Brian Wilson's "Smile"

We used to fly out to my grandparents' house in Washington
and then use their minivan
to take THE GREAT AMERICAN VACATION a la National Lampoon.  Found memories
of that time
include attempting to drive the minivan through the Chandelier Tree (we
barely squeaked
through, but don't ask my dad about what happened in the gift shop),
driving from
northern Washington to Southern California in 2 days, and eating at what
must have been every Denny's
on the west coast.

I first heard the Beach Boys in my grandparents' minivan
on one of these summer vacations when I was about 13.  My grandparents'
had a
Beach Boys "Greatest Hits" cd and it was (to my 13 year old ears) the best
thing to listen to
when compared to the other cd's in their car (I definitely remember some
Glenn Miller,
Boxcar Willie and a compilation of classic country called "Wagon Wheels"). 
We used to listen (and sing along) to
the Beach Boys cd on repeat until my parents had enough and insisted on
something else. Listening
to those songs still reminds me of those roadtrips.

I am not a Beach Boys FAN, though I like their music well enough.  I'm
a Beatles person.  I liked the Beach Boys harmonies and arrangements,
but the lyrics lost me.  I picked up "Pet Sounds" in college and thought
it was ok, but not one of the best
albums of all time.  For some reason "Pet Sounds" didn't speak to me like
many Beatles albums did. I
bought "Smile" after it caught my eye when I was Christmas shopping.  The
fact that I waited to listen to it until recently
belies my lack of Beach Boys enthusiasm and also that I was really a
little afraid after hearing some more recent
Brian Wilson efforts.  Ouch.  I didn't even know about "Smile"'s dark
history until reading the liner notes.

At any rate, from this perspective, I think "Smile" is an eminently
listenable album.  And it is an
ALBUM, better when listening to it all at once.  In addition to awesome
harmonies and arrangements, it
has the same kind of Americana feel that early Beach Boys songs have, just
more mature.  With lyrics like:
"Ribbon of concrete, just see what you've done/Done to the church of the
American Indian" these lyrics are certainly deeper than
"Well I saved my pennies and I saved my dimes/For I knew there would be a
time/When I would buy a brand new 409".
"Smile" has it's fair share of low points ("Vega-tables" comes to mind,
along with a re-do of "Good Vibrations"
that doesn't match the excitement of the original version, and the
instrumental "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" which hurts my ears), it's still good
music. 
"Wonderful", "Our Prayer", "Heroes and Villians",
and "Roll Plymouth Rock" are some of my favorites.  It's pretty obvious
that the backing vocals are not the original
Beach Boys, and that Brian Wilson has lost some of his voice (hey the dude
is in his 60's and sang the songs in the original key which
is pretty amazing in and of itself), but it's still good music.
And in case you are afraid, it is WAY better than any of Wilson's other
solo stuff.

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
Good Vibrations - The
Beach
Boys

Because - The
Beatles

La Vie En Rose - Edith
Piaf
Wonderful - Brian
Wilson
Surfing on a Rocket - Air