SMiLE book by David Leaf

[Dan Lega]

Somehow I got my copy of the new SMiLE book by David Leaf on Monday, and I finished reading it on Wednesday.

My thoughts?

The majority of the Endless Harmony board is not going to like it.

David Leaf doubles down and solidly presents the idea that push back from the Boys (and partly from Capitol) were the main reasons that Brian decided to abandon the project.

The section about SMiLE in '66/'67 has lots of new comments from Van Dyke Parks, Durrie Parks, and David Anderle, along with others.

My take on the book.  I think the '66/'67 "Beginning of SMiLE" and "Fall of SMiLE" sections are fascinating reading, and fall exactly into my thinking about how Brian loved SMiLE with all his heart and soul, but abandoned it because he didn't get the support he needed from The Boys.

The next section about the period from then up to the resurrection is good, too.

Then the "Resurrection of SMiLE" section keeps it going "wonderful-ly"!  It's very uplifting.  

However, this section does go on too long for my taste.  Halfway through, or so, it seems you just keep getting repeats of people saying the same thing in different ways.  It was still good reading, but probably could have been edited and still had the same impact.


<<< SPOILER ALERT >>>

Not big spoilers, though.  But I did want to warn you in case you didn't want specifics.

I'd forgotten, or never knew, how close Brian was to not getting on stage that first night of the premiere.  
It's probably in the documentary "Beautiful Dreamer," but I'd forgotten.

One of the most intriguing comments from Van Dyke Parks is him saying that when "Heroes and Villains" was released as a single that it was not at all what he was expecting!


<<<<  SPOILER OVER  >>>>


However, when Van Dyke says that one thing didn't go like he expected it to go, we don't get the follow-up question of, "Well, what did you expect it to be like?"

And that's my main disappointment with the book.  I had expectations, (apparently crazy expectations,) that it was going to be filled with questions and answers like that, that told more of what SMiLE exactly was like back in the day.  Yes, it apparently changed from day to day sometimes, but I wanted to hear details of that.  Questions like, was "Barnyard" and "Great Shape" part of "H&V" at one point?  And if so, where would they fit?

I was hoping we would get all kinds of minutia like that from Van Dyke and others.  I was hoping Darian had got an understanding of what Brian was thinking back in the day when they were resurrecting it.  And I was hoping for more details of how they went about putting it together in 2003.

Nevertheless, all that said, it was essentially great reading.  I haven't read a full book in only a few days for umpteen years!

And it was great to relive all the good vibes from the premiere of SMiLE in England!


(PS -- I am disappointed my missive of my memory of that night that I sent to David Leaf did not make it into the book.  I thought it quite good.  C'est la guerre!)

Love and merci,
Dan Lega

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Thanks for the review! Sounds good enough to me... I definitely want to read this.

[juggler]

Many thanks for posting a review, Dan. Sounds like a decent read but probably not something I'm going to decide to own and put on the shelf next to my vintage first-edition of Dom Priore's LLVsS.  My public library has a copy of the book on order, and I've put a "hold" on it when it arrives.    AS a 30+ year Smile aficionado, I kinda feel like we're long overdue some kind of game-changing Smile tidbit... like when the "Humble Harv" demo surfaced way back when.   But, alas, perhaps the well is truly dry at this point, and there will never again be any truly "new" Smile anything.... but still I dream of it...

[Dan Lega]

Aw, c'mon!  It really is an excellent read for the most part.  You should buy a copy for yourself just to further the notion that legitimate material on SMiLE and Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys will be supported by its fans!  On the "Tune X" podcast #25, with David Leaf as guest, David says he cherry-picked quotes to make the book.  He says he still has way more interview material he would like to release.  If this book is a success perhaps we'll be able to get more releases in this vein.


Love and merci,
Dan Lega

[Angela Jones]

Thanks so much for the review. I am due to get the book on Monday - even more impatient now.

I'm a completist! And I love books (though not much room for them I have so many).

I chose to opt out of the opportunity to detail my feelings at the SMiLE Live premiere in the RFH. After the show was different! Total strangers involved in profound conversation. It was hard to just go home!

Anything that reminds me of that occasion is a good thing.

Mojo informs us of several things we learn from the book- to mention just two:
''One bootleg version of SMiLE included a Miles Davis performance that many fans long thought was a Wilson composition.
'Before the fourth Royal Festival Hall show, Paul McCartney showed up at Wilson’s door, playing ukulele; he then prayed with the band.'

