Smiley Smile

[Cam Mott]

Smiley just sounds like they didn't give a merda.

That's another reason I don't like 95% of it.

I think they really did, but about a different thing. The sessions sound very controlled and purposeful to me. And the Silver Platter Service interview following the album indicates that the vibe and sound was a definite artistic decision.

Is it really a "don't give a merda" rush job if it took 14 instru sessions to produce 10 songs when the norm was 3 or maybe 4 instru sessions to produce 10 songs? Is 300+% or 400+% over-production really a rush job?

Less is more often.

[I. Spaceman]

Exactly, and it was meant to be spare. Do you need two months to make that version of Vegetables?

[Chris D.]

"With me Tonight" and "Whistle In" sounds very undeveloped, the kind of stuff that might pop into the head of any songwriter, when they sat down at a piano.

Damnit, I wish something that good would pop into my head when I sat at my piana.

Same here.  And it isn't that different from the Smile version.  I think the real problem people have with Smiley is that it ruins the image they want of the Beach Boys, and as I've said before, shows antagonism for the fan instead of being peaceful and mildly different like Friends or 20/20.

[I. Spaceman]

Exactly.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Someone awhile ago said that everyday after work he'd get home and listen to Smiley Smile just to chill out and feel good. I think that's one of the greatest compliments an album can recieve.

I feel the same way about it.

[Jason]

Smiley Smile is best appreciated when it's listened to in the dark. Seriously. Try it.

[I. Spaceman]

Same with Pet Sounds.

[Matinee Idyll]

Is it really a "don't give a merda" rush job if it took 14 instru sessions to produce 10 songs when the norm was 3 or maybe 4 instru sessions to produce 10 songs? Is 300+% or 400+% over-production really a rush job?

Less is more often.

I haven't heard the Smiley sessions tapes, but could it be that like Smile, Brian simply had no idea how Smiley was going to fit together... or even sound?

Also, I imagine the drugs no doubt f***ed up the instrumental sessions a whole lot...  Alot of piss-farting I'd presume.

[I. Spaceman]

Since when is f***ed-up a bad thing?
Maybe he wanted a bizarre, disconnected and avant feel. Ya think maybe Brian Wilson knew exactly what he was doing? Or maybe he wanted to present an accurate musical picture of where his head was at, disturbed and out-of-focus.
Either way, he acheived his goals.

[Matinee Idyll]

The Beach Boys played most of the instrumental tracks?  And were stoned out of their minds... I can imagine it taking a long time is all.  They didn't appear to be particularly dynamic at the time from what I've read, so whether it was intended as a 'dont give a merda rush job' I don't know... it may have been, and that could have been one of Brians goals.

[I. Spaceman]

There isn't much in the way of instrumental tracks. Most of the songs contain extremely bare, stark instrumentation, and they already knew a lot of vocal parts.
There doesn't seem to be much reason the album would take that much longer to record than, say, the Party or Surfin' USA albums.

[jazzfascist]

"With me Tonight" and "Whistle In" sounds very undeveloped, the kind of stuff that might pop into the head of any songwriter, when they sat down at a piano.

Damnit, I wish something that good would pop into my head when I sat at my piana.

Same here.  And it isn't that different from the Smile version.  I think the real problem people have with Smiley is that it ruins the image they want of the Beach Boys, and as I've said before, shows antagonism for the fan instead of being peaceful and mildly different like Friends or 20/20.

I think people are underestimating themselves, to me songs like "With Me Tonight" and "Whistle In" sound like something most people could come up with. Maybe  they would have worked as fragments in a bigger context,  but I don't  think they are very good as stand alone pieces. The image of BB's have been ruined time and time again, by the various incarnations they have appeared in, so I doubt if that's the  problem that some people could have with "Smiley Smile", at least if they know the entire output of the group. I don't know if the problem with Smiley is, that it was worked into the ground, sort of like the H&V single, which ended up sounding very undynamic. It's a little like "Vegetables" where I think you have a very good version on the "Hawthorne" compilation, where they include some more chords in the part where they're scatting and it sounds really good and opens up the song, but for some reason it was edited out of the "Smiley" version. Maybe that was one of Brians problems at the time, that he was so afraid of sticking out, that he edited everything down to a point, where less isn't more, it's just less. At any rate that's how I think Smiley sounds, flat, castrated and claustrophobic.

