I've been reading a new book about Brian called "Catch A Wave", by Peter Carlin. The guy did his research, and interviewed most of the important people in Brian's history, including the man himself. Great read.

Yeah, I became one of those "Smile" nerds, and have my own collection of 66-67 boot snippets, the 2004 CD, and the DVD of the live performance.

After two years, this album is still on a regular playing rotation for me, and I never tire of it. As a matter of fact, I like the live DVD even better. In surround sound it's just incredible. To see Brian at the top of his game, and being so happy onstage,performing this "lost" album, is inspirational. Miracles do indeed happen.

I couldn't agree more. It's rare to see a happy ending to stories such as Brian's, and in his case it is all the more satisfying, since we are being treated to new music and performances from one of the all time greats!

Smile - both the original (in various boot forms) and the 2004 version are among the greatest achievements in recorded musical history. PERIOD.

StonesTod Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Smile - both the original (in various boot forms)
> and the 2004 version are among the greatest
> achievements in recorded musical history. PERIOD.


Absolutely 100% correct StonesTod!

Smile is an astounding piece of work, just incredible.

I am extremely lucky that, living in London, I saw one of the shows in 2004 when he played the whole album live. I had, at that point, only just gotten into him, although i'd always liked the beach boys, but i thought it would be cool to see him. I almost feel guilty now that I was not very aware of him and had no idea about SMiLE until 2004, but it blew me away. Like the english man says in the 'beautiful dreamer' documentary at the world premiere (on the smile dvd) "I'm gonna have my life before smile, and after smile" like it was some kind of huge moment for him.

After seeing him live, i was COMPLETELY converted and have been a huge BW/BB fan ever since. I am lucky enough to be going to Brians only UK show this year, he is performing the whole of pet sounds live, in London tomorrow night, along with a bunch of hits. I was in the states only two weeks ago, for my holiday this year i decided to go and see the stones at atlantic city, which was cancelled, and brian wilson at UCLA where he did pet sounds. Im glad i went to LA, but if id known about the london show (it was put on sale many weeks after the LA show!) perhaps i wouldnt have gone all that way, but i have no regrets now. Yeah its extravagent, but it was my one holiday this year, so there you go. I know what to expect tomorrow night, but thats fine. Probably the last time i'll hear the album performed live.

Add some music to your day...

_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

Brian finishing Smile was huge and is definitely the cherry on top of the sundae that is BW's physical, mental, and musical ressurection. I mean, the guy had been through hell for twenty years and the original Smile sessions were probably what tipped him over the edge in the first place. Plus, the most fabled record never released finally got finished - that's HUGE.

That said, the 2004 version is interesting but I don't really like it. Wait - that's not true, I respect it, but I never listen to it. It just seems so sterile & stiff. It's immaculately played & recorded, and Brian's voice is what it is nowadays, but I dunno . . . I think between the original bootlegs and the tracks that wound up being released on subsequent BBs records (and the Good Vibrations box set), I just prefer listening to the '66/'67 stuff. Plus, some of those new Van Dyke Parks lyrics on the '04 version are asinine.

Regardless, props to Brian for finishing it - and touring behind it, too. The guy's got a lot of guts.

The re-recorded version of Smile was great, but I really wish the remaining "Boys" (well , Mike Hate), would get it together to release some of the original recordings - even though the crop of these are abailable on bootleg.

Brian Wilson's solo career is hit and miss. The 1988 debut was great (espescially Love & Mercy and Rio Grande (which borrowed from Dennis Wilson's superior Pacific Ocean Blue), as was I Jst Wasn't Made For These Times (a dry run for Smile 2004 and the solo tours). Imagination was patchy, but Orange Crate Art and Gettin' Over My Head were crap.

I hope he releases Sweet Insanity (which was pretty good) and the Andy Paley recordings he made right before Imagination.

Who would ever imagine that Brian would be the last Wilson standing?

My son called me the other day from college. He said he'd been listening to Smile a lot...couldn't get the song "Our Prayer" out of his head.

He thanked me for MAKING him copy my disc on his computer before he went back to school in September.

Sometimes the old man knows what he's talking about...

Nikolai Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The re-recorded version of Smile was great, but I
> really wish the remaining "Boys" (well , Mike
> Hate), would get it together to release some of
> the original recordings - even though the crop of
> these are abailable on bootleg.
>
much of the Smile material was released on the 4disc beach boys box many years ago.

loog droog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Who would ever imagine that Brian would be the
> last Wilson standing?

