SMiLE book by David Leaf

[juggler]

I thought that Brian wasn't allowed to use the original SMiLE cover for BWPS but I don't remember the details.

The story that was told on one or another of the fora 20 years ago is that, Brian's graphic artist in residence Mark London initially worked with Frank on some pre-concert posters and other promo materials  But at some point, as the story goes, Brian's "people" asked Frank how much $ he wanted for the rights to all of his Smile-related art (i.e., Smile shop, booklet illustrations, '90s updates).  Frank started asking questions about how his art would be used, merchandising, derivative uses, anticipated quantities, etc., and the response was along the lines of "Never mind all that. How much $ do you want?!"  And Frank's response again was, "How can I say when I have no idea what you're planning on your end?"   And again, Brian's "people" came back with another response like,  "What part of 'never mind all that' did you not understand?  HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT?!"   And then Frank said, "Fine," and proffered a number.  To which Brian's "people" said the number was ridiculous and told Frank to pound sand.

I've never particularly cared for Mark London's take on Smile, but clearly David Leaf disagrees and used it for this new book.  But the silver liniing is, as noted above by Don Malcolm, Frank's artwork was gloriously used and celebrated in the 2011 Smile Sessions releases. And of course will also be available for Capitol  for any future Smile packages.   If Frank's work had been used by solo Brian in 2004, that likely would not have been the case, so all's well that ends well in that regard.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

David Leaf posted this on Facebook:

---

This coming Monday night at UCLA (May 12),  three members of the Brian Wilson band (Darian Sahanaja, Probyn Gregory, and Nelson Bragg) will be joining me and co-host Denny Tedesco on stage at UCLA's Lani Hall to celebrate the release of my new book, "SMiLE: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson."

**There will be SMiLE music performed.**  Denny (the director of "The Wrecking Crew" and "The Immediate Family) will grill me about the book and Brian's bandmates will look back on the artistic miracle that was Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE.

If you are nearby and can come, RSVP to me here on Facebook via a direct message. 
Don't wait. Space is limited.

P.S.---If you come, parking structure #2 is closest to the music school.

---

[Don Malcolm]

I thought that Brian wasn't allowed to use the original SMiLE cover for BWPS but I don't remember the details.

The story that was told on one or another of the fora 20 years ago is that, Brian's graphic artist in residence Mark London initially worked with Frank on some pre-concert posters and other promo materials  But at some point, as the story goes, Brian's "people" asked Frank how much $ he wanted for the rights to all of his Smile-related art (i.e., Smile shop, booklet illustrations, '90s updates).  Frank started asking questions about how his art would be used, merchandising, derivative uses, anticipated quantities, etc., and the response was along the lines of "Never mind all that. How much $ do you want?!"  And Frank's response again was, "How can I say when I have no idea what you're planning on your end?"   And again, Brian's "people" came back with another response like,  "What part of 'never mind all that' did you not understand?  HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT?!"   And then Frank said, "Fine," and proffered a number.  To which Brian's "people" said the number was ridiculous and told Frank to pound sand.

I've never particularly cared for Mark London's take on Smile, but clearly David Leaf disagrees and used it for this new book.  But the silver lining is, as noted above by Don Malcolm, Frank's artwork was gloriously used and celebrated in the 2011 Smile Sessions releases. And of course will also be available for Capitol for any future Smile packages.   If Frank's work had been used by solo Brian in 2004, that likely would not have been the case, so all's well that ends well in that regard.

Thanks for the reminder about that, juggler--and while it sounds like the team behind Brian at that time was somewhat more cutthroat than we might have expected, I think it was best that Frank's work remain rooted to its own time and its original raison d'etre. Its pride of place in THE SMILE SESSIONS is most appropriate, and while BWPS is a fantastic reconciliation of the missing pieces and ancillary bric-a-brac of the set-aside sixties SMiLE, it makes sense that Frank's work appear in the context of that "gorgeous wreckage" that is captured in the box set. It also embodies the spirit of all those folk who've created their own version of SMiLE, a "what-if" that should not be mooted by the latter-day efforts of Brian, Van Dyke and Darian.

