The Beach Boys

Brian is one of the Rock n' Roll acid casualties of the 60's, some others having died fairly recently---Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd and Skip Spence of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape. The effect LSD had on Brian can not be overstated; I would in fact say Smile was a result of it. Smile is more than a little strange, it is at times quite seriously frightening. I can completely understand why Mike Love couldn't understand it---it is like nothing the world had ever heard. I consider it a serious musical composition, more musically "valid" than many 20th Century Classical compositions. The audience at the premiere of The Rite of Spring was shocked and outraged? Smile is imo equally revolutionary and artistically ambitious.

Listen to "Heroes and Villains". The oddest (and thrilling) chords, harmonies, counter-point, and arrangement you have ever heard. Lyrics by Van Dyke Parks, fully Brian's equal and first true collaborator (listen to Van's album Song Cycle for another great discovery). "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)". The title alone gives you a hint. An instrumental, it will make the hairs on the back of your hands stand up. The music sounds to me written to give the listener a primal experience, to heighten one's awareness of the physical universe in which he finds himself; it does that all right. Remind you of LSD, hmm?

Smile was to have contained the "Elements Suite", the "Fire" portion of which was Brian's music, as performed by a studio filled to the brim with instruments including many strings, simulating a, yes, fire. To aid in it's recording, Brian outfitted all the studio musician's with children's plastic fireman's hats, and started a little fire in a trash container on the studio floor, just to add atmosphere. One night after a day in which a "Fire" session had taken place, a fire broke out in Los Angeles; Brian thought his music had started it, and cancelled the songs completion. The paranoia had started.

The album after Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, contains "Here Comes The Night". I don't know if the lyrics reflect the dark clouds closing in on Brian, but the music is very disturbing.

Yes, the recorded quality of both Smile/Smiley Smile and Wild Honey are very lo-fi, seriously lacking bass and treble, as well as overall clarity, inner detail, transparency, etc. Audiophile they are not! By the way, all the Beach Boys albums through Wild Honey were mixed to mono by Brian (almost deaf in one ear), the only early Beach Boys album offered in true stereo being Surfer Girl, for some reason. Capitol released the albums in both mono and Duophonic, their electronically reprocessed stereo. Avoid Capitol Duophonic LP's!