The Beach Boys - SMiLE Sessions Webisode #1 Starting A SMiLE

[thewaterfalloflove]

It hurts my heart to see people saying hateful things about Mike Love or rude comments about Al Jardine. The Beach Boys are a group, a family, for better or worse. Families fight. Right? The Beach Boys gave me sunny days when it was raining and a trip to the beach when I was confined to my room in a small country town. Their music brings warmth to my heart and hope for a better world. Why attempt to tarnish that for me with your heartless comments?

I love them all.

[bogart999]

Al Jardine is back from the planet of the apes

[Broblem12]

Glad to find this!

[cranie4]

Mike Love talks about the Beach Boys music in a way he totally does not and never did believe. All he ever said when Brian tried to create higher level music was "Don't fuck with the formula". It's no wonder he's the most hated "musician" on Earth.

[mombus]

If anyone's having trouble believing humans share a common ape ancestor, please have a look at Al Jardine.

[jammmon]

is David Wild the son of Hal?

[isaacbateman76]

Is "Can't Wait To Long" is a part of SMiLE?

[johnboymac2000]

@isaacbateman76 It never was but people have associated it with"Smile" because of its complexities being simular to that of the material on "Smile" and it was originally started in 1967 and was also considered for an earlier version of the "Wild Honey"LP

[bancombe1]

mike you @UNT. you stopped freedom in its tracks, you stopped creation in its tracks, you are the son of murray wilson. by the by your plastic surge is shit!!!!

[anothercountyheard]

I have had great fun putting together versions of the album from what I could find. My first versions featured the Smiley Smile versions of Vegetables, Heroes & Villains, Wonderful, and Wind Chimes, Cabinessence from 20/20, Cool Cool Water from Sunflower, Surf's Up from that album....which made a pretty good record. But when the real music began to leak out and the modular nature of the music became clear -- well I've spent years re-arranging the sections There has never been a record like this

[Vincecouk]

You know, it's amazing the amount of crap people are writing about Mike Love on here. Almost makes me sympathise with him. Idiots who weren't there or know what really was said and done back then all because they don't have there precious Smile album like it was supposed to come out in '67.

[johnboymac2000]

@Vincecouk Its not like Mike has made much of a secret of his feelings either so like everything else that comes out of his mouth,he invites and deserves the critism he gets

[aolling]

Listen to Love! What afreakin' hypocrit. He went on record in '67 saying what crap SMILE was and how Brian went away from "the formula". Moron!

[johnboymac2000]

@aolling he was also telling friends at the time that the "Smile"music meant very little to him.Funny how a royalty check suddenly makes a big difference in peoples opinion,I believe that is called hypocracy

[Vincecouk]

@aolling but you don't know what Mike said, how he said it or whatever. There were lots of things going on at the time. Brian also had yes men. He had hangers on and friends encouraging him all the way. Apparently Mike had a conversation with Van Dyke Parks once during a Cabin Essence session.... People need to sit back and look how foolish they sound and think of the whole situation in context. Brian was clearly getting troubled at the time, but LOTS of factors.

[anothercountyheard]

Credit to Capitol Records for giving Brian the total freedom and creative control to create SMiLE and Pet Sounds.

[johnboymac2000]

@anothercountyheard I'll agree with you on "Smile" but in the case of "Pet Sounds" it has long been proven that(A):Capitol deliberatley sabotoged "Pet Sounds"sales because they did not agree with Brians creative direction as they felt it was not Beach Boys enough and B.It has since been discovered"Pet Sounds" had sold enough to go gold in 1967 but capitol didnt put in a request for a Gold Record award probably because it was easier to do that than admit they were wrong

[anothercountyheard]

@johnboymac2000 right, Capitol did a number of counter-productive things like following up Good Vibrations with Then I Kissed Her, in the UK anyway. They were bound by the contract Murry had negotiated with Capitol which gave Brian what was really an unprecedented level of artistic control. Beatles suffered even worse butchery by Capitol... but someone there (Nic Venet ?) had the intuition to sign.

[johnboymac2000]

@anothercountyheard In terms of letting Brian produce outside of Capitol you are definitley right about that,he was the first to break that barrier down.As for the music though,that was not the case.Capitols attitude was the Beatles were innovators and theat the Beach Boys were hitmakers and were expected to remain that way.As for the Beatles being fucked around more than the Beach Boys,fraid im gonna have to disagree with you there(Continued)

[anothercountyheard]

@johnboymac2000 Yeah you're right, after re reading what Timothy White had to say on the contract, he stresses the importance of (Brian's) being allowed to record in outside studios. they (Capitol) were ready and willing to release SMiLE, however, and all Brian had to do was hand them the tapes. The more substantial resistance to SMiLE came from the Beach Boys.

