Brian Wilson's Smile
10-01-04 | 11:51 AM
#26
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
I've only listened to it all the way through just once, so I'll reserve any informed judgment (but I like it!). Here's an article I came across on Reason's web site (my favorite libertarian magazine):
Can't Wait Too Long
The Americana myth of Brian Wilson's Smile
Brian Doherty
Today, a pop album is released that was 38 years in the making. Some devotees—I'm one of them—will tell you that its quality and heft make it worth every minute of waiting.
The album is called Smile. In 1966-67 it was in the works as the Beach Boys' follow-up to their now-acknowledged classic Pet Sounds, and a further step into the abstract from their surf- and cars- and girls-rooted early successes. Beach Boys auteur Brian Wilson, who composed the album and worked with Van Dyke Parks on the lyrics, eventually decided to abandon the ambitious project, even though it was already widely praised in the burgeoning pop press at the time.
Some of the songs meant for Smile appeared on what became Pet Sounds' follow-up, the low-key and charmingly addled, but still beautiful and joyous, Smiley Smile. Other tracks appeared on later Beach Boys records or box sets, but much of Smile's wreckage was searchable only through hours of bootlegged session tapes that fed a stream of fanatical underground devotees, who in turn fed Smile's legend and awaited its return to claim its glory (usurped by the British Beatles' Sgt. Peppers) like clandestine squadrons of sixties-pop Jacobites.
Smile as a concept has been one of the most argued about works in popular music history, with entire books and reams of fanzine articles and Internet postings speculating endlessly on the mysterious song titles in the vault tapes, on the "link tracks," on what really constituted "the elements suite" (a part of the original Smile myth completely elided in this finished version), on what overarching concept ties together songs as disparate as the endlessly charming goof "Vegetables" and the almost disturbingly lilting "Cabinessence," and on what was the real reason Brian abandoned it. Was it that he really hated the music (as he sometimes asserted over the years), that he feared he'd never be able to top it, that the philistine objections of his reputedly art-hating, cash-hungry colleagues sapped his will, or that the decision was just made out of neurotic fear and then doggedly stuck to for decades. (That a Beach Boys band craving formulaic success released Smiley Smile, an even more uncommercial record than Smile would have been, to me has always put the lie to the notion that their perfidy killed the original work.)
Every once in a while for decades rumors would spread that either the Beach Boys, or the suits at Capitol who bankrolled Brian's months-long obsession with this project (and even printed up hundreds of thousands of record sleeves for the album he never delivered), would finally pick up all these glistening shards of melody and construct the album that would blow the world away and show, as patriotic lyricist Van Dyke Parks wanted, that even in the wake of a British invasion, American music and American voices and the spiritual history of America still mattered.
Now the myth is over and Smile exists, as a Brian Wilson solo project, not a Beach Boys album. And while the saga of Smile has its own fascinations even beyond the music—I've probably spent as much time over the years reading and talking about it as I have listening to its existing fragments, as have many fans—you'll forget the lore upon hearing the songs as presented here.
There are quibbles that any obsessive will have. For example, it wasn't the greatest idea to re-record "Good Vibrations" with its original, inferior lyrics. (The only thing they seem to have going for them, to some people, is that they aren't by Mike Love—now an estranged villain in the Smile saga for questioning Parks' avant-garde lyrics, although he gamely sang them, and very well, in the original sessions.) And a "Cabinessence" without Carl Wilson on lead seems a leaden thing indeed after years of being awed by the original Beach Boys version.
But tracks like "Wonderful" seem even more a thick swirl of pure love in the new version. Newly completed tracks like "Barnyard" and "Song for Children" brought this old fan to tears, and I believe it could do so even to those for whom the phrase "George Fell into his French Horn" is meaningless, not argument-starting. As someone who believes that the arranged voices of Brian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, and Al are about the most beautiful sounds imaginable, I do miss the Beach Boys' voices on this. But Brian and his current gang have done an impeccable job of making this sound glorious even without them.
How this was all able to happen is an interesting saga in how the machineries of pop production, both legal and illegal, work to create magic despite being bogged down, as an endless string of laments launched by the Byrds "So You Wanna Be A Rock n' Roll Star" attest, by motives sleazy and venal. Brian, as the fabulously successful leader of the Beach Boys, got money and support from Capitol Records—even while he was suing them for back royalties—to record the basics of his extreme vision in Smile. Then waves of bootleggers, profiteering off work the artists didn't want us to hear, kept afloat the Smile legend, and helped create Brian Wilson superfan Darian Sahanaja of the quirky L.A. pop revivalists Wondermints, who have formed the nucleus of Brian's touring band since 1999.
Upon first witnessing the Wondermints play his music at a Beach Boys cover charity show in 1995—I was there that night as well, and was as amazed as Mr. Wilson—Wilson famously declared that, if he'd had them at his disposal in 1967, he could have taken Smile on the road. In 2003 he did, and he did. He added final touch-ups and some material, some remembered by Wilson and Parks and some freshly conceived. With the supervision of Sahanaja, who knew more about this project then either of its creators at this far remove (he spent more time listening to and loving the bootleg tapes over the years than they did), they took that road show into the studio. The Time Warner imprint Nonesuch—famous for rescuing Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, another piece of pop art unwisely dismissed by studio suits at the band's label, Reprise—released it today.
