petsite
Author/Historian/ Researcher
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Post by petsite on Jan 15, 2020 1:02:19 GMT -5
Remember when this little gem started to be talked about?
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Post by filledeplage on Jan 15, 2020 9:43:46 GMT -5
Remember when this little gem started to be talked about?
From the outset just not all in one place - In April of 1967 on Inside Pop - Brian did Surf's Up for Conductor Leonard Bernstein, and other tracks on various LPs like Heroes, Wonderful, Wind Chimes, Vegetables, Cabinessence, You're Welcome, She's Goin' Bald, Woody Woodpecker's Symphony...in different tents - just not under the same roof.
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Post by zebulan on Jan 15, 2020 10:14:52 GMT -5
I once had a dream where I heard the original Child Is Father of the Man vocals. They sounded amazing. And then I woke up and couldn't remember what they sounded like. It was probably just a mix of tunes I had already heard anyway that would sound like nonsense outside of the dream, but it was still kind of annoying. Also, sorry jiggy22, but you're actually not the youngest person here. That would be me.
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petsite
Author/Historian/ Researcher
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Post by petsite on Jan 15, 2020 14:25:04 GMT -5
Remember when this little gem started to be talked about?
From the outset just not all in one place - In April of 1967 on Inside Pop - Brian did Surf's Up for Conductor Leonard Bernstein, and other tracks on various LPs like Heroes, Wonderful, Wind Chimes, Vegetables, Cabinessence, You're Welcome, She's Goin' Bald, Woody Woodpecker's Symphony...in different tents - just not under the same roof. I meant the CAPITOL cassette when it started being talked about. Someone from Landy's orbit leaked it supposedly.
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Post by filledeplage on Jan 15, 2020 14:30:55 GMT -5
From the outset just not all in one place - In April of 1967 on Inside Pop - Brian did Surf's Up for Conductor Leonard Bernstein, and other tracks on various LPs like Heroes, Wonderful, Wind Chimes, Vegetables, Cabinessence, You're Welcome, She's Goin' Bald, Woody Woodpecker's Symphony...in different tents - just not under the same roof. I meant the CAPITOL cassette when it started being talked about. Someone from Landy's orbit leaked it supposedly. It did not hit my planet...so piecemeal for me.
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Post by jiggy22 on Jan 15, 2020 14:32:13 GMT -5
I can’t imagine what it was like to buy the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey twofer back in 1990, and finally getting to hear the legendary “original” version of Heroes and Villains after all the stories and rumors, must have been pretty exciting!
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Post by Mikie on Jan 15, 2020 15:46:44 GMT -5
I can’t imagine what it was like to buy the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey twofer back in 1990, and finally getting to hear the legendary “original” version of Heroes and Villains after all the stories and rumors, must have been pretty exciting! A few years prior to its release, Dominic Priore "previewed" the previously unheard Heroes & Villains, complete with the Cantina section, at a Beach Boys convention in the Bay Area in the 80's. It brought the house down. I unabashedly brown-nosed and tried everything to get him to give me a copy of his tape, but he wouldn't budge. I never heard it again until its eventual release in 1990. I loved the alternate "Three score and five" lyrics too and played it to death at the time. Now there was a revelation and one of the times (to the best of my knowledge) where an unreleased/unheard track wasn't available to collectors previous to its formal release.
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tonyw
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Post by tonyw on Jan 15, 2020 19:02:30 GMT -5
An Aussie perspective:Smile was a legend for me dating back to the "Last Beach Movie" (I think) three part story in NME (I think). Started piecing Smile together from bits and pieces. The 6 part BBC Radio Beach Boys Story broadcast on 2 Double Jay sometime around 75/76 fueled the fire. Picked up my first Smile boot at Red Eye Records in Sydney sometime in the early 80s. Then one day in Red Eye I came across the the Vigotone 2 Disc set and the sound quality was awesome ... standing there listening to Worms on headphones I had tears in my eyes when somebody touched me on the shoulder and said "Isn't it great?". An so I met one of the greats on the Aussie Beach Boys world ... the Professor ... AKA Laurence Laverty. Later I was living in Bali when the Unsurpassed Masters sets started to emerge and I would do regular trips up to Singapore and pick up copies as they were released - the Smile and Good Vibes boxes took me down the rabbit hole. When Brian premiered Smile in London I was living in a small beach side town just south of Byron Bay that had bad internet so I spent all day in the local internet cafe (Remember those?) as reports started filtering through. The Smile box released me from the rabbit hole back into the outside world.
