Why The Beach Boys' "Smile" Would have been one of Western Music's Crowning Achievements
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- Smile is one of the all-time greatest albums. It also doesn't exist.
Videos mentioned:
Hawai'i Documentary: • Why Can’t Hawaiians Af...
Polyphonic: • Good Vibrations: The B...
David Bennett: • Analysing The Beach Bo...
8-Bit cover of Strawberry Fields Forever: • The Beatles - Strawber...
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Do You Like Worms is a perfect title when you think about it. What lives under rocks? Worms
I'm pinning this comment because you just singlehandedly fixed my problem with that title. Well done
+ the original joke of "Do You Dig Worms?", I'm not sure why the changed that, possibly one of Brian's funny moments
@@DaisyReyReviews Plymouth Rock.
The song is about the colonization and death of the inidians, that’s why it starts at the first settlements in Plymouth and ends in Hawaii (keni wakka pula) and the Indians are now worm food. Damn bycicle riders! Aka Europeans. We’re all wormfood soon….who raaaaan the iron horse!
@@NoNameNo.5 I'm aware
The only way Smile could've been better is if Brian had written Ding Dang a decade earlier
Or if Mike Love had written Student Demonstration time!! Imagine the Trombone in Gee leading into tHeReS a rIoT gOiN oNnNnN
@@DaisyReyReviews better than leading into wElL iTs A lOvE tHiNg
WOO
DING AND A DING DONG
@@clayh254 maybe I can take you on a... LoVe VaCaTiOn
Fellas, how about I Want To Pick You Up?
Even in its unfinished state smile is a masterpiece
I wonder what Is unfinished about it. I dont hear it. If u know, tell me please
@@robertsteinberger5667 a lot of the songs weren't released until latter
I prefer the “unfinished” version. It has a mysterious ambiguous quality to it that I like.
Some corrections and clarifications: Tony Asher looks too much like Bruce Johnston; Pet Sounds does not tell the story of Brian's depression and schizophrenia. It tells a story of the emotional journey from adolescence to young adulthood, and is not an intensely depressing album; Smiley Smile wasn't a complete failure, since it featured two hit singles. True, it did poorly in the US, but went Top 10 in the UK. The SMiLE breakdown, however, was very cool.
You mean the SMiLE breakdown in this video, right? Not the one in 1967?
Also, the Beach Boys DO play a few instrumental parts on Pet Sounds, lending more than just their voices as stated in the video
Plus, right out of the gate - they started in 1961, not 62. They were not created by Murray Wilson. He was their first manager.
@@garrethboland
Carl, Dennis and Brian all played instruments on the album
I believe Dennis played drums on that’s not me which is a fantastic song
Wait a minute. SMiLE was NOT a reaction to Sgt Pepper. Brian was working on it in 1966 way before Sgt Pepper was recorded.
Vege-tables is not a parody. Brian was interested in health food and exercise, something that was and still is an obsession with southern Californians. But because of his state of mind he couldn't approach the practice of these habits in a rational way. From wiki: ==The song was partly inspired by Wilson's obsession with physical fitness in the late 1960s. In a contemporary article, he stated, "I want to turn people on to vegetables, good natural food, organic food. Health is an important element in spiritual enlightenment. But I do not want to be pompous about it, so we will engage in a satirical approach."===
Pet Sounds inspired Brian to write after listening to Rubber Soul but Smile was just Brian and Van Dyke Parks progression ,don't think it was exactly a Beatles response in that sense. Of course Brian would be aware of the Beatles moving to reply to Pet Sounds
@@johnwhat5398 The relationship between Pet Sounds and Rubber Soul, Revolver and SGT was positive, the groups fed each other. But with Smile, Brian wanted to introduce an American proposal to counter British innovation. Together with Park, they wanted to give an innovative and different momentum.
Shoulda known it was jive when he called "Ding Dang" bullshit.
I always appreciate a good Beach Boys video essay but I have to point out a few major errors:
1. Murray Wilson did not found the Beach Boys. Yes, he managed the band but the Boys founded themselves.
2. Some of the Beach Boys did play their instruments on Pet Sounds. For example, Carl Wilson plays one of the 12-strings in Wouldn't It Be Nice? and Dennis Wilson plays drums on That's Not Me.
3. When you were talking about Tony Asher, Brian's lyricist on many of the Pet Sounds songs, you showed a picture as if it was a picture of Asher, but it's not. The picture was of Bruce Johnston, who joined the band to replace Brian in live shows after Brian quit touring.
