Well, here I am with one of the most well-known unfinished albums, the Beach Boys' Smile, mostly recorded from the summer of 1966 until April 1967. Despite being unfinished, this album is very ahead of it's time, and is also by a significant margin my favourite record by The Beach Boys. With the angelic opening prayer, the dense layering of "Heroes and Villains," the dark, dramatic buildup of "Wind Chimes," the sparse, crystaline beauty of "Surf's Up," and I don't even need to mention "Good Vibrations," the album is magnificently lush and layered. The system of fragmentary song construction that bandleader Brian Wilson was using throughout the project also makes this LP unlike any other albums of the period, and indeed it was incredibly arduous to put together with the analogue tape they were using. The complex (and almost endless) possibilities in terms of song structure no doubt contributed to the confusion that led to the collapse of the project. It all came to a halt because of Brian Wilson's pre-existing mental issues, exacrabated by drugs and a number of major stressors, along with band members who did not support the project. When the album was scrapped, Brian Wilson barred the use of that huge stack of session tapes for several decades, with only a few bits of the original recordings making it out until the 1990s.
Anyhow, my goal is to make this album as close as possible to what it really is: a cohesive LP with banded tracks that's the follow up to (and developement on) the incredible Pet Sounds (1966). Most of the songs from my reconstruction are taken from Soniclovenoize's great 2018 version of the album (found on his Albums That Never Were blog), with a few true-stereo bits taken from his later Hitsville Mix. He did an utterly fantastic job on that 2018 version, and you should absolutely listen to it, if not for his version of Smile then for all the great bonuses (including remastered versions of Brain Wilson's December 1966 test mixes that most songs' structures are based on!) and a huge backround PDF recounting the recording of the album in exceptional detail. I won't even try to compete with that, but I do believe that the album itself could have been assembled a little bit more cohesively.
One of the main complexities with putting this album together is the lack of a proper tracklist. Both the official versions of the album divide the songs into three movements, which would have been impossible to do on a 1967 LP. Early that year though, Capitol Records asked Brian Wilson for the song order so they could print the back covers, so Brian wrote them out a sequence on a slip of paper. It has some surprising choices, and after giving it a serious shot, I found that it didn't really add everything into a greater whole. I guess Capitol added a note on the covers saying that the actual running order would be found on the disc label for a reason. Also, to differentiate the mono and stereo albums, I removed the "full dimensional sound" label for the stereo edition.
The album begins beautifully with an opening prayer. Brian Wilson told his bandmates that it would be a hidden introduction to the album during the recording session (he also asked them if the acid had kicked in yet, so I guess they recorded it while tripping), so I am doing exactly that, and it's just the opening part to the abruptly-beginning "Heroes And Villains." I use the mono version from the Smile Sessions, and the stereo version is the vintage 1968 stereo mix from the 20/20 Pastmasters CD, which is just so sublime. I edited out the penultimate "aaah" on both versions because that's what Wilson did on his test mixes. A very sensible decision, as it adds an element of sadness that isn't otherwise present. For "Heroes And Villains" itself, I used the finished mono mix made in early 1967 as found on the Smile Sessions album, and Soniclovenoize's full-stereo reconstruction of that mix from his Hitsville version (with some slight volume adjusting in places and using the same closing section as the mono mix). Interestingly, the full prayer was released in 1968 with possible overdubbing (Brian Wilson was not involved), and a portion of the "Heroes And Villains" backing track was reused in the final Smiley Smile version after the Smile project collapsed. In another world, the song's Smile mix might even have been considered as the follow-up to "Good Vibrations," and "Wonderful" could have been the b-side 'cause it got mixed too. This single could have competed on the charts with "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" from the Beatles! But alas, reality.
After that comes the first unfinished track, "Roll Plymouth Rock." The (great) finished 2000s recording with all the lyrics uses this title (as opposed to the standard "Do You Like Worms" title from the 1960s version), so I chose to use the former instead as it is both a far better title, and also because those words actually appear in this unfinished version of the song while "do you like worms" does not. I used Sonic's 2018 mono and stereo mixes, which were based on the structure of the 1966 test edit.
