Uh... which "Smile" did I buy?

[TheLazenby]

There's several different Beach Boys "Smile" vinyls on eBay at the moment; the ones up for auction I was able to identify as the 3-LP Vigotone version, the fake Brother Records version, and... I can't remember.  It was a white label that said "Smile" on it (in the cover font).

But, since those will likely be snapped up as they have about a week left each, I bought one in the 'Buy It Now' section.  They gave no tracklist, but it's 1-LP, and the record is on green vinyl.

Does anyone know which version I bought, and what the tracklist is?  (It wasn't TOO expensive - 38 bucks or something; I'm just happy to have a vinyl Smile.  But I'd like to know which version it is in advance.)

[wgolly]

I think its the single SOT label version.  Its got a nice track list, some good stuff on there.  Off the top of my head, its got the "rock me henry" wonderful, stereo versions of some tracks, a bunch of stuff that SOT put together from what they had access to, from the session reels I think, plus some box set stuff too to fill in the gaps.

I'm interested in the 1983 version myself.  Is this the version that had the full color repro booklet? 

[MBE]

The 1983 was supposed to but never did have the book. It's ok but the later vinyl ones are better. I wish I had the 1985 because that's the first time a lot of the basic Smile versions were heard.

[TheLazenby]

Well, it sounds good then.  I should have it in about a week, hopefully. :-)

[The Heartical Don]

Am I right in that the 1983 Brother one had that Miles Davis track on it (a devilishly funny joke in that it fit musically) and the 1985 rectified the situation? I am happy to have a CD version of the 1983 one, and the original vinyl version of the 1985 one.

[Surfer Joe]

Here Come De Honey Man!

Would make a great handle for somebody.

[TheLazenby]

I'd like to hear Miles Davis's "Smile" track... :-P

I really wanted a Brother one (there was one on eBay), because it'd be awesome to have... but the auction was taken down.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Am I right in that the 1983 Brother one had that Miles Davis track on it (a devilishly funny joke in that it fit musically) and the 1985 rectified the situation? I am happy to have a CD version of the 1983 one, and the original vinyl version of the 1985 one.

Yup... and it wasn't a joke, it was a tracker. 

Worked like a charm, too...

[Dr. Tim]

And yet that Miles Davis snippet has become part of the "mythology."  Interesting.

[Aegir]

I don't think it sounds that much like what Brian was doing at the time, but I guess if I had never heard it before and it was lumped in with a bunch of Smile tracks, it might make sense... it was written by Gershwin, after all.

[The Heartical Don]

I don't think it sounds that much like what Brian was doing at the time, but I guess if I had never heard it before and it was lumped in with a bunch of Smile tracks, it might make sense... it was written by Gershwin, after all.

I respectfully disagree. I think it's 'up and down and up again' melodies even fit Brian's intentions even more than 'George Fell...'; but well, that latter one is not much more than a bunch of smell-less farts...

[TheLazenby]

Just got my copy, and she's a BEAUTY!  It's in great shape (no pun intended)... the edges of the vinyl are cut fairly rough, but that's okay.

As for the album, it's not really a coherent version of "Smile" (given the inclusions of the particularly odd versions of "Wonderful" and "Father Of The Man") but I'm perfectly fine with that... it's still wonderful to have!

I just think it's funny that for a legendary, unfinished album, I was able to buy copies on both LP *and* CD.  And the CD one was in a store... two copies! 

[Surfer Joe]

I have the added shame of having been reasonably familiar with the Davis/Evans Porgy and Bess at the time, and STILL not busting it until it was brought to my attention.

During my freshman year of college, I had a fraternity brother who had insisted that I borrow Kind Of Blue and Porgy in exchange for his agreement to borrow Elvis' Golden Records 1 and 2 (which subsequently changed his life, needless to add).  So I had heard "HCDHM" at least a couple times within a year or two.

So what was my excuse?  I don't  really know, except that I was much more focused on the "money" tracks- at last, "Do You Like Worms" (which weirded me out) and a decent version of "Wonderful",and others that were totally new to me...and to me, "HCDHM" sounded amazingly good in that context.  An inspired inclusion...and I think I was just in kind of a spell hearing all that stuff for the first time.  Imagine having known about it, anticipated it all, sought out all the released things in used record shops, and then finally getting to hear the real thing- as opposed to just having someone say "hey, check this out", and playing it for you, and then telling you what it was all about.

I'll give myself at least enough credit to say that I'm sure I must have passingly thought "someone sounds just like Miles Davis!"  After all, I owned at least one of his records by then.

[the captain]

I have the added shame of having been reasonably familiar with the Davis/Evans Porgy and Bess at the time, and STILL not busting it until it was brought to my attention.