The saga of Smile turned out as mythic-American as its music, an interesting side note and another part of the often fascinating webs with which modern plentitude embraces art. We can have endless fun fun fun, as Beach Boys fans have, not just with base works of culture, but with the equally endless discussions they engender.
But listening to this heartwarmingly gorgeous slab of vocal melody pop, the final processing of the ambitions of a young Southern California man with lots of money, lots of success, lots of ambition, and lots of love for the sound of American voices (particularly the voices of his brothers, cousin, and school chum) raised in song—from old work songs to western ballads to turn of the century pop to doo-wop—makes all the myths of genius ignored, thwarted, throttled by considerations of gross commerce, seem a whole lot less interesting than adding this music to your day.
The music was too good to die. Its relentless bootlegging and mythologizing helped bring it to the attention of Sahanaja, the godfather to its rebirth; all the machineries of pop production and pop mythology clicked and churned in ways as mysterious as those of the American history that parts of this album limn so lovingly: the rolling trains and chanting voices that took us west on the iron horse to make Grand Coulee dams and sail to Hawaii.
Smile makes something lilting out of tragedy ("Bicycle rider/see see what you've done/To the Church of the American Indian") and heavy out of love ("Lost and found a kiss below there/Constellations ebb and flow there") and while it is almost certainly a conceptual mess, that's more than fine: The best thing about it is, you don't need to know any of the history, believe any of the myth, take sides in any of the debates (art vs. commerce, America vs. Brit, artist intentions vs. fan desires) that dog Smile's history, to groove to this brilliantly unique and joyous work.
The Americana myth of Brian Wilson's Smile
Brian Doherty
Today, a pop album is released that was 38 years in the making. Some devotees—I'm one of them—will tell you that its quality and heft make it worth every minute of waiting.
The album is called Smile. In 1966-67 it was in the works as the Beach Boys' follow-up to their now-acknowledged classic Pet Sounds, and a further step into the abstract from their surf- and cars- and girls-rooted early successes. Beach Boys auteur Brian Wilson, who composed the album and worked with Van Dyke Parks on the lyrics, eventually decided to abandon the ambitious project, even though it was already widely praised in the burgeoning pop press at the time.
Some of the songs meant for Smile appeared on what became Pet Sounds' follow-up, the low-key and charmingly addled, but still beautiful and joyous, Smiley Smile. Other tracks appeared on later Beach Boys records or box sets, but much of Smile's wreckage was searchable only through hours of bootlegged session tapes that fed a stream of fanatical underground devotees, who in turn fed Smile's legend and awaited its return to claim its glory (usurped by the British Beatles' Sgt. Peppers) like clandestine squadrons of sixties-pop Jacobites.
Smile as a concept has been one of the most argued about works in popular music history, with entire books and reams of fanzine articles and Internet postings speculating endlessly on the mysterious song titles in the vault tapes, on the "link tracks," on what really constituted "the elements suite" (a part of the original Smile myth completely elided in this finished version), on what overarching concept ties together songs as disparate as the endlessly charming goof "Vegetables" and the almost disturbingly lilting "Cabinessence," and on what was the real reason Brian abandoned it. Was it that he really hated the music (as he sometimes asserted over the years), that he feared he'd never be able to top it, that the philistine objections of his reputedly art-hating, cash-hungry colleagues sapped his will, or that the decision was just made out of neurotic fear and then doggedly stuck to for decades. (That a Beach Boys band craving formulaic success released Smiley Smile, an even more uncommercial record than Smile would have been, to me has always put the lie to the notion that their perfidy killed the original work.)
Every once in a while for decades rumors would spread that either the Beach Boys, or the suits at Capitol who bankrolled Brian's months-long obsession with this project (and even printed up hundreds of thousands of record sleeves for the album he never delivered), would finally pick up all these glistening shards of melody and construct the album that would blow the world away and show, as patriotic lyricist Van Dyke Parks wanted, that even in the wake of a British invasion, American music and American voices and the spiritual history of America still mattered.
Now the myth is over and Smile exists, as a Brian Wilson solo project, not a Beach Boys album. And while the saga of Smile has its own fascinations even beyond the music—I've probably spent as much time over the years reading and talking about it as I have listening to its existing fragments, as have many fans—you'll forget the lore upon hearing the songs as presented here.
There are quibbles that any obsessive will have. For example, it wasn't the greatest idea to re-record "Good Vibrations" with its original, inferior lyrics. (The only thing they seem to have going for them, to some people, is that they aren't by Mike Love—now an estranged villain in the Smile saga for questioning Parks' avant-garde lyrics, although he gamely sang them, and very well, in the original sessions.) And a "Cabinessence" without Carl Wilson on lead seems a leaden thing indeed after years of being awed by the original Beach Boys version.
