If Memphis had a Brian Wilson, he was probably this guy.  Lead singer of the Box Tops and musical mad genius behind the very influential underground Memphis band Big Star, Alex Chilton is dead at the age of 59. 

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/mar/17/memphis-musician-alex-chilton-dies/

Now this is definitely a thread after my own heart.  I have well over 200 of these things that I've done.  Since it's really late at night, and I should get in bed soon, I'll start with one that features longer pieces, all from the heady early years of the FM rock era (late 60s to early 70s).  It features three songs (indicated by *) that I heard back to back on WKDA-FM in Nashville very late at night when I was a teenager in early 1972, and it was the nearest thing to a great trip that I've ever had (being as I've never done hallucinogins)...

1.  Waiting For The Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago (ZZ Top)
2.  All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix Experience)
3.  Suzy Q (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
4.  White Room (Cream)
5.  Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin)*
6.  The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys (Traffic)*
7.  Heart Of The Sunrise (Yes)*
8.  A Beautiful Song (Nazz)
9.  Nights In White Satin (Moody Blues)
10.  Love Reign O'er Me (The Who)

I like all the soundtrack songs, especially "Hey Bulldog" and "It's All Too Much".  And the footage for "Eleanor Rigby" is an excellent visual interpretation of the song, I think.

With the news of Alex Chilton's unexpected death on my mind, it's been Best of the Box Tops and the first two Big Star albums tonight.  R.I.P. Alex.

Love You has been praised by a number of music critics as being musically prophetic of the synth-driven directions of 80s pop.

Strangely, the simplistic synth melodies used on a lot of rap songs released in the last few years remind me of Love You. I'll hear them on the radio and just be astonished. It really makes Brian seem like some kind of crazy trailblazer, so crazy you could never follow him.

Yes...and has anyone compared BWPS to Sufjan Stevens' last three projects?  I think the "crazy trailblazer" has a new follower in Sufjan.  Not that Sufjan sounds like a retread of Brian Wilson, but he seems to be taking a general artistic direction that further explores the "Americana" aspect of SMiLE in it's completed form, finding his inspiration from distinctly vintage American sources and creating a fresh lyrical and musical expression thereby.

...And yeah, the vocals are part of its charm. But then I'm a fan of Tom Waits, so yeah...

Yep.  Once you manage to get over the idea that Beach Boys always have to sound like Choir Boys, it begins to all make sense...

Wild Honey...but honestly, I don't know what I'd do to improve it, either.  I'd start with the production, then worry about song sequence once that was improved.

I don't know if better. Different, certainly.

I think of it this way. I was listening to the '04 album in the car the other day, and was just floored with Cabinessence as a piece of music. I mean, that thing is freaking cinematic. It's awesome. It's sectional, yet kind of has a verse-chorus structure. It's just an astonishing creation.

And I thought to myself, if a 12-track Smile had 12 tracks like that -- complete, miniature films with multiple sections, evocative lyrics, and clear yet suggestive structure -- that would have been a frigging masterpiece.

But, of course, Brian never managed to get 12 complete tracks like that. At most, he managed five or six such tracks and several more evocative fragments and instrumentals. In 2004, he and Darian and Van Dyke had to deal with what was there. And the best they could manage was to stitch them together by theme, with some new lyrics and links. This worked out far better than anyone expected, but it's an utterly different thing.

Good perspective.  I agree that a 12 song album with everything on it being as fully developed as "Cabinessence" would have been a masterpiece and a total triumph.  Honestly, I'm just one of those who feel that what we have is grand and great and satisfying beyond hope.  I couldn't be happier with a finished SMiLE than I am with what we now have.

I'm guessing that during this time they were still working on the right "cocktail" of medications.  That can really take some time with the kind of condition that Brian has.

I'm hopelessly nostalgic about 1976.  It's the year I met my beloved wife of now almost 32 years.  So it's very hard for me to be objective about this.  And anyway, I think both songs are fabulous summer-rockers. 

But trying to be as objective as possible, I'll give a slight edge to "Do It Again"...mainly for that amazing, Pet Sounds-esque middle section.

Great post, drbeachboy!

Love You has been praised by a number of music critics as being musically prophetic of the synth-driven directions of 80s pop.  And interestingly enough, Brian in some ways took up right where Love You left off for his first official solo album.  He likes electronic keyboards, simple as that.  You can still hear it on that cute little "Love You-esque" snippet at the end of the Lucky Old Sun project.

I'd be not at all displeased to hear him do a whole new album of stuff like that.  It'd be fun.

(I'm listening to Love You as I add a few lines to this post.  It's strange how this album can either sound insane or sound like a work of sheer genius depending on your mood.  This is one of those times that it smacks of genius to me.  It's amazing, really.)

Peter, it's great to have a chance to say that I totally enjoyed your book on Brian, and very much look forward to your book on Paul McCartney.  I like reading books on musicians by people who really have made an effort to get inside the music and understand it.  You obviously are that kind of writer.

I'm just thankful he can still sing...period.

I haven't been on this site much, so forgive me if this is already done-to-death...

But since we're talking a bit about Friends I find it facinating to no end that "Little Bird" contains a snippet of the arrangement for "Child Is The Father Of The Man" towards the fade.  I've always loved the song anyhow, but when I discovered that, I loved it even more.