During my freshman year of college, I had a fraternity brother who had insisted that I borrow Kind Of Blue and Porgy in exchange for his agreement to borrow Elvis' Golden Records 1 and 2 (which subsequently changed his life, needless to add).  So I had heard "HCDHM" at least a couple times within a year or two.

So what was my excuse?  I don't  really know, except that I was much more focused on the "money" tracks- at last, "Do You Like Worms" (which weirded me out) and a decent version of "Wonderful",and others that were totally new to me...and to me, "HCDHM" sounded amazingly good in that context.  An inspired inclusion...and I think I was just in kind of a spell hearing all that stuff for the first time.  Imagine having known about it, anticipated it all, sought out all the released things in used record shops, and then finally getting to hear the real thing- as opposed to just having someone say "hey, check this out", and playing it for you, and then telling you what it was all about.

I'll give myself at least enough credit to say that I'm sure I must have passingly thought "someone sounds just like Miles Davis!"  After all, I owned at least one of his records by then.

I'd say you got the better deal of you and your frat brother, by the way. No offense to Elvis.

[TheLazenby]

I'd like to hear this track... anywhere to get it??

[the captain]

I'd like to hear this track... anywhere to get it??

Lots of places. For example: http://www.amazon.com/Porgy-Bess-Miles-Davis/dp/B000002AH6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1219196278&sr=8-1

[Surfer Joe]

I'd say you got the better deal of you and your frat brother, by the way. No offense to Elvis.

Don't know if Jeff would have agreed with you.  He was a very fine jazz pianist, and Miles was his personal hero the way Brian Wilson is mine- we made road trips to see Davis live several times (and the Beach Boys, too).  He got me going in that direction, and we went to see Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie and Joe Williams, both Marsalis brothers, Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, and others.  Conversely, one of the first times he wandered into my dorm room he mocked my Elvis Golden Records volume 1, which was sitting out- hence the exchange. It filled a real gap in his musical horizon, and many's the Friday or Saturday night when  we carted his shut-down drunk ass back to his room while he wailed "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" in a great gospel voice from South Georgia, or "Love Me" (which he rendered as "Butt-Love Me")...it took him down a road towards early R & R and what is now called "roots music". Anyway, he flat loved that stuff and it changed him.

His music teacher had put him onto the Beatles, but told him that they did nothing worth hearing before Pepper.  I quickly corrected that, too, and when he had an apartment above mine years later I always heard "Tell Me Why" or "I Call Your Name" drifting down from above. Besides all the great jazz, he turned me on to Sinatra, the first country music I could really get into, and (yep) the Allman Brothers Band- while I was coincidentally living on the street where Duane was killed, three short blocks from the spot.  I would love to have been able to tell him years later when I discovered that Duane was a huge Miles fan and drew heavily from the modal stuff- full circle.

What I could never get him into was Pet Sounds- he found Brian's sound "sterile", and it drove me nuts.

Back to your regularly scheduled topic...

[the captain]

His music teacher had put him onto the Beatles, but told him that they did nothing worth hearing before Pepper. 

That's a shame. I had a great composition and theory prof in college who presumably (although I'm guessing a little) came of age musically in the late 60s and early 70s, and if there's one thing I loved about him, it was his love and respect for music, period. He was a great jazz bassist and composer, but also taught standard theory and composition and was a proponent of good pop music. In fact, in a composition lesson I once made a crack about Andrew Lloyd Webber, mostly because I had heard similar jokes and thought a "serious" musician would take a shine to me. He snapped "Mr. Webber is making a living writing music; you're paying to learn it. When you're a professional, you can talk." I was taken aback, but VERY impressed, especially over time. And NOW back to our regularly scheduled thread.

[Surfer Joe]

LOL- I love it.  Great story.  I felt the same way when I was in the animation biz, and someone would knock the latest big-shot Disney animator's performance on a character from "Little Mermaid" or something- I'd always say "let me put in about ten more years, get to that level on a big-budget feature, do something I can brag about, and then I'll tell you how bad he is."

Still have a soft spot for his "Joseph/Technicolor Dreamcoat" show.  It's a full-length joke that works, for me. I guess I get less cynical as I get older.

[smile-holland]

let's see how long takes before this one is deleted ....

http://cgi.ebay.nl/THE-BEACH-BOYS-SMILE-3x-LP-SET-COLORED-brian-wilson_W0QQitemZ130248145317QQihZ003QQcategoryZ306QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[TheLazenby]

It's gone, apparently...

[TheLazenby]

Another copy of the Sea of Tunes "Smile"... I definitely recommend grabbing this while you can!!  It's a Buy It Now!

http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-BEACH-BOYS-Smile-LP-GREEN-VINYL-MINT_W0QQitemZ200248509999QQihZ010QQcategoryZ306QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem