I had very modest expectations when "Smile" hit the news several times in the last year or two. The announcements when Brian was working with Parks to finish it, when they began recording, when they began rehearsing, when they began performing it live, etc., etc. and when it FINALLY hit stores, I expected A) reviews that trashed it as a hopeless cause and B) glowing reviews out of respect for Brian or from people who were too caught up in the hype.
Well, Robert Christgau usually doesn't buy into big, long-in-advance hype or big, fan-spun myths. He may grade a mediocre album generously coming on the heels of a great one, but for more 'archival' material, especially booted material, he is often lukewarm at best. This is the guy that dismissed Johnny Cash's first "American Recordings," U2's "Achtung Baby," most of Bob Dylan's official 'bootleg' releases, and Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." However he gave "Smile" a very RARE A+. The only other Beach Boys related release to get this grade was "Wild Honey," which he rates above "Pet Sounds." He's given A+'s to the Replacements' "Let It Be," Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic," Springsteen's "Born in the USA," and Dylan's "Love and Theft" among others.
I went to the Village Voice, and there was another critic writing a review who also graded favorably, VERY favorably. Rolling Stone gave a positive review, too. Neither the once-great music criticism of the Village Voice or Rolling Stone have great reputations now, but I figure I'd give "Smile" a try and checked it out from a library. I loaded it on my computer as well as the "Smile" tracks from the 1993 Beach Boys box set and wave-expanded mp3's from a website that already tried to reconstruct "Smile" using officially released material and bootleg material. I forgot the website's name, but it consulted Smile related books and put each mp3 on its own page, I think with a black background, with a list of what was used and how it was reconstructed.
I've never enjoyed listening to the "Smile" stuff on the 1993 box set or the mp3's, at least not in their entirety. It's good in two or three minute intervals, but it's just so unsatisfying to have a grab bag of pieces. Even that mp3 reconstruction sounded bare and half-baked despite efforts to put together a cohesive, 20-track whole.
Listening back and forth between the three groups of source tracks, I actually grew to LOVE "Smile" really, really fast. Despite my gripes of hearing that 99% of the new "Smile" would be re-recorded, comparing it to what I already have, it wasn't bad because most of the time it was really close, except in much better sound quality without sounding TOO modern. It actually sounds like recent Beach Boys remixes, that modern attempt at creating the vintage sound. Vocals recorded with tube equipment, the original echo chambers, etc., but doesn't finish that last stretch to complete what they set out to do, it still sounds a touch modern. But, at least it wasn't digital echo or cheap, low-grade solid-state. Basically what I'm getting at is, the new "Smile" is just great for putting the fragments together in a smooth, seamless, COHERENT fashion. It doesn't feel like random fragments anymore, it's like all the pieces now locked together. It's not like the changes were that radical, either. It's like that "Malcolm in the Middle" episode where Hal spends weeks making a wall mural from splashing paint, but can't get it right. He tries to give up, but after a few minor splashes and brush strokes, what seemed to be an unimpressive, wall-sized mess to his family suddenly seems AMAZING.
The singing often bothered me. Some of the group vocals were all right, especially parts that seem to be new arrangements rather than new recordings of previous arrangements, but where Beach Boys harmonies and original leads existed, it was too jarring. So using my cheap and easy Goldwave program, I started to swap out pieces with old pieces, and eventually it became an obsessive ordeal. It was a real pain in the butt because so much had to be done even for little things, but I couldn't stop no matter how long it took. Luckily, MOST of the tracks synched up very well, and the only speed or pitch manipulating I had to do was on a few snippets of 'overdubs,' really small pieces that was a real pain to do so I'm glad there were only a few.
Track by track
Here's what I can remember changing and not changing. I probably forgot some details.
1. Our Prayer
This was really easy to do. I went with the original Beach Boys recordings because it sounded more right, not more hi-fi. The ending piece that joins/segues into the next track had to be taken from the new "Smile," which had to be turned down, made into mono, and dulled so it wouldn't sound too different, but it was surprisingly easy to patch in.
