Beach Boys: Smiley Smile

Beach Boys: Smiley Smile

1967

Brother/Capitol Records

Track Listing: 1. Heroes and Villains  2. Vegetables  3. Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)  4. She's Goin' Bald  5. Little Pad  6. Good Vibrations  7. With Me Tonight  8. Wind Chimes  9. Gettin' Hungry  10. Wonderful  11. Whistle In 12. Heroes and Villains (Alternate Take)  13. Good Vibrations (Various Sessions)  14. Good Vibrations (Early Take)  15. You're Welcome  16. Their Hearts Were Full of Spring  17.  Can't Wait too Long

Due to Brian's declining mental health and various legal problems, the Beach Boys scrapped "Smile" and recorded an album in Brian's house (using an empty pool and a shower for an echo chamber) and this was the result. Needless to say this didn't meet the high expectations for a public that was anxiously awaiting  the genius of "Smile,"  but it is definitely an interesting album, although it now feels like a bit of a footnote after the superior "Smile Sessions" set was released.

"Smiley Smile" (as you may tell from the title) recycles a lot of the proposed "Smile" material, but only some of it re-using the oringial recordings, (I believe "Heroes & Villains," the "Good Vibrations" single and the end of "Vegetables are the original "Smile" versions) There's also re-recordings of "Smile" tracks ("Wind Chime" "Wonderful"), new songs constructed around  "Smile" snippets ("Fall Breaks and Back to Winter," "She's Going Bald," and "With Me Tonight.") The remainder of the material is new to "Smiley Smile."

In every case the "Smile Sessions" versions of the songs are better, and in a few cases vastly superior. I don't even know what was going through their heads with this re-recording of "Windchimes." The backing vocals are an ear-sore, and totally derail the track...(except during the fade-out, there's some staggeringly awesome choir vocals...Man, those might actually be the best part of the album!) When I finally heard the "Smile" version  I was totally blindsided by the fact that it's one of the band's greatest songs...The re-recording of "Wonderful" fares better but it's still nowhere within a million miles of the band's original take...

Once you get past the multiple embryonic versions of "Good Vibrations," there's a ton of great moments in the bonus tracks, however...These have probably been made irrelevant by the "Smile Sessions," I don't really know, because I didn't buy the expanded version...just the two-disc version, but the modular "Can't Wait Too Long" is one my favorite songs on the CD...I love that cool fuzz bass! There's also an alternate version of "Heroes & Villains" that uses different sections than the album cut...Therefore making it almost an entirely new song...

I hadn't listened to this in awhile, at least not since the "Smile Sessions" was released...But I think it still holds up as a standalone and unique listen...For the most part they don't even attempt the grand cohesion of "Smile." With a few glorious exceptions the album largely comes across as a series of stoned snippets...Check out "Little Pad" and tell me these guys weren't on some serious shit... But if you can handle this sort of thing it's a lot of fun and like I said, a good counterpoint to the "Smile Sessions."  For years, this album and the "Good Vibrations" box sets were the only insight we had into what "Smile" could be, so to us old school Beach Boys fans I think this record still  holds a place in our hearts...

Now let's check out "Heroes & Villains" by the Beach Boys...