But tracks like "Wonderful" seem even more a thick swirl of pure love in the new version. Newly completed tracks like "Barnyard" and "Song for Children" brought this old fan to tears, and I believe it could do so even to those for whom the phrase "George Fell into his French Horn" is meaningless, not argument-starting. As someone who believes that the arranged voices of Brian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, and Al are about the most beautiful sounds imaginable, I do miss the Beach Boys' voices on this. But Brian and his current gang have done an impeccable job of making this sound glorious even without them.
How this was all able to happen is an interesting saga in how the machineries of pop production, both legal and illegal, work to create magic despite being bogged down, as an endless string of laments launched by the Byrds "So You Wanna Be A Rock n' Roll Star" attest, by motives sleazy and venal. Brian, as the fabulously successful leader of the Beach Boys, got money and support from Capitol Records—even while he was suing them for back royalties—to record the basics of his extreme vision in Smile. Then waves of bootleggers, profiteering off work the artists didn't want us to hear, kept afloat the Smile legend, and helped create Brian Wilson superfan Darian Sahanaja of the quirky L.A. pop revivalists Wondermints, who have formed the nucleus of Brian's touring band since 1999.
Upon first witnessing the Wondermints play his music at a Beach Boys cover charity show in 1995—I was there that night as well, and was as amazed as Mr. Wilson—Wilson famously declared that, if he'd had them at his disposal in 1967, he could have taken Smile on the road. In 2003 he did, and he did. He added final touch-ups and some material, some remembered by Wilson and Parks and some freshly conceived. With the supervision of Sahanaja, who knew more about this project then either of its creators at this far remove (he spent more time listening to and loving the bootleg tapes over the years than they did), they took that road show into the studio. The Time Warner imprint Nonesuch—famous for rescuing Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, another piece of pop art unwisely dismissed by studio suits at the band's label, Reprise—released it today.
The saga of Smile turned out as mythic-American as its music, an interesting side note and another part of the often fascinating webs with which modern plentitude embraces art. We can have endless fun fun fun, as Beach Boys fans have, not just with base works of culture, but with the equally endless discussions they engender.
But listening to this heartwarmingly gorgeous slab of vocal melody pop, the final processing of the ambitions of a young Southern California man with lots of money, lots of success, lots of ambition, and lots of love for the sound of American voices (particularly the voices of his brothers, cousin, and school chum) raised in song—from old work songs to western ballads to turn of the century pop to doo-wop—makes all the myths of genius ignored, thwarted, throttled by considerations of gross commerce, seem a whole lot less interesting than adding this music to your day.
The music was too good to die. Its relentless bootlegging and mythologizing helped bring it to the attention of Sahanaja, the godfather to its rebirth; all the machineries of pop production and pop mythology clicked and churned in ways as mysterious as those of the American history that parts of this album limn so lovingly: the rolling trains and chanting voices that took us west on the iron horse to make Grand Coulee dams and sail to Hawaii.
Smile makes something lilting out of tragedy ("Bicycle rider/see see what you've done/To the Church of the American Indian") and heavy out of love ("Lost and found a kiss below there/Constellations ebb and flow there") and while it is almost certainly a conceptual mess, that's more than fine: The best thing about it is, you don't need to know any of the history, believe any of the myth, take sides in any of the debates (art vs. commerce, America vs. Brit, artist intentions vs. fan desires) that dog Smile's history, to groove to this brilliantly unique and joyous work.
10-07-04 | 08:36 AM
#27
DVD Talk Hero
Anyone going to see him live? I'll be at tonight's show.
There is a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson Geek meet before the show at the Hard Rock Cafe around 6-6:30 pm. Show up if you are. I know of four people from Columbus that are making the trek.
There is a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson Geek meet before the show at the Hard Rock Cafe around 6-6:30 pm. Show up if you are. I know of four people from Columbus that are making the trek.
10-08-04 | 03:39 PM
#29
DVD Talk Hero
The meet? Met a friend from nearby and four others from Columbus at the Hard Rock. It went very well. I'd met two of them during the Pet Sounds tour.
The show?
AMAZING!!!!!!!!
Brian was in a good mood overall and the band is spectacular. They started with everyone sitting together for an acoustic set. Then they played some electric songs and took an intermission.
After that they played Smile start to finish and it was flawless. I can't wait to get the live show on DVD. Gorgeous music.
Then they came back and played about 8-10 encore with a surf/sun slant in the selection.
Everyone I talked to was just amazed at what a great experience it was. I did get a photo pass and a seat that was 5th row, center. I was sitting next to some relatives of Brian's but I'm not sure who they were. It was two guys in their 70's and a woman that was pushing 90.
Talked with the band members after the show and they are all pretty nice. They still have the gorgeous Taylor Mills singing backing vocals.
When Brian came out three police officers just whisked him into the bus.
If anyone cares enough to click on this thread they will enjoy seeing the show live. If I wasn't busy w/the family I would be hitting more shows in other cities.
The show?
AMAZING!!!!!!!!
Brian was in a good mood overall and the band is spectacular. They started with everyone sitting together for an acoustic set. Then they played some electric songs and took an intermission.
