Rock And Roll
Member
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of one of the most influential recordings in the history of pop music, I think we should take a look back on the album that didn't make it.
SMiLE was the intended follow up to The Beach Boys critically acclaimed (yet commercially unsuccessful) Pet Sounds. Capitol Records was unhappy with Brian Wilson's creative direction and with Pet Sounds flopping, they pressurred The Beach Boys to return to more simplistic themes, such as surfing, cars, girls and other novel ideas. Brian might have had to succumb to Capitol's pressure but he had an ace up his sleeve: "Good Vibrations". The song recently topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became The Beach Boys most successful single to date.
"Good Vibrations" was a landmark piece of music both in content and in production. Brian wanted to create a pop song that resembled a symphony, by way of using unusual instrumentation and composition techniques. Different instruments were recorded at different studios across Los Angeles to take advantage of the acoustics of different rooms. The different takes were then spliced together, a revolutionary (and at the time extremely arduous) way of creating music. Most singles (or even albums) were cut in a day or two back at this time in music industry; Good Vibrations was recorded over 17 (!) different sessions over the span of 7 months (from February 17 - September 21st, 1966), with over 90 hours of various takes/instrumentation/vocals to be shrunk down to a pop song 3:35 long. It cost a reported $50,000 - $75,000 in 1966, or $370,000 - $550,000 today when adjusted for inflation.
SMiLE can be viewed as taking the approach of "Good Vibrations" and stretching it out over the course of an album. Brian claimed the album was to be "a teenage symphony to God". Teaming up with lyricist Van Dyke Parks, he sought to create a record that would essentially reflect America, from it's conception up to the present. Brian would create complex fragments of music that would all fit together, like themes or motifs found in classical music. The styles of music would range from simple rock, to jazz, to folk, to avant garde, to barbershop etc... Anything that was part of the growth and development of music in America would be represented on SMiLE. Parks would write psychedelic lyrics to match the tone of the music. Morale was high for Wilson, Parks and the musicians (better known as The Wrecking Crew), who all believed an innovative record to be taking shape before them. Even Paul McCartney ended up coming to the studio to see what The Beach Boys were creating. He ended up chewing celery as percussion for the song "Vega-Tables".
The sessions ran into a multitude of problems. The main being extreme reluctance from the rest of The Beach Boys, who were unsure of the new direction and worried about Brian's mental health. Notably, bandmate and cousin Mike Love grew frustrated with Brian's complex recording habits and wanted to get back to writing songs about surfing, cars and other previously successful ventures. Capitol Records was also growing impatient with the lack of results and radio friendly material they were hearing, further pressuring the boys to release something quickly. Brian was also having a bit of a problem with all the possible variations he had recorded. Since the album was recorded in short vignettes, there began to be too many takes to choose from. The magnitude of the project was overbearing. Not only that, he believed The Beach Boys to be involved in a friendly competition with The Beatles. Pet Sounds was the answer to Rubber Soul. Revolver was the answer to Pet Sounds. SMiLE was to be the answer to Revolver and whatever else The Beatles were working on. The negative atmosphere in the studio would weigh heavily on Brian, which in turn would begin the demise of his mental health.
Not helping matters was Brian's use of psychedelic drugs, most notably LSD. Already dealing with schizophrenia and depression, the substance abuse combined with mounting stress would create a perfect storm for the most famous pop music meltdown of all time. Key stories from this era include the recording of the song "Fire: Mrs. O'Leary's Cow". Designed to be part of "The Elemental Suite" on the album, the song was to replicate the sounds of fire. Wilson lit fires in the studio, recording the sounds, made the studio musicians wear fire helmets, and a whole other slew of insanity. During the recording though, a fire broke out at a building across the street from the studio, completely destroying the building. There were also reportedly a large number of fires throughout Los Angeles that day. Naturally, Brian was convinced his music was responsible for the fires. He took the master tape and attempted to burn it, only to find the tape wouldn't burn (he was convinced that tape was immune to fire, when in all actuality you can't burn analog tape). Or how when driving to the studio he heard Strawberry Fields Forever/A Day In The Life/got an advance copy of Sgt Peppers, listened to it and broke down crying because he knew he would be unable to top The Beatles. Who knows if any of these stories are true, but they are part of the legend that make up SMiLE.