I was thinking just that the other day, its incredible. On youtube, there is some heartbreaking footage of brian and carl wilson, with their mother sat in between them, while they are playing god only knows - brian on the piano and carl singing, it must've beem sometime mid 90's.
>
> My son called me the other day from college. He
> said he'd been listening to Smile a lot...couldn't
> get the song "Our Prayer" out of his head.
>
> He thanked me for MAKING him copy my disc on his
> computer before he went back to school in
> September.
>
> Sometimes the old man knows what he's talking
> about...

Thats sooooooo cool! Funny, its the other way round with my dad - it seems to be me who has turned my dad on to the beach boys and the stones. He is a huge beatles fan, and quite liked the bb's and never really cared for the stones, then i asked if he wanted to see them back on the btb tour, and he thought it was great. We saw brian wilson a couple of times and he loved it. One of the greatest things in life when you are a big music fan, is the enjoyment one gets from turning other people onto the music that you love.

_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

His "smile" is an astounding achievement, but I hope to see a Smile box from Capital some day. The original tapes, though incomplete, have the benefit of a younger Brian's vocals.

Ryko almost put out a Smile box in the late '80s/early '90s, but it obviously didn't happen (this was during the Landy years, so who knows what the f*ck was really going on). Regardless, all the original master taped do exist and have survived (no, Brian didn't burn them as he's sometimes said).

Maybe now that Brian finally conquered his Smile demons, he'll finally issue the original stuff. Fingers crossed . . .

A Smile box would be a great idea...and with all that material when they finally do release it, in a couple of years they'll do it again. (with bonus cuts)

And again. (with newly discovered material)

Yeah that would be very cool.

And of course, loog droog, you are forgetting the "5th anniversary of the re-release of the 2nd smile box-set (re-mastered) !!

Seriously though, a decent box-sit would be great.

I dont have smiley smile, or any of the bootlegs. Can any of you guys reccommend anything? Cheers.

_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

"Smile" is a miracle...both the music and the fact that, to quote JuanTCB, 'the most fabled record never released finally got finished'. Truly heaven-sent. When I heard it was finally being released I almost fainted. Could this be? One of the most legendary recordings in the history of Rock - as famous and enshrouded as Excalibur - was alive...and its original master had kissed it back to life?

So I bought it and waited for a magical moment to first listen to it. Then on a beautiful afternoon, on an island, on the patio, looking into the mountains and ocean, the moment came. My anticipation was overwhelming.

And I loved it...but the one aspect that gnawed at me as I heard the immaculately-recorded CD was that Brian Wilson was too old to be singing this. As beautiful and uplifting and poignant as the music was...and as grateful as I was [am] that Brian Wilson found the courage and creative energy to bring this masterpiece back to life, I felt that his original voice and vision back in 1966-67 - that of a young man at the peak of his powers and the height of his talents trying to create THE American Pop Symphony - was somehow fresher and deeper. The lyrics and the melodies were made for a younger man [the young Brian] to sing. The plaintive, guileless harmonies and phrasing belong to another time and place. I found myself longing for the original Beach Boys harmonies, and for the younger Brian's vocal talents. But that was the only minus in an otherwise wonderful experience. Thank you Brian Wilson.

Diamond rings, Vaseline, you gave me disease, well, I lost a lot of love over you.

Just like everyone has said here, when I first heard the bootleg Smile, the first words I uttered were..."Holy shit, music history would have been altered if this came out in the 60's"

We have to remember this was done before Sgt. Pepper was released. This is the best music never released, released some 35 years later. The best version, or should I say, the version I listen to the most is this one:


Beach Boys
SMiLE (Odeon)

Silver CD->CD-R->EAC->WAV->FLAC

Odeon Records version of the SMiLE album.

Total Running Time: 01:16:32

01 - Our Prayer
02 - Heroes and Villains Suite
03 - Do You Like Worms
04 - Mrs. O'Leary's Cow
05 - Child Is Father of the Man
06 - Cabinessence
07 - I Love To Say Da Da
08 - Look
09 - Old Master Painter,You Are My Sunshine
10 - Wind Chimes
11 - Barnyard
12 - Vega-Tables
13 - Friday Night
14 - He Gives Speeches
15 - Holidays
16 - With Me Tonight
17 - Wonderful
18 - Wonderful - Insert
19 - Three Blind Mice
20 - Water,Cool Cool Water
21 - Surf's Up
22 - Your'e Welcome
23 - George Fell Into His French Horn
24 - Bicycle Rider
25 - Can't Wait Too Long
26 - Wind Chimes
27 - Cabinessence
28 - Heroes and Villains,Barnyard,I'm In Great Shape
29 - Good Vibrations - Sections
30 - Smile Promo
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I also have this 2 CD one, but rarely listen to it.:



The Beach Boys "Smile" Vigotone 110/111 *liberated boot*
Original Silver Discs -> WAV (EAC secure mode) -> FLAC (FLAC Frontend level 8)

Disc 1

1. Heroes and Villians
2. Do you like Worms
3. Medley: The old Master Painter/You are my Sunshine
4. Wonderful
5. Child is the Father of the Man
6. Prayer
7. Cabin-Essence
8. Good Vibrations
9. Vega-Tables/I'm in Great Shape
10. Wind Chimes
11. Mrs O'Leary's Cow
12. Cool
13. Surf's Up
14. Prayer
15. I Love to Say Dada
16. Untitled (She's Goin' Bald)
17. Untitled (With Me Tonight)
18. Wonderful
19. Child is the Father of the Man
20. You're Welcome
21. Heroes and Villians
22. Heroes and Villians
23. Heroes and Villians
24. Heroes and Villians
25. Do you like Worms?


Disc 2

1. Good Vibrations
2. Cabin-Essence
3. Surf's Up
4. Tones/Tone X
5. Tones/Tone X
6. Medley: The old Master Painter/You are my Sunshine
7. George Fell into His French Horn
8. Mrs O'Learys Cow
9. Barnyard
10. The Woodshop Song
11. Holidays
12. Prayer
13. Surf's Up
14. Smile Era Party

Notes: Here it is. Arguably the most famous Smile bootleg of all time, this collection is well done with generally excellent sound. This is an essential title for your Smile collection.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-12 06:41 by Bingo.

The story behind "Smile"



While putting the finishing touches on Pet Sounds, and just beginning work on "Good Vibrations", Brian met fellow musician and songwriter Van Dyke Parks, and in late 1966 they began an intense collaboration that resulted in a suite of superb new songs for the Beach Boys' next album, which was eventually named Smile. Using the same methods as on "Good Vibrations," recording began in August 1966 and carried on into early 1967. Although the structure of the album and the exact running order of the songs have been subjects of endless speculation, it is apparent that Wilson and Parks intended Smile to be a continuous suite of songs that were linked both thematically and musically, with the main songs being linked together by small vocal pieces and instrumental segments that elaborated the musical themes of the major songs.

But some of the other Beach Boys—especially Love—found the new music too difficult and too far removed from their established style; another serious concern was that the new music was simply not feasible for live performance by the current Beach Boys lineup. Love was bitterly opposed to Smile and was particularly critical of Parks' lyrics; he has also since stated that he was becoming deeply concerned about Wilson's escalating drug intake. The problems came to a head during the recording of "Cabinessence," when Love demanded that Parks explain the meaning of the closing refrain of the song, "Over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield." After a heated argument, Parks walked out, and his partnership with Wilson came, shortly thereafter, to an abrupt end.

Many factors combined to focus intense pressure on Wilson as Smile neared completion, including mental instability, the pressure to perform against fierce opposition to his new music, the relatively poor response to Pet Sounds, Carl Wilson's draft resistance, and a major dispute with Capitol. Matters were complicated by his reliance on both prescription and illegal drugs, particularly marijuana and amphetamines, which only exacerbated his underlying mental health problems.

Just weeks before The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released, Smile was shelved. Over the next 30 years the legends surrounding Smile grew, until it became the most famous unreleased album in the history of popular music. Some of the tracks were salvaged and rerecorded at Brian's new home studio in drastically scaled-down versions. These were released, along with the completed versions of "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains", on the 1967 LP Smiley Smile, which would prove to be a critical and commercial disaster for the group.

Despite the cancellation of Smile, interest in the work remained high and versions of several major tracks—including "Our Prayer", "Cabinessence", "Cool, Cool Water", and "Surf's Up"—were assembled by Carl Wilson over the next few years and included on later albums. The band was expecting to complete and release Smile even until 1972, when it became clear that only Brian would ever be able to make sense out of the endless fragments that were recorded. A substantial number of original tracks and linking fragments were included on the group's 30th anniversary CD boxed set in 1993. Smile itself, in its original conception, did not surface until Wilson and Parks completed the writing and Brian rerecorded it as a solo project in 2004.

Thanks Bingo, that was a great read, but, in the post before about the two bootlegs, you say you are 'presenting it here as an EAC rip from original silvers' etc etc... But where can I get it??!!

_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

Yeah, Bingo...I'm totally excited about this....where are these files?

Since we've now fully gone through the looking glass to 40 years ago, another party to blame is Captitol. They totally screwed the pooch with Pet Sounds - usurped any momentum it might have had with the release of the Greatest Hits album a few weeks later, totally undermining the advances the band (meaning Brian) had made with a more-aggreseively marketed compilation of striped-shirt era fun/sun hits.