After that they played Smile start to finish and it was flawless. I can't wait to get the live show on DVD. Gorgeous music.
Then they came back and played about 8-10 encore with a surf/sun slant in the selection.
Everyone I talked to was just amazed at what a great experience it was. I did get a photo pass and a seat that was 5th row, center. I was sitting next to some relatives of Brian's but I'm not sure who they were. It was two guys in their 70's and a woman that was pushing 90.
Talked with the band members after the show and they are all pretty nice. They still have the gorgeous Taylor Mills singing backing vocals.
When Brian came out three police officers just whisked him into the bus.
If anyone cares enough to click on this thread they will enjoy seeing the show live. If I wasn't busy w/the family I would be hitting more shows in other cities.
10-10-04 | 10:59 PM
#30
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally posted by Buford T Pusser
After that they played Smile start to finish and it was flawless. I can't wait to get the live show on DVD. Gorgeous music.
After that they played Smile start to finish and it was flawless. I can't wait to get the live show on DVD. Gorgeous music.
I've been hoping that they'd make available the first live perfromance of Smile in London. That was a historic event that's just begging for a well done DVD.
10-10-04 | 11:47 PM
#31
DVD Talk Hero
Official? No. Inevitable? Yes.
Maybe they'll do a two-disc set and release one UK, one US.
But if they were filming the UK I think people would know.
Maybe they'll do a two-disc set and release one UK, one US.
But if they were filming the UK I think people would know.
10-11-04 | 01:45 PM
#32
DVD Talk Limited Edition
There is a great documentary running on Showtime that includes footage from the first live perfromance of SMiLE. It included back stage jitters before the show and showed bits of the performance as well as Van Dyke in tears of joy in the audience at the end. It also showed Paul McCartney and George Martin both in the audience giving an enthusiastic standing ovavtion. If the entire performance was filmed that night I think it's important to get that particular show out on DVD.
10-11-04 | 01:58 PM
#33
DVD Talk Hero
A friend taped that for me but I haven't seen it to get the tape.
Now that you mention it I do think I heard that it would be out later and that's why they weren't including much on the Showtime special.
Now that you mention it I do think I heard that it would be out later and that's why they weren't including much on the Showtime special.
10-11-04 | 06:41 PM
#34
DVD Talk Limited Edition
It's too bad you couldn't have watched the Showtime special before seeing the show.
It does an excellent job of demonstrating just how incredible it is that Brian was able to do this.
It made me really want to go witness a performance but unfortunately that can't happen.
This is one of my most anticipated DVD releases.
It does an excellent job of demonstrating just how incredible it is that Brian was able to do this.
It made me really want to go witness a performance but unfortunately that can't happen.
This is one of my most anticipated DVD releases.
10-11-04 | 08:10 PM
#35
Member
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From: The Rift
Try to get a copy of mokSMILE. Some BW nutcase spent like 5 or more years editing and compiling mokSMILE using BW's original SMILE recording sessions into what this nutcase believes would be the correct layout had BW released it. Its great if you don't have any of BW's original SMILE sessions.
10-13-04 | 01:29 AM
#37
DVD Talk Hero
FYI
Posted by Andrew Gold on October 11, 2004 at 22:57:18:
I know this is a bit off topic...but i thought you may be interested to read what i wrote to Brian Wilson re: the recent release of SMILE, the long lost masterpiece of the 60's.
10/11/04
Dear Brian (and Van Dyke)-
You and I have met a few times, briefly, but I doubt you'd remember as both times it was very brief. Van Dyke will know me. I am a singer songwriter etc etc..and has some success in the 70's and 80's as an artist (lonely boy, thank you for being a friend, etc) and am still working as an artist, and as a producer, and am a pretty creative guy. I am also a very good friend of Jeff, Nelson and Probyn, Brad Gilderman and Mark Linnet, and in fact, when Jeff and the lads are not playing in your band, they often play in my band when I do 60's homages, especially for Byrds songs. I also did most of the background vocals and scratch vocals for you with Don Was on your "Just Wasn't Made For These Times" special, and you and I even sang together, though not at the same time, on a Ringo album Don and Peter Asher produced. I was also Linda Ronstadt's bandleader/arranger for much of the 70's (along with others in the band...to give them proper credit. I also had a band, WAX, with Graham Gouldman in the 80's (he of "bus stop", "for your love" and 10cc fame.) I even was the voice of Alvin in the chipmunks on a few albums. (For more about me, go to www.andrewgold.com)
From the sixties on, my favorite groups were The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Byrds. I also have a strong affinity for high harmony singers such as yourself, Paul M, David Crosby, Art Garfunkel...etc...I come from a very musical background. Mother is Marni Nixon, who did many famous movie voices way back when (Natalie Wood's voice- West Side Story; Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady etc...and my Dad, Ernest Gold, won an academy award for his score to Exodus. I am self taught, cannot read music, but could write a symphony...not that it would be as good as any serious composer I love, like Debussy, Chopin, Gershwin or Bach,,,,but just to brag about my musical talent to give the following compliments as much weight as possible.