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petsite
Author/Historian/ Researcher
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Post by petsite on Jan 15, 2020 19:40:21 GMT -5
These stories are great. Having people of all ages means that people experienced SMILE in different ways and different times. For us O-L-D SOBs, I am going to post some tidbits that you will all no doubt remember. For the younger fans, here is how mean the Beach Boys were to us (tongue in cheek on that comment ).
Melody Maker Magazine - March 1972 By Richard Williams
You thought " Surf's Up " was a nice surprise, maybe?
Well listen, kids: If you can steer clear of the grim reaper 'til next Fall, "Smile" is coming your way.
And, yes, it's the real "Smile" - the original tapes, made in 1967 by Brian Wilson and never released because ... well, I guess you know the story about the " Fire " track, and how it caused a rash of conflagrations within the immediate vicinity of the studio.
But didn't we all think that Brian had destroyed those tapes? Sure we did. He said so, didn't he? A million times.
He must've been putting us on, though. All the tapes have now been found, pieced together, new vocals overdubbed where necessary, and the whole album will be out ere long.
The complete list of tracks is: "The Child Is Father To The Man," "Surf's Up," "Sunshine," "The Old Master Painter," " Barnyard," " Cabin Essence " (incorporating " Iron Horse "), " Mrs O'Leary's Cow", " I Love To Say Dada " (incorporating " Cool Cool Water "), and the different original versions of "Vega-tables." " Wind Chimes," and " Wonderful." Most of them seem to come under the overall sub title of " Heroes and Villains."
Carl Wilson tells a story about the day he was working on the tape of "Old Master Painter": "Somebody put the tape out with tfie garbage, by mistake. It got shredded, into a thousand pieces. I had to go out. find it. and put it back together again. It's okay now, but we've made safety copies of everything, just in case. Those old things were done on four-track tape, and they're very fragile.
Pet Sounds Magazine November 1978 David Leaf interviews Bruce explaining how the group will choose songs for the new album LA LIGHT.
DL: You had (indicated) that the album might include some “SMiLE” tracks …
BJ: I have decided that I’m going to wait until Brian would really give his permission to do it. Guercio wants to open the album with “Rock Plymouth Rock/Roll” and end with “Been Way Too Long”. I wanted to make up a collage, but I want Brian to be the one to put the collage together. I can tell he still feels funny about that stuff. You know, there a lot of “SMiLE” stuff intact …
Keepin' The Summer Alive - 20 Years Of The Beach Boys On Vinyl (Bruce Johnston Interviewed.) By Brad Elliott - Goldmine Magazine - November 1981
Bruce: You never asked me about the "Fire" tapes? They're all there. Desper and I have assembled all that stuff. It's all there.
Brad: Is it going to come out?
Bruce: It's better not to put it out.
Brad: Why?
Bruce: 'Cause if you put it out now, it's going to be a disappointment. We're going to collage the "Smile" album in this cornpilation. We're gonna just take . . . go through the "Smile" album - Brian doesn't know this - and just take little sections of the tunes we have and put it out as kind of a sampler of the "Smile" album. 'Cause it'll be better as a teaser than the whole thing. It's great, but a lot of these things aren't finished. So it's better to go and collage them and ... for instance, if I played you the whole "Fire" part, it's Interesting, but it's kind of interesting like hearing Stravinsky do something.
Brad. "Fire" was just one part of an "Elements Suite."
Bruce: Oh, true, but it goes on and on and on and on.
Brad. Does the "Elements Suite" exist, completely?
Bruce: Everything's there.
Brad: The water section was somewhat similar to "Cool, Cool Water?"
Bruce; Mm-hrnrn.
Brad: The air section ... Brian has told someone.. . it's in an interview ... that "Air" was a piano Instrumental. Is that right?
Bruce: I'd have to just go back and look at everything. I'm just telling you the tapes are sitting around. We're just going to skim the "Smile" tapes and make a beautiful six-minute collage. You'll love it. It's better to do it that way, because musically now, as opposed to '66 or '67, it would be more interesting to just give you a peek at it than to do the whole thing. There's been too much press on it. It's like talking about bringing out the '67 Rolls Royce and they finally show it in '81. You go, "Oh, no."