Yes. Correctly revised.
Pet Sounds is not depressing. Gheesh.
Brian started Smile in 1966, many months before Sgt Pepper.
As far as it being depressing that's an opinion
It’s definitely not a depressing album. Idk who gets that idea
It’s an album that transcends a single emotion really.
It’s the first emo album 👍
To clean up some of your points on commentary:
1) Murry did not 'found' The Beach Boys. He and his wife Audree went to Mexico for a weekend and the boys rented instruments and began fooling around with making music. Murry DID take them to meet their first label (Candix) and was their manager until he tried to tell Brian how to record the group.
2) Pet Sounds failed because the label (Capitol) didn't get it as a Beach Boys album. They released the first greatest hits compilation a few weeks after Pet Sounds' release, cutting into PS sales.
3) The Beatles wrote Sgt. Pepper in response to Pet Sounds. Pet Sounds blew their minds when they heard it.
4) Brian got freaked out by a series of fires which occurred in the neighborhood where Smile was being recorded while he was recording "Fire" for "The Elemental Suite" on Smile. He thought the music had karmically caused the fires
5) When you mention Tony Asher, you show a picture of Bruce Johnston.
As a life-long Beach Boys fan, I'd like to thank you for making this video. It warms my heart when a younger person appreciates Beach Boys music. Cheers!
+Brian didn't have schizophrenia, he had a similar but not the same condition
You missed that he says "I wanna put together the pieces when someone breaks your heart" and then Workshop is tool sounds healing someone's heart
Love this video bro, pet sounds is a masterpiece but damn smile is something else
SMiLE is just on its own level above Pet Sounds, it’s something just so incredible.
The "are you sleeping?" line in Surf's Up is borrowed from the old French song Frere Jacques. If you listen to the very next line Brian sings "brother John" which is the translation of Frere Jacques. I always thought that was such a random, yet beautiful addition to the song.
Always remember, Beach Boys Today! came BEFORE Rubber Soul
Also something to mention...Brian made sure to add to the album the four Classical Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
Vega-Tables = Earth
Holidays and Wind Chimes = Air
Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow = Fire
In Blue Hawaii = Water
That photo of "Tony Asher" was actually Beach Boy Bruce Johnston.
Do You Like Worms? - BDW/VDP
Waving from the ocean liner
Leaving cheering Indians behind them
Rock, Rock Roll
Plymouth Rock, Roll Over
Rock, Rock Roll
Plymouth Rock, Roll Over
Ribbon of Concrete, just see what you've done-done to the Church of American Indian!
Once upon the Sandwich Isles
The social structure steamed upon Hawai'i
Rock, Rock Roll
Plymouth Rock, Roll Over
Rock , Rock Roll
Plymouth Rock, Roll Over
Bicycle Rider, just see what you've done-done to the Church of the American Indian!
Muhalolule Muhalolula, Keeni Waka Pula
Muhalolule Muhalolula Keeni Waka Pula
Rock, Rock Roll
Plymouth Rock, Roll Over
Tremendous production quality for a brand new channel
Besides the Tony Asher/Johnston gaffe..I would also add that I'm not sure you could classify Murry as the "founder "...manager yes. Otherwise thanks for shining a light on their more artistic years. Holland and Sunflower are fantastic
It's interesting how you included videogame OST on your video; specifically from Undertale, a videogame inspired by Mother saga.
The Mother main composers had said that they were pretty inspired with Brian Wilson' self titled album from 1988 when making the game's music.
It was so fucking awesome to know my favorite game saga and one of my favorite artists of all time combines with each other.
Yeah! Earthbound/Mother 2 actually samples a Beach Boys song as well. Deirdre's intro is sampled in Caves of the Past which I find cool.
Why doesn’t this have any views?? It’s awesome
3:00 Somber? Intensely depressing? Yeah. Ok.
Wow this video was awesome! Great humor throughout. I came off the Beach Boys subreddit. It looks like this channel isn't specifically Beach Boys album reviews, but if you made a video about Wild Honey I'd definitely watch it. Well done, keep it up brother!
Sister actually lol, but thank you I appreciate it!!
Wild Honey is my favorite Beach ⛱️ Boys Album !! (Although all of their albums are my favorite !!) When I was 17 in 68' my first boyfriend had "Wild Honey on a tape player in his 69' Chevelle Super Sport and we fell in love with their music all over again and then we fell in ❤️ love. I grew up with the Beach Boys and have all of their albums still. I'll be passing them down to my granddaughter so she says !!