Both new to me. What is the Miles Davis performance referred to here? If I knew, I've forgotten!

[Angela Jones]

'The majority of the Endless Harmony board is not going to like it.'

You got that right!

I don't post there - AGD and I are not the best of friends! - and though my sister and I did post for awhile, when she got into an argument and decided to leave, and he responded with 'Result!' I gave up too.

I checked it out though. They really don't like the idea that 'the Boys' had anything to do with the non release of SMiLE.....

[bossaroo]

the Miles Davis song is "Here Come de Honey Man" a Gershwin tune from his Porgy & Bess album: https://youtu.be/q8gZ7QBGyMI

one of several dubbed cassette SMiLE boots I owned did indeed include the Miles song and I had no reason to believe it wasn't part of the sessions, til I heard P&B a few years later.

it's a short repetitive piece, dreamy and lovely, so it does kind of fit but I'd be interested to know how it ever got included on a SMiLE boot.

[Dan Lega]

I think I heard the Gershwin tune got included so that if the tape ever became widely distributed (e.g., bootlegged) then the provider of the tape would know the person he gave it to, and thus could make sure he never gave any other "illegal goods" to that person.  But that makes me wonder, does that mean other people may have received early SMiLE outtake cassettes with different non-SMiLE songs?  If so, I wonder what they were!

And, Angela, the book does a great job of bringing back feelings from the premiere!  I'm sure you'll love it as much as I did!

(And, yeah, Andrew used to mostly be a curmudgeon with a bit of charm.  But now he's turned into the KGB of Beach Boys history!  If you don't agree with his interpretation of things he will try to tear you down.  I got into an argument about SMiLE over at that board last year.  It was not pretty.  And the discussion of the David Leaf book, which has morphed into a discussion of Loren Daro, the first person to give Brian LSD, is eliciting the same attacks.  He calls himself a historian, yet it seems that if someone gets one fact wrong, then EVERYTHING that person says can't be trusted.  Of course, this standard only applies to folks who spout a different version of history than the one he wants to believe.)

[Angela Jones]

the Miles Davis song is "Here Come de Honey Man" a Gershwin tune from his Porgy & Bess album: https://youtu.be/q8gZ7QBGyMI

one of several dubbed cassette SMiLE boots I owned did indeed include the Miles song and I had no reason to believe it wasn't part of the sessions, til I heard P&B a few years later.

it's a short repetitive piece, dreamy and lovely, so it does kind of fit but I'd be interested to know how it ever got included on a SMiLE boot.

Thanks! I thought that would be it TBH. I love it and I can see that it kind of fits! I've got so much SMiLE stuff i lose track of it. We may have had to wait years for Brian to complete it but so many others did their own assemblages. And the mosaic aspects of SMiLE make it very easy to do various versions.

[Angela Jones]

I think I heard the Gershwin tune got included so that if the tape ever became widely distributed (e.g., bootlegged) then the provider of the tape would know the person he gave it to, and thus could make sure he never gave any other "illegal goods" to that person.  But that makes me wonder, does that mean other people may have received early SMiLE outtake cassettes with different non-SMiLE songs?  If so, I wonder what they were!

And, Angela, the book does a great job of bringing back feelings from the premiere!  I'm sure you'll love it as much as I did!

(And, yeah, Andrew used to mostly be a curmudgeon with a bit of charm.  But now he's turned into the KGB of Beach Boys history!  If you don't agree with his interpretation of things he will try to tear you down.  I got into an argument about SMiLE over at that board last year.  It was not pretty.  And the discussion of the David Leaf book, which has morphed into a discussion of Loren Daro, the first person to give Brian LSD, is eliciting the same attacks.  He calls himself a historian, yet it seems that if someone gets one fact wrong, then EVERYTHING that person says can't be trusted.  Of course, this standard only applies to folks who spout a different version of history than the one he wants to believe.)

I've read several of your comments and agree with all of them and had I been able to post on 'Endless Harmony' (if ever there was a misnomer lol!) I'd have said so and no doubt annoyed AGD again! The LSD thing - yes, it can be harmful, though they knew less of that at the time, but I was just recently listening to an interview done by Brian in 1968, long after SMiLE had been shelved. Brian was totally with it, clear, talkative. Brian became damaged later on and I think being artistically derailed had something to do with that. There are those who are so anxious to deny that other members of the band had any responsibility for the shelving of SMiLE that they prefer to try to blame the drugs. Bottom line is, it was mainly because of Mike that the collaborator, Van Dyke Parks, walked away. I've had so many arguments with Andrew over the years, though of course I accept he knows lots of the facts. I make mistakes and so does he.

