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The Beach Boys – Smile Sessions
One of the prime musical examples of that adage of there being a thin line between genius and insanity is personified by Brian Wilson and his work on the Smile project. Originally intended as a follow up to the Pet Sounds album and recorded in the late sixties, it was never released in its entirety then and instead a number of the originally recorded tracks made their way unto various Beach Boy albums released in the following decades.
The sixties were coming to a close and Wilson was locked into a battle with the Beatles for world pop supremacy, after the release of Sgt. Peppers and subsequently let his most obsessive streak take over. It was also a time for experimentation with various drugs including LSD. Sequestered away in the studio and in his home (which included a famously installed sand box in its living room) and working with new writing partners like Van Dyke Parks, Wilson produced some of the most intense music of his life. It also pushed him towards a very unstable mental place.
Whereas a lot of music this progressive comes across as somewhat cold and calculated, Smile is anything but that. Most of its amazing sounds come from otherworldly vocal arrangements and unexpected instrumental interludes and they never sound less than human. It works on a number of different levels simultaneously. It plays like a trip through America’s past musical history while still sounding like a comet streaking to the future.
The history of Smile has gone through a number of different phases, from the initial disbanding of the tracks to different albums, the rerecording and release of a version of the album back in 2004 and to the period now with what is the most complete take on the originally intended track listing. Few artists’ recorded works have been treated with less respect than Brian Wilson's and this has impacted one of his most ambitious works. Smile has almost become a work more know for its history and circumstance than the joyous musical statement it actually is. It’s up to listeners, not historians to right this wrong.
Rob Hudson
www.www.thebeachboys.com/
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