2. Heroes and Villains
I was always told that the 45 release was a butchered, watered down version of what Brian originally envisioned, and an alternate 3 minute construction on the box set was closer to the original vision. The 45 version I THINK was re-recorded for Smiley Smile while the alternate version on the box used original Smile session tapes. However, just like Cabinessence and Surf's Up, Brian basically re-recorded new versions that matched the production and arrangements of the officially released versions, i.e. the new Smile's Heroes and Villains is very close to the 45 in structure, with only a brief break popped that wasn't present before. The break is the part where it slows down and Brian sings "In the canteen..." and ends with "you're under arrest." That part is on the box set's alternate version. It would've been easier to use the 45 version and make the necessary changes, but the box set's alterate version, though lower in fidelity, was a better recording, better vocals, more rocking despite the same tempo, etc. So I basically reconstructed most of the 45 using the box set's pieces. The "peace in the valley" verse and the a capella section still had to be taken from the 45 version.
The ending instrumental section that segues to the next track on the new "Smile" has been recorded and was on the mp3 reconstruction. It's low-fi but a surprisingly CLOSE match. I blended in only a small snippet from the new "Smile," I think the timpani beats that go into the next track, and tagged all this to the end.
3. Roll Plymouth Rock (sometimes known as "Do You Like Worms?")
Thank God they changed the title. Anyway, this is where I had to ditch parts. A few brief vocal parts were added on the new "Smile," the small parts singing about "the ocean liner." Didn't patch it in from the new "Smile" because it sounded too jarring and didn't matter because I didn't miss it too much. Otherwise, the mp3 reconstruction I got was really close to what's on the new "Smile." I think the segue to the next track was the only thing I needed to patch in, the 'wooo-wooo' part that mimics a train. It fit pretty well (again, after all the EQ, 'mono'-ing, and softening done to make it match more in sound quality).
4. Barnyard/Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine
It's two tracks on the new Smile, but I made it into one. I never realized how catchy Barnyard is. There's three melodies going on that are really catchy. On the new "Smile," it's a banjo plucking notes, then Brian comes in with a counterpoint, then the group does the 'wooo-oooo-oo-ooooo-ooo-ooo-oo-ooooo' singing, really cool. I wish I could've used the new "Smile" version but I really wanted the original Beach Boys harmonies. The mp3 reconstruction is really close but the first melody is played by a guitar or something like that instead of a banjo. Instead of Brian singing the vocal counterpoint, the banjo is playing it, but it's really buried in the mix. It all sounds NoNoised, too, real low-fi. It's worse during the cello segue into "Old Master Painter." The mp3 construction has the life sucked out of it, but otherwise it matches all the notes on the new "Smile."
I should add the new words Brian sings about the chicken in the barnyard getting his card is probably dopey to some people, but I think it's funny in a good way. Unfortunately, I couldn't patch them in a satisfactory way and had to lose them.
Long story short, I mainly used the mp3 construction, and no segue was needed to the next track.
5. Cabinessence
Again, Brian just re-recorded the post-1967 officially released version, so I just went back to that and used it.
6. Wonderful
It's a real simple edit, but it's so cool that "Wonderful" actually blends into "Song For Children" (the next track). Just took what was on the box set and did that.
7. Song For Children (once known as Look)
I lost the new words that segue Wonderful into this, but I don't miss them. I guess having a few extra words to this song is nice, but I didn't make an effort to keep them because I don't think they were that great or necessary.
The pain in the butt part was re-cutting the instrumental sections. The mp3 reconstruction left in some really bad organ breaks, the kind you'd hear during a baseball game. They're not there on the new "Smile" version, but taking them out on the mp3 reconstruction exposes some real bad tempo shifts that you won't find on the new "Smile" version. Just a pain in the butt to match tempos, etc. for what's really a minor track.
