Smile rehashed

I've been very delinquent in posting recently.  Believe it or not there are just some things that even I do not feel like sharing.  ;)  I've also been busy with school until recently...I have a few ideas for posts, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, please pardon the repost (though how many of you were reading this back in 2005 anyways?).  I put in Brian Wilson's Smile album this morning on my way to school and realized (again) how much I like a few songs on that album).  Please refer to my review from 2005 (have I really been blogging that long?!?)  Also, must give a shout out to John...there's some killer cello on "good vibrations" that made me think - "hey I wonder if John has listened to this album?"  Have you???

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