The Beach Boys The Smile Sessions 2LP/2-7"/5CD Box Set (Mono)

2012 Grammy Award Winner for Best Historical Album!

Michael Fremer Rated 9/10 Music, 8/10 Sonics in his March 2012 reviews on www.musicangle.com!

Featured in Michael Fremer's Heavy Rotation in the March 2012 Issue of Stereophile!

Legendary Unreleased 1966-'67 Album!
Drawn From Original Masters This Deluxe Box Set Contains Two 180g LPs, 5CDs, Two 7" Singles, 60-Page Hardbound Book & More!
Housed In Box With 3D Shadow Box Lid!
Artwork Designed by Frank Holmes!

With the full participation of original Beach Boys Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Brian Wilson, Capitol/EMI has, for the first time, collected and compiled the band’s legendary 1966-’67 sessions for the never-completed SMiLE album.

In numerous sessions between the spring of 1966 and the summer of 1967, The Beach Boys recorded a bounty of songs and drafts for an album, SMiLE, that was intended to follow the band's 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds. The master tapes were ultimately shelved, and The Beach Boys' SMiLE has never been released. Drawn from the original masters, The SMiLE Sessions presents an in-depth overview of The Beach Boys' recording sessions for the enigmatic album, which has achieved legendary, mythical status for music fans around the world.

This expanded, boxed edition of The SMiLE Sessions features the main SMiLE album tracks, plus four CDs of additional audio from the legendary sessions, a double 180g vinyl LP set, and two 7” vinyl singles. The deluxe box also contains a 60-page hardbound book with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia from The Beach Boys’ archive and newly-written essays by Beach Boys Al Jardine, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, and Bruce Johnston, as well as by Beach Boys historian and author Domenic Priore and many other inner-circle participants.



Produced by Brian Wilson, Mark Linett, Alan Boyd and Dennis Wolfe in Los Angeles The SMiLE Sessions’ box set includes an assembled collection of core session tracks. It also delves much deeper into the sessions, adding early song drafts, alternate takes, instrumental and vocals-only mixes, and studio chatter. The SMiLE Sessions invites the listener into the studio to experience the album's creation, with producer, singer and bassist Brian Wilson's vision leading the way as he guides his fellow Beach Boys, singer Mike Love, drummer Dennis Wilson, lead guitarist Carl Wilson, rhythm guitarist Al Jardine, and newest member Bruce Johnston (who'd replaced Brian Wilson in the touring group during 1965), through the legendary sessions.

Artwork for all of The SMiLE Sessions’ has been created with and inspired by Beat-Pop artist Frank Holmes’ original 1967 LP sleeve art and booklet designs intended for the SMiLE album. With its three-dimensional shadowbox lid, The SMiLE Sessions box set offers a whimsical peek inside the storied ‘SMiLE Shop.’

When Capitol/EMI and The Beach Boys first announced plans for The SMiLE Sessions’ 2011 release, the news spread rapidly. Pitchfork reported, "The Beach Boys’ SMiLE is quite possibly the most storied album in rock history," Billboard proclaimed the upcoming release "an event that pop music fans have been waiting for since the Summer of Love," and The Washington Post called SMiLE "the most legendary unreleased album of all time."

The best efforts have been taken by The Beach Boys, the producers, and Capitol/EMI to present the SMiLE album sessions’ most vital and fascinating elements. However, there will no doubt be some debate amongst Beach Boys fans around the world who, during the past four decades, have become familiar with a variety of widely-traded bootlegged bits and pieces from the sessions. As recently explained by the Detroit Metro Times, “No album, released or not, has generated a more personal relationship with its audience, since no two people can ever agree on its content and purpose.”

