Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

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WestwayKid
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Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by WestwayKid »

Smile (I'm not going to use the goofy SMiLE that is often seen online) might be one of the greatest lost albums of all time. Conceived by Brian Wilson in early 1966, it flamed out in mid 1967. Bits and pieces were salvaged by the band through the early 70s, but Brian did not return to the music until around 2003.

My serious interest into the band came about late in my high school years. I was familiar with the hits, but getting caught up in the Brian Wilson mythos, I started to dig deeper and once I started down the rabbit hole, I was lost for good.

I'm old enough to have first experienced Smile in the years before YouTube and other easy ways to swap files. I picked up a copy of Domenic Priore's Look Listen Vibrate Smile and I started hanging out on Brian/Smile-centric internet forums. I eventually found someone willing to share some of this mysterious music with me. I simply sent him 2 blank cassette tapes and in a few weeks I was listening to Do You Dig Worms and Wonderful in all of their Smile era glory.

The release of the Good Vibrations box in 1993 was a watershed moment because for the first time we got officially released Smile tracks, which just wetted our appetites for more and more of this lost work.

Anyway, where does the Smile story begin? In early 1966, Brian attended a party at Terry Melcher's house where he met a young songwriter named Van Dyke Parks. Impressed by Parks' articulate manner of speaking, Brian proposed that they work together on material for the next Beach Boys LP, which would be the follow up to Pet Sounds. Parks (somewhat reluctantly) agreed, and the pair spent the summer of 1966 composing material.

The first session associated with Smile was on May 11, 1966 at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. Brian was in the midst of recording Good Vibrations (which would be finished on September 21, 1966). On this May date, Brian assembled a group of musicians and recorded a rough version of what would become Heroes and Villains. This sessions was eventually scrapped, but the ball was rolling.

The first official Smile session was on August 3, 1966 again at Gold Star. Good Vibrations was still being worked on, but the pre-breakdown Brian moved at an incredible pace. An instrumental version of Wind Chimes was recorded at this session. The idea for the song came from the wind chimes hanging outside of Brian's Laurel Canyon home. Carl was the only other Beach Boy in attendance, contributing guitar. The rest of the music was recorded by the Wrecking Crew.

On August 9th, the band (minus Brian) went back on the road, leaving Brian behind to work in the studio.

The next session was on August 12 at Western Recorders. Brian supervised a recording of a song titled I Ran (but also called Look). It's unclear if this song was ever intended for Smile. In fact, Smile was still just an idea at this point. Brian was doing what Brian did - spending hours in the studio creating music that might or might not be heard.

I'll continue to tell the strange story of Smile through dates, facts, and sound clips. It's a fascinating story.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

WestwayKid
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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by WestwayKid »

Let's see if I can get this to work. Here's Takes 8 - 9 of Wind Chimes, recorded at the August 3, 1966 session:

https://on.soundcloud.com/GynpM
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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by WestwayKid »

August 25, 1966 - Smile Session 3 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

Brian runs an instrumental tracking session for Good Vibrations and Wonderful. He attempts to record a harpsichord track for Wonderful, but runs into an issue with the instrument, telling his longtime engineer Chuck Britz "Some of these notes are fu*king up. I swear to God. You push them and they don't go."

The only other Beach Boy in attendance is Dennis, who contributes an organ track to Good Vibrations.
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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by matedog »

WestwayKid wrote:
20 Feb 2023, 12:09pm
August 25, 1966 - Smile Session 3 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

Brian runs an instrumental tracking session for Good Vibrations and Wonderful. He attempts to record a harpsichord track for Wonderful, but runs into an issue with the instrument, telling his longtime engineer Chuck Britz "Some of these notes are fu*king up. I swear to God. You push them and they don't go."

The only other Beach Boy in attendance is Dennis, who contributes an organ track to Good Vibrations.
Keep it up. I'm reading these and hopefully can understand the Smile process a bit better.
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.

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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by Flex »

Yeah, just want to say, these are great writeups WWK. Sorry I'm not commenting much but this is good stuff.
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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

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Flex wrote:
21 Feb 2023, 5:22pm
Yeah, just want to say, these are great writeups WWK. Sorry I'm not commenting much but this is good stuff.
I knew you guys would appreciate it ;).
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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by WestwayKid »

I forgot my notes at home, but it's worth pointing out that during these early sessions, the larger idea of Smile hadn't come together, yet. Brian was putting most of his energy into Good Vibrations and while he'd been writing with Van Dyke Parks, these early sessions were more or less Brian trying ideas out in the studio.