So my love for Jim will always be one of the best parts of my life (tho we went our separate ways) we still have the Beach Boys in our memories and the love we shared ❤️
@@patticooke9300 Jim was your boyfriend, or husband? You'd both listen to the BB's, so it's important to you still?
Dude. You’re killing me with the Zelda music. I just spent 2023 playing every main Zelda game and I’m taking a break from gaming now, but these tunes are seriously tempting me to go back.
I saw Brian perform Smile in 2004 in Carnegie Hall and the whole thing flowed like a fully realized work. It was an overwhelming experience and I don’t think it’s a stretch to consider it a great Americana symphony.
I don't blame Brian at all for not getting it "finished" until he did BWPS. An enormous task that would've required everyone's full support and co-operation. Maybe if Brian had delegated the production to smaller production teams, it would've made sense.
I'm sure that the way Brian originally envisioned the project would've been extraordinary, but with this new way of production he should've taken longer to master the process but due to him not being well, it was at the wrong place at the wrong time. This is why I really am good with Smiley Smile, but am really glad the SMiLE sessions got published.
The more I think about it the more I feel that Barnyard should be moved to just before windchimes. Why? because then the elemental suite is partially realised - Barnyard is earth, Windchimes is air, etc etc.
Great video! I ended up learning things I didn't know about Smile which is crazy seeing as I'm almost finished writing a dissertation on it. It's nice hearing other younger people who are this into The Beach Boys because I feel I almost have to explain myself when I tell people that they're my favourite band. Hopefully this will help a few people stumble upon their incredible music :)
At 6:22 that’s Bruce not tony lmao
You have GOT to be kidding me. Google lied to me
Came here to write this 😂 Great video though!
It's curious, I don't think of Smile as unfinished anymore. I guess the argument is there isn't a finished polished version the Beach Boys completed, but I don't believe a 67 completed Smile would surpass the 04 version. Not in production at least. The only thing we're really missing is Mike, Carl, and early 20s version Brian on lead. If there's one regret about the 04 production, it's that Carl wasn't around to participate in it. I have to imagine he would have in some capacity and that sucks.
Excellent video. Found in my current obsession with the Beach Boys. Earned you a Subscribe!
great tony asher pic
Great work of ideas, vocals and melody! Absolutely beautiful.
I always thought of the meaning of the title 'do you like worms' to mean opening a 'can of worms' by actually discussing the colonization of the indigenous peoples of America. Also, a lot of earthworm species were brought over during the Columbian exchange, which most definitely wasn't the intent of the song, but makes the title work even more.
For some reason every time Tony Asher is pronounced, a picture of Bruce Johnston appears.
A Beach Boys Fan named Daisy, I can relate.
Incredible job with this video!
Pet Sounds is intensely depressing album? I would say it had some somber songs but not intensely depressing.
Vega-Tables is without a doubt the darkest song on the album, I believe it’s “secretly” about the abusive nature of the Wilson brother’s father Murry. Even the title is a condescending pun, you can almost imagine Murry screaming “it’s Vega-tables Brian, not vegetables!” It could also be viewed as a parody of the child-centric“eat your vegetables” music Murry Wilson wanted and pressured The Beach Boys and his other acts to make. Listen again with this abusive take in mind, I think everyone glosses over this harsher reality but I’m convinced that’s what’s going on with that track. It’s about earning the love of an abuser... disturbing and quite beautiful simultaneously. I think it’s easily up there with Good Vibrations, Surfs Up & Heroes and Villains
i think it’s called do you like worms because when you roll a rock, you find worms. i don’t remember where i read that.
Ooooh yes I get it now!
The photo of tony asher is Bruce Johnston, lots of things wrong in this video but it’s alright
Good Vibrations is one of those songs that is 100%, no doubt, the greatest song of all time. Just like Bohemian Rhapsody or Stairway to Heaven, it's one of those songs that can't be beat. To the point that it's completely unfair to say that it's less than any other song. It's peak, and any song you put above it will definitely come down to taste or feeling on that day.
The famous conductor Leonard Bernstein in 1966 said that Smile was the first piece of American pop music that that equaled classical music.. Smile was the first rock opera too bad most people had to wait 40 years to hear it. And Leonard Bernstein had only heard one song from the project Surf's up.
great vid, on this topic. you got fair bit of details wrong, but it doesnt really detract that much from the viewing experience
I've realized that since uploading it, but since it is my first video in this style I'm not too hard on myself over it. I'm just glad people enjoy it!