Like all of us, Brian has said different things at different times. But Brian has CLEARLY stated the reasons for SMiLE's non-release, that Mike didn't like it, that he was anxious it was too experimental, that the Fire Music freaked him out. And yet when he finally recorded that music, it got him his first Grammy. A phoenix arising from the ashes.

I should get the book on Monday. Really looking forward to it.

[Don Malcolm]

From what David has said parenthetically in several of his interviews is that some of the UK folks were included in the "anthology" section of the book.

Whether that will temper any of the criticism that David will likely endure for continuing to present SMiLE as a partial mutiny by the rest of the band is hard to predict.

I have the book ordered and look forward to reading it. I'm not surprised, however, that additional details about the 1967 phase of SMiLE are sparse. And that is an area where the EH folks are quite likely to linger over at some great length.

As I see it, the part of the story that we still need to know centers around the details of the decision to "reboot" from SMiLE to Smiley Smile and the understanding within the group that must have been in place regarding what Brian would do once Smiley was completed. It seems that it took a bit longer to get Smiley out into the marketplace than was usually the case for the band's LPs; Pet Sounds came out just under a month after its final reassembly (per the entries at Bellagio); Smiley took two months to reach stores (mid-September) after being mastered on July 20th (again, per Bellagio). It appears that Brian planned to transition the group into a new direction (what became the Wild Honey LP) and resume a new round of outside productions (Redwood). But the drubbing that Smiley Smile took in the press and in the marketplace created so much consternation that it utterly upended things. What remains unconfirmed/unspoken is that a Brian "solo Smile" was part of an agreement to launch the Brother/Capitol label, as alluded to by Brad Elliot based on the Karl Engemann memo from late September. That was all disappeared in short order after the "Redwood intervention," which David refers to as Brian's Rubicon of "de-involvement" with music.

But it doesn't seem to be quite that cut-and-dried, though it certainly must contain a large dollop of truth. It appears that Brian's response was to write more songs for what became the Wild Honey LP--tracks that appear to have been composed in the time after the Redwood confrontation (checking the listed dates at Bellagio). Sales results for Wild Honey were an encouraging improvement, with "Darlin'" proving that the intervenors were right: it was a Top 20 hit and provided encouragement that the band could regain their footing.

Lost in that appears to be the idea that Brian could have solo projects, which is the main emphasis of David's approach to those times (without any actual blow-by-blow elaborations beyond the "Redwood intervention"). How Brian resigned himself to this and continued to churn out music is a bit hard to fathom; but that's what he did, with a flurry of work from February-April 1968.

But note that the Friends LP has a strange "release path" similar to Smiley: two months elapse between its mastering and its release, which suggests a time of turmoil and uncertainty. And there was a great deal of turmoil in play, with the disastrous "Maharishi tour" occurring just after the release of the "Friends" single in April (which barely cracked the Top 50), spawning an "emergency return to the beach" with the one-off "Do It Again" (recorded as part of another flurry of activity in June). That song helped to fend off the total disaster of the Friends LP utterly tanking in the charts, but it appears to have cemented a kind of rift between Brian and the band over the fact that his approach to effecting the band's recovery hadn't worked.

And it seems that Brian made one more effort to transcend all that with "Can't Wait Too Long," looking to make it into a "mega-single" in a vein similar/analogous to "Good Vibrations." Late July was devoted to one more attempt to get it right, replete with modular-type assembly. It seems to have resulted in the same type of anti-climactic uncertainty that plagued "Heroes & Villains in early '67. And it appears to be a flashpoint for Brian's depression and withdrawal--ironically occurring in tandem with the operational completion of the home studio at Bellagio, which brought the band into an odd proximity with Brian as he became only a fitful participant in the band's creative efforts over the next four years (before Marilyn had the studio dismantled).

