Talk:Smiley Smile/proposal
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| Smiley Smile | ||
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| Studio album by The Beach Boys | ||
| Released | 11 September 1967 | |
| Recorded | 3 June - 14 July 1967 Except "Good Vibrations": Sporadically from 18 February to 1 September 1966, portions of "Heroes And Villains"' backing track: October 1966 and coda to "Vegetables": April 1967 |
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| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 27:36 | |
| Label | Brother Records/ Capitol Records |
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| Producer(s) | The Beach Boys | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Beach Boys chronology | ||
| Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 2 (1967) |
Smiley Smile (1967) |
Wild Honey (1967) |
Smiley Smile is an infamous album by The Beach Boys, issued in 1967. Released in the place of the much-touted Smile, and notoriously under-produced, the album was received with indifference and confusion upon its unveiling. However, Smiley Smile has managed to grow in stature over the years to become a cult favorite, in spite of its bizarre quality.
Throughout the fall of 1966 into the spring of 1967, the music world anxiously awaited The Beach Boys' follow-up to Pet Sounds, entitled Smile. The revolutionary "Good Vibrations", a #1 worldwide hit in late 1966, only increased the intense interest in the new album.
Suddenly, in May 1967, the album was cancelled, and The Beach Boys also pulled out of their headlining spot at the Monterey Pop Festival. After such a wait, the turn of events were indeed puzzling. In time, it was revealed that stress (due to intraband friction, the artistic expectations for the record, and mental illness exacerbated by drug use) during the production of Smile led creative leader Brian Wilson to abandon the project.
While the music world was being seduced by the sights and sounds of psychedelia, The Beach Boys quietly retreated to Brian Wilson's recently-constructed home studio in Bel-Air (for it was the only way the depressed Wilson would be motivated to work). It was here, during all of June and part of July that Smiley Smile, a confused and minimalist reconstruction of some of the Smile music, was recorded.
Brian Wilson, who turned 25 during the sessions, made the dramatic decision of not being the official producer of The Beach Boys any longer, feeling that his momentum as an artist had been shattered. With no one else ready to assume the role, Brian ended up producing most of the album, albeit with a lack of ambition never seen before in him. The lo-fi production of Smiley Smile - mostly recorded without the usual team of session players - would prove a sharp and distasteful contrast for the band's dwindling fanbase.
From the Smile project, "Vegetables", "Wind Chimes", and "Wonderful" were all re-recorded, in pleasant, yet dry and understated contexts (especially when compared with their original recordings to be found on the 1993 box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys). "Heroes And Villains" was partially reconstruced from its original backing track (though never reaching the heights it was meant to), and, for good measure, "Good Vibrations" (which sticks out like a sore thumb in this over-simplified atmosphere) was included. As a result, the most complex Smile tracks - notably "Surf's Up" and "Cabin Essence" - were excluded, adding to the disappointment of those who had been waiting for them, in vain. The remainder of Smiley Smile was comprised of recent compositions and refugees from Smile fragments Brian had worked on but not completed.
When "Heroes And Villains" was finally released, after months of hype, in late July, the reaction was less than ecstatic, and as such, there was a general suspicion that the press had been overpraising Brian Wilson and Smile. Smiley Smile's release that September only seemed to confirm it.
Without a doubt the strangest album ever released by a major group, Smiley Smile was inexplicable to those who heard it, and it was largely dismissed by the masses as definitive proof that The Beach Boys were out of touch (as had been suspected since abdicating their spot at the Monterey Pop Festival). After a slow climb, it finally crested at a disappointing #41 in the US. In November, following a two month delay in the UK, Smiley Smile came into their charts at a significantly better #9, though it too baffled the British fans. Music journalist Nick Kent's description of the album as "do it yourself, acid casualty doo-wop music" seemed to sum up the public's general perception of Smiley Smile.
However, time has been charitable to this release. Despite the fact that it replaced the most hyped album that never was and in spite of its enduring strangeness, critics have recognized Smiley Smile as among the first in a wave of simply-produced albums, ahead of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding, The Band's Music from Big Pink and The Beatles.
But in 1967, Smiley Smile was just a bewilderment to most listeners - even their creators. It marked the end of an era for The Beach Boys and they realized that in order to move forward, they would have to start all over again from scratch.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Heroes and Villains" (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) - 3:37
- "Vegetables" (Wilson, Parks) - 2:07
- "Fall Breaks And Back To Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony)" (Wilson) - 2:15
- "She's Goin' Bald" (Wilson, Mike Love, Parks) - 2:13
- "Little Pad" (Wilson) - 2:30
- "Good Vibrations" (Wilson, Love) - 3:36
- "With Me Tonight" (Wilson) - 2:17
- "Wind Chimes" (Wilson) - 2:36
- "Gettin' Hungry" (Wilson, Love) - 2:27
- "Wonderful" (Wilson, Parks) - 2:21
- "Whistle In" (Wilson) - 1:04
[edit] Singles
- "Good Vibrations" b/w "Let's Go Away For Awhile" (from Pet Sounds) (Capitol 5676), 10 October 1966 US #1; UK #1. (UK B-side was "Wendy" from All Summer Long)
- "Heroes And Villains" b/w "You're Welcome" (Brother 1001), 24 July 1967 US #12; UK #8
- "Gettin' Hungry" b/w "Devoted To You" (Brother 1002), 28 August 1967. (Credited to "Brian and Mike")
Smiley Smile is now paired on CD with Wild Honey, with bonus tracks from that period.
[edit] Personnel
- Mike Deasy Sr. - guitar
- Alan Jardine - vocals
- Bruce Johnston - vocals
- Mike Love - vocals
- Brian Wilson - guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Carl Wilson - vocals
- Dennis Wilson - drums, vocals
[edit] Trivia
- Despite the "unspoken rivalry" between The Beatles and the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney we're good friends during this time and remain so today. As a result of this friendship, McCartney made a guest appearance on Smiley Smile. He can be heard eating a carrot during "Vegetables." This led to an amusing story years later, as a Los Angeles radio station was giving away a bag of memorabilia signed by Paul McCartney to anyone who could answer the question "What Beach Boys' song does Paul McCartney appear on, eating a carrot?" Dozens called in with wrong answers, until finally McCartney himself called in and won the prize.
[edit] Sources
- Smiley Smile/Wild Honey CD booklet notes, David Leaf, c.1990.
- "Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile!", Domenic Priore, c.1995
- "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience", Timothy White, c. 1994.
- "Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story", Brian Wilson and Todd Gold, c. 1991.
- "Top Pop Singles 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
- "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c. 2002.
- All Music Guide.com
[edit] External links
Category:The Beach Boys albums Category:Capitol Records albums Category:1967 albums