There was an essential conflict between Brian's artistic ambitions and the "good-time

surfin' & hot rods" nature of the

[anothercountyheard]

@johnboymac2000 (cont.) touring act. This in-compatibility was resolved by Brian's simply giving up and the pressures of keeping the business enterprise going and maintaining the status quo for his extended family and their respective families won out over his own personal artistic ambitions (the production race)

It seems clear that Brian was 'unfettered' in the studio by Capitol; and the real resistance was from Mike & Al

[johnboymac2000]

@anothercountyheard Yes Capitol did want "SMiLE"but that was on the strength of two things(A)The sucess in the UK of Pet Sounds and The worldwide sucess of "Good Vibrations"Becuase I doubt very much without those two factors that Capitol would have wanted "SMiLE"."SMiLE was the next step in the progression in the Beach Boys that the world at large were eager to hear and because of all the anticipation,Capitol couldnt afford to ignore it a second time around(Continued)

[johnboymac2000]

@anothercountyheard But when Brian shelved "Smile"due to inner group indifference it was easy for capitol to sweep it all under the carpet and their susequent Lps for capitol recieved very little promotion and sold very poorly because of it.When "SMiLE" failed to surface,capitol just basically gave up on them and it made it both easy and justifyable(for them anyway not for Brian) to overlook the fact that "Pet Sounds"was qaulified for Gold Certification.They just gave up.

[anothercountyheard]

@johnboymac2000 I agree completely, and the commercial disapointments of Friends and Wild Honey mean nothing to posterity, while the laid-back charm and sincerity of the music on these imperfect albums ages like fine wine.

[johnboymac2000]

@anothercountyheard They are both wonderful LPs that get grossly overlooked and in particular"Friends"which is one of their best LPs and for many years Brian claimed was his favorite

[viddrome]

SMILE should have been called "SUCKS" - Mike Love was RIGHT!! This is bunch of noise in search of a song. It's no wonder Mke Love wanted to slug that crazy nut Brian Square in the nose when he heard this shit.

[johnboymac2000]

@viddrome You ARE a DOUCHBAG and YOU SUCK!!!! Someone ought to stuff concrete up your ass to keep you from spewing such outrageous shit

[NivekJ1]

@johnboymac2000 Think good vibes, mac. Don't fall for the flames; 1st rule of the Internet. #smilerocks

[Xavygravy]

fuck you Mike Love. this album would've changed the face of music, and allowed the beach boys continue in excellence

[GREGMCKEE]

I think Mike's dislike for Smile and subsequent bullying of Brian was despicable...He is smiling now and has his hand out for the money...but...I understand his viewpoint in that he was part of the touring band and I can imagine him thinking..."how are we going to play this music live?" All you have to do is listen to Good Vibrations live...it always sucks! It never matches up to the original..how could it? Look at all the musicians Brian needed to take Smile to the people in 2004!!! nuff said

[redheadedgolem]

For the purposes of this exercise, do we all have to pretend Brian didn't already finish SMiLE in 2004?

[MattHatter]

@redheadedgolem No, not at all. I was going to trade in my copy of the 2004 version in order to buy this box set and I'm so glad I didn't. I thought the '04 version would be made weaker, but NO, it's actually made STRONGER! What you do is stay away from the '04 version for awhile, indulge in the 2011 version for a bit, get used to what you're hearing on the that set, THEN come back to then '04 version and it will be like you're hearing it with NEW EARS!

[MBArkestra]

OH Jesus Al Jardine looks like the crypt keeper.

[SuperDarthvader15]

hey guys stop hating on mike love come on

[Mozart1220]

@SuperDarthvader15 Mike deserves to be hated. He badgered Brian to insanity in the 60's over this music, and NOW he claims to love it. Hypocritical bastard.

[SuperDarthvader15]

@Mozart1220

[SuperDarthvader15]

@Mozart1220 yeah i guess you have a point. in the 60s he was hating on like all the lyrics now hes praisin it saying like its the best music ever written

[Ugo1970]

@Mozart1220: as I already said, people's attitudes change over time.