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Post by Mikie on Jan 15, 2020 20:37:37 GMT -5
An so I met one of the greats on the Aussie Beach Boys world ... the Professor ... AKA Laurence Laverty. Later I was living in Bali when the Unsurpassed Masters sets started to emerge and I would do regular trips up to Singapore and pick up copies as they were released - the Smile and Good Vibes boxes took me down the rabbit hole.
Tony, if you're still reading this - I use to get my Sea Of Tunes Unsurpassed Masters from a shop in Singapore too! Original silver Cd's in the original packaging (not knock-offs from the likes of Midnight Records). I'll be darned if I can remember the name of that place though. Pretty sure they're out of business by now. SMiLE 16 and 17 (the Smile box w/book) were great!). And the Vigotone set and Purple Chick releases too. Essential at the time. And speaking of Aussie greats in the Beach Boys world, in 1992 I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Steve McParland over a pitcher of Fosters. He'd just released his 'Wilson Project' book and was selling them at the Beach Boys convention in San Diego. Fun guy to talk with and obviously a huge fan!
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tonyw
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Post by tonyw on Jan 16, 2020 0:48:28 GMT -5
An so I met one of the greats on the Aussie Beach Boys world ... the Professor ... AKA Laurence Laverty. Later I was living in Bali when the Unsurpassed Masters sets started to emerge and I would do regular trips up to Singapore and pick up copies as they were released - the Smile and Good Vibes boxes took me down the rabbit hole.
Tony, if you're still reading this - I use to get my Sea Of Tunes Unsurpassed Masters from a shop in Singapore too! Original silver Cd's in the original packaging (not knock-offs from the likes of Midnight Records). I'll be darned if I can remember the name of that place though. Pretty sure they're out of business by now. SMiLE 16 and 17 (the Smile box w/book) were great!). And the Vigotone set and Purple Chick releases too. Essential at the time. And speaking of Aussie greats in the Beach Boys world, in 1992 I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Steve McParland over a pitcher of Fosters. He'd just released his 'Wilson Project' book and was selling them at the Beach Boys convention in San Diego. Fun guy to talk with and obviously a huge fan! Hi Mikie. Darned if I can remember the name of the store too. Yes they were the genuine article - all of mine are numbered. Pretty sure if I was to dig them out I'd probably find an invoice in one or two of the boxes but as I've just moved house digging them out is not a priority!! If I recall correctly the Singaporean government changed their copyright laws and it forced the closure of the store. The Professor introduced me to Stephen McParland and our paths have crossed over the years. Haven't seen him a while as I no longer live in Sydney.
Update: Couldn't help myself and tracked down my box sets and found a receipt: The Music Specialists, Leonie Towers, Leonie Hill. That's what the receipt says but I think that might be their business registration name not their trading name.
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Post by Vale on Jan 16, 2020 4:50:08 GMT -5
I also remember when I first saw the small Fire videoclip that was available in the mid 90s, that scared me a little, I remember I said “look what drugs can do...”. It tooks hours to download with my 14.400 bps modem!!!!
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Post by dauber on Jan 17, 2020 10:50:39 GMT -5
Please ignore this -- somehow I managed to reply to myself, quote myself, and post it. No idea why. I had nothing to say. Edited.
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Bill M
Grommet
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Post by Bill M on Jan 17, 2020 13:57:22 GMT -5
Please ignore this -- somehow I managed to reply to myself, quote myself, and post it. No idea why. I had nothing to say. Edited. You must be beside yourself.
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Post by calicoskies on Jan 17, 2020 16:06:41 GMT -5
Pretty sure the first unofficially released Smile stuff I heard was on a cassette purchased from English fan David Wall, who lived in Keighley, West Yorkshire. First bumped into him at a record fair at Halifax Civic Theatre … would probably have been in the early-mid 1980s but I can’t be sure. David died a few years back - only found out when I bought a signed copy of American Spring from Elliot’s Wall if Sound in Halifax, and was told it had come from the collection of a guy in Keighley who’d died recently. I bought loads of stuff from this guy. I paid a lot of money for lousy sounding audio tapes and cheap videocassettes with handwritten artwork, but man, I discovered so many treasures thanks to them.
