Beach Boys - "Smile" reconstruction

[MK]

Well said.

[Mike Hunte]

Mike,

what you describe is the one reason why I don't post as much on Beach Boys message boards anymore, despite them being my very favorite band by far.

I know where you're coming from. I was part of the Beach Boys/BW message board and mailing list train for nearly a decade. When they started becoming a bit too Brian-centric for me, at the exspense of the BB's, I kinda lost interest. Eventually, it got to the point where people were congratulating Brian if he just brushed his teeth in the morning. That's when I knew that I had over-stayed the party.

I look back now at some of my archived posts in Deja (the ones that I haven't had time to get rid of yet), and I'm almost embarassed by how much time I *was* spending on analysis, arguing etc...

It was very easy to get sucked into the obsession...

[Xenu]

Indulging in a tangent for a sec:


I know it might sound bizarre, but I've always felt that the BW tale and the Captain Beefheart tale were oddly similar in some ways. Success, eventual doldrums (along with rumors of illness), career "renaissance" with the help of disciples of your classic sound. Don's version of this trajectory is a bit more artistically sound, but BW's version has him ending up in a better state (from most accounts, Don hasn't been doing very well for quite some time).*


*Admittedly, these parallels are based on certain inferences about Don's health and habits that may be...well, totally off. I'm not a Beefheart historian. That said, the physical transformation Don goes through between Spotlight Kid and Unconditionally Guaranteed is nothing short of shocking; he starts off his usual, impressively huge self, and ends up a wild-eyed, shuffling old man, the guise that persists until "Ice Cream for Crow." I assume Don indulged in more than his fair share of chemical refreshment, but I think there was likely far more stuff going on during that period than is generally acknowledged. Coinciding with his physical deterioration is a distinct shift in his social presentation, as he goes from "playing" a bizarre eccentric to actually being a bizarre eccentric.

This transition is pretty clear on "Unconditionally Guaranteed." What I don't see acknowledged very frequently is that the album features the actual goddamned Magic Band. The songs are fine for what they are, the arrangements--while sentimental--are pretty interesting, and the playing is superb. No, the major weak link is Don himself, as he turns in a shockingly bad performance on most of the album's cuts ("This is the Day" and a few other excepted). He sounds wretched. His voice rebounds briefly during the BCP period, but after that...well, let's put it this way. I enjoy parts of "Doc" and "Ice Cream for Crow," but while "Trout Mask" only played at being "an album of sorta dissonant backing with a crazy guy shouting over it," Don's final two albums stray uncomfortably close to the boundary. His band for those records were like the Wondermints to Brian, albeit far better and far more interesting (it also helped that DOc and Ice Cream fit nicely into 80s new-wave sensibilities), and one shudders to think what would happen had the Don's support system not rescued him from the post-Bluejeans hole he sunk into.

[MK]

Man, I just checked out the bio on allmusic.com.

After he retired for good, he went back to the desert, lived in a trailer, and focused on painting. Sounds like a rustic version of Bill Watterson, except his paintings (which allmusic.com compared to Francis Bacon) were apparently acclaimed and sold for quite a bit of $$$. Unfortunately, in the 1990's, he was diagnosed with M.S. He could be in pretty bad shape...

[czeskleba]

On the other hand, Brian basically promotes himself, his solo albums, and publicly denigrated the vocal and instrumental abilities of the other Beach Boys (and the wrecking crew). Which means no income for Mike, Al and Carl's estate from the tours or the solo albums, and no promotion of any Beach Boys product.

Maybe Brian doesn't actively promote the Beach Boys in his interviews/onstage, but I'm sure his tours do indirectly promote Beach Boys products to some degree. Although I guess it's probably true that most people who go see Brian are probably hardcore fans who already have all the Beach Boys CDs, whereas most of the people who go see Mike are casual fans at best. So Mike is going out and testifying to the unconverted while Brian preaches to the choir.

I wonder if fans would be as forgiving if Brian was billing himself and the Wondermints as "The Beach Boys" too? I bet they would.

[Xenu]

Man, I just checked out the bio on allmusic.com.

After he retired for good, he went back to the desert, lived in a trailer, and focused on painting. Sounds like a rustic version of Bill Watterson, except his paintings (which allmusic.com compared to Francis Bacon) were apparently acclaimed and sold for quite a bit of $$$. Unfortunately, in the 1990's, he was diagnosed with M.S. He could be in pretty bad shape...

He sounds in pretty bad shape, the little I've heard from him.

