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Author Topic: Best Summation of SMILE.  (Read 15773 times)
Bill Tobelman
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« on: July 24, 2008, 07:07:04 PM »

I pick David Anderle's "SMiLE was the summation of Brian's intellectual preoccupations" or whatever it is.
It's not what I'd say (Anderle doesn't know that those preoccupations have a single source & purpose), but that's about as close as any explanations from people close to the events 66-67 get, IMHO.

Van Dyke Parks said that BW wanted to present something without explanation (see the Leaf DVD) and this
sure seems to hold true to this very day.

Anybody else have a summation that sums it up for them?

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variable2
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« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2008, 11:48:49 AM »

sort of a pan-patriotic, trans-presidential, american gothic kinda trip

 Grin
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Bean Bag
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« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2008, 11:12:58 AM »

Paraphrasing here -- but, something like "wanting to do a whole album like, or in the manner of Good Vibrations."

I think Brian said that or was it Carl?  Who cares...that always summed it up for me.  Pretty open ended in terms of musical content -- and in terms of musical content, there is no one genre or purpose that could sum up Smile's music.  It was just that--"like Good Vibrations."  Fragments.  Whatever inspired him.  His love of music.  Connecting it all was loose and part of the game for him!

So, with that, I do think a lot of it was Brian's head music...or an intellectual pursuit.  Whereas Pet Sounds was him exploring the emotional and feeling side of being human.  Smile was Brian's time to explore things that interested him.

Our Prayer, while brilliant, always struck me as an intellectual exercise.  Aware of its own brilliance.  Although, I did listen to a clip on You Tube of someone playing Our Prayer on piano.  There's such a deep, beautiful emotion there that I forgot about.

The music of smile (not always the lyrics) are utterly and unstoppable-y brilliant.  Some of the lyrics are interesting, goofy, over-the-top.  But the musical score, its melodies and arrangements and composition are among the greatest music ever composed.  Ellington, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart.  It's only understood on that level. 
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brianc
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« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2008, 12:06:52 PM »

Well said.

I agree that it's symphonic notion... or rock concept album notion... comes together only in that it's such a wide variety of topics pulled in by the brilliance of the arrangements. The topics are all over the map. But, then again, so were the minds of teenagers and young people in 1966. Heady and tumultuous times... not unlike today.
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Magic Transistor Radio
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« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2008, 11:11:16 AM »

Although, I think that Van Dyke's lyrics are superior to Mike's, I have wondered what might have happened if Brian allowed Mike to be the lyrisist for Smile. I really don't think that Mike was going to write about surfing and cars at this point. But considering what he did for GV, which were both poetic and commercial, he probably would have continued in that vain.

Not only that, but I guarantee that Mike would have put support behind Smile, if he were the lyrisist. With the BBs supporting him, perhaps Brian would've had the confidence to finish and release it!
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"Over the years, I've been accused of not supporting our new music from this era (67-73) and just wanting to play our hits. That's complete b.s......I was also, as the front man, the one promoting these songs onstage and have the scars to show for it."
Mike Love autobiography (pg 242-243)
brianc
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« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2008, 11:34:07 AM »

But then it wouldn't have been as cryptic and cool. The always loved the voice that sang "Don't Worry Baby." Finding out that that voice sang lyrics that were as dense and strange as those written by Van Dyke... well it was a dream come true for me.
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donald
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« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2008, 12:48:01 PM »

SMiLE?


Damn fine piece of hippie music.    We used to have favorite pieces of music to listen to when in certain alternative states  (other than the 50 known states, you understand).  Too bad this wasn't available at the time.  This would have fit in nicely along with a couple of classic moody blues  albums.

Wouldn't you agree?
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brianc
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« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2008, 09:47:08 AM »

By the time I came around to mind alteration, and it's soundtrack music... well, "Smile" was already bootlegged to the umpth degree, so it WAS a part of my acid music listening experience, right alongside all the late '60s classics.
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roll plymouth rock
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« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2008, 12:34:57 PM »

For me the best summation of SMiLE is found on page 68 of Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile!.... Vibrations - Brian Wilson Style from The Beat's Dec. 17th 1966 issue. Straight from the horses mouth...

And yeah, Smile has been a part of my soundtrack too...it sure is a grand slam, I'll tell you what. Ha, but I don't mind the bunt either.
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brianc
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« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2008, 03:05:32 PM »

"Smiley Smile" is one bunt I'd not want to be without, and for that reason alone, I'm glad "Smile" was abandoned. Now we get both versions.
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Bill Tobelman
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« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2008, 06:05:21 PM »

Van Dyke's  "pan-patriotic" quote serves the Americana front well but fails to address Brian's stated direction for SMiLE (that being the religious & spiritual VIA LSD). What a distraction.

