In late 1966, Brian Wilson was working feverishly on the Beach Boys' follow up to “Pet Sounds” — a project named Dumb Angel, but later retitled Smile. He had drafted Van Dyke Parks as his songwriting partner and was recording reams of tape containing increasingly fragmented tracks that grew ever more speculative as the months wore on. Already wary of Brian's increasingly artistic leanings and drug experimentation, a rift soon formed between him and the band, particularly Mike Love. They felt his intake of marijuana and LSD was clouding his judgment, while he felt they were holding him back from the coming psychedelic era. By 1967, Wilson had abandoned the Smile project, no longer emotionally or physically strong enough to see his vision through to completion.
Although Brian has toured “Smile” in 2004, he has stated that the 2004 version is not a reconstruction of what Smile would have been in 1967 but how he feels about the Smile music now. Tonight we hope to provide one vision of what Smile was originally meant to be.
TRACK NOTES:
Heroes and Villains (B. Wilson – V.D. Parks)
Lyrically influenced by Marty Robbins’ song El Paso, Heroes and Villains was the first song Brian and Van Dyke Parks wrote together. Brian reportedly played the descending melody line on the piano to Van, who on hearing it came up with the matching lyrics "I’ve been in this town so long …" on the spot. The dozens of musical themes and sections that were recorded for Heroes and Villains give us a glimpse of Brian’s boundless creativity at its peak, and reveals him reaching artistically for something totally new and epic in pop music. Heroes and Villains underwent the most complex evolution of any song in Beach Boys history. As with Good Vibrations, Brian rerecorded section after section, recorded new pieces while rejecting old, and assembled at least four or five different mixes of the song prior to the issuance of the single in July 1967. Originally intended as suite in two parts, the Capitol version abbreviated most of the sections for its release.
Do You Like Worms (B. Wilson – V.D. Parks)
A lost Smile masterpiece of Hawaiian chants and other weirdness. Never officially released.
The Old Master Painter (H. Gillespie - B. Smith/J. Davis - C. Mitchell/B. Wilson)
Recorded as “You Are My Sunshine” and sung by Dennis, this track originally was in three sections. Never officially released.
Wonderful (B. Wilson – V.D. Parks)
Released in 1967 as an inferior version for Smiley Smile.
Child is Father of the Man (B. Wilson – V.D. Parks)
Another lost gem. Never officially released, though a modified version closes out 1971’s Surf’s Up.
Prayer (B. Wilson)
Released with additional vocals on 20/20.
Cabinessence (B. Wilson – V.D. Parks)
Intended as a lyrical picture of America, from our nation’s folksy roots to the building of the transcontinental railroad by Asian immigrants. Released with vocal overdubs on 20/20.
Good Vibrations (B. Wilson – V.D. Parks)
Who doesn’t know this one? Released in as a single in 1967, and against Brian’s wishes was added to Smiley Smile.
Vega-Tables (B. Wilson – V.D. Parks)
Brian’s lighthearted tribute to healthy eating and living. Released in 1967 on Smiley Smile.
Wind Chimes (B. Wilson)
While Wind Chimes was one of the first tracks recorded for Smile, only one version was completed and released in 1967 on Smiley Smile.
Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow (B. Wilson)
Brian’s concern that “negative vibrations” led to an unusually high number of fires in the Los Angeles area during production kept this from release. Once you’ve heard it you might understand why.
Cool, Cool Water (B. Wilson/M. Love)
Along with Wind Chimes and Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow comprised Brian’s “Elements” suite. Rerecorded and released in 1970 on Sunflower.
Surf’s Up (B. Wilson/V.D. Parks)
"We wrote the song in one night – stayed up until six in the morning," Brian recounted in 1966. "Van Dyke and I really kind of thought we’d done something special when we finished that one." This masterpiece of baroque psychedelia was released as the final track of the eponymous 1971 album with “Father is the Child of the Man” tacked onto the end. Brian famously performed the song alone at the piano on a 1967 Leonard Bernstein TV special.
Additional resources:
The music
1966 – Pet Sounds / 1967 – Smiley Smile / 1967 – Wild Honey / 1968 – Friends / 1969 – 20/20 / 1970 – Sunflower /1971 – Surf's Up
Additional reading
Look, Listen, Vibrate, Smile by Domenic Priore (Small Press Distribution; Revised edition, February 1997)
http://www.cabinessence.com
Notes by Mike