Atomic Books - Smile CD

Atomic Books "Literary Finds for Mutated Minds"

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Smile CD
	Sale Price: $18.95
	By: Brian Wilson
	Publisher: Slipcase, Includes Booklet, 17 tracks, CD
	Page Count: 32pp
	Size: 5.75 x 5
	Notes:
	Date Published: Nonesuch Records

The abandoned follow-up to the Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds finally completed in this all-new studio recording! 'Brain Wilson's masterpiece... it is the most famous pop-music album never released.' -Newsweek Tracks: Our Prayer/Gee Heroes and Villians Roll Plymouth Rock Barnyard Old Master Painter/You are My Sunshine Cabin Essence Wonderful Song For Children Child is Father of the Man Surf's Up I'm in Great Shape / I Wanna Be Around / Workshop Vega-Tables On a Holiday Wind Chimes Mrs. O'Leary's Cow In Blue Hawaii Good Vibrations REVIEW In 1966 the Beach Boys released what would be known as one of the most popular and influential albums in rock and roll, Pet Sounds. The record, with its complex harmonies and sophiscated instrumentation, changed the way that rock and roll had previously been approached. The Beatles cited it as a major influence with it's clean sounds and beautifully crafted songs. The Beach Boys were begining to shake their squeaky clean image as Brian Wilson composed songs that tapped into the American counter culture. After the critical success of Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson constructed a follow up single that would take several months to record. His idea was to record each part of the song seperately, which meant sometimes recording these parts in different studios. After each section was finished Brian then edited the sections together. The result was the Beach Boys first million-selling single, 'Good Vibrations', and it set the tone for things to come. Earlier that year, Brian had decided to quit touring with the Beach Boys to focus on writing and composing. With the help of lyrisist, Van Dyke Parks, Brian started writing the songs that would be the Beach Boys next record, Smile. Lyrically, the record was to take on an abstract look at Americana. From the pilgrams to the steam engine and from the expansion of the west to 50's pop culture. The words behind Brian's songs were the biggest departure to the earlier formulaic Beach Boys songs of sunshine, girls and hot rods. Hash and LSD also had worked it's way in as an influence in the writing process. Brian was creating more adventerous compositions than ever before. He was composing and recording several different parts for each songs, sometimes in different musical styles, as they were to joined together later in the editing process. Songs like 'Heroes and Villians' and 'Vegatables' were demonstrations of the non-conformist rock and roll idealisms that were being hashed out in the studio. As most of the music had been laid down, the rest of the Beach Boys came back from touring to find Brian and Van Dyke in the midst of this conceptual recording. Brian had the band lay down their vocal parts but somewhere in the middle of recording resistance began surfacing. Brian's cousin, Mike Love, had problems with the songs, for they did not fit the structure and formula of what the Beach Boys had previously released. The music that they were backing was downright weird and the lyrics were even weirder. Brian's musical and artistic ideas were too abstract for the rest of the Beach Boys to grasp and thus caused trauma for Brian as to what to do with the unfinished album. Meanwhile, the rest of the world had gotten wind of this masterpeice - in - progress and they waited patiently for it's release. At that time, there was so much anticipation for the follow up to Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys had gained a level of admiration and deep respect from the rock and roll community. By 1967, the Beach Boys were even slated to headline the now famous, Montery Pop Festival. Back in Los Angeles, Brian was coming to terms with idea that maybe he was a little out of line with his creation. The pressure from the other members began placing guilt and shame on the shoulders of their leader and by mid-1967 Brian Wilson decided to shelve the project entirely. What Van Dyke Parks called 'A Symphony To God' would never be heard in it's entirety; the world was left with only myth and legend. After the demise of Smile, Brian withdrew from the group. He only surfaced to put one or two songs on later albums. The rest of the Beach Boys raided the finished songs from Smile and placed them on later albums when they were in need of a hit. Throughout the 70's Brian sunk into deep depression and drug use and it seemed that Smile would never see the light of day. By the '80s the Beach Boys had become a summer time oldies novelty act. With the exeption of their hit 'Kokomo', the Beach Boys were merely a revival of the earlier 'Fun Fun Fun' era of the '60s. Brian would make only a handful of appearences as he was dealing with his own personal problems. Most of these problems were brought on by his personal Doctor, Eugene Landy. Landy was brought on to cure Brian of his depression but instead secretly fed Brian drugs and gained control of what little artistic direction Brian had left. Landy's control and power of Brian was so strong that he was given song writing credits and production credits on Brian's solo albums of the 1980s. By the 1990s Brian's family stepped in and got rid of Landy and Brian would spend the next few years gaining his confidence and strength. Now, in 2004, Brian is out in the spotlight once again. After 2 new solo records and a live tour that showcased the Pet Sounds album live, Brian had developed the confidence that was taken from him and caused so much termoil through out the past 37 years. While he was contemplating what to do next his wife, Melinda, suggested the Smile record. Brian, for the first time since the original recordings were made, decided that maybe it was time. With the help of the Wondermints, Brian's backing band, headed by Darian Sahanaja, Brian reapproached the Smile album. Darian took all of the original recordings of the Smile session and compiled them onto his laptop for anaysis. The task of remembering where parts were to be edited together started and the Smile album began taking shape after 37 years. Once the outline of the album was completed the band learned the entire composition note for note. They took this knowledge to the stage and in the early part of 2004 Brian Wilson would finally be able to show the world his masterpiece. As for the recorded version of Smile, there was a large margin for error. The idea to take on such a project as complex as this not only took confidence but it needed to be done properly. Upon my first listen to the album I was taken aback. From the very first notes of the opening track 'Our Prayer' I was not only impressed but I was over come with emotion. The complex harmonies that I had heard were not only identical to the original but the clarity, range, and authenticity of the recording was stunning. A good portion of the original Smile sessions have been released over the years so you can imagine that the expectations of what this recording should sound like was very high. By the second track, 'Hereos and Villians', I was completely confident that Brian Wilson had fulfilled a near 40 year burden that rested on his shoulders. The way the songs weave in and out of one another so perfectly and poignantly reflects a time and place that could not be duplicated. In some ways the world was not ready for this record in 1967. In some ways the world is still not ready for this record in 2004. As musical tastes and styles have changed, the commercialism of music has dominated what the general public consumes. Take away all of the myth and legend that has surrounded this album for the past 37 years and listen to it without bias. From the mind of a 24 year old Brian Wilson; it is no wonder that words like genius are thrown around him very casually. The stand out songs such as 'Wonderful', 'Surf's Up', 'Vega-tables' and 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow' (better known as 'Fire') all demonstrate different directions and emotions that Brian was up against in 1967. What was to be the rival album of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is now album that stands alone against what is considered modern rock and roll. Not to mention, when this record was first conceived and constructed, the genere of Hip Hop had not been invented. Here it is, in 2004 as a time capsule of what life was to be 37 years ago. How our lives and what we now enjoy as modern music could ultimately have been different had this record been released in 1967. Brian Wilson said on Pet Sounds, 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times', and Smile was clearly not made for those times either. Nearly forty years later, Smile proves that the ideas of a 24 year old Brian Wilson still have the power and ability to challenge the staus quo of its contemporaries. Not much music from this day and age can do that, especially in the world of disposable heroes and disposable music. Smile is a work of art that will be forever studied, listened to, and deemed 'ahead of it's time.' Not just anyone can do that. Well, maybe Nelly can... -Jason Dove, The MobTown Shank



Item: 9279