The last bit of bell playing that goes into the cymbal roll, it's brief but I had to lift that from the new "Smile" to make the segue. It fit well, though.
8. Child Is Father Of The Man
I used a most of the new "Smile" version because the mp3 reconstruction used some really awful-sounding sources for the harmonies. There are some new words/vocals recorded for the new "Smile" version, which I had to ditch and used the mp3 reconstruction in those places, but the words didn't feel that important. In some ways, this is turning into half or a third of a really cool rock instrumental album.
The new instrumental ending recorded for the new "Smile" sounds really cool and really drives home one problem I had before: most of these tracks didn't have an ending. The box set tracks, the reconstructions often meandered for a minute or two with leftover pieces and faded out. Finishing these tracks give them real shape.
9. Surf's Up
Used the finished, official version found on the box set. Brian just re-recorded it for the new "Smile."
10. I'm In Great Shape/I Wanna Be Around/etc.
I found one critic, Jim DeRogatis, who said that some of the segues on Smile (he probably meant to the new version more than what's been booted) are really awful. Jim is usually pretty extreme in giving his opinions, either it's really great and tremendous or really awful and terrible, but I think this track is what prompted the remark. I really can't stand this track, so I left out the "I'm In Great Shape" part that seems really tacked on the new "Smile." I don't even have any material covering this piece outside of the new "Smile." The new words on the new "Smile" don't help at all, so I used the worldless parts from the mp3 reconstruction for the "I Wanna Be Around" segment, then edited it into that collage of workshop sound fx that end the track. The new "Smile" used the original sound fx so I used what was on the new "Smile." Made sense because there's also a nice segue into "Vegetables."
11. Vegetables
I basically had to re-edit the track found on the box set to match the structure of the new "Smile" version. Reshuffling parts, I think even overlapping a few pieces. The only thing I couldn't match was the end. On the new "Smile," the verse about writing a letter is now done at half tempo and slows down at the final notes to close the song. Don't have that on the box set track, can't replicate that, so I just used the ending they already had where they have that verse at a faster tempo with more instrumental backing, another chorus of 'eat alot...don't be lazy...etc.,' and the crossfade into a looping vocal arrangement that you won't find anywhere on the new "Smile." From there it fades out.
12. Holidays
Used mostly the mp3 reconstruction. The new "Smile" has lyrics that I couldn't retain, but it's the same melody as one of the instruments already on the track and the words weren't that great so I didn't miss the vocal. The lush, instrumental break with new words couldn't be replicated, and I stuck with the really dinky, skeletal solo piano break on the mp3 reconstruction. The piano break there plays the same melody, has been NoNoised to beyond death, but I actually like how it sounds. I dunno, it's really fractured sounding, real off. From there, I cut it with the xylophone part that was re-recorded on the new "Smile." Had to do some tinkering to get by the decaying vocal overdub at the start, but had to use the new "Smile" version because I wanted those new harmonies and new instrumental overdubs, plus the segue into Wind Chimes. The segue patches in really well.
13. Wind Chimes
Used the box set version, but halfway into the box set version, it's like it ran out of music to use so it just meanders. At this halfway point, I patched in the rest of the new "Smile" version which works really well, because you have that drum break that goes into another "doo-you, doo-you" chorus, but this time horns come in to take it up another notch. The addition of other instruments helps a lot to give the track a second lift, and covers for the fact that I took the harmonies on the first chorus from an original Beach Boys recording. The segue than goes easily into Mrs. O'Leary's Cow.
14. Mrs. O'Leary's Cow
The opening sound fx I got from the original track. I could've used the entire mp3 reconstruction, but I went with the new "Smile" version just when the drum break kicks in and all hell breaks loose. The original recording is just really tame sounding. The new version sounds like a REALLY bad acid trip, and it's not too out of control to make it sound too out of place.
