, a more "orthodox" 3/4 (or 4/5) snapshot, and called it "SMiLE". It would have been a perfectly legitimate SMiLE, and a wonderful album by any standard. Better than both Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper, imho.
But still, it would not have been the same as the "SMiLE fractal".

[Zenobi]

I think that the best definition of SMiLE ever is "the album too beautiful to ever be actually heard". Don't know who said that, just know that it was not myself.

But, it was exactly what I thought when I first listened to Disc 2 of the Good Vibrations box in 1993, and never changed idea about that. I am no revisionist, and don't spit on miracles.

[Wirestone]

I think that the best definition of SMiLE ever is "the album too beautiful to ever be actually heard". Don't know who said that, just know that it was not myself.

But, it was exactly what I thought when I first listened to Disc 2 of the Good Vibrations box in 1993, and never changed idea about that. I am no revisionist, and don't spit on miracles.

The Smile music on that box set practically levitates. It astonished me then and now.

The '93 set should be cast in gold somewhere. It's so good.

[Zenobi]

Right, and I add that Disc 3 amazed me, too. Had no idea that the Boys had made such wonderful music since 1967, too.

I had lost completely track of them in 1967, after Smiley Smile, with the lone exception of "I Can Hear Music". In Italy my only source of info, a magazine whimsically named "Ciao 2001" (which has been resurrected in 2023, after 25 years!), which was actually good but too biased toward British pop/rock, reported that Brian had gone crazy and the band had disbanded. In 1993, I found the GV box and immediately the Beach Boys were my fav musicians again.
Also the reason I am such a fan of Mike's: the music shop was playing the GV box, bless them, and I recognized at once Mike's bass voice, through a gulf of 25 years. Being a music-oriented fan, I forgive him all the lawsuits, even just for that bass voice.

Also, Disc 3 made me realize how great were all the Boys, particularly Dennis and Carl, besides being all sublime singers.

But those 30-odd minutes of SMiLE music... yes, "levitated" is the right word. Add the Good Vibrations sessions and I had already my 40-minutes SMiLE!

[guitarfool2002]

It can be easy to recall that Brian was, for a good decade or so, a bigger name than the Beach Boys. In some ways, he was more commercial. If you look at the vibe around him in the mid-90s, then the way Imagination and the touring band were received, then the Pet Sounds live shows -- he was building a juggernaut. The shows were often bigger than the BBs, and he landed major label deals for all of his projects.

I agree with that - In some ways it was having more "street cred" with younger audiences, aided by that period in the mid 90's when all kinds of alternative and indie artists were name-checking his music in interviews and in some cases wearing the BW musical influences on their collective sleeves. One of the bigger catalysts after the GV box set in '93 had been the Don Was documentary, even though it received a smaller release in theaters, it eventually was aired on the Disney Channel during a free preview weekend, and after that more people and fans had a chance to see it rather than read about it or drive a few hundred miles to a theater where it was showing. And like you said, it kept building from there. Smile was the culmination of that previous decade or so, where not only did the public profile build but also the band became tighter and tighter (not that they were not already fantastic on the first Imagination BW solo tour that I was fortunate to see), and they were primed and road-tested as a band to be able to tackle the Smile music with such skill. Having seen that Smile tour, there wasn't much (if anything) like that show on the road at that time, it was off the charts good. There were not many complaints about it if I recall, the only ones coming later from Mike. And as I said previously too, there was resentment there over being overshadowed and it came out in various comments. I think Brian's shows from that time also caused Mike to up his game as a live act.

[HeyJude]

It can be easy to recall that Brian was, for a good decade or so, a bigger name than the Beach Boys. In some ways, he was more commercial. If you look at the vibe around him in the mid-90s, then the way Imagination and the touring band were received, then the Pet Sounds live shows -- he was building a juggernaut. The shows were often bigger than the BBs, and he landed major label deals for all of his projects.

