This article is about the 2011 compilation. For the original album, see Smile (The Beach Boys album).

The Smile Sessions is a compilation album and box set recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on October 31, 2011, by Capitol Records. The set is the follow-up to The Pet Sounds Sessions (1997), this time focusing on the abandoned recordings from the band's unfinished 1966–1967 album Smile. It features comprehensive session highlights and outtakes, with the first 19 tracks comprising a hypothetical version of the completed Smile album.

The compilation is the first and only package devoted to the 1960s Smile recordings originally produced by Brian Wilson, arriving after decades of public anticipation and numerous false starts. The project was led primarily by audio engineers Alan Boyd, Mark Linett, and Capitol A&R director Dennis Wolfe, with Wilson acting as a remote supervisor, assisting the engineers with some mixing decisions. Previously, Wilson had completed a solo album based on Smile in 2004, which Boyd, Linett, and Wolfe used as a blueprint for The Smile Sessions. Wilson later stated that, while the compilation is "not a far cry" from his original vision, he prefers his 2004 version.

The Smile Sessions received virtually unanimous critical acclaim upon release.[1] It was ranked number 381 in Rolling Stone's 2012 list of the greatest albums of all time[2] and won the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards.[3] A spiritual successor, 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow, followed in 2017.

Background

Plans for a Smile archival release go back to at least early 1980s, when it was proposed that the album be issued in some form.[4] In his 1978 biography The Beach Boys and the California Myth, David Leaf wrote that Smile "can never be completed as Brian intended, so a compromise solution might be to release the surviving tapes and outtakes in a series of records called The Smile Sessions [like] Elvis' Sun Sessions ..."[5] In 1993, the box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys included the debut of several unreleased Smile recordings. In 1997, Capitol Records issued The Pet Sounds Sessions, which featured an assortment of alternate mixes and highlights of the Pet Sounds recording sessions spread over four CDs. The releases provoked speculation that an official Smile release was imminent.[6]

In 2004, Wilson released a reimagined version of the album, Brian Wilson Presents Smile. A comprehensive and official package dedicated to the original Beach Boys' recordings had not been compiled partly due to the logistics in organizing the dozens of convoluted song components. Band producer/archivist Mark Linett stated, "All we had were a bunch of bits and pieces—a few songs that were more or less completed later. And without some kind of a sequence from the artist, it would have just sort of been a jumble of sessions. And I think frankly until Brian felt comfortable with after all that time, he was able to finish what he started, there really wasn’t anything to seriously talk about."[7]

In mid-2010, before the project was officially greenlit, Linett and the other compilers began assembling what would become The Smile Sessions.[4] It was originally planned as a three-CD set, but ultimately grew to five CDs, with two of those devoted solely to the sessions for "Heroes and Villains" and "Good Vibrations", respectively.[7]

Smile reconstruction

This isn’t a project where an album was completed and just shelved for one reason or another and we’re bringing it back after all this time. It was largely unfinished and unsequenced. And it certainly wouldn't have been what it became in 2004.

—Compiler Mark Linett[7]

The first nineteen tracks of The Smile Sessions constitute a hypothetical version of a completed Smile album that loosely follows the template established by Wilson's 2004 version. Wilson himself made a few suggestions to the compilation's sequencing after it was presented to him by the compilers Mark Linett, Alan Boyd and Dennis Wolfe.[7] Linett said that the track listing would "present the whole piece as close to it as was envisioned, or as is envisioned, as possible ... with input from Brian as from everybody else".[4]

According to Darian Sahanaja, "there was a discussion about whether to follow the 2004 sequence or completely present something new. In the end, of course, it all has to be approved by the Beach Boys themselves, and Brian lobbied hard for The Smile Sessions to follow the template of Brian Wilson Presents Smile."[8] Asked if there had been anything newly unearthed from the sessions that would have influenced the 2004 assembly, Sahanaja responded, "No. Nothing major. Perhaps a few variations here and there, but nothing that would have altered the making of Brian Wilson Presents Smile."[8]

The reconstruction runs at over 48 minutes, which would have been too much content to fit on a two-sided vinyl LP in 1967. Referencing this, Linett argued that The Smile Sessions may be more accurate to Wilson's vision than if he had completed the album in 1967, surmising that Wilson "would have been happier if he had had a bigger canvas to present [Smile]."[9] Asked if Linett and Boyd had arrived at what he had envisioned during the 1960s, Wilson responded: "Somewhat, yeah. To some degree. It's not a far cry from what I thought it would be."[9] He added that he preferred his 2004 version.[10]

Technical details

The reconstruction is presented in monaural due to missing stems and as a nod to Wilson's producing methods at the time. Digital manipulation was used. For instance, on "Surf's Up", the instrumental track was mashed up and synced with the vocal stem from an alternate performance of the song.[4]

Not all of the tracks feature material that was originally recorded for the Smile album. In reference to including sessions from Smiley Smile, Linett stated, "Of course there's things that some people think—should Smiley Smile sessions be there—[with tracks such as] 'Can't Wait Too Long', we get into a very fuzzy area."[7] A list of notes on the reconstructed album assembly were given in the booklet:

  • Brian Wilson's lead vocals for "I'm in Great Shape" and "Barnyard" are taken from his and Van Dyke Parks' piano demo of "Heroes and Villains" (which includes the other two songs), recorded on November 4, 1966, for KHJ Radio and featured in full as track 36 on Disc Two in the five-CD box set edition. The vocals were stripped from the demo and laid on the existing backing tracks, comprising instrumentation, backing vocals and animal noises by the band.
  • "The Elements: Fire" contains wordless vocals that were recorded for "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter" on June 29, 1967.
  • "Holidays" and "Wind Chimes" segue together with a pitch-shifted version of the Smiley Smile "Wind Chimes" coda, recorded July 11, 1967.
  • The "Cool Cool Water Chant" intro to "Love to Say Dada" and Carl Wilson's "da-da" vocals were recorded in October 1967.
  • Carl Wilson's lead vocal on "Cabin Essence" was recorded for the 20/20 album on November 20, 1968.
  • The "bygones", Carl Wilson's backing vocals and the "Child Is Father of the Man" coda of "Surf's Up" was recorded in summer 1971.[11]

Release

The reunited Beach Boys in 2012, performing "Heroes and Villains" during their 50th anniversary tour

On February 3, 2011, Al Jardine told an interviewer that "Capitol Records plans to issue a Beach Boys version of Smile sometime this summer to begin the celebration of the Beach Boys’ 50th anniversary. Smile is the Holy Grail for Beach Boys’ fans, so it will be good." Jardine also mentioned that the surviving Beach Boys "didn't do any new recording. I'm happy to see it finally come out. Brian’s changed his mind about releasing the material, but it was inevitable, wasn’t it?" The release was confirmed by Capitol Records on March 11, with the acknowledgement that an official release was planned for later in 2011.[citation needed]

After numerous delays, The Smile Sessions was released online via iTunes on October 31, 2011, and the next day on CD, vinyl and through other online services via digital download.[12] The compilation was released in an array of physical format releases, including a single CD release, a double LP release, a deluxe 2-CD package, as well as a limited edition deluxe box set composed of 5 CDs, 2 LPs, 2 singles on 7" vinyl records, a poster and a 60-page booklet that features high quality photographs, essays and liner notes on the reconstruction process.

The crowdsourcing film studio Tongal was used to create the music videos for The Smile Sessions, where fans in 2011 could submit video concepts, which were voted on and ultimately selected by other fans for two videos.[13][14]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic96/100[15]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
The A.V. ClubA[17]
Consequence of SoundA+[18]
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