On May 18th, 1967 the final session took place for recording the backing track to the song "Love to Say Dada" (note, LSD). The project was abandoned and would signify the beginning of the end for The Beach Boys. Sgt Peppers would release a couple weeks later and forever change popular music's landscape. The Beach Boys would release many albums over the course of the next 7 years, but Brian's involvement decreased exponentially. From there, the urban legends began about how SMiLE destroyed Wilson, leaving him depressed, overweight, abusing substances and most famously, bedridden one to three years. He was reclusive and out of the public eye for decades. A few of the tracks would end up being completed/re-recorded for different albums and low quality bootlegs would circulate for decades. Fans who obtained the bootlegs were puzzled as to the whole album fit together, with a seemingly limitless way of creating the track list. Dennis Wilson would drown in 1983, and Carl Wilson would die of cancer in 1998.
Out of nowhere in 2004 Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks revisited the album. It was completely re-recorded as close as possible to the original idea Brian had for SMiLE. 37 years after abandoning the project, "Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE" was released. The album would go on to receive critical acclaim and earn several awards and accolades. Then in 2011, "The SMiLE Sessions" would also be released to critical acclaim, compiling all of the original recordings to resemble the original intent of the album. It was like unearthing a time capsule from 44 years earlier. When comparing the two projects, it seems like SMiLE was probably 85 - 90% finished. Many questioned why the album was never released/completed at the time and critics/historians believe the future of music could have been radically different if the album had been delivered in 1967 as intended. Personally, I think SMiLE is a fantastic record, although sometimes overbearing with it's psychedelia and could have used a lot of editing. It is an important piece of music history and anyone interested owes it to themselves to listen to the greatest album that never was.
tl;dr Just Say No To Drugs.
SMiLE was the intended follow up to The Beach Boys critically acclaimed (yet commercially unsuccessful) Pet Sounds. Capitol Records was unhappy with Brian Wilson's creative direction and with Pet Sounds flopping, they pressurred The Beach Boys to return to more simplistic themes, such as surfing, cars, girls and other novel ideas. Brian might have had to succumb to Capitol's pressure but he had an ace up his sleeve: "Good Vibrations". The song recently topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became The Beach Boys most successful single to date.
"Good Vibrations" was a landmark piece of music both in content and in production. Brian wanted to create a pop song that resembled a symphony, by way of using unusual instrumentation and composition techniques. Different instruments were recorded at different studios across Los Angeles to take advantage of the acoustics of different rooms. The different takes were then spliced together, a revolutionary (and at the time extremely arduous) way of creating music. Most singles (or even albums) were cut in a day or two back at this time in music industry; Good Vibrations was recorded over 17 (!) different sessions over the span of 7 months (from February 17 - September 21st, 1966), with over 90 hours of various takes/instrumentation/vocals to be shrunk down to a pop song 3:35 long. It cost a reported $50,000 - $75,000 in 1966, or $370,000 - $550,000 today when adjusted for inflation.
SMiLE can be viewed as taking the approach of "Good Vibrations" and stretching it out over the course of an album. Brian claimed the album was to be "a teenage symphony to God". Teaming up with lyricist Van Dyke Parks, he sought to create a record that would essentially reflect America, from it's conception up to the present. Brian would create complex fragments of music that would all fit together, like themes or motifs found in classical music. The styles of music would range from simple rock, to jazz, to folk, to avant garde, to barbershop etc... Anything that was part of the growth and development of music in America would be represented on SMiLE. Parks would write psychedelic lyrics to match the tone of the music. Morale was high for Wilson, Parks and the musicians (better known as The Wrecking Crew), who all believed an innovative record to be taking shape before them. Even Paul McCartney ended up coming to the studio to see what The Beach Boys were creating. He ended up chewing celery as percussion for the song "Vega-Tables".
