Smiley Smile

[Andrew]

A bunt, or so good that they had to name it twice.... your comments on the 1967 album that may have confused the fans and critics

Album archive entry here
http://www.surfermoon.com/albums/smiley_smile2.shtml

[Lee Marshall]

A foul ball.  I give it a 4.  2 points each for Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains.  After that...pretty much nothing.  They thought the world wasn't ready for SMiLE and then released THIS? 

They never recovered from it.  The general listening public dismissed them, with the occaisonal exception, for good.  Smiley Smile was the BIGGEST mistake they ever made.

[Ed Hemingway]

I can't mark this for what it wasn't, only what it is and I hear an album that has Good Vibrations, Heroes and Villains,  good versions of Wonderful, Vegetables and Wind Chimes, Fall Breaks..., With Me Tonight and Gettin' Hungry... At least a 7

[topgazza]

I hardly ever play it but I'm with Lee on the damage it caused but as an album...a 5

[donald]

Actually, I'm in the process of rediscovering this album in the wake of the release of BWPS.

Brian noodling around with the SMiLE material in between the two mega masterpiece singles  of Good Vibrations and H&V.

We know finished or nearly finished versions of this material was already in the can at the time.

So its interesting to listen to what he did with this material instead.

To me, the album has a sort of pleasantly stoned on a nice afternoon feel to it.

Whats with that smoke coming out of the little cabin?



(EDIT from Susan  - sorry - i went to quote something, and hit "modify" instead...my bad!)

[Conspiracy Jim]

Love it.  The vocals shine through, the material is jaw-dropping in its' innovative (but not for the reasons originally intended style), and the psychedelic barbershop approach is beautiful.  Hidden gem = With Me Tonight

[mesasurfer]

It took me a few years to warm up to this album. Especially Fall Breaks... and She's goin bald. I came to love the quirkyness of the songs as well as the balls it must have taken to release an album so obviously influenced by weed. H&V is one of Brian's best ever. Whistle In is also groovy. Wonderful is like nothing else ever recorded.  Such a trip! I never liked the fact that Brian was forced to put G.V. on the album.

[Suder]

Love it.  The vocals shine through, the material is jaw-dropping in its' innovative (but not for the reasons originally intended style), and the psychedelic barbershop approach is beautiful.  Hidden gem = With Me Tonight

Yes!! The unexpected complexity of the productions really comes to the fore on the SOT CD. Hearing Wonderful and Wind Chimes being built up layer by layer... truly unlike anything else in the BBs catalog.

[topgazza]

Problem is it sounds like what it is...a lot of Smile recording snippets stretched and played around with. Some nice moments as in the "hmm hmm" bits in "Shes Going Bald" but thats about as good as it gets. In context of the times and what they could have done to the music world...it blew it for them. That is like using a '56 botlle of Chambertain for cooking, a waste, cute or not.

[Susan]

To me, the album has a sort of pleasantly stoned on a nice afternoon feel to it.

Again with the stoned, Donald!
;-)

[Moon Dawg]

  It would be interesting to know what sort of public response the group expected when SMILEY SMILE was released. It is one of the oddest "regular" releases ever put out by a major group, perhaps bested  in that category only by Lou Reed's METAL MACHINE MUSIC and  HAVING FUN WITH ELVIS ON STAGE. By contrast, albums like TWO VIRGINS were clearly marketed and defined as vanity side projects, not group product. SMILEY was THE new BB's album in 1967.   

   I'd give it a 7. It was probably the weakest BB's album (at the time)  since SURFIN' SAFARI, but still good for what it was. (The usual disclaimer.) "Good Vibrations" had been out about 10 months when this album appeared. As mentioned in the liner notes of HAWTHORNE, the live version from Hawaii fits better with the mood of SMILEY SMILE. Maybe all the Hawaii tracks should be officially compiled and released. They could call it STONED In HAWAII.

