The
Beach Boys –
Smile
Sessions
2
x vinyl LP 180 Gram, 2011
Capital
Records
For
an album that caused so much anxiety, madness, and a world being torn
apart, is ironically so happy sounding. I would even call it
happy-go-lucky. But the truth is it is anything but happy – at
least life outside this vinyl or music. But when I put the needle on
the record I am transformed into a weird landscape that is for sure
America, but America that is transformed into a combination of Walt
Disney, psychedelia, and the brash corny humor of “Hee Haw.”
This
vinyl set as well as the Smile
box
set is the official release of this remarkable album. First of all
it is hard to grasp all of this after so many years of hearing the
bootlegs of these recordings. I have heard so many different
versions of this work, that it is sort of like Kenneth Anger, who
have consistently tinkered with his films over the years. But what's
amazing is that the different mixes, the out-takes, and even the
banter while recording the album is equally fascinating. The only
people I know who likes Smile
are
people who have all the bootlegs or just huge fans of Brian Wilson
and the boys.
Nevertheless
the new (and final?) version is sort of a musical theater placed in
one's head. Way more abstract than Pet
Sounds which
is basically straight forward pop songs, Smile
deals
with the enjoyment and love of everyday objects and things. “Wind
Chimes,” “Vega-Tables,” and even “Good Vibrations” deal
with pleasure either through objects, food or spirituality. The
lyricist Van Dyke Parks really gets into Brian's head. I know on
paper and probably work wise, Parks was a big part of the foundation
for these series of songs. But still, I feel it expresses the
inner-world of Wilson, a man-child tasting the vegetable for the
first time and listening to the wind chimes – and putting on a
focus on that act of appreciation. Its really unique in that sense.
Also
there is this tension between being healthy and sort of losing it.
Almost a hyper attention to getting it together, but of course the
sanity of it all is in question. Smile
to
me is not a downer, but it does expose the dark tinge of
disappointment or UN-fulfillment of dreams. But every dark cloud
still has that hope attached to it, and Smile
is very much a positive outlook on life and how one leads that life.
Smile
is
very much a set-piece and it has its own narrative, so it's important
to hear it from beginning to end. The ambition and scope of this
album is pretty grand, and I miss the days when artists went all out
to achieve that type of work.