@@DaisyReyReviews good for you! Gotta just let creations ‘Go’ sometimes (most times)
I know the smile sessions (which i orefer to BWPS) isnt smile but i like it and there are definitely the makings of a masterpiece there
As much as I love this album. I really don't think it would have been as groundbreaking and successful as many people imagined it to be. It wouldn't have been more popular than Sgt Pepper, and it wouldn't have outsold it either. A lot of this albums allure comes from the fact that it was never released. Heroes and Villians, arguably the grandest and most complex of all the SMiLE tracks, didn't even make the top 10 of the billboards' top 100 charts when it was released. The rest of the album wouldn't have performed any different in the charts in my eyes. Good vibrations was a huge number hit, but it was released as a single.
Only a minute and thirteen seconds into the video and I’ve laughed uncontrollably like five times😭
You better check your dates, pal. When SPLHCB, Smile was very close to completion. More, SPLHCB was one of many nails in the SMiLE coffin.
God imagine if this came out and 67 the way it was originally supposed to. I don’t think Sgt peppers would’ve stood a chance. The Beatles later catalog would change wildly in attempt to match the album. Unfortunately the original track listing for the 67 version is unknown and is most likely lost after the album caved in on itself.
Yeah man love the video! Very cool, but every time you mention Tony Asher it straight-up displays a pic of Bruce Johnston
It's such a shame it wasn't finished in 1967. It was SO CLOSE. Definitely the biggest and saddest what if? in all of rock.
what a great review and your insights in to the fabtastic music contained within SMiLE...thank you
Every once in a while I check to see if new stuff comes up when searching "Brian Wilson video essay". Glad to find this lolol. 😎
I'm a minute 27 seconds in and this shit's already so great. I love it
Edit: This video is long enough and I am assuming filled with so many amazing and well-informed Beach Boys memes that if I truly "reacted" this would be an insufferably long comment. I will keep myself from continually editing this comment like an idiot as I keep watching but LMFAO at fucking showing a picture of Bruce at 2:41? 😭😭
I grew up listening to Smiley Smile relentlessly. It's a great album.
Brian didnt have schizophrenia - certainly not at the time of Pet Sounds I believe he is schizoaffective which is different
Great vid! Though I can’t get over the mental whiplash of the undertale ost in the background of a beach boys video essay lol
Dude, Hawaii comments EPIC ❤
somewhere in the '90's i learned of smile from a beach boys biography. i became intrigued. i then listened to the bits on the beachboy box set. i became even more intrigued. various bootlegs later, i wondered if it would ever be finished. then came 2004. i bought it, of course i did, but i was afraid. will it live up to the hype i was giving it? well, not only was it as good as i had hoped, i listened to it EVERY DAY for at least 2 months. my only regret is brian's '60's voice fits better than his 2004 voice.
also-that picture of tony asher is NOT tony asher. i did enjoy the video, though. thanks. (i wish i noticed the video sooner.)
This is super underrated
The Beatles released "Revolver" in August 1966, just as Brian Wilson was starting studio work on Smile. That is the album he would have been reacting to, not Sgt. Pepper. By the time that came out, in May 1967, Smile had essentially been abandoned.
this is a pretty well done video from such a small channel
i loveeee beach boys
okay cmon you could've mentioned any song from beach boys loves but ding dang, its a good song
2:36 What movie is this from?
With Smiley Smile having SMiLE's best tracks, and flopping on release, I don't think SMiLE would have been much of a heavy hitter compared to everything else being released at the time. I love The Beach Boys to death but I just don't think SMiLE would've caught on.
The Elements suite is vegatables (Earth), Wind Chimes (Wind), I love to say dada (Water), and Mrs OLearys Cow (Fire). It was mostly finished.
no, air was supposed to be an instrumental piano piece, those are not the counterparts
Excellent work, Daisy! It was fun to hear your personal thoughts on each song and how they compared to the BWPS versions. Definitely looking forward to seeing where this channel goes! :)
this is an amazing video oh my god its so good
2:45 that’s a picture of Bruce Johnston not Tony Asher lol
Thank you for this amazing video!!! I love the beach boys but somehow have only listened to the sessions version and not Brian Wilson’s?? I need to fix this immediately.
Surf’s Up will always be my personal favourite, the ending brings me to tears, but this whole album is so exciting and complex.