With a Brother Records lifeline for solo projects reneged on and deactivated, and the subsequent resurrection of SMiLE tracks by the band, Brian's response to such a bitter irony--to withdraw and wave away any/all questions regarding it--can be seen as the actions of a man retreating on a path to avoid total self-destruction. It fed what became a growing drug habit, which treated the symptoms but held no promise for a cure--and the rest of the story is told with eloquence and empathy by David, an effort that, thanks to sensitive perseverance and ongoing support, ultimately paid off.

Since much of what is outlined above is not central to the SMiLE saga, I figure David didn't see fit to incorporate any details that could confirm, correct or refute the above speculation. Clearly some of the above would be seen as "dirty laundry" and has been kept purposefully vague over the intervening years; but it seems to me to be a plausible set of basic details that give us an outline of the internecine events within the band in the immediate aftermath of the SMiLE era. Of course, your mileage may vary...

[Angela Jones]

Thank you. A very interesting assessment of the situation and I'd agree that it was the reaction to his efforts that had a cumulative effect on Brian, rather than just a reaction to his first experience of LSD as some are trying to suggest.

I first became a fan in 1969 but before I had even done so the first Beach Boys song I really loved was Heroes and Villains. I could never - and still can't - understand the reaction to it. Some were so diappointed that Brian's love song to California had reached the last verse perhaps. I loved it from the first time I heard it and still do.

[Don Malcolm]

Thanks, Angela. H&V is a great track; it suffered so much because it had to follow GV. I tend to think that the relative moodiness of its chorus might have worked against it for the radio listener--it just seems that the mood switch in GV adds to the song's overall impact, while H&V somehow turns more cerebral than emotional. That doesn't diminish its overall quality, but it seems paler than GV and that probably kept it from making the Top 10.

Also--kudos to Dan Lega for going toe-to-toe with several of the "kahunas" over at EH (which I like to call "the too-near faraway place.")   Of course that does something of a disservice to a number of fine folks who post there, but the parallel thread about David's new book turned predictably turgid once one particular name cropped up in the conversation. As expected, AGD (who appears in the book) was milder than was previously the case with David, but he and the "Beach Girl" both manifested major mouth-foam once Lorren Daro's name surfaced. I was in the middle of that notorious thread here when Daro appeared; he made the mistake of being provocatively negative about Mike and Marilyn, and the resulting furor from those two was truly appalling. And nearly fifteen years later they are still at it, literally beating a dead horse. Good on you, Dan, for giving much better than you got with both of them. It's especially a shame with AGD, he's done such a lot of good work--but that strange darkness in his soul is just in there waiting for the "right" trigger...

Many other good posts in the thread, including several from Will JC, but it was inevitable that the thread would get bogged down by these overblown (and irrelevant) vendettas.

[Angela Jones]

Of course I'd heard GV often but it was before I'd actually become a fan, as was H&V. H&V just appealed immediately. I didn't have a reasoned response to it - perhaps a case of  presque vu ('the intense feeling of being on the very brink of a powerful epiphany'). I got there eventually lol!

Indeed, kudos to Dan Lega. I'd have joined in but my sojourn on endless harmony was not a happy experience. I love your 'too-near-faraway-place'.  And, yes, some of those who post there are nice people.  AGD called my sister, friend (who used to post on the Blueboard as Starry) and me 'the three witches' so I wouldn't include him in that number though of course he knows a lot about the history. AGD was surprisingly restrained - I'm guessing he is trying not to engage much on the subject of David's book, other than to let us know he already has a copy. Had Brian's brain been fried after his first LSD experience perhaps they'd have had a point but Brian's descent into a bad period took longer than that, was far more gradual.

I should get the book tomorrow. The press release mentioned how Here Come De Honey man was included in the Vigotone SMiLE and people assumed it was written by Brian. Unsurprising really as it is Gershwin. Someone posted that the guy who'd done this had deliberately done it to find who was leaking his stuff. I'm sorry - probably you know this already. If I did, I'd forgotten.

Thanks very much for your interesting reply!

[Angela Jones]

I haven't finished this book yet of course but so far I'm inclined to think that this is David's hat trick - the third and best of the books he has written about Brian Wilson (and the Beach Boys). I parenthesise because Brian Wilson is the main subject here. Of course the other Beach Boys feature in the story, as do many other people. The fact that he includes so many opinions strengthens it rather than the reverse.
It might bore some of the professional reviewers to read the views of the Brianistas but for most of us some of these are our friends or known to us through various message boards, including this one. I've already read and re-read (several times) some of those comments. And it brings back the wonderful premiere of this work so vividly it almost hurts!
I didn't cry during SMiLE though I felt pretty choked at the end. I couldn't cry. I had stars in my eyes. Figuratively but I suppose literally too insofar as I was watching a brilliant band perform a legendary almost mythical work. And I was watching a man whose music formed a sound track for a large part of my life facing up to one of his greatest challenges.