I just bought and listened to SMILE and I felt a need to send you a message of some sort. It's not just that I loved this new recording and completed at last SMILE (I adore it, more than you may ever know). It's something more, and I will try, as briefly as possible, to impart my intense experience and thoughts about it's place in pop music or any music, really), and why it means so much to the world of music, and I shall partial guess what it probably means to you personally.).
I have been enough of a fan of the Beach Boys, and, of course, you in particular for so many years, I'm quite aware of your life, and actually suffer some of the same type anguish and pain your depressions have made you endure over the years. I am often very happy, and I do not have auditory hallucinations or hear voices (except sometimes my ex-wife and accountant yelling at me, but, alas, those are real... usually, ha), but I do have SOME idea of what you must go through, if may be so ridiculously bold as to say such an audacious thing.
What makes this new recording all the more astounding is that it must have been something that has been a seriously crushing pressure on you for years, both too negative AND too intensely positive, and must have unpleasant memories attached no doubt, as well that period being an astonishing creative period for you, what with Pet Sounds and all preceding it. The Beach Boys not being that supportive of you and poor Van Dyke; The record companies; The myth itself of this long lost album; whatever your marital state was, your fears and worries. Your father. Life must've seemed like a huge mountain before you when you woke up each morning, I imagine. I know the feeling. But it's bad enough feeling weak and scared, alone, yet afraid of people, feelings AND having all the expectations heaped on you everyday...My God.
Judging from the showtime special, the first few days of rehearsing must've been particularly tough. What if it isn't as good as everyone expects? All that stuff and more. Drug memories, confusion and the downside of being creative and bright. All of these things can be tough if you are gifted. Comes with the territory I believe.
Anyway, the album is simply remarkable. Just nothing short of being, I believe, one of the best, like, 3 albums in pop history. And the attention to musical and sonic detail, with your remarkable band is simply the most wonderful surprise in recent memory for me. I bought the album 2 days ago and have heard it now 8 times all the way through. (I must admit, I felt highly jealous and left out, thinking about Jeff and Probyn et all being in your band- I would give up so much to be in your band and play THAT music..( Ask Jeff....he knows how i feel, and what I can do...if you ever need a replacement.
I hope to God you find that doing this album puts to rest some old demons and that you can have more days when you feel carefree and relaxed..that "safe at home feeling" because of summoning the strength and resolve to make this happen. I know exactly what Paul means. The music makes me cry. Even the happy music...For Joy, For Pain, For Life.
Hopefully without sounding too stupid or cloying or anything, I have to say I basically just love you. You have made my and SO many others in the world happy, all the while being tortured by aspects of your life. It's just.....love....in it's purest form to do such a thing...and you may feel, at times, weak...not strong enough, but in fact, all this over achievement, lol....you deserve peace of mind, and if I could wave a magic wand, I would give it to you. Your music is so beautiful. So warm, so interesting, and so...well...musical. You TRULY are like a modern day pop Bach.
That's all I want to say. Simply to thank you from the bottom of heart for the magic you've given us. I've even heard much of this stuff. from various Beach Boy/ Brian fans and all the collector people, sweet though they are...but STILL....the sequencing and recording...the beautiful complexity...the eloquent simplicity...yet, the classical brilliance to it....is beyond compare to anything in the current music scene. I can't even begin to impart the grandeur of how impressed I am, ESPECIALLY in this age, at our ages, and with so many personal and intimate obstacles you must have come across.
You really did it, and I thank you, thank you thank you.
PLEASE, if you ever need an extra guy in your band, or a replacement, think of me. I can sing like you, Mike, Carl...even Al....lol....I can sing high or very low, pretty damn in tune too...and play pretty much any instrument you can throw at me, keys, bass, drums, and guitar. And, I am generally an affable and funny man. So....
THANK you for SMILE. You may now rest on your laurels if you'd like, lol. My sincere congratulations. Please enjoy the rest of your life now! Give your wife a hello. We met at an auction thing in Benedict canyon that Jeff Foskett presided over a few months ago. She was very nice.
Andrew Gold
PS. Wait, did I tell you I liked the CD? lol
Posted by Andrew Gold on October 11, 2004 at 22:57:18:
I know this is a bit off topic...but i thought you may be interested to read what i wrote to Brian Wilson re: the recent release of SMILE, the long lost masterpiece of the 60's.