15. Blue Hawaii
Had to go with the new "Smile" version for 99%. Absolutely no way around it, all I've got is a lousy backing track titled "I Love to Say Da Da," which is actually the mp3 reconstruction. This is the one track on the new version that bears NO resemblance to anything before because so much seems to have been added. Not just words but instruments, countermelodies, etc. This is the only time I've used a lead Brian vocal from the new "Smile," and it isn't too jarring because it comes at what's essentially the end. After the bad acid trip of the previous track, it's interesting how that soft falsetto of earlier tracks has changed. Well, for a brief moment because then most of the track goes uptempo. Then it closes with a reprise of a fragment of "Our Prayer." I went back to the box set's "Our Prayer" for that, but I had to let it run a touch longer. On the new "Smile" the last note they used is drawn out longer before the singers stop. On the box set, you don't have that, they stop on a dime, and you almost immediately hear the singers draw in a breath to sing the next part. Cutting it or fading it out there to match sounded too abrupt so I let it run to the last 'mmmmmmmm....'
16. Good Vibrations
Used Steve's version with the extra seconds at the end.
That's basically it. I actually love this album now. I'd even say it was the equivalent of Sgt. Pepper - not as strong as Pet Sounds, just as Revolver was a stronger collection of songs than Sgt. Pepper, but the production itself is more impressive and what really makes the album.
Trying to 're-make' Brian Wilson's "Smile" using B
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Ess Ay Cee Dee
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Yeah, you make a good point there. Part of the problem is the myth surrounding unreleased material usually builds up as being much better than it really is. There was a really good article written on this by Jim Derogatis where he lists a bunch and 'rates' them. Prince's Black Album - good but not a masterpiece. Springsteen's Nebraska sessions with the E Street Band - having heard the live E Street band arrangements, would you really prefer them?
The 'lost' Verve material by VU sort of lives up to it, it's great nonetheless. Neil Young's discarded albums are basically reconfigurations. I dunno, I thought I'd write about Smile because honestly, I didn't give two shits about revisiting that again, but after hearing some good word from non-nostalgia freaks and listening to the results, I actually did get into it. Yeah, Mike H's previous post is right about the original tapes being preferable, but using the structure of the released version as a blueprint, I really think there's actually something worth praising now.
The 'lost' Verve material by VU sort of lives up to it, it's great nonetheless. Neil Young's discarded albums are basically reconfigurations. I dunno, I thought I'd write about Smile because honestly, I didn't give two shits about revisiting that again, but after hearing some good word from non-nostalgia freaks and listening to the results, I actually did get into it. Yeah, Mike H's previous post is right about the original tapes being preferable, but using the structure of the released version as a blueprint, I really think there's actually something worth praising now.
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Ess Ay Cee Dee
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Ess Ay Cee Dee wrote:You're right about VU and, to a lesser extent, Another View. It's not all brilliant, but there's enough great stuff on there to make it worthwhile (despite the shitty 80's mixes).
Several of the tracks on VU would not of been on the 'lost' 4th MGM VU album and some of the lost 4th album stuff is on Another View and the Peel Slowly box. The site below has a approximation of the album using just tracks the VU did at the Record Plant in 1969. Those early 80's mixes of the 4th album stuff are godawful. I can't believe they perpetuated that mistake by using those mixes again on the Peel Slowly box. I wish they would of put all of the 4th album stuff on one disc and reserved the other for all of the misc outtakes...a Deluxe Edition was in the works for the 4th album stuff (as well as the 3rd album). Bill Levenson (sp?) said he found some interesting outtakes from the 3rd album era). Not sure if those are still in the works...
krabapple wrote:I like how this has turned from a Beach Boys thread into a Velvet Underground thread.
Now, can we do the same to the dozen or so Who threads currently active? Let's turn them into Shaggs threads.
I recently listened to Philosophy of the World for the first time and I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. That Little Sports Car? My Pal Foot Foot? hilarious stuff.