(Former Beach Boy Brian) Wilson to perform aborted 'Smile' album

CNN.com ^ | May 23, 2003 | CNN.com

[MikeD]

NEW YORK (Billboard) -- Thirty-seven years after aborting his most ambitious project midway through recording, former Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson plans to resurrect the long-lost "Smile" album in U.K. concerts next year.

Wilson has set four dates at London's Royal Festival Hall for February 2004 as well as five additional shows throughout the U.K. the following month.

"Smile" was intended to be the follow-up to the Beach Boys' best-known album, 1966's "Pet Sounds" (Capitol). Later that year, the symphonic hit single "Good Vibrations" gave listeners an idea of the direction Wilson was planning to take the music. The artist had extensive plans for the album, and was working with lyricist Van Dyke Parks on a number of tracks.

[MikeD]

This announcement is the biggest music news of the year. No, it's the biggest music news of the CENTURY! Brian Wilson isn't just discussing SMiLE, he isn't just releasing the old tapes, he's TOURING it!

I only hope he comes Stateside with it -- these shows are only in the UK.

Go to http://www.brianwilson.com for more info.

MD

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I hope he doesn't forget to take his meds.

[JennysCool]

WOW! As a big Brian Wilson fan, I'm convinced no one has done as much cool stuff late in his career as Brian has. "Live at the Roxy" is never far from my CD player! This is great news, thanks for posting.

[LS]

I liked the BBs and Wilson, but the little RECENT stuff of his I've heard is simplistic and lame. It just doesn't have the old verve without the other BBs.

So I hardly see this as good news. It is like trying to write a sequel to Gone With the Wind.

[battlegearboat]

Well East coast girls are cool, I really dig those clothes they wear...

[MikeD]

Have you heard anything he's done with his new band? He has yet to release a studio album (that's in the works), but he's done a few live albums and some internet-only tracks. He's finally got "his" sound back. I saw the Pet Sounds tour a few years back and was stunned. Then again, anytime you get to hear the triplet cellos in "Good Vibrations" behind a Brian Wilson vocal it's a chilling moment...

MD

[Scenic Sounds]

This guy was so gifted.

I'd like to think he still is, but . . .

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Yikes! I sure hope he takes the tour to the US afterwards. Get the new "Brian Wilson On Tour" DVD - absolutely magnificent!

Now if Brian would just unearth some more long-buried gems for the live show, such as "Passing By", "This Whole World" and "Until I Die", all would be right with the world...

When do we get that Honeys reunion???

[TopDog2]

I saw Brian live in Chicago during his Pet Sounds tour. AWESOME!

BTW, you can get the live versions of This Whole World and Until I Die on his live album that is available at Brian's website.

[RightWhale]

Some say he is a musical genius. Could be. The first time Good Vibrations came over the radio we were stuck in an endless traffic jam in 100 degrees way out on Long Island. Suddenly the traffic didn't matter.

[Jhensy]

I'm into it, but I've always been torn on the whole Smile thing. In the pre-digital era, the Smile tracks were a Holy Grail for bootleggers and obscurists like myself.

Well, we knew "Surf's Up" and "Cabinessence" from other LPs, as well as the Smiley Smile stuff. And of course the "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villians" singles.

But finally getting all the unfinished pieces together was a tad underwhelming to me. The experimental parts weren't all that clever, and Brian's weirdness is sort of lame and sad, rather than offbeat and brilliant.

The genius stuff is in the long, unreleased instrumental segments of "Good Vibrations" and to a lesser extent, "Heroes and Villians". Incredible orchestral variations, alternate treatments, weird left turns, you name it. Their box set had a good chunk of this.

"Surf's Up" was always overrated to me, although I do love "Cabinessence" and "Do You Like Worms". But "Vegetables", "Fire", "Wind Chimes", "Cool Cool Water"... meh.

And as usual for the Beach Boys, Smile had an incredibly crappy and uncool cover design to boot.

[MikeD]

The last two songs you mention were part of his 2000 shows. They're featured on the "Live at the Roxy" CD set. "'Til I Die" features a cool snippet from "Brian Wilson" (by the Barenaked Ladies) as an intro. Just in case we were worried about Brian losing his sense of humor...

MD

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll have to snag a copy ASAP.

[MikeD]

I think the word "unfinished" is the key. If you listen to the instrumental sections on the Pet Sounds box, it's cool but a little underwhelming. Only after the group vocals are added does it really come alive. I look at SMiLE the same way. The finished stuff ("Good Vibrations," "Heroes and Villains," "Wonderful") is phenomenal. The not-so-finished stuff, like "Do You Like Worms," isn't as impressive.

The fact that his new band has improved upon the released version of "Heroes and Villains" gives me hope for the rest of the tracks. If he plays anywhere in the States, I'll be there...

MD

[MikeD]

Snag away -- I've got my copy at my desk right now (it will be played after Rush is finished). It's not that expensive ($20 or so) for two discs of great material.

The best words in the booklet: Produced by Brian Wilson.

MD

[Inspectorette]

Is he gonna be able to get time off from his gig as a reporter for Fox News ;-)

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

The best words in the booklet: Produced by Brian Wilson.

You should check out a new import CD, Pet Projects: The Productions of Brian Wilson, compiling his non-Beach Boys productions. Most of it is jaw-dropping, especially the Honeys and American Spring. The Glen Campbell cut "Guess I'm Dumb" is a classic too. (Available at collectorschoicemusic.com.)

[B-Chan]

Unless I'm mistaken, the cover for Smile as originally realesed was drawn by Brian Wilson himself.

The Beach Boys were much more than just surfing and cars; in the years just before drugs and personal problems scrambled his eggs, Brian Wilson and his brothers and cousin composed and performed some of the most audacious and innovative popular music made in America. I used to hate the Boys' post-Freakout stuff, but since I bought the box set five years ago I'm fascinated by it, especially those pieces that integrate jazz, Americana, gospel, and black soul sounds with the Beach Boys' classic American five-part harmony idiom. (The Beach Boys were quite possibly the best a cappella singers of the 20th Century.)

Brian Wilson is a genius, he just never should have tried drugs. Now that he's clean, he may be able to complete the many projects his formerly drug-addled mind could not integrate way back when, and give us the "teenage symphony to God" that Smile should have been.

"I can hear music / sweet, sweet music..."

[Jhensy]

Yeah, who am I kidding, I love this stuff. I'm just being an over-critical bastid. I'll be there front row if it comes over to our shores.

[MikeD]

I've heard of that CD, but I haven't bought it. I'll have to go shopping.

A lot of people don't know that Glen Campbell was Brian's first replacement in the touring Beach Boys.

MD