10/11/04
Dear Brian (and Van Dyke)-
You and I have met a few times, briefly, but I doubt you'd remember as both times it was very brief. Van Dyke will know me. I am a singer songwriter etc etc..and has some success in the 70's and 80's as an artist (lonely boy, thank you for being a friend, etc) and am still working as an artist, and as a producer, and am a pretty creative guy. I am also a very good friend of Jeff, Nelson and Probyn, Brad Gilderman and Mark Linnet, and in fact, when Jeff and the lads are not playing in your band, they often play in my band when I do 60's homages, especially for Byrds songs. I also did most of the background vocals and scratch vocals for you with Don Was on your "Just Wasn't Made For These Times" special, and you and I even sang together, though not at the same time, on a Ringo album Don and Peter Asher produced. I was also Linda Ronstadt's bandleader/arranger for much of the 70's (along with others in the band...to give them proper credit. I also had a band, WAX, with Graham Gouldman in the 80's (he of "bus stop", "for your love" and 10cc fame.) I even was the voice of Alvin in the chipmunks on a few albums. (For more about me, go to www.andrewgold.com)
From the sixties on, my favorite groups were The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Byrds. I also have a strong affinity for high harmony singers such as yourself, Paul M, David Crosby, Art Garfunkel...etc...I come from a very musical background. Mother is Marni Nixon, who did many famous movie voices way back when (Natalie Wood's voice- West Side Story; Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady etc...and my Dad, Ernest Gold, won an academy award for his score to Exodus. I am self taught, cannot read music, but could write a symphony...not that it would be as good as any serious composer I love, like Debussy, Chopin, Gershwin or Bach,,,,but just to brag about my musical talent to give the following compliments as much weight as possible.
I just bought and listened to SMILE and I felt a need to send you a message of some sort. It's not just that I loved this new recording and completed at last SMILE (I adore it, more than you may ever know). It's something more, and I will try, as briefly as possible, to impart my intense experience and thoughts about it's place in pop music or any music, really), and why it means so much to the world of music, and I shall partial guess what it probably means to you personally.).
I have been enough of a fan of the Beach Boys, and, of course, you in particular for so many years, I'm quite aware of your life, and actually suffer some of the same type anguish and pain your depressions have made you endure over the years. I am often very happy, and I do not have auditory hallucinations or hear voices (except sometimes my ex-wife and accountant yelling at me, but, alas, those are real... usually, ha), but I do have SOME idea of what you must go through, if may be so ridiculously bold as to say such an audacious thing.
What makes this new recording all the more astounding is that it must have been something that has been a seriously crushing pressure on you for years, both too negative AND too intensely positive, and must have unpleasant memories attached no doubt, as well that period being an astonishing creative period for you, what with Pet Sounds and all preceding it. The Beach Boys not being that supportive of you and poor Van Dyke; The record companies; The myth itself of this long lost album; whatever your marital state was, your fears and worries. Your father. Life must've seemed like a huge mountain before you when you woke up each morning, I imagine. I know the feeling. But it's bad enough feeling weak and scared, alone, yet afraid of people, feelings AND having all the expectations heaped on you everyday...My God.
Judging from the showtime special, the first few days of rehearsing must've been particularly tough. What if it isn't as good as everyone expects? All that stuff and more. Drug memories, confusion and the downside of being creative and bright. All of these things can be tough if you are gifted. Comes with the territory I believe.
Anyway, the album is simply remarkable. Just nothing short of being, I believe, one of the best, like, 3 albums in pop history. And the attention to musical and sonic detail, with your remarkable band is simply the most wonderful surprise in recent memory for me. I bought the album 2 days ago and have heard it now 8 times all the way through. (I must admit, I felt highly jealous and left out, thinking about Jeff and Probyn et all being in your band- I would give up so much to be in your band and play THAT music..( Ask Jeff....he knows how i feel, and what I can do...if you ever need a replacement.
I hope to God you find that doing this album puts to rest some old demons and that you can have more days when you feel carefree and relaxed..that "safe at home feeling" because of summoning the strength and resolve to make this happen. I know exactly what Paul means. The music makes me cry. Even the happy music...For Joy, For Pain, For Life.
Hopefully without sounding too stupid or cloying or anything, I have to say I basically just love you. You have made my and SO many others in the world happy, all the while being tortured by aspects of your life. It's just.....love....in it's purest form to do such a thing...and you may feel, at times, weak...not strong enough, but in fact, all this over achievement, lol....you deserve peace of mind, and if I could wave a magic wand, I would give it to you. Your music is so beautiful. So warm, so interesting, and so...well...musical. You TRULY are like a modern day pop Bach.
That's all I want to say. Simply to thank you from the bottom of heart for the magic you've given us. I've even heard much of this stuff. from various Beach Boy/ Brian fans and all the collector people, sweet though they are...but STILL....the sequencing and recording...the beautiful complexity...the eloquent simplicity...yet, the classical brilliance to it....is beyond compare to anything in the current music scene. I can't even begin to impart the grandeur of how impressed I am, ESPECIALLY in this age, at our ages, and with so many personal and intimate obstacles you must have come across.
You really did it, and I thank you, thank you thank you.
PLEASE, if you ever need an extra guy in your band, or a replacement, think of me. I can sing like you, Mike, Carl...even Al....lol....I can sing high or very low, pretty damn in tune too...and play pretty much any instrument you can throw at me, keys, bass, drums, and guitar. And, I am generally an affable and funny man. So....
THANK you for SMILE. You may now rest on your laurels if you'd like, lol. My sincere congratulations. Please enjoy the rest of your life now! Give your wife a hello. We met at an auction thing in Benedict canyon that Jeff Foskett presided over a few months ago. She was very nice.