Got the Leaf book yesterday & quickly looked over the treatment of the 66-67 SMiLE era. One thing stood out to me, the lack of important LSD related content.

LSD was pretty much talked about on just two pages, 13 & 14. The famous Brian quote to Tom Nolan about LSD was there, but missing was its connection to the then titled Dumb Angel album. Brian told Nolan, "I think pop music is going to be spiritual....that's the direction I want to go." And Brian's LSD comment explained what had inspired his new spiritual direction.

IMHO SMiLE's raison d'etre isn't given nearly enough attention.

Leaf asks, "How much LSD did Brian take in his life?" No answer is given. But there is an answer and it was given during a Larry King interview with Brian and Melinda. Melinda is talking about Brian & conversations with his doctor and drug use in the Sixties & Melinda states Brian went on 3 trips. Coincidently the Todd Gold bio mentions only 3 trips. The bio also details what occurred during the trips.

Leaf notes Brian's contradictory statements regarding the effect LSD had on him. But if the Gold bio was consulted one would know that Brian had two bad trips & one phenomenal trip. Brian's responses reflect the variety of his experiences.

One thing I learned & liked from the book was that Van Dyke mentioned Brian's sense of farce. Parks was talking about "Heroes And Villains" and states, "And I didn't mind as we got into it his sense of farce, because...anything that Brian was interested in, even farce, was great."

Thanks, Bill. The question remains just what parts of the Todd Gold bio are legit and what is distorted and stage-managed by Landy. That said, I think its material related to SMiLE has mostly held up well in retrospect. And Brian's LSD trips are absolutely essential to the story of SMiLE--the nature of its inspiration and the pitfalls that befell it when Brian let darkness enter into the music (as Van Dyke notes in his thoughts about "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" as presented on pp. 67-68 in David's book). There is an elegiac sadness swirling through "Surf's Up," but there was redemption and reconciliation that transformed it in its denouement; on the other hand, "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" could be seen as a musical embodiment of one of those two more harrowing acid trips that Brian experienced.

In 2004, the "triumvirate" found a path through the siren call of that track and how an "elements suite" could then credibly emerge, but in 1967 Brian couldn't find a way to do so--and, as Van Dyke notes, an abstract instrumental locked out the lyricist, adding a component that cut against the grain of the previous collaboration. A sizable portion of the "Heroes & Villains" efforts in February and March involved instrumental segments, somehow diminishing the impact of the song even as it became more elaborate. The recording process in February became an increasingly sinister labyrinth, a replication of one of those moments in an acid trip where impediments keep reappearing in different shapes as the "acid voyager" makes multiple attempts to break through: the harder one tries, the more the impediments shape-shift into a new blockage.

Does that mean that I now think that those who claim LSD shattered SMiLE are right? No. Negativity in the form of escalating pressure and anxiety (as captured in David's chapter entitled "Don't F*** with the Formula", pp. 69-90) was what did it in. Brian did not suffer an actual "acid flashback" at that moment in time; rather he suffered an emotional concussion from ramming  his head against the wall in his attempt to piece things together, ultimately becoming so creatively disoriented that he had to set it all aside and start over. Whatever discussions/decisions ensued in late May once the band was back home again, they coalesced into a brisk recording process that resulted in SMILEY SMILE, but that seems somehow to leave the door open for some version of SMiLE, perhaps as the "solo project" that would ostensibly be available as potential releases for "Brother/Capitol"--a situation that would evolve into place shortly after recording for SMILEY was complete. Then things got tricky again: the SMILEY version of "Heroes & Villains" did not have much staying power, and it's clear that anxiety reemerged once SMILEY became such a bewildering item upon its release. (Cue "the Redwood incident"...it seems that much of the rationale behind Brother Records was sidetracked in 1968-69  asan ongoing shell game commenced in an increasingly elusive attempt to recover the career momentum that had seemed so monumental in December 1966.)