No wonder the Elephant 6 collective revere it so much!
Ive listened to barnyard hundreds of times...
I think the 3 movement structure is unnecessary, and doesn't map to a 2 sided album very well. The western/Americana/farm aesthetic works well for side one, adding "Vega-Tables" and "Holiday", as well as adding "I'm in Great Shape/I Wanna Be Around/Workshop" on to "Barnyard". The rest of the songs fit together very well. I use mostly use the SLN mix, so that version of "The Elements" is in my version. And my other issue with the running order from BWPS (and its re-use for The Smile Sessions) is that the album has to end on "Surf's Up".
Loved the early Beach Boys as a kid and The late 60's and early 70's stuff later and always loved Smiley Smile and Wild Honey et all... and I read about Smile in legend and I just saw The Sessions album on Amazon music!! OMG!! .. and ONLY just realised The Sessions were out! I have been playing it on REPEAT since I just discovered it and I have been working through 1001 albums to hear before you die prioer to this .... and have done well over 50% and I just ran into Smile Sessions and it has blown my mind .and nothing has hit me harder that this album .. I have it on repeat and have not done this with al album since Iw as a kid and first heard Revolver and Sgt Pepper by The Beatles and this video has just added even more to it for and taken it to an even higher level! What a totally amazing album...... the psychedelic magic of childhood with Bach filtered through a post-Stratocaster world in the recording age ... it is a timeless work of beauty and genius! It is rare I get a new album that just goes straight onto my top 20 along wth Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd and Hunky Dory by Bowie and other classics but it is RIGHT UP THERE!!!! Thank you for the film!!! Really added even more to my serious adoration and enjoyment of this awesome album!
If Smile would have come out as scheduled it would have changed history, it's possible it would have even kept the Beatles together for a while longer.
The group was formed in 1961, not 1962. And they were formed by the band members, not by Murry Wilson.
I feel like in a weird way, Surf Up's would predict how 1967 would play out. Just as the Summer of Love came the rage of Black America and White Supremacy violently clashed all over the country. The Good Vibrations were lost after that and many American youth got left broken heartened, and that was only the beginning, 67 to 74 was a long bloody time.
I can’t handle these beach boys memes
“Ding dang” is just a short version of Shortnin Bread. How is that crap?
*has lava reef zone act 1 music talking about miss olearys cow*
UH BASED DEPARTMENT
2:40 Not Tony Asher.
That's Beach Boy Bruce Johnson.
Wonderful is Brian singing
Starts at 9:41
Nice Mario sunshine music
Your timeline is bad Smile was actually recorded before Sergeant Pepper's Paul McCartney actually plays on the song vegetables and has said Smile inspired Sergeant Pepper not pet sounds. McCartney said he had heard many of the unreleased Smile tracks in late 1966.
Surf's Up was written by B. Wilson-- Van Dyke Parks; did you read somewhere that Brian wrote the lyrics?
We listen to the Beach Boys' Christmas Album every year still ❤
You keep saying Tony Asher with a picture of Bruce Johnston...😆😆
Ya....shoulda woulda coulda. This could have really changed things for The Beach Boys. But instead...they collapsed underneath the weight of The Beatles greatness. Not just them....everyone else as well
who ran the iron horse!?
0:00 Is there a video of this clip by itself?
www.reddit.com/r/beachboyscirclejerk/comments/sowiay/making_a_video_essay_on_smile_right_now_to_launch/?
@@DaisyReyReviews Thank you
GOD BLESS BRIAN WILSON
great video
Not only do you get facts wrong, to simply gloss over pet sounds as a deeply depressing critical success and commercial failure is so disingenuous.
We’ll too bad. Just found this video and was excited to get a new perspective on Smile but the label you put on Mike around the 1:15 mark put me off.
People are much too hard on Mike Love. I read his book and honestly a much better read than Brian's.
LOVE the memes!
6:23 looks like Bruce Johnston to me…
Video about Pet Sounds??? Pwease... :)
Nit pick: you mention Tony Asher, but show a picture of Bruce Johnston.
epic
Why does mike get so much hate?
There's literally chapters in books starting back around 55 years ago that detail why he is considered such an AH. You want the Reader's Digest version? Just go look up ML's acceptance speech at the RRHoF. It's your night. It's a night to have all of your peers celebrate your crowning achievements, and you make it a point to be the biggest f'ing AH in not only Rock history, but recorded history in general.
great video, but you are WRONG about workshop and smile is PERFECT, not FLAWED