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Post by lesgarconsdelaplage on Feb 4, 2020 19:03:45 GMT -5
For me it was Red Odeon Smile, bought from a London record shop january 2005 after the documentary Wouldn't It Be Nice was shown on BBC on that fateful Sunday evening. I had been eyeing the cd at that particular shop before xmas, but I was surprisingly iffy about the purchase before seeing the documentary, almost like "Pet Sounds: yes, the rest: no!", even though I was familiar with The Beach Boys (read:apart from Pet Sounds, compilations mainly) and had liked them. There were no if's and but's after hearing the cd. After that I started searching for anything Beach Boys/SMiLE!-related on the internet, which was frustrating as I was a student on a budget - therefore no internet connection outside university computer labs or local library, so download time was limited. Then again, this was the golden age of mp3 blogs, so the next few years were pretty exciting, there were more than a couple of mp3 blogs dedicated to the Beach Boys and SMiLE! mixes. I actually learn to edit digital audio making my own SMiLE! mixes (Music tech was what I was studying), for instance combining the piano demo of Surf's Up with the instrumental track (don't worry - you will never have to hear these). What I find funny is I was interested in SMiLE! some 12 years earlier during early 90s, when I was buying some Beatles bootlegs on tape as a teenager and I asked if the tape trader knew of any Beach Boys SMiLE!-era bootlegs for sale - mind you, I had not even heard Pet Sounds at that point. I know this is not as exciting as hearing the stuff around late 70s/early 80s, but hey, this is no contest!
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scorho
Grommet
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Post by scorho on Feb 6, 2020 18:39:28 GMT -5
I can’t imagine what it was like to buy the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey twofer back in 1990, and finally getting to hear the legendary “original” version of Heroes and Villains after all the stories and rumors, must have been pretty exciting! A few years prior to its release, Dominic Priore "previewed" the previously unheard Heroes & Villains, complete with the Cantina section, at a Beach Boys convention in the Bay Area in the 80's. It brought the house down. I unabashedly brown-nosed and tried everything to get him to give me a copy of his tape, but he wouldn't budge. I never heard it again until its eventual release in 1990. I loved the alternate "Three score and five" lyrics too and played it to death at the time. Now there was a revelation and one of the times (to the best of my knowledge) where an unreleased/unheard track wasn't available to collectors previous to its formal release. Sometime around 1990, Dominic did an interview on (I think) KFOG is San Francisco, probably with M Dung (RIP) and played Smile. That's where I first heard it. Later, thanks to the newsgroups and mailing lists I managed to get into some decent trading circles and further blew my mind.
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Post by Mikie on Feb 6, 2020 20:44:33 GMT -5
A few years prior to its release, Dominic Priore "previewed" the previously unheard Heroes & Villains, complete with the Cantina section, at a Beach Boys convention in the Bay Area in the 80's. It brought the house down. I unabashedly brown-nosed and tried everything to get him to give me a copy of his tape, but he wouldn't budge. I never heard it again until its eventual release in 1990. I loved the alternate "Three score and five" lyrics too and played it to death at the time. Now there was a revelation and one of the times (to the best of my knowledge) where an unreleased/unheard track wasn't available to collectors previous to its formal release. Sometime around 1990, Dominic did an interview on (I think) KFOG is San Francisco, probably with M Dung (RIP) and played Smile. That's where I first heard it. Later, thanks to the newsgroups and mailing lists I managed to get into some decent trading circles and further blew my mind. Ah, yes! M Dung! Along with Ben Fong-Torres, he was a BIG Beach Boys fan. I remember him well! “O-DEA?,” “YOW!” “Buh-DAY” and “A-WAY you EYE!” Gone but not forgotten. Scorho, can we get you to introduce yourself? Thanks! endlessharmony.boards.net/board/26/new-member-introductions
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petsite
Author/Historian/ Researcher
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Post by petsite on Feb 7, 2020 0:23:06 GMT -5
