Smiley Smile

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

It has the timbre of Marilyn's voice which I can pick out. She pops in on a few tracks in the Beach Boys albums. Busy Doin' Nothing has a bit of her.

No way it's a sped up tape of the BBoys themselves.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Two different artists there....

Of course. I know that. I think rolling stone magazine picked those as the best songs of all time on two different polls.

Ah gotcha

[mike8902]

No, no, one's the best song of all time, the other one's the second best song of all time.

I think Like a Rolling Stone is up there, but definitely not number 1, and I think satisfaction is not even in my top 1,000 songs. I really don't like the Stones.

[Jason]

I've read that story too, and I think it was Brian who didn't want it released at that time. It wasn't finished, at least not to his satisfaction. But who knows? He thought differently of it in 1970 when Carl went back to it and added some flourishes and vocals.

Brian's quite indecisive on that song. On the BBC Radio 1 documentary of Smile, he called the '71 Surf's Up a piece of sh*t. Said he didn't know why they let a record go out like that.

[I. Spaceman]

That does not mean they're not great. Which you should admit.

[mike8902]

I'll admit that other people think they're great. I don't think they're anything special. I think there are hundreds of songs better than satisfaction. That song is pretty boring to me.

[mike8902]

Although it was the first riff I learned on guitar, but if a person who just picked up the guitar can play that with ease I don't think it should be considered the number 1 song of all time.

[I. Spaceman]

Wow, man. That's not what rock is about. Rock is primal. Rock IS something a kid can do the first day he picks up a guitar. That does not mean things that are more complicated don't have validity, but rock is Louie Louie and Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow, I Wanna Be Your Dog, it's That's All Right Mama, Tutti Frutti.
Complication simply does not make ANYTHING better, particularly in rock.

And, objectivity means being able to see the qualities of something without necessarily liking it yourself. It's a good quality.

[mike8902]

True, but I don't think this is good primal rock to my ears. Chuck Berry did it better.

[I. Spaceman]

Fair enough. I think Keith would agree.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I'm pretty sure he said let a "vocal go out like that". That makes more sense to me because I find that Carl's lead hardly compares to the lead Brian did in the original sessions.

[Mitchell]

Are you sure it's girls and not a speeded up  or altered tape a la She's Going Bald?

I had been told by a very credible source that it was a sped up tape, but one of our homely scholars here (forget who) told me it was in fact Marilyn and Annie Wilson.

Somewhere earlier in this thread, I posted a quote from Stephen Desper, who answered this very question for me on the old board. I reposted it here but I can't be bothered to go through it again. Anyway, he said it was the wives.

[Daniel S.]

I really hate strongly opinionated dickheads who feel whatever they think is right and if you disagree then your just wrong. And of course they just love to declare what SUCKS! and what doesn't SUCK. Kinda boring. Wouldn't you guys agree?

[I. Spaceman]

I really hate people who really hate strongly opinionated dickheads who really hate stuff!!!!!!! 
Yeah, man, although we've all been guilty of that at one time or another.

[Daniel S.]

True, very true. 

[Rerun]

About the title... I just always assumed that they had already done advertising for "Smile," so, to still capitalize on the marketing, slightly changed the name so it would still be recognizable.  Afterall, they couldn't realease it as "Smile" since it wasn't.

[jabba2]

I've read that story too, and I think it was Brian who didn't want it released at that time. It wasn't finished, at least not to his satisfaction. But who knows? He thought differently of it in 1970 when Carl went back to it and added some flourishes and vocals.

Brian's quite indecisive on that song. On the BBC Radio 1 documentary of Smile, he called the '71 Surf's Up a piece of merda. Said he didn't know why they let a record go out like that.

You sure Brian wasnt referring to the rest of that album? I heard he really disliked STD.

[Mitchell]

You sure Brian wasnt referring to the rest of that album? I heard he really disliked STD.

Yeah, it wasn't "Beach Boys" enough. He just didn't support Mike fodaing with the formula, I guess.

I'm pretty sure I have read a Brian quote about Surf's Up the song being "a piece of merda vocally."

[Rocker]

Here ya go, it's at the end:  http://rapidshare.de/files/13622566/BBC_Radio_One_Story_of_Smile-_06-_Going_Insane_and_Surf_s_Up.mp3.html

[c-man]

I dunno, I always got the impression that Brian didn't like the way his solo piano performance was tacked onto the part with Carl singing to make a complete take.  I think his problem was with his part of it.  Sounds fine to me, of course, but apparently he had planned that "second movement" to have strings and be fuller sounding, therefore he didn't like the quasi-demo quality of what became part of the master.

C-Man

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Boy...the part with vocals sure is sped up. Was that done by Murry?

:

[theeponymuseudonym]

one thing that really amazes me about SmileySS, beside the overhauling of Brian's Smile tunes, is their use of manipulated tape & the machienes to further an exotic sound. no flange, heavy delays or any thing extrordinary, just enough that  fits in the organic demo-like quality of the LP as a whole. Of course,Tons o'Splicing,though...but just like in"GV", SSmiley & the Boys use splicing like an Effect--not just  means to "EDIT".

anyone care to elaborate on this point further?

P.S.- Brian once said that 2 min. was like 2 hrs. on drugs...anybody think this is why Smiley Smile and some outtakes like Bin Way too Long, as well as what came to be Cool cool Water, are more like vignettes of a wacky cartoon series, instead of balls-out songs, like on Wild Honey or SunFlower?

anybody out there even care>??

[Jason]

I think they're songs, or song-like material, but they're of a mosaic, just like Smile. Been Way Too Long is the natural evolution of the modular method Brian pioneered with Good Vibrations.

[theeponymuseudonym]

slicing is an art in/of itself...what do u say about the drug question?

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

So much interesting stuff can be done with splicing both tape and using it effectively digitally. Such a cool sound emerges from splicing a vocal out instead of a natural "pull the faders down slowly" way. It's just a bit risky if you haven't got the time or patience to mess up.