Smiley Smile

[Chris D.]

Thanks, Mr. D. Your thoughts and writings, your FEELING about art serve as an inspiration to my head.
Right/Write on, my friend.

Likewise, and thank you to you, Luther, and Jason for making this an active thread.  I crave the fanatacism as much as you and it's very heartening to see someone who wants it as badly.  You were born loving this stuff.

[Jason]

That's even more of what I'm talking about.
Music is my religion, man. I take it seriously. Very seriously.
So, if you don't have anything more constructive, that's cool, but don't dampen or cheapen the discussion.
Music is not JUST anything. It's THE thing.

You know what? I retract my last few statements. Music is my breath and life-essence and I wouldn't have it any other way. I enjoy talking with you guys, even when all we do is disagree.

Smiley Smile fucking rules.

[I. Spaceman]

And you guys rule too.

[the captain]

Bottom line though, FUM HIM THE MOURDOROUS BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praise him and you are as bad as I am!

[Chris D.]

Let us all stay teenage gamblers listening to the radio.

[I. Spaceman]

Ya'll can sing Danny Boy on my lap any time.

[Chris D.]

Ya'll can sing Danny Boy on my lap any time.

Only if we get to sit in your rainbow cup.

[monkee knutz]

Smiley Smile rocks and the only people here who get it are me, Ian, Luther, and Chris D.

No way man! Gotta and me to the list. I ain't been active in this thread, but I'd put SMiLEy in my top 3, ONLY because I can't decide which I like better- SMiLEy, Sunflower or Pet Sounds. All induviduals onto themselves and to one another. DON'T make me have to choose! It's just not possible.

[donald]

Here's one take on Smiley Smile.  There are the two mega hits...H&V and GV. 
Much of the rest is bits and pieces of SMiLE stuff....unfinished...deliberately presented as such and in a fashion reminescent of the Beach Boys Party concept...........

Hey kids! Listen, trip along,  as the BeachBoys get STONED, giggle,  and workup some groovy new psychedelic songs for you!  (CARL!! grab that roach in the ashtray!!!)

[Jason]

No way man! Gotta and me to the list. I ain't been active in this thread, but I'd put SMiLEy in my top 3, ONLY because I can't decide which I like better- SMiLEy, Sunflower or Pet Sounds. All induviduals onto themselves and to one another. DON'T make me have to choose! It's just not possible.

Preach on, brother.

[Old Rake]

me, Ian, Luther, and Chris D.

HELLOOOOOOOOOO! I've only been singing the thing's praises loudly and vocally since, oh, I dunno, *I STARTED THIS DANG BOARD!*

Five star album, couldn't live without it, like it almost as much as Smile, la-de-da, frickin' RULES.

[Mitchell]

I remember when you (I think it was you) posted a link to an archived post by someone about how Smiley Smile was SMiLE from years ago... it was a great read.

Also, I read a book from my university library last year; a collection of essays about 'advances' in popular music or something. The essay about The Beach Boys was primarily about how brilliant Smiley Smile was. It was cool.

[Cam Mott]

me, Ian, Luther, and Chris D.

HELLOOOOOOOOOO! I've only been singing the thing's praises loudly and vocally since, oh, I dunno, *I STARTED THIS DANG BOARD!*

Five star album, couldn't live without it, like it almost as much as Smile, la-de-da, frickin' RULES.

John Lane and Dan Addington used to go on and on about how great Smiley was to until you'd want to hurl.

[Jeff Mason]

I would die for Rock and Roll because God gave it to me to enjoy. It's saved my life many times.
I'm just not into the pooh-poohing everyone does when a discussion gets heavy. Why shouldn't it get down there? It's key to what makes us who we are.
I mean, if everyone wants to get to a level of "Man, that new Byrds box is amazing", then that's fine, we can do that.
personally, I prefer this more.

??

IS there a new Byrds box??

[Jeff Mason]

me, Ian, Luther, and Chris D.

HELLOOOOOOOOOO! I've only been singing the thing's praises loudly and vocally since, oh, I dunno, *I STARTED THIS DANG BOARD!*

Five star album, couldn't live without it, like it almost as much as Smile, la-de-da, frickin' RULES.

John Lane and Dan Addington used to go on and on about how great Smiley was to until you'd want to hurl.

Dan came up with the "Smiley IS Smile" theory and he convinced me (at least until I heard the finished product -- now I just see it as another of Brian's ideas and artistic choices).  This was at least 6 years ago now.  These debates are hardly new and there is a strong allegiance to Smiley throughout the BB world.

I wish I had had $100 to spare.  I would have asked Brian to give me his thoughts on Smiley Smile and why he did it and what he thought of it today.

[the captain]

I don't like having my name repeated, over and over, as "getting" anything. I never seriously claim to get anything more complicated than a sandwich...and not a fancy one.

[Chris D.]

See, I love Luther because he GETS that he doesn't have to say he gets it.

[the captain]

...

(Luther doesn't respond, and the group sits in silence, waiting. See, he's off reading some highbrow Pynchon, Joyce or some such stuff--cover held high so passersby can read it!)

[Daniel S.]

Let us all stay teenage gamblers listening to the radio.

That's going to be the title of my biography.

[Daniel S.]

That's something that most likely will never happen. The young people who post here (myself included) are rare breeds, we get the music. I like to think of Brian Wilson as a, if not the, pioneer in the so-called "indie" movement, a good 20 years before such a movement really existed. There are plenty of indie purists out there, and a little clever marketing of Beach Boys music towards a younger audience could do nothing but good, in my opinion. If the genres don't last, who cares? There will always be that fan base out there. Pet Sounds gets approval like this from younger audiences, but the whole catalog deserves such praise.

I don't give a crap if "younger generations" get it or not. The Beach Boys have sold millions of records. I don't care if trendy posers dig them. foda indie rock.

If some phony is too much of an a-hole that he can't think for himself, and is fixated on a band's image, then he don't deserve to hear Brian's beautiful music anyways.

[the captain]

foda indie rock.

This line seems out of place in the rest of your post. One can be an indie rocker and not mindlessly follow trends, etc. In fact, I'd say the percentage of indie artists who stay true to their own tastes is far, far higher than non-indie artists. After all, they don't have the backing of gigantic corporate machinery "encouraging" them one way or the other.

[Matinee Idyll]

Is it possible to make 'psych' music, without the use of drugs?

[I. Spaceman]

Is it possible to make 'psych' music, without the use of drugs?

YES!
See the sunshine-pop movement, e.g. Free Design, Cowsills, etc.

[Jason]

I don't give a crap if "younger generations" get it or not. The Beach Boys have sold millions of records. I don't care if trendy posers dig them. foda indie rock.

If some phony is too much of an a-hole that he can't think for himself, and is fixated on a band's image, then he don't deserve to hear Brian's beautiful music anyways.

f*** indie rock? A lot of those fucking indie rockers are Brian's biggest fans!

And you'd better learn to love the younger generations who love the Beach Boys because they're gonna be the ones carrying the torch of your favorite band when you and all the older fans are dead. Several young people post here (myself included, been a fan since age 16) and are among Brian's biggest fans. And if you're calling the younger fans who post here poseurs, well you're sorely mistaken.

[the captain]

Ahaha. A little harsh, but good enough.