Søren

[I. Spaceman]

You, again, are just explaining the greatness of the album.
Yes, you or I COULD have written Whistle In. But we didn't, or anything comparable.

[Chris D.]

The image of BB's have been ruined time and time again, by the various incarnations they have appeared in, so I doubt if that's the  problem that some people could have with "Smiley Smile", at least if they know the entire output of the group.

Right, but people here constantly complain about their particular image of the group being ruined.  It's a huge issue, not just a given.  Some people have a problem with the Mike Love Beach Boys, and think he's ruined the group's image as intelligent songwriters.  Others seem to hate Smiley Smile for forcing them to really analyze what sounds like "half-assed" noise instead of just drooling over the same, easy, old bits over and over again ("That tag from 'Fun Fun Fun,' far out!").  If Brian was trying to compete with the best of the 60s, he succeeded with Smiley Smile so much that it hurt.  It makes the Smile fans look traditional, and I think that's the problem people have with Smiley Smile.  A lot of fans like to gush about Brian's perfectionism and the layers of hidden complexity in his best known songs.  I think they resent him for putting out an album that is as beautiful as anything he wrote earlier but sounds, superficially, like amateur work.  It fucks with the Brian Wilson image too much by showing him as a creative guy willing to put one over on his fans to see why they really liked him in the first place.

[I. Spaceman]

You're batting a thousand today, Chris.

[Jason]

Right, but people here constantly complain about their particular image of the group being ruined.  It's a huge issue, not just a given.  Some people have a problem with the Mike Love Beach Boys, and think he's ruined the group's image as intelligent songwriters.  Others seem to hate Smiley Smile for forcing them to really analyze what sounds like "half-assed" noise instead of just drooling over the same, easy, old bits over and over again ("That tag from 'Fun Fun Fun,' far out!").  If Brian was trying to compete with the best of the 60s, he succeeded with Smiley Smile so much that it hurt.  It makes the Smile fans look traditional, and I think that's the problem people have with Smiley Smile.  A lot of fans like to gush about Brian's perfectionism and the layers of hidden complexity in his best known songs.  I think they resent him for putting out an album that is as beautiful as anything he wrote earlier but sounds, superficially, like amateur work.  It fodas with the Brian Wilson image too much by showing him as a creative guy willing to put one over on his fans to see why they really liked him in the first place.

You all see this post? Yeah this one, right here. He gets it. All you nay-sayers don't get it.

[Chris D.]

Thanks babiez.  I kn0w u b3 pl4y1n h4rdb4ll w1t th1z bunt 2.  Same to you, Jason.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Chris D. = 

[Aegir]

When I first listened to Smiley Smile, I thought it was really cool because most of the songs sounded really off; it was a favorite to play in front of my friends and say, "This is the Beach Boys". Now, I really have no desire to listen to it, and when I do, I get bored towards the end, even though I like all the songs.

3/5, but still my least favorite Beach Boys album (keep in mind, I haven't heard any of their 70s stuff yet)

[HighOnLife]

The image of BB's have been ruined time and time again, by the various incarnations they have appeared in, so I doubt if that's the  problem that some people could have with "Smiley Smile", at least if they know the entire output of the group.

Right, but people here constantly complain about their particular image of the group being ruined.  It's a huge issue, not just a given.  Some people have a problem with the Mike Love Beach Boys, and think he's ruined the group's image as intelligent songwriters.  Others seem to hate Smiley Smile for forcing them to really analyze what sounds like "half-assed" noise instead of just drooling over the same, easy, old bits over and over again ("That tag from 'Fun Fun Fun,' far out!").  If Brian was trying to compete with the best of the 60s, he succeeded with Smiley Smile so much that it hurt.  It makes the Smile fans look traditional, and I think that's the problem people have with Smiley Smile.  A lot of fans like to gush about Brian's perfectionism and the layers of hidden complexity in his best known songs.  I think they resent him for putting out an album that is as beautiful as anything he wrote earlier but sounds, superficially, like amateur work.  It fodas with the Brian Wilson image too much by showing him as a creative guy willing to put one over on his fans to see why they really liked him in the first place.

