SMILE 1966-2004 HybridVersion

In spring of 1966 after riding high on the artistic triumph of Pet Sounds and the commercial triumph of Good Vibrations, Brian Wilson set out to make a Beach Boys album that would surpass The Beatles' Revolver album in sonic artistry. The album ended up not getting completed for over 3 decades due to a wide array of problems that overtook it's author Brian Wilson. Finally in 2004 he released a completely reworked version with all new musicians, and none of the other original Beach Boys assistance. Also it was made with a different style of production than the original Smile recordings had and sounds quite different for that reason as well. I became obsessed with the unfinished album when I purchased Smiley Smile on CD about 6 years ago, I wanted to have every original recording from the 1966 sessions that I could find. I possibly even started praying that Wilson would find the motivation to finally complete his unfinished masterpiece, but I'd always hope he would use as much of the original recordings as was possible. I suspect that for legal reasons he chose to redo the whole project with his new musicians and vocalists. So I of course bought the new Smile album as quick as it was released and really like it a lot, but still miss the Beach Boys versions of songs like Heroes and Villains, Good Vibrations, Cabinessence and Surf''s Up. What I did was marry the completed 1966 Beach Boy recordings with the 2004 recordings so that they still flow seamlessly wherever the 2004 album did. I also adjusted the eq and reverb somewhat to make the 2004 recordings sound a bit more like the 1966 recordings. I made a whole new version of Heroes and Villains that is longer than any currently available versions, and I gave a choice of 2 true stereo versions of Good Vibrations. So here is a link to a sampler of what both eras of recordings sound like, and it just happens to be a complete Smile album in it's own right. I highly recommend that you purchase the Capitol reissue of Smiley Smile, the Beach Boy's box set called Good Vibrations and Brian Wilson's album Smile. I don't expect to offer this link for very long so get it while it's here. The VBR LAME mp3s may not play seamlessly unless transferred to wave or flac files first.

Track Listing:

Section One
1. Our Prayer (Beach Boys)
2. Gee (Brian Wilson)
3. Heroes And Villains (Beach Boys & Brian Wilson)
4. Roll Plymouth Rock (Brian Wilson)
5. Barnyard (Brian Wilson)
6. Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine (Brian Wilson)
7. Cabin Essence (Beach Boys)

Section Two
8. Wonderful (Beach Boys & Brian Wilson)
9. Song For Children (Brian Wilson)
10. Child Is Father Of The Man (Brian Wilson)
11. Surf's Up (Beach Boys)

Section Three
12. I'm In Great Shape (Beach Boys & Brian Wilson)
13. Vega-Tables (Beach Boys & Paul McCartney)
14. On A Holiday (Brian Wilson)
15. Wind Chimes (Brian Wilson)
16. Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Brian Wilson)
17. Fire (Brian Wilson)
18. In Blue Hawaii (Brian Wilson)
19. Good Vibrations [45 Single Stereo Mix (Beach Boys)]

Bonus Tracks
20. Good Vibrations [2004 Album Version (Brian Wilson)]
21. Heroes And Villains [45 Single Stereo Mix (Beach Boys)]


SMILE Revisited