[Mozart1220]

@Ugo1970 Yeah, especially when they are broke and they see an opportunity to exploit something for quick cash. Mike Love is a turd. he always has been.

[johnboymac2000]

@SuperDarthvader15 why??? are you gonna tell his mom if we dont

[SuperDarthvader15]

@johnboymac2000 what are you talking about

[johnboymac2000]

@SuperDarthvader15 The comment you made about us bashing Mike

[Gentlejoker22]

People always bash on Mike Love but the truth of the matter is he wrote most the lyrics for Good Vibrations, and was brian wilson's writing partner. Yes he is a douchbag, but it's ok because he has the right to be one. Is he a major reason SMiLE was never released in 67', YES, But hey maybe thats the way SMiLE was meant to be. An album that really was never completed, but an album that is outstanding nontheless.

[szevetch]

@Gentlejoker22 , the porblem is that he may have been the biggest catalyst in Brian's "downfall" we will never know what could have been, because frankly after petsounds, it's tough to find anything consistantly good from the carl mike driven beach boys...okay "Friends" was decent...Smiley smile was crap!

[johnboymac2000]

@szevetch "Smiley Smile" crap?? well I dont agree with that but I will admit when I heard "smile'Bootlegs for the first time,it was years before I could listen to "Smiley Smile"again.Just listened to it recently.I enjoy it but I still cant get my head around why that over "Smile" its so barren compared to what "Smile"had to offer but I do agree with you on "Friends" and if you havent already,check out "Sunflower".It is definitley one of their most overlooked LPs

[RiffMasterMike]

Brain Wilson, you are the best thing that ever happened to my ears!

[anothercountyheard]

Brian met Van Dyke Parks in the driveway of 10050 Cielo Drive; Terry Melcher's house.

[ClarenceFisher]

@anothercountyheard Too bad Mike wasn't there

[PigsSantaAndBacon]

Brian Wilson: "The reasons that I didn't release Smile: (for) one, Mike didn't like it...he hated it. He HATED it."

[Ugo1970]

@PigsSantaAndBacon: Brian said that in 2004; this is 2011. People's attitudes towards anything can change from today to tomorrow, let alone over the course of seven years. If Mike hated Smile in 1967 he's very probably changed his mind about it already by the Eighties, if not earlier. Same goes for his opinions on "the Beach Boys formula", which existed in the early 1960s (maybe) but then it didn't exist any longer.

[todtubetod]

Is there a special edited version of this with all the Mike Love parts cut out?

[johnboymac2000]

@todtubetod I doubt that but thats a damn good idea

[ESQEditor]

Chrisdrumz, your statement isn't accurate. Brian would tell you that you are wrong.

[sqweezel]

Well, everyone is a critic, and that is fine. Brian's psyche was and is a fragile one, no doubt. Certainly all the drugs didn't help matters. But this music, whether incomplete or not, Is stunning in it's brilliance and beauty. I would even go so far as to say this is some of the most incredible music ever imagined by mortals. And in my humble opinion blows Sgt. Pepper right out of the water. Better 44 years late than never.

[kbilly74]

The Beach Boys should have collaborated with Charles Manson. LoL It would have been interesting

[LinuxTux37]

@kbilly74 They actually did.

Charles Manson and his Mansonites actually spent quite a bit of time sleeping at Dennis Wilson's house, before their murders.

Their song "Never Learn not to Love," on 20/20, was originally by Charles Manson and titled "Cease to Exist."

Dennis didn't like to talk about it and would become upset when it was discussed.

Crazy, eh?

[Pauljmac25]

This is awesome stuff. LOVE it!!!!

[MattTheJackal]

Say what you want about Mike, but I can't help but notice he still sang all those Van Dyke Parks lyrics he supposedly had so many questions and comments about.

[red35rob]

I bet you anything that Mike would have prefered SMiLE over Smiley Smile

[cadmaster102]

First of all, If it wasn't for Brian Wilson, Mike Love would be retied now from pumping gas.

I believe by late 1966, Brian was too unfocused to tie up the loose ends and assemble the final sequencing. I think he and the Beach Boys launched the royalty lawsuit against Capitol to barter for more time. However I think the project's unraveling started when Wilson first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever" and died with Parks' withdrawal. It was just unstructured tinkering after that.

[ESQEditor]

Brian will tell you that he shelved the album…it was his decision, and his decision alone.