Andrew Gold
PS. Wait, did I tell you I liked the CD? lol
10-26-04 | 12:24 AM
#38
My God, I didn't get it. I've heard the SMiLE legend for years, bought the new CD, saw Beautiful Dreamer. But I honestly didn't get it till I saw the live show tonight. What an incredibly beautiful piece of music. And to realize this one work almost destroyed him, and ultimately has redeemed his musical legacy is a happy ending even the most cynical of us should appreciate.
And if anyone is sitting on the fence about seeing BW's SMiLE tour....just go. I've never felt better about spending $75 per ticket for anything.
And if anyone is sitting on the fence about seeing BW's SMiLE tour....just go. I've never felt better about spending $75 per ticket for anything.
05-23-05 | 11:31 PM
#40
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
http://www.brianwilson.com/store/dvds_smile.html
$17.99 at Best Buy this week. I've been trying to reign in my media spending, but I'm REALLY tempted to pick this up sooner rather than later.
The Ultimate DVD Collection of Brian Wilson's Critically-Acclaimed SMiLE Arrives on May 24
2-Disc Set Features Documentary, Exclusive Live Performance And Behind-The-Scenes Footage
LOS ANGELES — On May 24 Rhino Home Video delivers BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE: THE DVD. The two-disc package features nearly four hours of material, including the documentary Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story of SMiLE (from LSL Productions, in association with Chautauqua Entertainment), as well as an exclusive performance of SMiLE shot in its entirety in Los Angeles, and nearly two hours of never-before-seen bonus footage. The set will be available at all retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested retail price of $29.99.
Directed by award-winning writer/producer David Leaf (who also wrote the Brian Wilson biography The Beach Boys & The California Myth), Beautiful Dreamer traces the 37-year saga of Wilson’s most fabled work. Through interviews with celebrated friends, musicians, producers and peers (Sir George Martin, Elvis Costello, Roger Daltrey and film stars Rob Reiner and Jeff Bridges), the documentary explains the ambition and inspiration behind SMiLE’s acclaimed songs, the obstacles that prevented their release and the joyous conclusion at the 2004 Royal Festival Hall debut performance of SMiLE.
BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE: THE DVD also includes a 5.1 Surround Sound live performance of SMiLE, as well as never-before-seen interviews with its star, bonus live footage featuring the 2004 Royal Festival Hall performance of “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow” (a recent Grammy&Mac226; winner for Best Rock Instrumental), plus priceless intimate footage of Wilson at the piano, playing “Rhapsody In Blue,” “Good Vibrations,” “Heroes And Villains,” “Wonderful,” and singing “Cabin Essence.”
In addition, fans are treated to recording session footage, a photo gallery, the theatrical trailer for Beautiful Dreamer, fan and celebrity reaction filmed after the Royal Festival Hall performance, as well as a contest-winning video for “Heroes And Villains.”
...
The DVD set documents Wilson’s reunion with Van Dyke Parks, and even finds the lyricist interviewing the musical legend. The DVD’s documentary component was immediately lauded after it debuted on Showtime last year as Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story of SMiLE. It tells the story of how a boy from Southern California who dreamed of becoming a major league baseball player instead became one of rock music’s greatest visionaries.
BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE: THE DVD track listing:
DISC ONE
Documentary: Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story Of SMiLE
Bonus Material
Theatrical trailer
“Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow,” from the world premiere of SMiLE, Royal Festival Hall, London, February 2004.
After The Show featurette (postconcert reactions)
Interview Highlights
Van Dyke Parks interviews Brian Wilson 2/22/04
Interview with Brian Wilson 3/16/04
Interview with Brian Wilson 5/01/04
Interview with Brian Wilson 8/16/04
DISC TWO
SMiLE Live Concert
01. Our Prayer/Gee
02. Heroes And Villains
03. Roll Plymouth Rock
04. Barnyard
05. Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine
06. Cabin Essence
07. Wonderful
08. Song For Children
09. Child Is The Father Of Man
10. Surf’s Up
11. I’m In Great Shape/I Wanna Be Around/Workshop
12. Vega-Tables
13. On A Holiday
14. Wind Chimes
15. Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow
16. In Blue Hawaii
17. Good Vibrations
Bonus Material
Outtakes from the making of Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story Of SMiLE
Brian Wilson photo gallery
Brian Wilson at the piano:
“Rhapsody In Blue” (solo)
“Good Vibrations” (solo instrumental)
“Good Vibrations” with Carol Kaye (instrumental)
“Heroes And Villains” (solo instrumental)
“Heroes And Villains” (instrumental with Carol Kaye)
“Heroes And Villains” (vocal version with Carol Kaye)
“Wonderful” (solo instrumental)
“Cabin Essence” (vocal version with Darian Sahanaja on piano)
The recording of Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE featurette
“Heroes And Villains” contest-winning video
2-Disc Set Features Documentary, Exclusive Live Performance And Behind-The-Scenes Footage
LOS ANGELES — On May 24 Rhino Home Video delivers BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE: THE DVD. The two-disc package features nearly four hours of material, including the documentary Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story of SMiLE (from LSL Productions, in association with Chautauqua Entertainment), as well as an exclusive performance of SMiLE shot in its entirety in Los Angeles, and nearly two hours of never-before-seen bonus footage. The set will be available at all retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested retail price of $29.99.