I don't know how radically music would have changed had Smile been released in Dec. '66 or early '67, but the bar would have certainly been raised higher.

I'm sorry, I just cut and paste from the info I downloaded a few years ago, when I dowmloaded the CD's from a site that doesn't exist anymore. I should go back and edit that out, so I don't mislead people.

Mr Jimmy....email me at bingo420 @ gmail . com

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I always think about the story of the beatles going to visit brian wilson, or maybe it was just lennon and mccartney, and anyway, brian hid in his toilet/bathroom while they were there, as he was too nervous to see them, and only emerged after the liverpool lads had left.

It makes me laugh but also it's so sad, especially when I personally consider BW to be right up there with the fab four in terms of talent / genius.

He was a very fragile dude...

_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

Turd on the Run............email me bingo420 @ gmail . com

JuanTCB wrote..."Since we've now fully gone through the looking glass to 40 years ago, another party to blame is Captitol. They totally screwed the pooch with Pet Sounds - usurped any momentum it might have had with the release of the Greatest Hits album a few weeks later, totally undermining the advances the band (meaning Brian) had made with a more-aggreseively marketed compilation of striped-shirt era fun/sun hits.
I don't know how radically music would have changed had Smile been released in Dec. '66 or early '67, but the bar would have certainly been raised higher."

Right on. What Capitol did was criminally incompetent. And what Brian Wilson had to go through to even have this music recorded and released was nerve-wracking. His own band was reluctant to involve themselves in this new direction. Mike Love - content to slide along on the fun/sun confections - was bitterly opposed to the new direction Brian was leading the band into. Intra-band strife was rife. The other Beach Boys had just returned from a successful European tour and - in a spectacular misreading of the times - felt Brian was jeopardizing their popularity with his new material. They were literally oblivious to the fact that they had Mozart composing for them!

After the stress of putting together Pet Sounds, and the strains of working on Smile - and especially after Capitol sabotaged the momentum Pet Sounds was building by releasing a Greatest Hits confection - Brian was burned out completely. The drugs didn't help.

Perversely, by subverting Pet Sounds and undermining Brian's vision [and feeding his insecurities] both the Beach Boys and Capitol sealed their own fate. They would never again come close to regaining their status as a top-rank creative force. They blew it. Brian had the keys to the heavens and the others chose the safety of meandering on the shoreline. The Beatles and other groups would quickly surpass them...and they would be mostly relegated to re-living their past glories for the next 35 years. For a brief shining moment the Beach Boys had the creativity and popularity to re-define themselves and remain a fountainhead of Pop music...and they threw it away.

Brian Wilson had the last laugh on Capitol and the doubters within his own band - albeit after suffering terribly for so many years. Pet Sounds is acknowledged as a masterpiece of modern music [it has even been ranked as the greatest pop album ever made in some critic's polls] and Smile is a glorious sunbeam of an album.

But for one instant...the Beach Boys could have had it all.

So much for listening to your record company and democracy within bands!

P.S. Bingo...if you can post the mp3 files of the Smile bootleg that would be great. Go to the Hot Stuff section...

Fantastic post turd.

_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

x



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-06 00:27 by Beelyboy.

Whoa, guys -- don't fall into that trap. There is NO way to construct a complete 1967 "Smile" from the existing snippets. Forget it. Don't go there. It doesn't exist. It's a Don Quixote fantasy.

"Smile" WAS completed, and now we have it. Arguably, Brian's band is far better than the Beach Boys, BUT, you can't magically transport Brian back to 1967.

Some folks actually prefer to keep the legend intact, and would've been happy if this had NOT been released.

That's patently ridiculous. It was about the music, pure and simple. Nothing to do with Brian's lost youth, or the listeners' lost youth.

"Smile" is here, and the bubble of the legend has been popped. Did it change the music world? The legend started changing it 40 years ago. That's quite an accomplishment.

x



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-06 00:27 by Beelyboy.

Check this out:





_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

x



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-12-05 22:05 by Beelyboy.

StonesTod Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nikolai Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The re-recorded version of Smile was great, but
> I
> > really wish the remaining "Boys" (well , Mike
> > Hate), would get it together to release some of
> > the original recordings - even though the crop
> of
> > these are abailable on bootleg.
> >
> much of the Smile material was released on the
> 4disc beach boys box many years ago.

Only about a third of it was - if you exclude Good Vibrations and Heroes & Villains. The really sad thing about the original Smile is, comparing oit with the 2004 version, how close Brian was to finishing it.