[mojoman801]

I'm not a big Mike Love fan, but blaming Smile's demise on him is ludicrous. There were a wide range of different factors at work here--problems with Capitol, Brian's drug/mental issues, mixed reactions from the rest of the band--but in the end, Brian lost confidence in his vision. He didn't know how to tie all the pieces together--it all became too much for him, so he decided to scrap it and go in another direction (stripped down minimalism on Smiley). Mike didn't hold a gun to his head.

[MrPaulByron1]

Look at the size of Al's ears!

[MattHatter]

@MrPaulByron1 Al Jardine SERIOUSLY needs to cut that hair!

[paintthekitchen]

Mike is ready to join on now, so he can make some more money. He is a jerk, but the music never dies.

[ThePianoShack]

Can't wait!!!! :)

[Chrisdrumz]

The reason it DIDN'T come out in the first place was because the "rest of the band"(i.e. Mike) wouldn't stop BITCHING about how WEIRD it was and how Brian was "Fucking up".

[kalibria]

@Chrisdrumz Right on. Brian "got" art. Mike didn't.

[Vincecouk]

@Chrisdrumz it's an easy thing to blame one thing, when really it was clearly A LOT of things. It also annoys me that so many people just know what went on back then when really we'll never really know. And even more stupider to assume all of Brian's problems on Smile were Mike Love. It doesn't come out on the tapes for one thing.

[Chrisdrumz]

@Vincecouk Yes,it was a lot of things. However,the MAIN catalyst was Mike's unhappiness and his willingness to express it. Perhaps if Brian wasn't always in a drug haze he COULD have stoood up and said "trust me on this" but he couldn't. It was easier to retreat and avoid any more confrontation. Had Mike(and the rest of the guys) been supportive(ESPECIALLY given Brians fragile ego) there is no reason to believe SMILE wouldn't have been finished in 67.

[anothercountyheard]

@Chrisdrumz the weight of all these people and their families (which were part of his family) and his obligation to carry on the enterprise was greater than his commitment to 'art'. But in the long run it doesn't matter -- the music was made and now it is released. I still do not think the world has caught up to Smile -- even in 2011 it is avant-garde.

[johnboymac2000]

@anothercountyheard Smile would have been too far out even for 1967

[johnboymac2000]

@Vincecouk It doesnt come out on the tapes that have been made available but there have been some pieces from "Heroes and Villians"(that have incidently appeared here on You Tube)where there is some friction and of course they were not going to include that on the Smile sessions because thats not what they wanted people to here but you are right,Mike love was not Smile's only problem but Mike did contribute to it in a big way

[pmoyer50]

@johnboymac2000 : Mike Love was the piss stain that killed Smile in 1967. The only thing big about Mikey is his ego.

[johnboymac2000]

@pmoyer50 No argument here although I dont think he was the only problem but he certainly mad matters worse

[johnboymac2000]

@pmoyer50 and you are right,his ego is the only thing hes got going for him and thats not a compliment

[anothercountyheard]

@Chrisdrumz no other writer has ever put it so succinctly or clearly.

[bibbler227]

Mike Love makes me wanna puke. He's the biggest asshole God ever put 2 legs under...

[iferraro]

@bibbler227 Yes he is. He was hitting on my 23 year old girlfriend (he is like 70) in the restaurant of a casino after their show last year . He was an egotistical dirty young man and now he is old and has not changed. In some of these vids/interviews he pays homage to Brian (sometimes genuinely) but what he says is mostly contrived. He puts on an act.

Having said that, I still appreciate his great contributions to Brian's music (lyrically) and he sounded really great on some of their tracks.

[bibbler227]

@akovia Oh how cute, .. you came here to make a smart assed remark about something you know nothing about. That's so sweet!! I bet Mommy and Daddy are real proud to have a piece of trash like you as their kid!!

I bet you're gonna be a Welfare Bum when you grow up, aren't you??? That's the only thing a real piece of shit like you is qualified for.. Well, as you so cleverly and intelligently said "Lol"... Off to the ignore list scumbag.

[dburr13]

I don't buy many albums these days...But i'll buy this one...Then i'm gonna lose myself for awhile in Brian's dream...

[JuxtaposeMystery]

the dislike bar is the is justin bieiibers penis

[michaelpietrobon]

where can I find that Good Vibrations recording video?

[thevigilanteoflove]

This is awesome. I hope they do a bunch of these. A SMiLE DVD release would be nice too.