Howie Edelson called this book David's love letter to Brian and SMiLE. This really 'gets' it IMO.

[Dan Lega]

Angela, thank you!  After reading the book I was beginning to believe I was the only one who didn't cry at the SMiLE premiere!   

At least I don't remember crying.  From what I remember I was chock full of elation!  Of wonderment!  Of, "Wow, that really just happened... and... it was glorious!  We finally got SMiLE!"

And thank you and Don for your kind words.  And I'm so glad you enjoyed the book, Angela!

[Angela Jones]

Thank you too Dan! I really enjoyed your review (and your spirited and IMO successful defence of your views on endless harmony).

I'm enjoying David's book more than his first two about Brian, some parts of which were seriously stressful because of what Brian was going through. And this book does what Brian himself did with SMiLE - it focuses on detail as a way of getting a very faceted bigger picture.

It really is a love letter to Brian and SMiLE and one to which I'm glad to be a signatory! I'd forgotten that (though I chose not to add my views at the premiere -  I might have done had they asked for them after the show rather than before! ) because David had invited comment on Facebook, I'd added mine. Must quote Lord Byron ''Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print. A book's a book, although there's nothing in 't.' Except of course there is lots in David's book!

[Angela Jones]

I can't help but notice the comments on another message board about the book and particularly about the effects of LSD on Brian. They always quote "It tore my head off.." without pointing out that the rest of this quote includes: ""You just come to grips with what you are, what you can do [and] can't do, and learn to face it."
This is surely about 'Hang on to Your Ego' and Brian's struggle with ego death. A I overview: 'it specifically addresses the potential dangers of losing one's identity or ego while seeking altered states of consciousness through psychedelic drugs. The lyrics urge listeners to hold onto their sense of self, even though they may be tempted to let go of their ego in the pursuit of enlightenment or escape.' Hence ' 'it just tore my head off'.

In a Guardian interview: ''When I ask him if he has any regrets, he answers quickly, 'Only one - taking LSD. It really fouled up my mind.''

In the same interview: 'Tony Asher, Brian's co-writer at the time, stomped out of the studio in frustration, after he heard the others sniggering between takes, and asking: 'Why are we recording these stupid songs?' Mike Love, who clung most strongly to the old ideal of the formulaic pop song, called it 'Brian's ego music' and described some of the lyrics as 'nauseating'.' This was at the time of Pet Sounds of course but SMiLE was far more avant garde than that album. So anyone who uses the first quote has to accept that the same interview gives evidence tht ssuggests the attitude of the other band members - some of them, at least - may have impacted on Brian too.

I checked out some stuff comparing psychedelics and meditative techniques:

''Research [53] indicates that classic hallucinogens can evoke profound states of unity, described as experiences of interconnectedness and oneness with all phenomena, akin to deep meditative states. Such states of unity involve ego dissolution, which refers to a fading or elimination of the individual's normal sense of self, blurring the habitual boundaries between self and other and fostering an encompassing feeling of wholeness and integration with the surrounding environment.' Mindfulness meditation and psychedlics. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10661803/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJozH1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHry0gthD7vITxUfS7Ofo2aMs4nax0udSSWXWDu6rahuaYxnJx-BwsdhCll_o_aem_1Qhz4M4snA-A216HYtCJxA

Some of those who claim LSD was responsible for the shelving of SMiLE actually prefer Smiley Smile. It has an odd charm but IMO it sounds far more substance infuenced than SMiLE does!

[Dan Lega]

Great quotes!  Yeah, the other board really likes to cherry pick their quotes to fit their agenda.  They promote themselves as the ultimate Beach Boys historians, yet they completely dismiss anything that conflicts with their agenda.  That's one sad excuse for a "historical society."

[Angela Jones]

You have my heartfelt compliments for arguing your side of it so well. It's particularly a great point that LSD wasn't illegal when Brian first took it! 

There are some good people on that message board but some with whom I completely disagree hence my leaving it. I think anyone who is interested in Brian (and the Beach Boys for that matter) would surely learn things from David's new book  but some want to have their opinions unchallenged.

