SMiLE questions, of course!

[A Million Units In Jan!]

I used to be pretty  up to date on all things SMiLE, but fell out of the loop for awhile, so if some of these questions have been answered, forgive me.
1. I was looking at something today that suggested that the handwritten tracklist from Dec. '66 may actually have been written by Carl. Where did this theory come from? It was the first I'd heard of it; in fact, I still see that list referred to as 'Brian's handwritten tracklist', so it was a surprise to me that there was a chance that Carl had written it, especially since during 1966 the album was still pretty much Brian's baby.

2. As far as the tracklist goes, any ideas why 'Old Master Painter' seems to be in parentheses, then scribbled out?

3. The last I knew, there was an untitled instrumental that no one knew where it came from. Now, it seems to have been given the title 'doves of free'. Where did this title come from?

Again, if these are questions that have been answered, I apologize. I'm just getting back into all this stuff, and just when I though I pretty much knew or heard it all, it seems there's still many things out there that are new to me!

[Jason]

I used to be pretty  up to date on all things SMiLE, but fell out of the loop for awhile, so if some of these questions have been answered, forgive me.
1. I was looking at something today that suggested that the handwritten tracklist from Dec. '66 may actually have been written by Carl. Where did this theory come from? It was the first I'd heard of it; in fact, I still see that list referred to as 'Brian's handwritten tracklist', so it was a surprise to me that there was a chance that Carl had written it, especially since during 1966 the album was still pretty much Brian's baby.

2. As far as the tracklist goes, any ideas why 'Old Master Painter' seems to be in parentheses, then scribbled out?

3. The last I knew, there was an untitled instrumental that no one knew where it came from. Now, it seems to have been given the title 'doves of free'. Where did this title come from?

Again, if these are questions that have been answered, I apologize. I'm just getting back into all this stuff, and just when I though I pretty much knew or heard it all, it seems there's still many things out there that are new to me!

1. Theory?!? Just look at the handwriting and compare it to a Carl signature. It's a wonder it was never caught sooner.

2. Let us conduct a seance and find out. Seriously, don't know.

3. Just someone naming a tune. It has no title.

[Mr. Wilson]

Another question..?...In  the American band video..There is a section about SMILE..I think its BW talkin about unfinished cuts...He talks about the instrumental.."AIR".. In the background there is a piano playing some odd music..I allways figured the music was "AIR"...I dont remember anyone ever mentioning that ever again in any article + i dont see it on any  SMILE boots..SO..Whats the story here..?

[Bicyclerider]

It's not air - if you're talking about the same section I think you are, it's Worms, played by someone for the soundtrack in an attempt to duplicate what Brian was playing on the piano.

[Bicyclerider]

just because it's Carl's handwriting doesn't mean Brian wasn't behind the list, he just didn't physically write it - and remember the artwork for the back cover (which included the list) had to be approved by Brian the producer.

Old Master Painter in parentheses - maybe the title was going to be (Old Master Painter) My Only Sunshine, and they decided against the two titles (since it is a medley) - or Old Master Painter was a tentative title (vs. Sunshine vs. My Only Sunshine, which was the title on the session sheets) and when they decided to keep that as the title they crossed out the parentheses?

[Roger Ryan]

Old Master Painter in parentheses - maybe the title was going to be (Old Master Painter) My Only Sunshine, and they decided against the two titles (since it is a medley) - or Old Master Painter was a tentative title (vs. Sunshine vs. My Only Sunshine, which was the title on the session sheets) and when they decided to keep that as the title they crossed out the parentheses?

It's also common to put something in parentheses if you're not sure it's going to make the final line-up. Perhaps "Old Master Painter/You Were My Sunshine" would have been interpolated into another song or left out entirely. When it was decided OMP would become its own track, the parentheses were scratched out.

[Bill Tobelman]

It was Andrew G. Doe who originally questionned the tracklist handwriting authorship. The handwriting compares with Carl's for the Stacks Of Tracks album (found in DAG #3) though Andrew G. Doe thinks that the handwriting could also belong to Diane Rovell. Peter Reum suggested that Brian may have been in such bad shape during the mid SMiLE period that he needed a personal assistant to takes notes for him.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Thanks Bill, but it wasn't me - can't recall who, but someone else asked along the lines of "is it just me or does the list handwriting look nothing like Brian's ?"... and a whole bunch of us so-called 'experts' all did our best Stan Laurel impressions as we realised that no, it didn't look anything like Brian's cursive of the period. Like so many things, once it was pointed out, it was so damn obvious. 

BTW, Peter added that when he showed Brian the list circa 1983, he said it was the first time he'd ever seen it. The smart money's still on Carl or Diane: I'd favor Diane as she was the contractor for those sessions. Not to mention around Brian a whole lot... 

[John]

I can't remember whether anyone has asked this before (even me) but:

Old Master Painter:

Anything to suggest it would have had the lyrics printed in LLVS?
Anything to suggest that it would have had all three verses, recorded once and repeated a la Wild Honey, possibly with something (like "You Were My Sunshine") inbetween each verse?

Apologies if this is common knowledge or a daft question.

[Bicyclerider]

It's a very good question without a good answer.  Brian sometimes sang two lines of the song in concert with BWPS, but as to back in 66/67 - there's an acetate Brian mix of the OMP verse with the Sunshine section following, followed by a Part 2 which we know as the fade to the "cantina" Heroes and Villains, but which was originally the tag to OMP.  Sunshine has Dennis vocals and the tag has full group vocals with Mike singing "when skies were grey" and "how much I love" in the background.  No vocals on OMP, but that doesn't mean he didn't intend to eventually put them on.

I'll never forget how I read - in Preiss's book I believe - how Mike recalled that OMP was a song sung by a black guy at Brian's house one night.  I remembered how cool that sounded and how disappointed I was when I heard the bootleg versions and no black guy was singing OMP!  Turns out that was what turned Brian onto the song (and Mike discusses the incident in the Pet Sounds sessions on Sea of Tunes), had nothing to do with the sessions.  Still, it would have been pretty cool to have some old bluesy black gospel singer guy on Smile!

[Bill Tobelman]

Thanks Andrew for clearing up some stuff I was slightly off about about the 12 track handwritten songlist for SMiLE.

Seems to me that Carl might have the edge as Diane's writing on page 120 of DAG #3 isn't like the Stacks Of Tracks writing on page 129 &130.

The Stacks Of Tracks writing matches that of the tracklist for SMiLE.