Directed by award-winning writer/producer David Leaf (who also wrote the Brian Wilson biography The Beach Boys & The California Myth), Beautiful Dreamer traces the 37-year saga of Wilson’s most fabled work. Through interviews with celebrated friends, musicians, producers and peers (Sir George Martin, Elvis Costello, Roger Daltrey and film stars Rob Reiner and Jeff Bridges), the documentary explains the ambition and inspiration behind SMiLE’s acclaimed songs, the obstacles that prevented their release and the joyous conclusion at the 2004 Royal Festival Hall debut performance of SMiLE.
BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE: THE DVD also includes a 5.1 Surround Sound live performance of SMiLE, as well as never-before-seen interviews with its star, bonus live footage featuring the 2004 Royal Festival Hall performance of “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow” (a recent Grammy&Mac226; winner for Best Rock Instrumental), plus priceless intimate footage of Wilson at the piano, playing “Rhapsody In Blue,” “Good Vibrations,” “Heroes And Villains,” “Wonderful,” and singing “Cabin Essence.”
In addition, fans are treated to recording session footage, a photo gallery, the theatrical trailer for Beautiful Dreamer, fan and celebrity reaction filmed after the Royal Festival Hall performance, as well as a contest-winning video for “Heroes And Villains.”
...
The DVD set documents Wilson’s reunion with Van Dyke Parks, and even finds the lyricist interviewing the musical legend. The DVD’s documentary component was immediately lauded after it debuted on Showtime last year as Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story of SMiLE. It tells the story of how a boy from Southern California who dreamed of becoming a major league baseball player instead became one of rock music’s greatest visionaries.
BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS SMiLE: THE DVD track listing:
DISC ONE
Documentary: Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story Of SMiLE
Bonus Material
Theatrical trailer
“Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow,” from the world premiere of SMiLE, Royal Festival Hall, London, February 2004.
After The Show featurette (postconcert reactions)
Interview Highlights
Van Dyke Parks interviews Brian Wilson 2/22/04
Interview with Brian Wilson 3/16/04
Interview with Brian Wilson 5/01/04
Interview with Brian Wilson 8/16/04
DISC TWO
SMiLE Live Concert
01. Our Prayer/Gee
02. Heroes And Villains
03. Roll Plymouth Rock
04. Barnyard
05. Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine
06. Cabin Essence
07. Wonderful
08. Song For Children
09. Child Is The Father Of Man
10. Surf’s Up
11. I’m In Great Shape/I Wanna Be Around/Workshop
12. Vega-Tables
13. On A Holiday
14. Wind Chimes
15. Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow
16. In Blue Hawaii
17. Good Vibrations
Bonus Material
Outtakes from the making of Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson And The Story Of SMiLE
Brian Wilson photo gallery
Brian Wilson at the piano:
“Rhapsody In Blue” (solo)
“Good Vibrations” (solo instrumental)
“Good Vibrations” with Carol Kaye (instrumental)
“Heroes And Villains” (solo instrumental)
“Heroes And Villains” (instrumental with Carol Kaye)
“Heroes And Villains” (vocal version with Carol Kaye)
“Wonderful” (solo instrumental)
“Cabin Essence” (vocal version with Darian Sahanaja on piano)
The recording of Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE featurette
“Heroes And Villains” contest-winning video
05-25-05 | 12:37 PM
#42
Picked this up yesterday for $17.99 at BB. I would have paid that for the concert alone, but the inclusion of Beautiful Dreamer makes this a no brainer. The 5.1 mix by Mark Linnett is pretty impressive too. Not a gimmicky mix, it's just fleshed out to sound like I remember hearing it live. Plus it's not filmed in that herky jerky flash-cut style that so many directors seem to favor.
A couple of (very) minor quibbles. The sound defualts to 2.0. I haven't seen a disc that did that for a while. Plus it would have been nice to have the concert recorded on film instead of video as the snippets of the London show were in BD. It just had a more dramatic look that way.
A couple of (very) minor quibbles. The sound defualts to 2.0. I haven't seen a disc that did that for a while. Plus it would have been nice to have the concert recorded on film instead of video as the snippets of the London show were in BD. It just had a more dramatic look that way.
05-25-05 | 10:29 PM
#44
DVD Talk Hero
I saw Beautiful Dreamer on Showtime just the other night. Very nice documentary. Coupled with the positive DVDTalk review I'll have to pick it up.
Wow. Thanks for the heads up.
05-29-05 | 12:06 PM
#47
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Given the glowing reviews I've read (here and elsewhere), my love for the album, and the looming end of BB's sale price, I relented and picked the DVD up yesterday. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet - maybe tonight or tomorrow.
05-31-05 | 09:56 PM
#49
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Watched the SMiLE concert last night and enjoyed it very much. I still need to watch the extras. I'm especially looking forward to seeing Brian run through several songs alone on piano.