How about the fans that just think the album sucks? The same fans who like Pet Sounds and Wild Honey, but don't like the crap inbetween the two?

[the captain]

I put on Smiley Smile for the first time in quite a while--I don't want to guess how long--and recall now the same feelings I had when I first bought it (having had some vague understanding that Brian Wilson wasn't a silly surfer and was about to release a masterpiece, only to instea,d fade away and release lesser albums with hints and clues--not really correct, but my impetus to listen at the time).

"Damn, this isn't what I expected at all. It's...weird...creepy... I'm going to listen to it again...fascinating."

I still don't rank it among the band's best albums, but I am very interested by it. The juxtaposition of a few fully developed singles with minimalist versions of songs (themselves developed to varying degrees) makes me as a listener question what it is I'm looking for in this or any other album. Obviously, for many listeners, this won't be rewarding, because what they are looking for are "Brian Wilson productions," meaning full band harmonies, big instrumental tracks and the like. Breaking down songs to their essences--a line here, a melody there, an overwhelming bass part played on the organ and bass guitar everywhere and maybe this or that harmony--is a somewhat exciting insight into the mind of the composer. It's "MTV Unplugged" a couple of decades early: break things down and get to the heart of the matter.

And on the less intellectual level, I laugh half a dozen times or more in a full listening to Smiley Smile--no, I'm not smoking while I'm laughing ( )--and that matters, too. Perhaps Smiley Smile is just stoned guys having fun, but when one of those guys is a brilliant composer and the others are talented musicians in their own rights, that makes for a fine album. It's fun.

I still rank it well below my favorites: the Smile tracks, Pet Sounds, Today!, Friends, Love You, Holland, Surf's Up, and Summer Days and Summer Nights. But I do rank it right with those next albums, which for me would be Wild Honey, Surfer Girl, All Summer Long, etc.  There is plenty to love, and doing so doesn't take anything away from my love of other, wholly different albums.

[andy]

I think it's essential listening. Easily 5 stars.

And I don't think there many albums that deserve a full remix treatment as much as this one does. The Beach Boys at their vocal timbre peak, imo. Breathless.

[the captain]

Oh yeah, and for those who were knocking With Me Tonight earlier in the thread as something anyone could have written, I really, really disagree. I think it's among the most beautiful pieces of music and best recorded vocal bits I've ever heard. I absolutely love it, and it is one of my favorite Brian Wilson songs. It is a perfect combination of Brian's influences, with doo-wop and spirituality all wrapped up together into a piece of music that is every bit as affecting as Our Prayer. As anyone in the stomach-ache thread knows, I am somewhere in the agnostic range, but it is this sort of Brian Wilson piece that makes me feel, if not believe in, God.

(Oh, and the "good" cracks me up, because it sounds like Zappa's voice.")

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

And on the less intellectual level, I laugh half a dozen times or more in a full listening to Smiley Smile--no, I'm not smoking while I'm laughing ( )--and that matters, too. Perhaps Smiley Smile is just stoned guys having fun, but when one of those guys is a brilliant composer and the others are talented musicians in their own rights, that makes for a fine album. It's fun.

Yes!

If Brian Wilson's genius only lent its hand to huge Pet Sounds-like things then i'd get fed up soon.

[brother john]

The problem with Smiley Smile, as I see it, is partly that its all in mono, at a time when most other artists were releasing records in stereo, but also that the mixing/mastering gives it such a dull sheen. Listening to the released version is akin to sticking your head in a bucket of glue while listening.

I know it's a pretty challenging album due to the eccentricty and surrealism of its tracks, but I heard a fan mix in stereo a year or two ago (thanks to a saint on this board - god knows where he got it from) and it REALLY opened my eyes to it. This version just sprays over the released one: its so much more dynamic, and I fell in love with it at first listen. IMHO this is probably nearer to what Brian envisaged Smile as being. I know it'll never happen, but, under the auspices of one our favourite experts, Mr Desper perhaps, it should be re-mixed a re-released. Good god! Lots of people do re-mixes of other peoples' work, and this album would just blow people away if was heard in a more sympathetic format.