[Mike Hunte]

Alright, so I'm watching Leno the other night and they re-ran Brian and the boyz doing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen from early December. As I'm drifting off to sleep watching Smilin' Brian do his hand-puppet dances, I'm thinking hmmm...he doesn't sound *too* bad. Luckily, my VCR was running.

So, I'm watching the tape last night and I'll be damned if it doesn't look like he's lip-syncing - but pretty well I might add. So, I watch the tape again, and sure enough on the second verse his lips mumble a few of the wrong words and, even more obviously, he closes his mouth a bit too soon at the end of the verse and yet his "vocal" is still there. Funny thing is, when I saw him backing Neil Diamond on Leno last month I thought the same thing...that the backing vocals didn't sound live.

So, I guess my point is, beware those on the message boards raving about how well he sounded on Leno. All may not be as it seems. If it is something other than lip syncing...I'd love to know what. At that point, I'll be the first then to admit I was wrong.

[MK]

I think it's OBVIOUS that Brian Wilson has mastered the art of ventriloquism. Only a true genius would incorporate that into his act.

[Mike Hunte]

I think it's OBVIOUS that Brian Wilson has mastered the art of ventriloquism. Only a true genius would incorporate that into his act.

Hehe.

I'll say one thing. If it turns out he was lip-syncing, other than a few brief slip-ups, it was pretty much dead on. Maybe, he's found his true calling!

[Andreas]

Could it be that some other band member (Jeff Foskett?) doubled Brian? That's pretty common on Brian's concerts.

[Mike Hunte]

Could it be that some other band member (Jeff Foskett?) doubled Brian? That's pretty common on Brian's concerts.

Normally, I would say yes. But, in this instance Foskett was clearly singing background vocals. At times though, it *did* sound doubled...but not really at the point I mentioned. I was watching the other 'Mints on stage and it appeared that no one else was doubling either. Unless, they had someone "behind the curtain" (don't laugh, it's been done before by certain groups), I would say no. The other thing, is that it was Brian's voice that was part of the "no-match" sections. Either that...or an incredible (behind the scenes) simulation!

I was just watching a clip of Brian doing a medley at Live 8. Talk about doubling and "human erasers". The 'Mints and Jeff were covering for him all through the performance. He lost his place during God Only Knows and Good Vibrations as well. The soundman also seems to know on cue when Brian's starting to destruct. He always starts lowering his mike in the mix, while potting his "doublers" up.

[Andreas]

I was just watching a clip of Brian doing a medley at Live 8.

Embarrassing performance. Brian was clearly not "there".

Aside from full concerts, his best live performance in the last years was for Queen Elisabeth's anniversary, I think it was in 2002. He nailed every song (there were only three or four), and his duet with Eric Clapton is a classic. Probably the best version of "The Warmth Of The Sun" ever recorded.

[Mike Hunte]

Aside from full concerts, his best live performance in the last years was for Queen Elisabeth's anniversary, I think it was in 2002. He nailed every song (there were only three or four), and his duet with Eric Clapton is a classic. Probably the best version of "The Warmth Of The Sun" ever recorded.

Yeah, I did see that one too. That was the one where he did God Only Knows with the Corrs, right?

I thought it was ok...nothing special. I don't know if I saw a version that hadn't been "fixed" in post-production or not (I believe I saw it on VH-1), but I thought his pitch was still all over the place. That's really the one thing I can't tolerate - flat, out of tune vocals with badly missed notes. And with Brian...that's, unfortunatley, part of the equation these days. I'm listening to a couple of soundboards right now from the Paul Simon tour (which I did see)....and his pitch is horrible. Like an amateur on karaoke night.

[Andreas]

I have done some bootleg Smile listening comparisons....

SOT 16 and 17 have annoying noise reduction, at least in some places. Several fade-outs have underwater sounds. The Archaeology bootleg is clearly superior, but it only overlaps partially with SOT.

Now the story is that SOT was sourced from the 1984 multitrack-copying incidient (RF). Maybe the Archaeology is also sourced from these transfers, but bypassing the SOT "mastering"?

The "Mrs.O'Leary"s Cow" sessions on Archaeology are a revelation. No question, Archaeology is the quintessential Smile bootleg. Child Is Father Of The Man still sounds like shit, though.

[lukpac]

Now the story is that SOT was sourced from the 1984 multitrack-copying incidient (RF).

Do we know if that story is anything more than speculation? I certainly don't claim to know, but a few years ago I was talking to someone who was *sure* it wasn't RF.