Brian's article for THE BEAT is a terrific SMiLE era piece & has some clues as to the spiritual/religious & vegetable nature of SMiLE. Not exactly a summation but a great slice of life from the "SMiLE is happening" period.

Here's the thing....

Does the lack of suitable explanations for SMiLE indicate that there is something else at work here?

Could it be that Brain Wilson & Van Dyke Parks are preserving a MYSTERY???
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Sheriff John Stone
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« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2008, 06:42:37 PM »

Does the lack of suitable explanations for SMiLE indicate that there is something else at work here?

Could it be that Brain Wilson & Van Dyke Parks are preserving a MYSTERY???

I'm gonna go in a completely different direction, and I apologize in advance for the possible over-simplification.

I don't think there is any message or mystery to SMiLE. I think Brian, in 1966, was in an ongoing battle with The Beatles, other "hip" groups, and himself, to produce something special, or something that was better than the current standard; one upsmanship if you will. Brian was still very competitive and ambitious at that time. And I believe Brian employed Van Dyke Parks to do just that. Brian wanted to do something cool and hip, and he found his man in Van Dyke. He needed Van Dyke.

I think they worked fast, I don't know how much thinking and plotting went on. They recorded a lot of music in a very short period of time. I believe that Van Dyke laid his lyrics/ideas on Brian, and Brian responded with his musical ideas. SMiLE is all over the place to have a unifying theme, mystery, or message. There's wind chimes and vegetables and trains and children and fires and cabins and vibrations and woodshops and....You can organize them into suites - I don't believe Brian and Van Dyke did in 1966 - but it appears to me that they were recording anything that was coming to mind, and a lot was coming to mind. Van Dyke has said that he didn't write any of the music, and I seriously doubt that Brian contributed much to the lyrics. So that's another reason I don't see a "message"; I think the two guys were more reacting to each others contributions. That's just my opinion...

I don't think you can under estimate the influence of drugs on the SMiLE music. I'm not going to detract from the lyrics and music, but I think some of it can be explained by the effects of substances. And the "trippy" vibe you get from some of the music could lead some to interpret it as spiritual. I mean, some of the music SOUNDS spiritual, but is it coming from Brian's spiritual side, or is it coming from the mellowing effects of the drugs? Maybe a little of both?

I'm not downplaying the depth of the music, or simply chalking it up to druggy music. I think the SMiLE era of 1966-67 produced possibly the greatest collection of music in the rock era. I have nothing but praise for it. I have listened to that stuff probably more than any other era, and I still don't get tired of it...
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the captain
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« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2008, 06:47:50 PM »

My summation of Smile is that it would have been a great pop album in the 60s, and eventually became a really, really good pop album in the 00s. Neither of those is an understatement: they're great compliments. But I see no reason to repeat press release blurbs or documentary quotes about it. It is what it is.
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Sheriff John Stone
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« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2008, 06:55:34 PM »

My summation of Smile is that it would have been a great pop album in the 60s, and eventually became a really, really good pop album in the 00s. Neither of those is an understatement: they're great compliments. But I see no reason to repeat press release blurbs or documentary quotes about it. It is what it is.

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the captain
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« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2008, 06:58:00 PM »

I don't know: I have a great time with me.
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Bill Tobelman
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« Reply #15 on: July 30, 2008, 07:33:19 PM »

SMiLE's original illustrator, Frank Holmes, purposely infused meaning into his SMiLE contributions (he stated as much in an article for Open Sky).

Holmes was brought onboard the good ship SMiLE by Van Dyke Parks. Parks thought Holmes was the right man for the SMiLE job (and even mentionned Holmes in his original intro piece for the SMiLE tour program a few years ago).

If Frank Holmes was working in the proper spirit of things, then SMiLE is purposely infused with meaning.
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Sheriff John Stone
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« Reply #16 on: July 30, 2008, 08:00:45 PM »

If Frank Holmes was working in the proper spirit of things, then SMiLE is purposely infused with meaning.

Meaning or meanings? Is it possible, Bill, that the individual songs had meanings (of course), but didn't necessarily lead to a unified, purposeful meaning as a whole? I have a feeling I already know your answer....
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« Reply #17 on: July 31, 2008, 12:54:10 AM »

Smile was just another pop album being made in 1966-67. Nothing more, nothing less. While it's become commonplace to glorify the LP as some kind of cryptic thing with an incredible reputation, it's not always such.