[Mooger Fooger]

A question for all of you who have read the book. Does it delve at all into the high level of anticipation on the discussion board, as all those of us who couldn't go to the premiere waited for first breaking news of how it was?

[Angela Jones]

A question for all of you who have read the book. Does it delve at all into the high level of anticipation on the discussion board, as all those of us who couldn't go to the premiere waited for first breaking news of how it was?

It certainly mentions the anticipation although not going into a lot ofdetails about the message boards. In my review I certainly mentioned that whilst I could understand professional reviewers might consider the 'Brianista' comments  less important, because so many of us knew one another personally or from the message boards, this is an interesting part of the story for them.

One thing that was not mentioned was Project SMiLE. That was such a great resource! I remember the SMiLE ring tones you could download. Made it impossible to answer the phone though - you just wanted to listen to the ring tones!

[Don Malcolm]

You have my heartfelt compliments for arguing your side of it so well. It's particularly a great point that LSD wasn't illegal when Brian first took it! 

I recommend Michael Pollan's book HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND for an excellent history of LSD's origins and how the controversy about it "mushroomed" (pun partially intended...) in the sixties. The resurgence of research into therapeutic and other salutary uses of psychoactive drugs seems to have eluded the brain pans of the two ringleaders at the "too near faraway place" as they twist Brian's LSD usage into a strange variant of Mike Love's ongoing mantra of "Wilsonian decadence." Many concrete examples of the new frontiers in "psychedelic research" are discussed in this expansive work by a highly accomplished writer and professor who also chronicles his own recent explorations into psychoactive drugs.

I think it's clear that LSD unleashed things in Brian that accelerated his creativity. Without it we would most likely not have Pet Sounds or SMiLE. (Of course so many things had to align in order to bring SMiLE back to us, which is something that we can credit to David's steadfast friendship with Brian, which clearly assisted Brian to make the wrenching decision to rescue the whole of the project from its strange "meta-oblivion." All the other drugs that Brian used for self-medication, and the ones callously imposed upon him by Gene Landy, were far more destructive than his LSD use.

I hope to finally receive my copy of the SMiLE book tomorrow, and am really looking forward to reading it... 

[Dan Lega]

Thanks for letting us know about Michael Pollan's book.  But, yeah, if something doesn't fit with the other board's agenda they just pretend it doesn't exist or dismiss as the ravings of a lunatic and/or a liar.

[Angela Jones]

Thanks so much for the recommendation Don. I will check that out!

Since reading David's book,  I found myself dreaming about the word 'koan' and I remembered it had a SMiLE significance.

"To produce the sudden insight called satori, many Zen Buddhists in Japan contemplate a "mind-murdering" form of riddle called the koan. (What is the sound of one hand clapping? What was your original face before you were born?) These riddles of course defy logic, and that is just what they are supposed to do; they are designed to break down the rational intellect, just as LSD does, and thus provide the student with a new viewpoint."~William Braden, The Private Sea, pub. 1967. (pgs. 48-49.)
'SMiLE was to be a koan, the picture-perfect platter for "the summer of love."

'Consider the following comments regarding the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's (the album which ended up taking top honors that summer);
"...it would be silly to pretend that Sergeant Pepper wasn't fundamentally shaped by LSD. The album's sound - in particular its use of various forms of echo and reverb - remains the most authentic aural simulation of the psychedelic experience ever created. At the same time, something else dwells in it: a distillation of the spirit of 1967 as it was felt by vast numbers across the Western world who had never taken drugs in their lives. If such a thing as a cultural 'contact high' is possible, it happened here. Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band may not have created the psychic atmosphere of the time but, as a near-perfect reflection of it, this famous record magnified and radiated it around the world."~Ian MacDonald, Revolution In The Head: The Beatles' Records And The Sixties, (pg. 199.)
'To an even greater extent than Sgt. Pepper's, the koan SMiLE was to have intentionally radiated and transmitted the spirit of those times. SMiLE was meant to do what Sgt. Pepper's happened to do.' https://www.goodhumorsmile.com/page01.htm?fbclid=IwY2xjawJq_VpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHiOlgehC3DDhSCVPzPAXyJ4s8uDP4eaLVj2RV_1_GL0dWVR6MkcWmnl4_5rW_aem_wRafdHeIBg5YCEkOtAaZWw