I think it's also interesting to look at the arc of Brian's creativity. When you look at session photos from their first LP, he was a skinny teenager in a white t-shirt. Somewhere there was a shift from this young kid to this studio wunderkind. You could hear it happening from record to record, but what was happening behind the scenes. His wife Marilyn has written about how he rather suddenly fell into this "hipster" LA scene and that his personality changed at that point. The drugs didn't help. They likely brought out some underlying mental instabilities, but I think it began a slow retreat inside of his own head - which is something he's never fully recovered from.

So, how does this connect with Smile? I think one reason it was never finished is because Brian never knew exactly what it was. It existed as a concept, an abstract idea, that he struggled to pull together. I think it also kept changing. In a sense, he was chasing a moving target that changed because his idea of what it was changed.

I think part of what makes Smile fascinating (and ultimately sad) is that it's not just the story about the unraveling of musical project, it's also about the unraveling of Brian Wilson.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

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September 1, 1966 - Smile Session 4 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

Brian works on finishing Good Vibrations, with both Dennis and Carl on hand to overdub additional backing vocals.

With that work finished, Brian begins recording He Gives Speeches, which was likely never seriously intended for Smile. It would be reworked in 1967, retitled She's Goin' Bald, and added to Smiley Smile.


September 8, 1966 - Smile Session 5 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

If Smile has a starting point, it can be argued that this was it. Brian had mixed Good Vibrations a few days earlier, so now work on the new LP could begin in earnest. The album is actually stilled tentatively titled Dumb Angel at this point.

Brian: "Dumb Angel was just a passing title. Smile was more cheery, so we used the more cheery title. The whole album is going to be a far-out trip through the old west, real Americana, but with lots of interesting humor. I think it's going to be a big humor trip. There's even going to be talking and laughing between cuts."

Brian begins working on a song titled Holidays at this session, working through several takes, before deciding that Take 7 will be the master. This track will not make the final cut.


September 19, 1966 - Smile Session 6 - Columbia Studio, Los Angeles

With the rest of the band in tow, Brian begins work on a track called Prayer. It's his intention that this track will open the new album. Work comes to an abrupt halt, however, when Brian learns that tracking master tapes for Good Vibrations have gone missing. They would reappear a few days later.

Derek Taylor: "Tapes were being lost, ideas being junked. Brian thinking, 'I'm no good,' then 'I'm too good,' then 'I can't sing, I can't get those voices anymore.' There was a time when it hardly seemed to be a Beach Boys at all."
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by WestwayKid »

September 20, 1966 - Smile Session 7 - Columbia Studio, Los Angeles

There is not much known about this short session, other than it was a "sweetening" session featuring only Dennis.

Brian would then have a couple more short sessions: 9/22/66 for overdubbing, though it's unclear what track he was working on and then the following day he worked on additional overdubbing.


Things were happening as September moved into October. At Brian's behest, business manager Nick Grillo and record industry exec David Anderle set up the Brother Records label. Brian feels this will give him more creative freedom to release material that Capitol doesn't want. His proposed "humor album" is one of those projects.

It's also in October that Brian announces at a dinner party that he's creating a "teenage symphony to God."
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

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October 10, 1966 - Smile Session 10 - Gold Star studio, Los Angeles

Smile well and truly kicks off at this session, with Brian working on the backing track for Home on the Range (which will eventually be known as Cabinessence). He then recorded vocals for Wind Chimes.

_____

November 4, 1966 - Smile Session 11 - Gold Star studio, Los Angeles

Brian revisits the track Prayer, recording vocals from the group in segments and then stacking them together. He would eventually edit this track into the version that would appear on 20/20 as Our Prayer. From studio banter during the recording, it's clear that Brian intended this track to open the Smile LP.

_____

In 1995, Bruce had this to say about this period in the band's history: "We weren't at most of the Smile sessions; we were out on the road celebrating Brian's songwriting. While we were singing Fun, Fun, Fun and I Get Around he was back in LA musically expanding, growing and assembling incredible musicians around him. We only sang on the Smile recordings. The guy who put the blood, sweat and tears on those tracks was Brian. He would conceive the songs, hum the tune and would go into the studio and record the track. The last thing that would happen, really, would be to record the vocals."
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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by WestwayKid »

The sessions start coming fast and furious...