The sessions ran into a multitude of problems. The main being extreme reluctance from the rest of The Beach Boys, who were unsure of the new direction and worried about Brian's mental health. Notably, bandmate and cousin Mike Love grew frustrated with Brian's complex recording habits and wanted to get back to writing songs about surfing, cars and other previously successful ventures. Capitol Records was also growing impatient with the lack of results and radio friendly material they were hearing, further pressuring the boys to release something quickly. Brian was also having a bit of a problem with all the possible variations he had recorded. Since the album was recorded in short vignettes, there began to be too many takes to choose from. The magnitude of the project was overbearing. Not only that, he believed The Beach Boys to be involved in a friendly competition with The Beatles. Pet Sounds was the answer to Rubber Soul. Revolver was the answer to Pet Sounds. SMiLE was to be the answer to Revolver and whatever else The Beatles were working on. The negative atmosphere in the studio would weigh heavily on Brian, which in turn would begin the demise of his mental health.
Not helping matters was Brian's use of psychedelic drugs, most notably LSD. Already dealing with schizophrenia and depression, the substance abuse combined with mounting stress would create a perfect storm for the most famous pop music meltdown of all time. Key stories from this era include the recording of the song "Fire: Mrs. O'Leary's Cow". Designed to be part of "The Elemental Suite" on the album, the song was to replicate the sounds of fire. Wilson lit fires in the studio, recording the sounds, made the studio musicians wear fire helmets, and a whole other slew of insanity. During the recording though, a fire broke out at a building across the street from the studio, completely destroying the building. There were also reportedly a large number of fires throughout Los Angeles that day. Naturally, Brian was convinced his music was responsible for the fires. He took the master tape and attempted to burn it, only to find the tape wouldn't burn (he was convinced that tape was immune to fire, when in all actuality you can't burn analog tape). Or how when driving to the studio he heard Strawberry Fields Forever/A Day In The Life/got an advance copy of Sgt Peppers, listened to it and broke down crying because he knew he would be unable to top The Beatles. Who knows if any of these stories are true, but they are part of the legend that make up SMiLE.
On May 18th, 1967 the final session took place for recording the backing track to the song "Love to Say Dada" (note, LSD). The project was abandoned and would signify the beginning of the end for The Beach Boys. Sgt Peppers would release a couple weeks later and forever change popular music's landscape. The Beach Boys would release many albums over the course of the next 7 years, but Brian's involvement decreased exponentially. From there, the urban legends began about how SMiLE destroyed Wilson, leaving him depressed, overweight, abusing substances and most famously, bedridden one to three years. He was reclusive and out of the public eye for decades. A few of the tracks would end up being completed/re-recorded for different albums and low quality bootlegs would circulate for decades. Fans who obtained the bootlegs were puzzled as to the whole album fit together, with a seemingly limitless way of creating the track list. Dennis Wilson would drown in 1983, and Carl Wilson would die of cancer in 1998.
Out of nowhere in 2004 Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks revisited the album. It was completely re-recorded as close as possible to the original idea Brian had for SMiLE. 37 years after abandoning the project, "Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE" was released. The album would go on to receive critical acclaim and earn several awards and accolades. Then in 2011, "The SMiLE Sessions" would also be released to critical acclaim, compiling all of the original recordings to resemble the original intent of the album. It was like unearthing a time capsule from 44 years earlier. When comparing the two projects, it seems like SMiLE was probably 85 - 90% finished. Many questioned why the album was never released/completed at the time and critics/historians believe the future of music could have been radically different if the album had been delivered in 1967 as intended. Personally, I think SMiLE is a fantastic record, although sometimes overbearing with it's psychedelia and could have used a lot of editing. It is an important piece of music history and anyone interested owes it to themselves to listen to the greatest album that never was.
tl;dr Just Say No To Drugs.