Direct from the man:

E.C.: One thing I like about SMiLE is how the tracks flow into one another…

Brian Wilson: That was because of Darian Sahanaja and me. We sequenced it together with computers and Pro-Tools, modern instruments. And it took us about two weeks to do that but we got it all sequenced together.

E.C.: So was that something that you came up with exclusively for the 2004 SMiLE or did you originally intend to use link tracks on the original SMiLE?

Brian Wilson: No, that's 2004.

http://www.earcandymag.com/brianwilson-2004.htm

I wish I never read that interview, because it gives me the impression that Brian just sort of went along with whatever everyone else wanted.

I think my head just exploded.

I don't get that impression at all.  It matches what VDP claims, and it simply sounds like Brian is giving credit where it's due.  Darian has gone on record saying that, for example, in the case of "Wonderful/Song For Children", it was Brian who made the final call saying "That works.  That's how we'll do it."

Honestly, if SMiLE in 1967 were destined to be mastered in the standard pre-Sgt. Pepper pop album format, then I think it's a blessing that it didn't happen that way.  "SMiLE 2004" is much, much better than that would have been.

 

It seems I remember reading somewhere (in Leaf's book, perhaps) that he wanted his voice to sound deeper and more "manly" or something like that, and that he went through the whole cigar chain-smoking bit to get that quality in his voice.  It's never a good thing to start messing around with the actual mechanics of one's vocal chords.  The amazing thing is just how much of his voice actually came back.  He's lucky he didn't totally blow it.

I've never had the chance to hear the Paley sessions.  Would enjoy doing so.

But I have heard Sweet Insanity and I agree that it should have been released.  He does sound like he's having fun.  And a duet between Brian Wilson and Bob Dylan ("The Spirit of Rock and Roll") is simply something that should see the light of day for sheer historical purposes alone!  I especially prefer the SI version of "Rainbow Eyes" greatly over the released version on GIOMH.  Brian's vocal is much prettier, at times approaching his mid 60s vocal quality.  The synth-pop production is a little less than satisfying, but such was the spirit of the times.  The wild flute lines are evocative of the psychedelic era, and lend a humanity to the proceedings.  But Brian's vocals are just stellar on this particular track.

Thanks for the wonderful info Alan.

Damn, now I have to go back and change my Smile mix yet again. I thought I was done. How foolish I was.

You will never, ever be done. Because just when you think you are, when you think you've heard EVERYTHING out there, something shows up out of the blue. Perhaps just a snippet, but as you know, all of us SMiLE-fanatics must include every bit ever recorded. It's an endless cycle of abuse we put on ourselves. And worth it. 

Jeez....Now I gotta cut "False Barnyard" off of my version of "Heroes And Villains" and graft it on to "The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine". But I'll love every minute of it. If you guys play around with it (your mix), please go to the "Your Personal SMiLE mix" thread and let me know how you're doing with it.

I think with this information, I may be about to attempt an "LP length SMiLE" CD mix in a few days.  I'll let you know what I come up with, since "Your Personal SMiLE mix" is already high on my list of favorite threads around here...

and anyway, before BWPS, I don't think either Brian or the BBs have ever used segues or crossfades...

"Cool, Cool Water" 

Yeah, I know, but what I meant was segueing or crossfading otherwise separate songs on an album ala Sgt. Pepper or the Moody Blues' albums.

Didn't say that...  just said "ever used segues or crossfades".

My bad...

No - Doves of Peace. IF it's the same piece we're talking about(?)

"Doves of Peace" = "Spanish Guitar Theme" = "New Song" (recorded 3/26/68).

Thanks so much, Andrew.  Now, one more question, if you can indulge me...

Do we know for certain that it is a Brian Wilson composition, or is it one of the others'?

...it gets so confusing sometimes...whatever it is and whenever it was recorded, it stays in my SMiLE CD mix...

Surf's Up a downer?   
It's made me feel many things, but bummed out has never been one of them. 

Well, I can understand it as a "downer" in some respects.  VDP's lyric is, in fact, a lament for the most part.  But like I said earlier, it ends with a revelation of wonder.  That resolves whatever "downer" aspect exists, for me.

I can't imagine Brian ever having wanted Surf's Up as a closer. What a downer for an end track. 

And "Caroline, No" is like a really peppy closer???

Pet Sounds was telling a very different kind of story.

True, but before BWPS, "Surf's Up" as the closing track made perfect sense to me.  It's not really a downer if you recognize that the lyric ends in a revelation, a "wonderful thing, a children's song".  So to me, "Surf's Up" is about spiritual growth and revelation, not altogether tragic, although there is tragedy in the lyric, it is resolved in the end to a state of peace and acceptance.

Me too! (in my own video-edit and I only called it Doves Of Free because I wanted to mix it Sounds Of Free/Doves Of Peace and confused the titles)...

OK, let me try to get some things straight now...

Are you saying that what I'm calling "Spanish Guitar Theme" is properly called "Doves of Peace"?

I can't imagine Brian ever having wanted Surf's Up as a closer. What a downer for an end track. 

And "Caroline, No" is like a really peppy closer???