Beginning with “Good Vibrations,” The Beach Boys’ best-selling record in a long string of hits, Brian Wilson had begun to construct songs in a modular form, crafting individual sections that would later be edited together to form a coherent whole. In several intense bursts of creative energy, Wilson, drawing on the talents of the finest studio musicians in Los Angeles and utilizing the best studio facilities available on any given day, laid down dozens of musical fragments, all designed to fit together in any number of possible combinations. No one had done this before in pop music, and his next endeavor would be an album-length version of this unique and luxurious songwriting parlance: SMiLE.

In 1965, Brian Wilson met an up-and-coming session keyboard player and songwriter, Van Dyke Parks. Noticing Parks' conversational eloquence, Wilson felt that he could help to volley The Beach Boys’ songwriting into the wave of broader-messaged and socially-conscious rock 'n' roll that would come to define the '60s. They were soon collaborating on keynote songs for SMiLE, including “Heroes And Villains,” the band’s follow-up single to “Good Vibrations.” Wilson and Parks would also co-write “Surf's Up,” “Vega-Tables,” “Cabin Essence,” “Do You Like Worms,” “Wonderful,” “Wind Chimes,” and other pieces of the SMiLE tapestry. Parks also introduced Frank Holmes to create album sleeve art and a booklet interpreting the album’s James Joyce-mode lyrics.

The reason SMiLE did not see a release in 1967 had more to do with back room business that obscured the creative side of the program than anything else. In late 1966, The Beach Boys formed Brother Records, initially to produce outside artists. Soon, however, The Beach Boys would become embroiled in a court action with Capitol Records with the goal to become the top-selling artists on their self-owned, independent label. The group withheld “Heroes And Villains” and announced they would instead release “Vega-Tables” – recorded with the band’s own money in April of '67 – on Brother Records. By July of 1967, Capitol Records and The Beach Boys had come to terms, with Capitol agreeing to distribute the band’s Brother Records, and it was agreed that SMiLE was no longer to be the band’s next album.

"The most famous unfinished album in rock & roll history..." - Rolling Stone

"Whether you listen as an arranging and engineering workshop or just to enjoy the tunes, the release of Smile both closes and opens a chapter in American musical history. You can take much of what you hear for granted until you get to the "Cabin Essence" studio highights and then you realize that real people sitting in a real studio were playing all of this crazy and complex stuff all directed and supervised by the musical master Brian Wilson all of 24 at the time." - Michael Fremer, www.musicangle.com, Music 9/10, Sound 8/10

Features:
• 3D Shadow Box Lid featuring original artwork by Frank Holmes
• Drawn from Original Masters
• 13" x 13" x 2.5" Box
• 6 Panel folder holding 5 CDs and 7" Singles
• 2 - 7" Vinyl Singles
• Two 180g LPs - Gatefold jacket
• Stereo mixes & session highlights (on vinyl only)
• 60-page hardbound book
• Previously unreleased photos
• 24" x 36" poster of Frank Holmes cover art
• Drawings by Frank Holmes
• 12" x 12" booklet created for original release

Selections:
180 Gram Double Vinyl:
LP1 - Side 1:
1. Our Prayer
2. Gee
3. Heroes and Villains
4. Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)
5. I'm In Great Shape
6. Barnyard
7. My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine)
8. Cabin Essence
LP1 - Side 2:
1. Wonderful
2. Look (Song for Children)
3. Child Is Father Of the Man
4. Surf's Up
LP2 - Side 3:
1. I Wanna Be Around / Workshop
2. Vega-Tables
3. Holidays
4. Wind Chimes
5. The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow)
6. Love to Say Dada
7. Good Vibrations
LP2 - Side 4:
1. You're Welcome (stereo mix)
2. Vega-Tables (stereo mix)
3. Wind Chimes (stereo mix)
4. Cabin Essence (Session highlights and stereo backing track)
5. Surf's Up (Session Excerpt and Stereo mix)

7" Vinyl Single1:
Heroes and Villains "Smile" 7" single:
Side A:
Heroes and Villains Part One
Side B:
Heroes and Villains Part Two