For me it was Red Odeon Smile, bought from a London record shop january 2005 after the documentary Wouldn't It Be Nice was shown on BBC on that fateful Sunday evening. I had been eyeing the cd at that particular shop before xmas, but I was surprisingly iffy about the purchase before seeing the documentary, almost like "Pet Sounds: yes, the rest: no!", even though I was familiar with The Beach Boys (read:apart from Pet Sounds, compilations mainly) and had liked them. There were no if's and but's after hearing the cd. After that I started searching for anything Beach Boys/SMiLE!-related on the internet, which was frustrating as I was a student on a budget - therefore no internet connection outside university computer labs or local library, so download time was limited. Then again, this was the golden age of mp3 blogs, so the next few years were pretty exciting, there were more than a couple of mp3 blogs dedicated to the Beach Boys and SMiLE! mixes. I actually learn to edit digital audio making my own SMiLE! mixes (Music tech was what I was studying), for instance combining the piano demo of Surf's Up with the instrumental track (don't worry - you will never have to hear these). What I find funny is I was interested in SMiLE! some 12 years earlier during early 90s, when I was buying some Beatles bootlegs on tape as a teenager and I asked if the tape trader knew of any Beach Boys SMiLE!-era bootlegs for sale - mind you, I had not even heard Pet Sounds at that point. I know this is not as exciting as hearing the stuff around late 70s/early 80s, but hey, this is no contest! Ah the RED ODEON SMILE. I read about that online and wondered what it was. It turned out a friend had it and played it for me. It was tracks from the SOT discs and the ORIGINAL ODEON SMILE from 1997. I wonder if the same people put both together. Actually, the RED one was the THIRD iteration of the disc. People I knew had all three and said they were all the same.
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scorho
Grommet
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Post by scorho on Feb 7, 2020 15:14:12 GMT -5
Sometime around 1990, Dominic did an interview on (I think) KFOG is San Francisco, probably with M Dung (RIP) and played Smile. That's where I first heard it. Later, thanks to the newsgroups and mailing lists I managed to get into some decent trading circles and further blew my mind. Ah, yes! M Dung! Along with Ben Fong-Torres, he was a BIG Beach Boys fan. I remember him well! “O-DEA?,” “YOW!” “Buh-DAY” and “A-WAY you EYE!” Gone but not forgotten. Scorho, can we get you to introduce yourself? Thanks! endlessharmony.boards.net/board/26/new-member-introductionsDone. Just added my introduction.
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arnoldfringe
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Favorite Album: SMiLE
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Post by arnoldfringe on May 17, 2020 6:09:13 GMT -5
Must be the early 1990’s when I first heard some SMiLE music. I’m from Manchester, UK and bought my first bootleg from a building called The Corn Exchange. It had a great little record stall on a basement level. The CD was “Alive and Smiling”. There was a concert from the late 70’s on the first few tracks and then some smile tracks. A little rewind needed here....
Like many people, my first awareness of the Smile material was from the Steven Gaines “Heroes and Villains” book. I remember the description of “Mrs O Leary’s Cow” and thinking “Wow! I bet if I ever hear that tune it’ll never be able to live up to that description”
All the music on this very bad sounding boot exceeded my expectations! I especially remember “Fire”, and “Child is Father.....” having a massive effect on me. After that came the T-2580 boot, the 2cd VigOtone set, Sea of Tunes....
Its just my favourite Music ever. That “spook” quality intrigued me too.
Btw The Corn exchange was obliterated by a bomb that destroyed parts of Manchester City centre in 1996. I believe there were no fatalities.
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arnoldfringe
Grommet
Posts: 30
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Favorite Album: SMiLE
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Post by arnoldfringe on May 17, 2020 6:13:23 GMT -5
AGD You mention Anne Wallace was from Manchester. i May have unintentionally met her. I remember a female kinda running this Beach Boy fan gathering. Did this soldering iron escaped take place in a pub in Chorlton called The Southern? i went along to a Beach Boys bash there with a mate and I recognised you but I didn’t approach. I remember you taking questions from the floor and my mate asked about the possibility of a Pacific Ocean Blue re release. Thats how long ago this was.
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Post by AGD on May 17, 2020 6:19:43 GMT -5
That would be the one !
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Post by Mikie on May 17, 2020 11:24:11 GMT -5
Wasn't it Val Johnson-Howe who hosted those Beach Boys gatherings in the UK? I'm sure Anne was there too though....
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Post by AGD on May 17, 2020 16:11:19 GMT -5
Yes, it was.
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