Following that, we remain in unfinished territory with "Out In The Barnyard." I decided on this title as it helps to center the song thematically. The opening segment takes its' vocals from an at-home piano demo, and you can hear the lo-fi piano appearing whenever the lyrics do - I wouldn't be without it though, it's a cool touch. It was said to be one portion of a four-part suite, and while the other three parts are a mystery, it does work very well here. The other three parts are from a three-part suite called "I'm In Great Shape." I use Sonic's 2018 version for both mixes. Also, if Brian Wilson Presents Smile is anything to go by, the workshop section was meant to have lyrics which is interesting. A bit of that section was used on the otherwise-fake-stereo album version of "Do It Again" on 20/20. What follows is "My Only Sunshine." Denis Wilson's lead vocals were taken from an acetate record. I used Sonic's 2018 version for mono and stereo, except for half of the latter which came from his true stereo Hitsville mix, with some subtle panning and volume adjustments. I also decided to shorten the title to the portion that appears in the lyrics.
The beautiful "Cabin Essence" follows. Mike Love refused to sing the verse lyrics in November 1966 since he couldn't understand them, which was one of the first cracks that lead to the evental collapse, so to say. He must have had a change of heart in the next little while, because, without Brian Wilson's involvement, he finally recorded them in 1968 and the finished song was released in a beautiful stereo mix as the closer to their 20/20 album. I use that mix on the stereo version, also taken from that great old Pastmasters CD, and Sonic's 2018 mono mix based on the test edit. Side one closes with "Good Vibrations," easily the most complex edit job on this entire album brimming with edit jobs. I used the normal single version because it doesn't make sense to me to do otherwise with this being the only song that got released during the album's sessions. The mono mix is taken from excellent Analogue Productions SACD of Smiley Smile from 2016, while the stereo mix is from that SACD as well although I could be mistaken. The latter mix is a bit brighter than the rest of the album, so I EQ'd it slightly to add some warmth. I included the music video for this song in the zip file.
Upon flipping the imaginary LP, we arrive now at "Wind Chimes," one of the few songs finished during the original albums' sessions but not given a final mix. I use Sonic's 2018 versions that are based on a test edit made during the song's final session that I have never heard. "Wind Chimes" is a personal favourite, and the third finished song in a row! Next up is a track I've loved for years, "Vega-Tables." The mono and stereo mixes are Soniclovenoize's edits of the official Smile Sessions mixes. A portion of the vocals near the end were re-used on the Smiley Smile re-recording, but that's all. Wilson never figured out how to assemble the song during the original Smile sessions, so the ideal structure was pinned down later on in the '80s or '90s.
This next song, which I've retitled "Fire (Of The Four Elements)," really spooked Brian. You can find the story about it in a million other places, but I can attest to its' bad luck! I was sitting in a waiting area before a flight, biding my time by scaping away at this album's song sequence, and because a flight attendant hadn't shown up, they had to boot passengers off for safety reasons. You can guess which song was playing in my headphones when my name came over the PA. Instead of filling up the suite with unrelated recordings that vaguely fit the theme, I decided to leave "The Elements" suite to just one part. There are some differences between my mono and stereo mixes, and this is easily the biggest one. The mono mix comes from the Smile Sessions, which has a dramatic pause between the intro and the body of the song, and also loops the main section while adding the vocals from the Smiley Smile re-recording on top. Sonic's stereo mix has no gap between the intro and body, and doesn't loop the song nor add vocals, so it's entirely instrumental in the stereo mix. I woudn't call any of the differences between my mixes totally intentional, but one of my favourite things about 1960s music is noticing the differences between the two official mixes, so it's all part of the fun (at least in my eyes).