I do believe, however, that Brian, like Beethoven in his late years of true creativity, was going into deeply disturbing, fractured frames of mind musically. Some of the musical passages on Smile are among some of the most frightening I've ever heard. That muted trumpet in Child Is Father Of The Man, an eerie piano motif for the same track with the band chirping the chorus....wow. Parts of Heroes and Villains with the piano figures...and of course Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Surf's Up as well....an apocalypse-themed lyric set to a beautiful melody. This stuff is so far out that I doubt it would have been received openly if it came out then. Truly scary stuff.

And it was the most bitter of ironies that this album came to be called Smile.
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roll plymouth rock
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« Reply #18 on: July 31, 2008, 01:06:18 AM »

I agree, but at the same time, it is obviously a psychedelic trip ("anything that is happening right now is psychedelic", "psychedelicate", etc...) with a lot of subtle, beautiful things happening beneath the surface. I think there is more to Smile than the average 66-67 pop album, and yeah, it gets dark....but if it wasn't cryptic, why was Mike Love freaking out about things like over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfields? Bottom line for me is I do believe there is an underlying spiritual intent, albeit one delivered through a foggy paisley lens
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« Reply #19 on: July 31, 2008, 03:47:26 AM »

Hey, maybe it's just me but I've always thought of Smile as, oh, a teenage symphony to God.  Roll Eyes
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donald
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« Reply #20 on: July 31, 2008, 07:40:14 AM »

Touche'
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Bean Bag
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« Reply #21 on: July 31, 2008, 07:51:22 AM »

I do believe, however, that Brian, like Beethoven in his late years of true creativity, was going into deeply disturbing, fractured frames of mind musically. Some of the musical passages on Smile are among some of the most frightening I've ever heard....

...Parts of Heroes and Villains with the piano figures...and of course Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Surf's Up as well....an apocalypse-themed lyric set to a beautiful melody. This stuff is so far out that I doubt it would have been received openly if it came out then. Truly scary stuff.

And it was the most bitter of ironies that this album came to be called Smile.

The H&V stuff, is of course very ironic...obviously.  And it's Villianuous episodes, especially the instrumental "segment" that appeared on the GV Box---that is the most panicked, and freight-filled musical creation I've ever heard.  Man is that deeply spooky.

The title "Smile," in that context, is very ironic.  But I don't think its irony plays out to the close--Smile, ends with the belief that it's all going to be okay.  The "mmmmm" chord at the closing of Prayer, for example, it says "Smile!"  There are other ironies, as you have pointed out, but that's just good drama.

But I've never understood the "teenage symphony to God" thing.  A teenage symphony it is.  But "...to God?"  It's all-encompassing, I'll give you that...and there's the prayer that bookends it...but it's really more of a "teenage symphony about life and art.'"

 Smokin
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brianc
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« Reply #22 on: July 31, 2008, 04:37:50 PM »

"Smile" is like a piece of assemblage art. Between sound and vision, it's right out of the playbook of L.A.'s most famous movement of the '50s and early '60s.
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Bill Tobelman
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« Reply #23 on: July 31, 2008, 08:04:41 PM »

Okay, so AGD said;

"Hey, maybe it's just me but I've always thought of Smile as, oh, a teenage symphony to God."

Good. So, for most fans we're back at the beginning. Aren't you tired of such games? Ho hum.

Look, there seems to be two themes that the major SMiLE composers seem to plug for the most part. Brian is the spiritual/religious guy and Van Dyke Parks is the Americana guy. At least this seems to fit Brian's original vision and Van Dyke's post SMiLE explanations.

Since Brian wasn't touring with the group during the Pet Sounds/SMiLE era he was pretty much USA bound. So if Brian was gonna take in a spiritual LSD experience it was going to happen in the USA.

If, as we're told, such an experience actually occurred, then perhaps such a setting (in the USA) played an integral part in the experience. Brian's experience would have been very place specific. It may be very likely that this is the "Big Sur" thing that David Anderle lays out for Paul Williams (except that Big Sur isn't likely to have snow during that time of year...especially THAT year with the temps being so hot).  Anderle said that Brian was "very aware of his surroundings" and that makes it likely that SMiLE encompasses this.

Van Dyke's suggestion that the SMiLE vision be expanded (as they had to come up with a whole album) to include the whole USA (very Beach Boys & anti-British Invasion) was okayed by Brian. So what we get is Brian's LSD trips infused (or is it confused?) with Americana.

The whole intended effect was to spur the listener's interest VIA the mystery & enable them to access a similar experience.

Juxtapose a man & and a mystery.

The result is the spiritual/religious experience...at least that was the result in BW's case.

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brianc
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« Reply #24 on: August 01, 2008, 09:42:48 AM »

Brian's experience would have been very place specific.

Yeah, the caverns of his mind.
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