Smiley Smile vs. Smile

No question, that's what actually happened in 1967. Smiley Smile was rejected by just about everyone on release, critics and the public.

But not having been around then, I developed a later view and a dissenting one: I think not only is SS a great album, but its follow-up, Wild Honey, is even better.

In the received wisdom of the age, 1967 is the year the Beatles comprehensively vanquished the Beach Boys once and for all. Commercially, that is undeniably true.

But artistically? IMO, it's not within miles of being true.

 

As a die hard fan, I knew why, literally, but how those two masterpieces could have not been completed and included made me sad. GV and H and V were included, so why not those? I like SS for what it is, but am frustrated for what it isn't.

Dan

 

Smile.

 

Yes, but, although you had enough free space to include these two songs, it wouldn't have been SS then. Unless you were talking of re-recordings a la Wonderful or Windchimes, or even H&W, a notorious "underproduction" compared to the Smile sessions. The key to the SS sound is Brian's (then) brand new Baldwin organ.

 

Agreed. I don't know that a stripped down reimagining of Cabinessence would have worked...but the Columbia demo of Surf's Up would have probably fit in ok, though I know Brian had issues with his vocal.

Dan

 

Brian was very sensitive towards Surf's Up. One vocal session held for it was the infamous moment when the group "broke up for good", as he said later. Thats why the backing track wasn't finished. Since, the song still was on his mind, as the version recorded during Wild Honey proves.

 

Great topic.
Smiley has grown on me over the years, I think it's quite great now.
I think Carl was right though, in comparison to what Brian was doing, it was a big let down.
It has some amazing charm to it though, even if it wasn't Smile.
Age has been kind to Smiley Smile.

 

If you're prepared to extend the Smiley Smile window to late '67, there's always Brian's lower key remake of Surf's Up that was recently discovered in five takes of various levels of completion on a reel of sessions labelled as being for Country Air. Alternatively, you could settle for his piano versions from December '66, sourcing either the live performance captured for the documentary Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution or its subsequent studio equivalent. Cabin Essence definitely remains the one SMiLE era track yet to exist in a "Smiley" form, and it sticks out far too much for me in terms of its overall production style. On the other hand, would it have been any more jarring than having Good Vibrations on the same album as Little Pad? At least in the case of Good Vibrations (and even Heroes & Villains) you can cheat a little by sourcing its Lei'd In Hawaii counterpart, or at least the attempt at sweetening this made in September '67...

 

I agree. While I think Pet Sounds is a better album technically (as far as composition, performance, cultural importance, etc.), I enjoy listening to Smiley Smile much more (as well as Wild Honey and Friends).

 

I voted Smile.

have no interest really in .

 

SS is a crap album - boring pothead bulls**t.

SMiLE is awesome. Large production, can customize your own version of it. Only throwaway on it is "Holidays" or any of it's other working titles.

 

SMiLE sounds like just the right amount of marijuana.
Smiley Smile sounds like too much marijuana.

I vote SMiLE!

 

I was going to say garbage, but crap works too. The stillbirth of Smile is one of the great what-if tragedies of rock and roll. Carl was kind when he said Smiley was a bunt. It was a whiff with all that, er, wonderful material in front of them they remade into profoundly inferior tracks. Don't talk to me about whispering winds. Bah.

 

I can easily understand someone not enjoying Smiley Smile (it's certainly the most abrasive Beach Boys album, if not the most abrasive major release by a Top-tier 60s act) but between the bridge of "She's Goin' Bald" and the "Gettin' Hungry" jump scare, I would say it's anything but boring.

If you can't get into the album's sense of humor, there are points where it's downright terrifying.

 

I'm not sure if "too stoned to care if anyone else gets the joke" Brian is preferable to "staged arguments are the height of hilarity" Brian.

 

Good grief. Let's just assume that you don't know how to listen to/understand Smiley Smile, yet. I think that might be the best and most magnanimous explanation for a rather reactionary-sounding comment. It's a lovely and genuinely felt album.