7" Vinyl Single2:
Vega-Tables 7" single:
Side A:
Vega-Tables
Side B:
Surf's Up

CD1: SMiLE
1. Our Prayer
2. Gee
3. Heroes and Villains
4. Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)
5. I'm In Great Shape
6. Barnyard
7. My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine)
8. Cabin Essence
9. Wonderful
10. Look (Song for Children)
11. Child Is Father Of the Man
12. Surf's Up
13. I Wanna Be Around / Workshop
14. Vega-Tables
15. Holidays
16. Wind Chimes
17. The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow)
18. Love to Say Dada
19. Good Vibrations
Bonus Tracks:
20. You're Welcome
21. Heroes and Villains (Stereo mix)
22. Heroes and Villains Sections (Stereo mix)
23. Vega-Tables Demo
24. He Gives Speeches
25. Smile Backing Vocals Montage
26. Surf's Up 1967 (solo version)
27. Psycodelic Sounds: Brian Falls Into A Piano

CD2: Session Highlights
Our Prayer
1. Our Prayer "Dialog" (9/19/66)
2. Our Prayer (10/14/66)
Heroes and Villains
Heroes and Villains Session (10/20/66)
3. Verse (Master take)
4. Barnyard (Master take)
5. I'm In Great Shape (10/27/66)
6. Intro (Early version - circa 12/66)
Heroes and Villains Session (1/3/67)
7. Do A Lot
8. Back of Tricks
9. Mission Pak
10. Bridge To Indians
11. Part 1 Tag
12. Pickup To 3rd Verse
Heroes and Villains (1/27/67)
13. Children Were Raised
14. Part 2 (Cantina track)
15. Whistling Bridge
16. Cantina
17. All Day
18. Verse Edit Experiment
Heroes and Villains Session (2/15/67)
19. Prelude to Fade
20. Piano Theme
Heroes and Villains Session (2/20/67)
21. Part 2
22. Part 2 (Gee)(Master take)
23. Part 2 Revised
24. Part 2 Revised (Master take)
25. Part 3 (Animals)(Master take)
26. Part 4
27. Part Two (Master take) (2/27/67)
28. Fade (2/28/67)
Heroes and Villains Session (3/1/67)
29. Verse Remake
30. Organ Waltz / Intro
Heroes and Villains Session (6/14/67)
31. Chorus Vocals
32. Barbershop
33. Children Were Raised (Remake)
34. Children Were Raised (Master take Overdubs Mix 1)
35. Children Were Raised (Master take A Capella)
Bonus Tracks:
36. Heroes and Villains Piano Demo (incorporating "I'm In Great Shape" and "Barnyard") Brian with Van Dyke Parks and "Humble Harve" Miller, KHJ Radio (11/4/66)
37. Psycodelic Sounds: Brian Falls Into A Microphone (11/4/66)
38. Psycodelic Sounds: Moaning Laughing (11/4/66)

CD3: Session Highlights
Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)
Do You Like Worms Session (10/18/66)
1. Part 1
2. Part 2 (Bicycle Rider)
3. Part 3
4. Part 4 (Bicycle Rider)
5. Bicycle Rider Overdubs (Heroes And Villains Part 2) (1/5/67)
My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine)
6. Parts 1 & 2 (11/14/66)
7. Part 2 (Master Take With Vocal Overdubs) (2/10/67)
Cabin Essence
Cabin Essence Session (10/3/66)
8. Cabin Essence: Verse
9. Cabin Essence: Chorus
10. Cabin Essence: Tag
Wonderful
11. Wonderful (Version 1) (8/25/66)
Wonderful (Version 2 “Rock With Me, Henry”) Session (1/9/67)
12. Wonderful (Version 2)
13. Wonderful (Version 2 Tag)
14. Wonderful (Version 3) (4/10/67?)
Look (Song For Children)
15. Look (8/12/66)
Child Is Father Of The Man
16. Child Is Father Of The Man (Version 1) (10/7/66)
17. Child Is Father Of The Man (Version 2) (10/11/66)
Surf's Up
18. 1st Movement (11/4/66)
19. Talking Horns (11/7/66)
20. Surf’s Up: Piano Demo (Master Take) (12/15/66)
I Wanna Be Around / Workshop (Friday Night)
21. I Wanna Be Around (11/29/66)
Vega-Tables (Vegetables)
Vegetables Sessions (4/4/67 – 4/11/67)
22. Verse (Master Take Track) (4/4 – 4/11/67)
23. Sleep A Lot (Chorus)
24. Chorus 1 (Master Take)
25. 2nd Chorus (Master Take Track And Backing Vocals)
26. Insert (Part 4) (Master Take)