  Nice cover, actually better than what was intended as the cover for SMILE.     

[truckdrivinman]

The first BB album (in the towfer with Wild Honey) that I ever bought.  Very surprised by the content and 'feel' of the album and found it difficult to get into.  But when I did (after about 3 months of occasisional, confused listens) some sort of epiphany occured.  This album rules!  I can't put my finger on it - it just has a unique charm and is good for getting stoned to.

HEROES AND VILLAINS - one of the best darned songs in the wholle BB catalogue.  What more can I say? 

VEGETABLES - for a long time my fave BB song.  Period.  I was glad to find out at this board that this was released under the Laughing Gravy pseud - now there's no need to travel to a parallel universe where this song was released as a single!  Not as crazy about it now, but damn it, am I the only person on Earth who finds the bit from 'I know you'll feel better' bit to the end exquisite?

FALL BREAKS - Not so keen on this one. It doesn't go anywhere.

SHE'S GOIN' BALD - Odd, but in a good way apart from the sped up vocals in the middle which wreck it a bit.  The last third is ace.

LITTLE PAD - 'Do it!' Again, totally bizarre, but some beautiful humming and vocals.  What's with the finger clicks?!  Anyone know who got credited for them?

GOOD VIBRATIONS - see HEROES AND VILLAINS.  That 'People With Stars for Eyes' comedy sketch that Reeves and Mortimer did (where a duo competing in a singing competition cover this song, but in a thick Yorkshire / Cleveland accent) has made Mike's northern-England-sounding 'she's giving me good vibrations' vocal stand out a mile - it suonds liek he's singing in a northern accent!

WITH ME TONIGHT - The first track on this album that really sunks its claws into me.  Sublime.

WINDCHIMES - yeah, maybe not the best version, but I like it.  More long low organ notes as in Heroes & Villains, Little Pad and With Me Tonight.  And the vocals towards the end - yeah!

GETTIN' HUNGRY - bizarre, but less enjoyable than the other strange tracks on this album - this one just seems... sloppier (more half-assed?).  The whole quiet verse / loud chorus thing doesn't work well.

WONDERFUL - Creepy.  Strange spoken interlude. Give me any other versions of this song over this one any day.

WHISTLE-IN - I like this, but it's a bit pointless.

Overall - 8

[Conspiracy Jim]

GOOD VIBRATIONS - see HEROES AND VILLAINS.  That 'People With Stars for Eyes' comedy sketch that Reeves and Mortimer did (where a duo competing in a singing competition cover this song, but in a thick Yorkshire / Cleveland accent) has made Mike's northern-England-sounding 'she's giving me good vibrations' vocal stand out a mile - it suonds liek he's singing in a northern accent!

heh- Mulligan and O'Hare. 

I also very much enjoyed Stephen Desper's story of how they performed the pitch shifted (not sped up!) vocals.

[truckdrivinman]

Pitchshifted are they?  Hence the vocals being in time, but higher!  Thanks, CJ.


I don't think it was Mulligan and O'Hare - it was those pair of guys with deep voices who had some 'thing' about bras.  Not the Stotts either.  Their catchphrase was something like '"What yer sayin, like?  I've got nowt?!"

[Conspiracy Jim]

Pitchshifted are they?  Hence the vocals being in time, but higher!  Thanks, CJ.

I wish I had the Desper info, but basically they used some sort of tape machine that had numerous recording heads on it that span round on the tape, and you could remove minute portions of the recording thus keeping it in time while the pitch changed.  It sounds like a very cool piece of pre-digital technology and was principally used for advertising, so the audio would fit the time constraints.  As I recall it, they specifically asked to the machine to be used on that song, so they were certainly experimenting sonically far more than would appear. 

If anyone has more of that info (Is Mr. Desper still vailable for clarification?), I'd love to see the story recounted.  That and the Dennis session for the outro of All I Want To Do are my two favourite Beach Boys studio anecdotes.