Ironically, Mike Love's fascination with TM came too late to be useful in generating a more accepting perspective on Brian's creative evolution. The backlash against LSD as a dangerous drug was ramping up in the exact time frame that SMiLE was conceived, and it wouldn't be until 30-40 years later that researchers resuming the study of properties of psychoactive substances would discover a connection between them and chemical states and neural processes induced in the brain via meditation. Mike's continuing screed against the "acid alliteration" of SMiLE's lyrics seems to stem from an archaic stereotype concerning "psychedelics" that gained mass acceptance due to the backlash underway at the time, and he seems to cling to that characterization to this day--a viewpoint we see reflected in assertions made by some that LSD was the sole cause of Brian's auditory hallucinations. I think it's too late for Mike to change his mind about that, but it's not too late for the rest of us to see how so many things collided in order to leave SMiLE in limbo for so long...

[guitarfool2002]

If you are able to dig deeper and find the primary sources from especially 1966-67, this "backlash" against LSD was an orchestrated effort by elements of the federal government that saw a staggering amount of so-called news stories and articles being planted in the US media/news/journalism machine and published regularly, designed in many cases as a scare tactic if not a way to justify whatever efforts the government was undertaking regarding LSD...and the big irony is how this same government was actively using LSD in its own experiments, which included dosing unsuspecting citizens with the drug. And the letters CIA are very prominent in these efforts.

But I digress.

I will say that a browse through a paper like the LA Times in 1966 can be stunning to see just how many columns were devoted to LSD, including one outright public profile of Augustus Stanley Owsley in the pages of the LA Times which mentioned how much cash he and his partner(s) were bringing in from the sale of his compounding of the drug. How this ever made the pages of the Times is still incredible to consider, but there it was.

And connected closer to the Beach Boys' universe, Capitol Records even issued an LSD album in Summer 1966, which featured among others Timothy Leary and interviews with people under the influence of LSD. Search for it on any online auction site or record selling site and you'll find it.

The point being, it was a larger part of the public discussion especially in 1966 and especially in and around Los Angeles than I think many people realize. And there were some pretty deep and dark efforts inside the intelligence community and the more secretive departments within the US government centered around LSD and ironically the efforts to make LSD a "boogeyman" and an "evil drug" while the same government was running trials and tests on the drug, sometimes using unwitting and unknowing citizens as subjects.

Wild stuff - worth investigating. And I'd recommend reading "Chaos" by Tom O'Neill for more on these topics, bringing the Manson story into this same web of events.


As far as blaming LSD for the Smile events and for other things surrounding Brian Wilson's health and well-being? I'll give my opinion again, and call it a red herring, and if anything it was a small factor out of many, MANY other factors swirling around the group and its business and personal affairs in 1966-67. I think a more pointed answer and/or factor in all of that could be found in the events of May and June 1967 and what happened within the band's dynamic during that specific time, but I'm repeating myself again.

But I guess repeating one's self isn't a bad thing especially when others are still repeating something that isn't true ad nauseam with no signs of stopping and more signs of doubling down on those opinions (and calling them 'facts' or suggesting it should be part of an official history).

[Angela Jones]

Thanks to juggler, Don Malcolm and guitarfool. Such interesting comments.

I'm inclined to agree with the comment that LSD was a red herring and not the main reason for SMiLE's abandonment. A convenient excuse which meant Brian could be held responsible. Got others off the hook.

I've been reading some quotes of Brian's. He claimed he'd erased Fire and the article giving these quotes stated that ''A recording of the original version of "Fire" has never been found, perhaps for the best.' But it was easy to find this, recorded November 28th 1966. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z07Ngr_Ve4  So the claim that Brian's words prove he was crazy on drugs has to be balanced by the fact that what he was saying was not NECESSARILY true.  https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Elements:_Fire

[guitarfool2002]

Thanks to juggler, Don Malcolm and guitarfool. Such interesting comments.