November 5, 1966 - Smile Session 11 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

Brian runs a tracking session for Wind Chimes, concluding with a master tack. The rest of the band is on hand to record a vocal for the song's chorus. Brian then adds his lead vocal and the song is more or less finished.

===============

November 6, 1966 - Smile Session 12 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

Brian records his lead vocal for Wonderful. A rough mix is finished by the end of the session. Brian would struggle to finish Wonderful, recording the song a total of 4 times in 12 months.

===============

November 7, 1966 - Smile Session 13 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

Brian begins work on the brooding Child Is Father of the Man. He records the song in sections. Carl is the only other Beach Boy in attendance, playing guitar.
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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

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November 8, 1966

Brian's ever increasing mental cracks begin to widen. He confesses to his wife that he believes that their Laurel Canyon home is bugged. He relates a story of recently seeing a Rock Hudson sci-fi thriller called Seconds: "I walked into the movie and the first thing that happened was a voice from the screen saying, 'Good afternoon, Mr. Wilson.' and it completely blew my mind." It should be noted that Hudson's character was named Mr. Wilson. Brian added, however: "The whole thing was there. I mean my whole life. Birth and death and rebirth. The whole thing. Even the beach was in it, a while thing about the beach. It was my whole life right there on the screen."

Brian is convinced that Phil Spector made the film.

His life is becoming increasingly bizarre. In addition to the famous piano in the sandbox, Brian install a large canvas tent in his living room. Just as quickly as it appeared, the tent disappears, as Brian turns his living room into a workout area, the furniture replaced with tumbling mats. He becomes fixated on healthy eating, suggesting to his wife that they turn their traditional garden into an organic vegetable garden and sell organic produce via a pickup / drive thru window that he would have installed at the back of the house.

It's worth noting that while all of this is happening - while this bizarre, wonderful music is being created and while Brian continues to slowly, but steadily, spiral out of control - that he is only 24 years old.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by matedog »

WestwayKid wrote:
27 Feb 2023, 10:56am


Brian revisits the track Prayer, recording vocals from the group in segments and then stacking them together. He would eventually edit this track into the version that would appear on 20/20 as Our Prayer. From studio banter during the recording, it's clear that Brian intended this track to open the Smile LP.
Wait, so Our Prayer is only Brian?
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.

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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by WestwayKid »

matedog wrote:
03 Mar 2023, 11:41am
WestwayKid wrote:
27 Feb 2023, 10:56am


Brian revisits the track Prayer, recording vocals from the group in segments and then stacking them together. He would eventually edit this track into the version that would appear on 20/20 as Our Prayer. From studio banter during the recording, it's clear that Brian intended this track to open the Smile LP.
Wait, so Our Prayer is only Brian?
No, it's a group vocal. Brian recorded their harmonies in segments and then combined everything together: "The boys were overtaken by the arrangement. I taught it to them in sections, the way I usually do."

Carl, Dennis, and Bruce overdubbed additional vocals in 1968 for the version that appeared on 20/20.

In regards to the studio banter, Brian calls it the "intro to the album" and then Al asks if it can be considered it's own track and Brian says no, it's just the intro.
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Re: Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! - The Beach Boys Smile Saga

Post by WestwayKid »

Note - my dates have been off - we should only be in October 1966 (not November).

October 10, 1966 - Smile Session 15 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

Brian brings the group into the studio to overdub further vocals for the Wind Chimes instrumental that had been completed on 10/5.

Also on this date, Good Vibrations is released.

======

October 11, 1966 - Smile Session 16 - Western Recorders, Hollywood

Work continues on Cabinessence, with today's efforts looking at the Who Ran the Iron Horse segment. The group overdubs vocals and Carl contributes guitar. The track had been started on 10/3 and at the end of this 4 hour session, Brian completes a rough mix of the track.

======

October 12, 1966 - Smile Session 17 - Columbia Studio, Hollywood

The group overdubs vocals to the 10/7 Child Is Father of the Man 10/7 instrumental track. With that complete, Brian goes back to Cabinessence, this time working on the Grand Coulee Dam section.


Smile is cruising along at this point in history. Brian is in the studio nearly every day working on something.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

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