After that, we arrive at the final four-song sequence that closes out the record, which is the only one of the official Smile suites that I left totally intact. It begins with "Wonderful," which was finished and given a mono mix in 1967. I take it from the Smile Sessions, and the stereo mix from Sonic's 2018 version, although I changed the speed slightly to match the test edit. This album being the Beach Boys' Sgt. Peppers, I see this song as the equivalent to "She's Leaving Home." After that comes "Song For Children," which, like "Roll Plymouth Rock," I use the better title found on Brian Wilson Presents Smile. I take the mono and stereo from Sonic, but I had to do some editing on the stereo mix. This is one case where I don't think lyrics are necessary because the music is expressive enough. After that near-instrumental is "Child Is Father Of The Man." Really too bad this one got so few vocals recorded for it (the chorus was taken from an acetate), as I think it would have helped define this suite of songs. Brian even sang lyrics to it off-mic during the session. Both mixes are Sonic's 2018 versions based on the test edit.
These bring us to the final song, "Surf's Up," which is my favourite Beach Boys song that isn't a wordless prayer. This track was only a single session in before the Smile plug got pulled, and would probably have been almost lost if Brian Wilson hadn't performed a solo piano demo at the end of the session that he double-tracked the vocal on. Taking up most of the song, it feels beautifully unfinished, which is perfect for the final track on this album. In 1971, the band pulled out the Smile tapes for overdubbing for the final time, and Carl Wilson redid the lead vocal on the opening part, and Dennis on the closing part Brian had forgotten to sing. Bass, keys, and other things were overdubbed as well, along with a host of backing vocals. The story goes that a suddenly reinvigorated Brian Wilson ran into the studio with a slip of paper that he had just scribbled lyrics on, before orchestrating the band's parts for it. In the context of their 1971 LP that this became the title track for, the 1971 "child is the father of the man" backing vocals make little sense, but in this context they do! If only the entire Smile album had recieved the same treatment in the early 1970s, as the contract they were under obliged them to do. Ah well, at least there's this.
The original mixes for their Surf's Up LP and its' preceding album Sunflower recieved a special processing which, if they were re-processed with a certain matrix, would make them sound incredible. Their engineer Stephen Desper had figured this process out, and eventually used it on Olympics broadcasts and other things - but the Beach Boys' label weren't insterested so it was never applied and left the albums sounding good but a little strange. The 1971-overdubbed version of "Surf's Up" is the most complete of them all, so I decided to use it on my version. The mono is a fold-down of the stereo matrix-processed version, while the stereo mix is not processed (it sounded more similar to the rest of Smile) and comes from the Analogue Productions SACD of 1971's Surf's Up. But that's not all! An album with a hidden introduction needs a hidden outro too, so I tacked "You're Welcome" onto the end of "Surf's Up." In stereo, I carefully made the song pan from one ear to the other, because I wanted a full-stereo album and this song seems to have been recorded in mono. I also faded one channel of "Surf's Up" fade out slightly to match where "You're Welcome" begins in the same ear. Interestingly, "You're Welcome" was the only unaltered song from Smile to be released in 1967, as the b-side to the "Heroes And Villains" single (it used the Smiley Smile partial re-recording). I interpret this as Brian Wilson saying "and that's all you're gonna get of the Smile tapes!" to the record buying public.
Coda
Had this album been finished and released in 1967, I believe it would have made waves and been highly influential, although definetly not as popular as Pepper, it's cousin in spirit. Had it come out in 1967, the entire history of the band would surely have been different, as the collapse of this project seriously marred their reputation and basically ended the band's huge commercial success in their home country until the Endless Summer compilation in the mid-'70s. To this day, "Good Vibrations" remains the only hint at what the reception may have been like for Smile. This year, Beyoncé interpolated its' chorus on her new (and excellent) album Cowboy Carter (which is something of an anthology of American music) which points at just how influential the song remains to this day. But among the ashes rises a phoenix, and even though it's missing some of its feathers, it is without a single doubt still a stunning bird. I hope my mixes of Smile make you smile, and please let me know what you think of it in the comments!