By some measures he remained a bigger name than the BBs *after* the 50th reunion. I think it was 2017 (give or take a year) where the published stats showed that he grossed more money that year than Mike's touring Beach Boys. That was the first time that had happened as far as I know; and was due to that being one of the only eras where Brian toured *that* much throughout a given year. Had he been touring that many dates per year earlier in his solo touring career, there probably would have been other years where he outgrossed Mike's licensed "Beach Boys."

[guitarfool2002]

It can be easy to recall that Brian was, for a good decade or so, a bigger name than the Beach Boys. In some ways, he was more commercial. If you look at the vibe around him in the mid-90s, then the way Imagination and the touring band were received, then the Pet Sounds live shows -- he was building a juggernaut. The shows were often bigger than the BBs, and he landed major label deals for all of his projects.

By some measures he remained a bigger name than the BBs *after* the 50th reunion. I think it was 2017 (give or take a year) where the published stats showed that he grossed more money that year than Mike's touring Beach Boys. That was the first time that had happened as far as I know; and was due to that being one of the only eras where Brian toured *that* much throughout a given year. Had he been touring that many dates per year earlier in his solo touring career, there probably would have been other years where he outgrossed Mike's licensed "Beach Boys."

It was Brian's 2017 tour that outgrossed Mike's Beach Boys tour according to Pollstar's end of year numbers. And I think you're right, if Brian's touring schedule had been what it was in 2017 on some of his earlier tours, he very well could have outperformed Mike's tours. All speculation of course but he did it in 2017.

[Zenobi]

The Mike band, with Scott Totten and John Cowsill, was great. The Brian band was even better... in fact, better than anyone else around. And let's not forget the Al band, excellent too.
Really am embarassment of riches.
What a great period.

And all it was made possible by one BRIAN WILSON.

Let's never forget this. Not speaking to the guys here, which of course don't forget. Elsewhere... I am not so sure.

[Zenobi]

There is a thread about SMiLE in the Beach Boys Today Forum. Much more balanced, overall, than the one in EHF.
I "confess" that I tried to register a membership in BBTF, but the site, uncannily, refuses to accept my perfect valid e-mail address. Only site which does that... but it's what is it.

[Don Malcolm]

Returning to the music, I thiing there was yet another reason SMiLE was not only not completed in 1967, but was probably UNCOMPLETABLE: it had become a FRACTAL, where single parts of the whole had become as complex as the whole! And you can't complete a fractal, you can only keep zooming into it!
That was the result of the "modular approach" carried to the extreme: the modules had modules, which had modules...
To complete SMiLE in 2004, it was necessary to take a "snapshot" of a specific iteration of the fractal structure. So, BWPS is legitimately "SMiLE the snapshot", but not the same as "SMiLE the fractal".

Not sure I made sense...

I think you made perfect sense. The fractal is what all those folks who make their own SMiLE mixes are hoping to capture (analogous to looking for water with a divining rod) and that's why it's still fascinating to access those efforts that are "lost and found [and] still remain there..." which allow the fractal to resonate against the "official snapshot" that Brian/Darian/VDP turned into BWPS. We should acknowledge it as Brian's final word on the subject, but we should continue to encourage those who continue to have the urge to tinker with the session tapes, because SMiLE contains multitudes that are still worth teasing out. While the modular approach ultimately proved highly problematic for Brian, the "remains" of SMiLE as found in the session tapes preserve an open-ended entry point for others to pursue the fractal in as many ways as possible.

I also think GF (I think it was GF...) was right in noting that the move away from the "production race" in late '67-early '68 was a big sea-change in the world of pop music, and was probably an additional death blow to Brian's (apparent) idea of returning to SMiLE after Smiley's release. Once the vogue for that type of music faded (more accurately, it shifted into a different form of art/prog rock, beginning with things like the Moody Blues and King Crimson), Brian might have resigned himself to the idea that the "moment" had simply been lost--which would explain the comments often made about SMiLE being "inappropriate"...