CD4 - Session Highlights
Vega-Tables (Vegetables) (continued)
1. Fade (4/12/67)
2. Ballad Insert (4/14/67)
Holidays
3. Holidays (9/8/66)
Wind Chimes
4. Wind Chimes (Version 1) (8/3/66)
Wind Chimes (Version 2) Session (10/5/66)
5. Wind Chimes (Version 2)
6. Wind Chimes (Version 2 Tag)
The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow)
7. The Elements (Fire) (11/28/66)
Love to Say Dada / Cool, Cool Water
Da Da Session (12/22/66)
8. Da Da (Taped Piano Strings)
9. Da Da (Fender Rhodes)
Love To Say Dada Sessions (5/16/67 - 5/18/67)
10. Love To Say Dada: Part 1 (5/16/67)
11. Love To Say Dada: Part 2 (5/17/67)
12. Love To Say Dada: Part 2 (Master Take) (5/17/67)
13. Love To Say Dada: Part 2 (Second Day) (5/18/67)
Cool, Cool Water
14. Cool, Cool Water (Version 1) (6/7/67)
15. Cool, Cool Water (Version 2) (10/26/67 & 10/29/67)
Smile Additional Sessions
16. You're Welcome (12/15/66)
17. You're With Me Tonight (6/6–6/7/67)
18. Tune X (3/3/67–3/31/67)
19. I Don't Know (1/12/67)
20. Three Blind Mice (10/15/65)
21. Teeter Totter Love (Jasper Dailey) (1/25/67 & 2/9/67)
Bonus Tracks:
22. Psycodelic Sounds - Underwater Chant (11/4/66)
23. Hal Blaine Vega-Tables Promo Session (11/16/66)
24. Early Version Outtake Sections (1/67 – 2/67)

CD5: Session Highlights
Good Vibrations Sessions
1. Gold Star 2/18/66 (The “Pet Sounds” Session)
2. Gold Star 4/9/66
3. Western 5/4/66 (First Chorus)
4. Western 5/4/66 (Second Chorus & Fade)
5. Sunset Sound 5/24/66 (Part 1)
6. Sunset Sound 5/24/66 (Parts 2 & 3)
7. Sunset Sound 5/24/66 (Part 4)
8. Western 5/27/66 (Part C)
9. Western 5/27/66 (Chorus)
10. Western 5/27/66 (Fade Sequence)
11. Good Vibrations (Inspiration): Western 6/2/66 (Part 1)
12. Good Vibrations (Inspiration): Western 6/2/66 (Part 3)
13. Good Vibrations (Inspiration): Western 6/2/66 (Part 4)
14. Western 6/16/66 (Part 1)
15. Western 6/16/66 (Part 2 & Verse)
16. Western 6/16/66 (Part 2 Continued)
17. Western 6/18/66 (Part 1)
18. Western 6/18/66 (Part 2)
19. Good Vibrations (Persuasion): Western 9/1/66
20. Western 9/1/66 (New Bridge)
21. Session Masters
22. Single Version Stereo Track
23. Good Good Good Vibrations (First Version With Overdubs) 3/66
24. Alternate Edit 8/24/66