For the hundreth time; What's your favorite SMiLE section?

[A Million Units In Jan!]

My favorite SMiLE section would be 'The Grand Coulee Dam' section at the end of Cabinessence. Something about it is just incredible to me.  And in fact there are some sessions up on Youtube that are even better than what the final product was-they sound even more 'oriental'.

[Jason]

The "bridge" to Child Is Father Of The Man. All the reverb on the bass combined with the piano and trumpet still gives me goosebumps.

[The Heartical Don]

Since 'Surf's Up', yes, the 1971 version, is my favourite pop song of all times, the answer is rather simple.

Also high on the list: Cabinessence (yes, Coulee Dam), and In Blue Hawaii and Easy My Child (if these ever were meant for Smile, that is).

...and Wonderful.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I'll go with "Cabinessence", too; the entire song. It is soooooooooo underrated. So many of Brian's songs are well known, written about, and HEARD on a continuous basis. But, "Cabinessence" still remains an underground classic, a hidden gem if you will. It shows as much if not more of Brian's genius than any other song, for me anyway. It's absolutely one of those "how did he write something like that" songs...

[armona]

My favorite is probably the bridge on Look with the French horn that starts at about 0:50 into the song. One of the most majestic things I've ever heard.

Agreed about Cabinessence, and it is a close second on my list. Very cinematic.

[The Heartical Don]

BTW there was a time when I played Cabinessence to friends and acquaintances and I stared intensely at their reaction, hoping that they would have a WOW moment.

Nope. They began to sing the praises of Toto, Kansas, and the Little River Band.

I had to consult a psychologist eventually.

[The Shift]

Possibly getting slightly adrift from the intention of the thread, but I'm a fan of the various H&V vocal sections that came out on the GVs box (and which were in a similar but rougher mono mix on the SoT box). Couple them with the various versions of With Me Tonight, and the rest of the H&V, and the Bicyle Rider sections, and you'd have an epic. If only I had the time and patience...

That said, Cabinessence is right up there, along with SU (prefer the '71 version though, on balance, to Brian's solo version).

On a Holiday and Blue Hawaii from BWPS are great.

[Sheriff John Stone]

My favorite is probably the bridge on Look with the French horn that starts at about 0:50 into the song. One of the most majestic things I've ever heard.

Yep, gets to me every time.

Can we name more than one? OK...in the "Water Chant", Brian's vocal. What is he doing? Crying, howling, making baby noises, having an orgasm?

[A Million Units In Jan!]

The infamous 'Fade To Vegetables' is right up there, too.
Isn't it incredible how amazing these little pieces of music are? You could make a cd with a number of little sections just randomly put together, and it would still be good!

[Sheriff John Stone]

Isn't it incredible how amazing these little pieces of music are? You could make a cd with a number of little sections just randomly put together, and it would still be good!

Yeah! See the "Your personal SMiLE CD" thread....

[BillA]

My favorite section  is the entire second suite.  Like the Heartical don, "Surfs Up" is my favorite pop song , but the entire thing is great.  What I find really compelling is the theme of redemption that runs through the entire suite.

"Wonderful" has always cracked me up.  It was written at a time when the slogan was "don't trust anyone over 30" and yet in this song she is always loved by her mother and father.

My favorite moment of the album is the end "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" segueing into "Blue Hawaii.  One is taken from Hell to Heaven in an instant.

[Jason]

It's funny how after Smile collapsed, all Brian could bring himself to record were basically a few complete songs and a whole lot of fragments. Sometimes you have to wonder that even if Brian were able to finish Smile in 1967, would he have gone even further with the "feels" thing and literally recorded a ton of thirty second songs and called it an album? Granted, the albums from Smiley Smile to Friends seem to give the impression that Brian was headed in an extremely fragmented direction, and perhaps that was where he was going once he had reached his zenith with Smile. Going right back to the basics and getting everything he needed to say said in a brief fragment.

Not that I'm saying Brian beat Napalm Death to the whole thirty second song thing.  

[Wrightfan]

I really like the (double?) rest after the first section of "I Love to Say Da-Da."

[SG7]

Song for Children with the child child part . I always thought that was a gorgeous section. It's even cooler on the boots with Hal playing the drum part, the beat is just amazing for me.

[Fall Breaks]

The line "columnated ruins domino" in Brian's solo version. Already the A on the first 'do-' syllable is high. Then he hits an F, and chills run down my spine.

[Cam Mott]

All of them.

[Jason]

I really like the (double?) rest after the first section of "I Love to Say Da-Da."

Speaking of Da Da, there's a fragment that only appears on one of the session takes after the section with the baritone vocals, where basically there's a lot of pounding on the piano and a weird effect on another keyboard as well as some drum fills. Most likely just the take breaking down, but fun to hear anyway.

[Alex]

Geroge Fell Into His French Horn, "Got any hash joints, Denny?",  Mike's sex toy comment.

[Chris Brown]

Tough to answer, as there are so many of them that I love.  But I would have to pick "Grand Coulee Dam" as well.  The chord changes, the group vocals, the arrangement, the lyrics, Mike's vocal, it's all just perfect.  I just don't understand how anybody comes up with something like that.  It totally blows my mind.  

You hit the nail on the head Sheriff, Cabinessence really is one of the most underrated songs in the Beach Boys catalog.  For me, it's every bit as amazing as Good Vibrations.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Geroge Fell Into His French Horn...

It's funny, but only after I heard that track did I appreciate the horns in "Surf's Up". Up until that time, all I ever focused on were the piano, vocal, and "keys". Now, when I hear the horns, I think to myself, "There's George Fell Into His French Horn...."

[Exapno Mapcase]

"I had to consult a psychologist eventually."

Change your friends.

[The Shift]

Geroge Fell Into His French Horn...

It's funny, but only after I heard that track did I appreciate the horns in "Surf's Up". Up until that time, all I ever focused on were the piano, vocal, and "keys". Now, when I hear the horns, I think to myself, "There's George Fell Into His French Horn...."

Likewise -  for me, the second discordant horn burst in SU suddenly became hilarious, like I was in on an in-joke. Makes you wonder if George... was maybe more than just a goof around at one point...

[Jason]

"George Fell Into His French Horn" was indeed a logged Surf's Up horn overdub session. I highly doubt anything was meant to come of it as far as it being a "track", just an experiment. Perhaps Brian wanted to integrate a sort of "talking horn" in Surf's Up.

[Mr. Cohen]

One of my favorite parts that hasn't been mentioned is the slower "Do A Lot" chant that was eventually used in the BWPS version of "Vegetables". Was the instrumental for that slowed down after it was recorded, or did they just play it that slow when they recorded it? Interesting that part of the bass line in this section sounds just like part of the Western instrumental used in the BWPS version of "H & V". "Vegetables" borrows a lot from "H & V". A lot of SMiLE seems to revolve around Brian's amazement with his ability to find new ways to present the same melodies in different tempos or with small changes when he was stoned. That's as big of a part of the thematic unity we see musically as any of the intellectual reasons, I think.

[Paulos]

Our Prayer - simply the best a capella vocals ever recorded anywhere by anyone ever. EVER.