I'm inclined to agree with the comment that LSD was a red herring and not the main reason for SMiLE's abandonment. A convenient excuse which meant Brian could be held responsible. Got others off the hook.

I've been reading some quotes of Brian's. He claimed he'd erased Fire and the article giving these quotes stated that ''A recording of the original version of "Fire" has never been found, perhaps for the best.' But it was easy to find this, recorded November 28th 1966. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z07Ngr_Ve4  So the claim that Brian's words prove he was crazy on drugs has to be balanced by the fact that what he was saying was not NECESSARILY true.  https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Elements:_Fire

It's one of the bigger red herrings in the whole saga and subsequent discussions about why Smile didn't happen in 1967 and everything else, and I agree that the "Brian was too zonked out on drugs to finish it" is a convenient narrative to absolve others involved of any responsibility for both actions and consequences that followed. It also sweeps under the proverbial carpet a litany of other internal and external factors that were at play in 1967.

Again people are allowed to have opinions about the what's and the why's behind all this, but the line needs to be drawn if and when there are efforts to create any kind of "official" history of the band and this chapter of the story in particular. The "Brian was zonked on drugs" narrative has already made it into several mainstream tellings of the story, and it shouldn't be allowed to be the main focus of future tellings beyond half-baked TV movies and YouTube "chats" with various talking heads.

Just try this as an example: Listen to whatever Smile studio sessions are available on the official releases, or if you have them the "unreleased" sessions, and listen to Brian working in the studio on the Smile music. Does it sound like a musician who is zonked out on dope and unsure of what he's doing, or does it sound like a musician in full control of the sessions who knows what he wants in that music? If you don't hear the latter, maybe you're not listening.

As far as the various myths and legends surrounding the "Fire" tapes: Would that be the first time an issue has either been deflected or outright told incorrectly within this band's history? Years ago I posted a bunch of articles and interviews here from 1967 up into the 70's where Carl Wilson among others said - on the record - that Smile was finished, completed, whatever the word he used. Was Carl lying outright when he said that, was he deflecting, or was he speaking the truth as he knew it at any given moment in time? Run that one through the machine and see how the results come out. And that's just two blatant examples: The Fire tapes were destroyed, and Smile was finished, statements coming from two Wilson brothers as close to the music as anyone else in and around the band at those times the comments were made and published.

An aside: I've always entertained the possibility that Brian did indeed burn some version of the Fire tapes, whether it was a 1/4 inch tape dub or mixdown, or something similar...maybe in a jokingly ceremonial way similar to him wanting to start a bar fight and record it or doing those Johnny Carson "Tonight Show" parodies using his Sony Porta-Pak videorecorder and camera with people like Van Dyke and Vosse being the guests. (Oh to have those tapes...but I digress). Just get a fire started in a burn barrel in his backyard and throw the Fire tapes into it like an old ceremonial thing, while the actual master multitracks and other dubdowns were safe in the vaults somewhere, and which eventually found their way to bootlegs and leaked cassettes given to researchers back in the day. Both could be true: He "burned" the Fire tapes and the source tapes and masters still existed, as we know was the case. Who knows - just speculation. 

There could be more on the LSD story and history, I'd seriously recommend looking into that more because it's a fascinating topic and one which touches on a lot of the mythology of the 1960's. Worth the time for anyone interested in the history and especially the untold history bubbling under all the textbooks and TV documentaries.

And to wrap it up, I'm glad a newly published book is getting into the topic of "drugs killed Smile" and at least trying to push back or refute the notion that the drugs were a main reason, if not the main reason, the project didn't happen as planned in 1967. Keep up the good fight.

[Bill Tobelman]

Quote from Don Malcolm:

The question remains just what parts of the Todd Gold bio are legit and what is distorted and stage-managed by Landy. That said, I think its material related to SMiLE has mostly held up well in retrospect.

Think the 3 LSD trips in the Todd Gold bio definitely hold up well. Got this from the CNN transcript when it was online:

MELINDA WILSON: "The funny part about it is Brian's doctor now says that in terms of what most people were doing in the '60s, Brian didn't do much. I mean, when he talks about LSD, he went on -- he took three trips. In the '60s that wasn't a lot."

from Larry King Live, August 20th 2004

[mike s]

Re that other MB - there are some people with whom I agree. I think the problem is that there are some who are so authoritative that others are scared to express their views for fear of being shot down.  I noticed that after you defended your argument, when there was no real answer they just as you put it 'dug in'. And we've  all heard the one about how when you're in a hole stop digging. Someone gave them a rope by suggesting that the board was big enough to accept more than one opinion. A nice little get out clause!

There is some insufferable behaviour over there.  There's a consensus - not held up by evidence - that there was 'no plan' for Smile and that the track list was just something Brian chucked at Capitol to shut them up and he didn't really mean it.  And if you question that there's a lot of tantrums.  People also don't read posts properly.

There was a lot of snorting when I dared to suggest that all those 'skits' about Vegetables, wheezing and blowing noises and underwater noises and animal noises might be - might be - connected to the Elements.  (Bear in mind Vegetables is noted as 'from the Elements' in the booklet).

But there are also nice people there and some with a lot of knowledge especially about session dates etc.

[Ian]

LSD may be overstated but BW clearly did a lot of coke-the drug that was all over affluent LA from the late 60s onwards

[HeyJude]

I think most fans realize that the "mainstream media" sort of generic reporting over the many decades that LSD was a main cultprit in how he was/is present-day is pretty far off, and certainly incomplete.

But it's worth noting that at various junctures Brian has contributed to this narrative himself. Obviously, there were eras such as the 82-92-ish Landy era, where he was not going to say "I'm the way I am now because Dr. Landy over-medicates me", but he was shortcutting the story to LSD having "f**ked me up" (meaning leading to his state in, like, the mid-70s) in interviews a number of years prior, that one 1976 British film interview (the raw footage is available and bits are in "An American Band" and the awful Disney doc from last year) being a notable case.

[guitarfool2002]

LSD may be overstated but BW clearly did a lot of coke-the drug that was all over affluent LA from the late 60s onwards

Brian was not doing cocaine in 1966 and 1967.

[guitarfool2002]

Re that other MB - there are some people with whom I agree. I think the problem is that there are some who are so authoritative that others are scared to express their views for fear of being shot down.  I noticed that after you defended your argument, when there was no real answer they just as you put it 'dug in'. And we've  all heard the one about how when you're in a hole stop digging. Someone gave them a rope by suggesting that the board was big enough to accept more than one opinion. A nice little get out clause!

There is some insufferable behaviour over there.  There's a consensus - not held up by evidence - that there was 'no plan' for Smile and that the track list was just something Brian chucked at Capitol to shut them up and he didn't really mean it.  And if you question that there's a lot of tantrums.  People also don't read posts properly.

There was a lot of snorting when I dared to suggest that all those 'skits' about Vegetables, wheezing and blowing noises and underwater noises and animal noises might be - might be - connected to the Elements.  (Bear in mind Vegetables is noted as 'from the Elements' in the booklet).

I suggested that about the "skits" years ago, and stand by that notion as valid no matter who shoots it down. Why would Brian randomly decide to do these skits and chants about vegetables, air, and water if there wasn't some connection to the elements? What's the only element they didn't chant directly about? Fire! And if you consider a quick direction given by Brian that they all talk like Smokey The Bear, you might be able to connect that one to the chants too. But "fire" had a definite piece of music already in place, complete with sound effects and various instruments' sounds portraying parts of the "fire", such as the drum putting out the fire (heard as the fuzz bass) at the end of the track, again coming directly from Brian's directions to the musicians from the control room on the session tapes.

Anyway, yeah, let's just have a situation where any ideas outside the "narrative" proposed and propped up by whoever or whichever historian thinks they're the final word get mocked or dismissed, and the narrative that Brian did too much LSD and lost focus be the gold standard. Bullshit.

Even when you listen to the chant-skit material, released and unreleased, you hear Brian in full control and directing whoever is participating in the room with him, musicians or associates, and giving them a theme or main idea to riff on. And when he has them breathing in rhythmic variants (air), riffing on an underwater theme (water) plus adding washy reverb sound effects to the skit, and having improv comedy skits and rhythmic chants about vegetables (earth), it's no accident and it didn't happen in a vacuum, and surely didn't happen without a bigger picture in mind.

Don't listen to the bullshit, listen to the source material from Smile instead, and it's all right there.

[rasmus skotte]

I suggested that about the "skits" years ago, and stand by that notion as valid no matter who shoots it down. Why would Brian randomly decide to do these skits and chants about vegetables, air, and water if there wasn't some connection to the elements? What's the only element they didn't chant directly about? Fire! And if you consider a quick direction given by Brian that they all talk like Smokey The Bear, you might be able to connect that one to the chants too. But "fire" had a definite piece of music already in place, complete with sound effects and various instruments' sounds portraying parts of the "fire", such as the drum putting out the fire (heard as the fuzz bass) at the end of the track, again coming directly from Brian's directions to the musicians from the control room on the session tapes.
 

It COULD be argued that the smog~rant is both about "Air" but also (indirectly) about fire and smoke as a biproduct of all those industrial fires going on !?

[mike s]

Re that other MB - there are some people with whom I agree. I think the problem is that there are some who are so authoritative that others are scared to express their views for fear of being shot down.  I noticed that after you defended your argument, when there was no real answer they just as you put it 'dug in'. And we've  all heard the one about how when you're in a hole stop digging. Someone gave them a rope by suggesting that the board was big enough to accept more than one opinion. A nice little get out clause!

There is some insufferable behaviour over there.  There's a consensus - not held up by evidence - that there was 'no plan' for Smile and that the track list was just something Brian chucked at Capitol to shut them up and he didn't really mean it.  And if you question that there's a lot of tantrums.  People also don't read posts properly.

There was a lot of snorting when I dared to suggest that all those 'skits' about Vegetables, wheezing and blowing noises and underwater noises and animal noises might be - might be - connected to the Elements.  (Bear in mind Vegetables is noted as 'from the Elements' in the booklet).

I suggested that about the "skits" years ago, and stand by that notion as valid no matter who shoots it down. Why would Brian randomly decide to do these skits and chants about vegetables, air, and water if there wasn't some connection to the elements? What's the only element they didn't chant directly about? Fire! And if you consider a quick direction given by Brian that they all talk like Smokey The Bear, you might be able to connect that one to the chants too. But "fire" had a definite piece of music already in place, complete with sound effects and various instruments' sounds portraying parts of the "fire", such as the drum putting out the fire (heard as the fuzz bass) at the end of the track, again coming directly from Brian's directions to the musicians from the control room on the session tapes.

Anyway, yeah, let's just have a situation where any ideas outside the "narrative" proposed and propped up by whoever or whichever historian thinks they're the final word get mocked or dismissed, and the narrative that Brian did too much LSD and lost focus be the gold standard. Bullshit.

Even when you listen to the chant-skit material, released and unreleased, you hear Brian in full control and directing whoever is participating in the room with him, musicians or associates, and giving them a theme or main idea to riff on. And when he has them breathing in rhythmic variants (air), riffing on an underwater theme (water) plus adding washy reverb sound effects to the skit, and having improv comedy skits and rhythmic chants about vegetables (earth), it's no accident and it didn't happen in a vacuum, and surely didn't happen without a bigger picture in mind.

Don't listen to the bullshit, listen to the source material from Smile instead, and it's all right there.

Yeah completely agree.  And 'Earth' could have been one of the vegetables skits - or actually Vegetables itself ref the booklet.  Saying that WillJC at the other board says the first VT session was logged as IIGS so thats a ponderer too.  Maybe it travelled through that tune too - or thats just a wibbly-wobbly timey wimey error in the '66 logs.