 

The Beatles did not vanquish The Beach Boys, the Beach Boys just imploded all by themselves, aided by some rather reactionary and conservative minds within the band who wanted to stifle creative enterprise in the name of clinging onto a rather short-term idea of popularity and commercial success.

 

True, but what survives is better than Smiley Smile.

 

Listening to Smiley in mono right now. I like that it is an authentic artifact, while Smile is not.

 

Smiley Smile is hangover music baited with one of if not the greatest pop song ever.
SMiLE is a cache of baroque pop fragments that when played in the right order give the listener a good recipe for gazpacho soup.

 

I share the "floored by pet sounds then floored by Smiley Smile" sentiment. My Beach Boys/Brian Wilson interest exploded when Pet Sounds first clicked with me to the extent where it's all I truly listened to for a whole summer. I had also heard Smile by that point and it also floored me. I had heard about Smiley Smile and it's mixed bag legacy, I put it on....and it, not to be over the top, destroyed me. I couldn't believe it, Brian Wilson had done it again. The minimal arrangements, the spooky and extremely cozy atmosphere, the organic feeling it all had. the album cover... I really couldn't comprehend how much it clicked with me and how good it was. Specifically tracks like Little Pad, Wind Chimes, Vegetables, Fall Breaks. These little pocket symphonies or their own, painting really vivid scenes in my head. I specifically remember hearing Little Pad, and the first "hmms" after the "do it!" intro, and I was in heaven. The sudden cut to that ukulele and gorgeous Carl vocal. Smiley Smile to me means as much as Pet Sounds, and is nearly as good.

"Smile" isn't really an album, but tracks like Do You Like Worms, Surfs Up, Fire and Cabinessence speak for themselves. Unbelievable works by Brian Wilson.
BUT.....my vote is Smiley Smile. Nothing else can touch that organic beautiful feeling it gives.

 

Smiley is my favorite Beach Boys album.

 

What? No "Our Prayer"?

 

I came across this old thread and it inspired me to spend some more time with Smiley Smile. Having been endlessly tinkering/editing/rolling my own Smile compilation for some 12 years, I sort of forgot about Smiley Smile every now and then.

But giving it a spin, it struck me as a fantastic, one of a kind album. It's the weird brother of Smile, and in a way, a more classic 'Beach Boys-album' with all the complete harmonies, the laid-back atmosphere, accessible lyrics etc. It's like the Smile sessions, but relaxed and the group taking it easy. And just think about all the bits and pieces of Smile that peep through (Whispering wind, the vega-table fade in Wonderful, With me tonight, Shes going bald/He gives Speeches etc...).

All of this made me see Smiley Smile and Smile as kind of the same album in a different form. They co-exist.

Someone in this thread mentioned the fact that Heroes and Villains and Good Vibrations stick out as a little over-produced, not the same vibe as the rest of the album. I thought it might be nice to replace them with two live versions from Sunshine Tomorrow, both from disc two (tracks 21 & 29). They represent those two tracks in the same vibe as the rest of Smiley Smile: laid-back, the 'trying-out-feel', working out harmonies and feels as they go, sparse arrangements.

In my opinion the fit Wonderfully well. For fun, I added You're Welcome at the start (just as Our Prayer gets one in the mood for Smile). One track had to be included as well: the 1967 Surf's Up. Inserted right after Wonderful, it flows perfectly. Just like Wind Chimes, Wonderful, and many others, the 1967 solo Surf's Up could be the Smiley companion to the grand, ambitious 1966 Surf's Up.

My track list for an alternative listening experience:

1 You're Welcome
2 Heroes and Villains (live rehearsal from Sunshine Tomorrow)
3 Vegetables
4 Fall Breaks and Back to Winter
5 She's Goin' Bald
6 Little Pad
7 Good Vibrations (live version from Sunshine Tomorrow)
8 With Me Tonight
9 Wind Chimes
10 Gettin' Hungry
11 Wonderful
12 Surf's Up (1967 solo version)
13 Whistle In

Makes for a great album.

Anyone who is interested could send me a PM, I'd be happy to share it. Or you can fabricate it yourself of course (be sure to edit the Live tracks and give them a fade out).

I'm glad to have been re-introduced to Smiley Smile.