Vegetables (song)

"Vegetables" (early versions spelled as "Vega-Tables") is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile and their unfinished Smile project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, the song was conceived by Wilson as a tongue-in-cheek promotion of organic food. Another reported inspiration for the song was a humorous comment Wilson heard about the effect of marijuana turning him and his friends into a "vegetative" state. 

"Vegetables" was one of the last songs recorded for Smile, with most of the original sessions held in April 1967. Paul McCartney of the Beatles is rumored to be on the recording, but while many witnesses support that he contributed chewed celery noises at one of these April sessions, researchers failed to uncover any audio evidence that would confirm his presence on any surviving recording of the song.

In February 1967, Wilson had announced that he would issue "Vegetables" as the lead single from Smile, which exacerbated tensions with Parks, who had felt that the song was one of their weaker efforts. Parks soon withdrew from the project, and Smile was scrapped. "Vegetables" was then largely rerecorded in June with an arrangement consisting of the group's vocals, electric bass, organ, chomped vegetables, and air blown into water bottles. Months later, the band reworked one of its outtakes into a new a cappella song, "Mama Says", that was released as the closing track on their 1967 album Wild Honey. 

Wilson rerecorded "Vegetables" with an arrangement closer to what he had originally envisioned for the song on his 2004 album Brian Wilson Presents Smile. New edits of the song that approximate the original Smile version were also created for the compilations Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of the Beach Boys (1993) and The Smile Sessions (2011).

Background and inspiration
"Vegetables" was composed by Brian Wilson in 1966 and first recorded during the aborted Smile sessions. The song was based on Wilson's reported health obsession at the time. In a 1967 article, Wilson said, "I want to turn people on to vegetables, good natural food, organic food. Health is an important element in spiritual enlightenment. But I do not want to be pompous about it, so we will engage in a satirical approach." Parks said that the song was more specifically inspired by the radio evangelist Curtis Howe Springer, whom "Brian had a great fascination with".

The Saturday Evening Post writer Jules Siegel said that while using marijuana with Wilson and the "Beach Boys marijuana-consumption squad" Michael Vosse mused at how violence in their "vegetative" state could not be achieved, provoking laughter and further discussion of being a vegetable. Siegel said that this encounter was what inspired Wilson to write the song.

Although it is not definitely known to be true, "Vega-Tables" is generally believed to fulfill the Earth part of "The Elements" suite that Brian envisioned for Smile. One of the illustrations created for the album included "Vega-Tables" as part of "The Elements", however, a preliminary track list from December 1966 indicated "The Elements" and "Vega-Tables" as separate tracks.

The "Vega-Tables" spelling may have been inspired by the Vejtables, a group who opened for the Beach Boys at a concert on January 1, 1966.

Composition and lyrics 
"Vegetables" is in the key of E major. The main chord progression of verses is I-IV-I. Musicologist Philip Lambert notes this progression as a recurring element throughout Smile, with other songs such as "Wind Chimes" and "The Elements: Fire" also utilizing it.

While the subject matter was conceived by Wilson, the lyrics were written by his collaborator Van Dyke Parks, who incorporated wordplay and absurdist imagery into the song. An earlier recording. sometimes referred to as the "cornucopia" version, features an additional discarded verse: "Tripped on a cornucopia / Stripped the stalk green and I hope ya / Like me the most of all / My favorite vegetable".

Some versions of "Vegetables" feature an additional interpolated section after the verses involving Barbershop-style vocal harmonies sung by the Beach Boys. The lyrics are "Mom and Dad say/sleep a lot, eat a lot / brush 'em like crazy / run a lot, do a lot / never be lazy". This section was considered for inclusion on "Heroes and Villains" under the subheaders "Do a Lot" or "Sleep a Lot" in January 1967, prior to the recording of the rest of "Vegetables".

Artwork

Artist Frank Holmes, who designed the Smile cover artwork, created an illustration that was inspired by the song's lyrics, "The Elements" / "My Vega-Tables". Along with several other drawings, they were planned to be included within a booklet packaged with the Smile LP. In 2005, Holmes shared a background summary of his design choices:

Smile recording history

October 1966 – January 1967 sessions

The Beach Boys recorded the most rudimentary version of "Vegetables", a demo with different lyrics and a different vocal arrangement, on or around October 17, 1966. Band archivist Craig Slowinski suggests that the session may have taken place on this day, however the exact date is unknown. This demo contained the unused "cornucopia" verse.

On November 4, Wilson produced a session dedicated to capturing a "humorous" situation featuring himself, Parks, Danny Hutton, Vosse, and a man named Bob. Towards the end of the exercise, the group plays a rhythm on bongos while chanting "Where's my beets and carrots" and "I've got a big bag of vegetables". On November 16, Wilson produced another humor session, this time dedicated to recording mock disagreements between Vosse and session drummer Hal Blaine. The latter play-acts as a man that is irate at Vosse for trespassing into his garden. It later turns into a serious conversation between Blaine, Vosse, and Wilson about the planetary alignments. Wilson completes the session by having his own mock disagreement with Blaine. Badman writes, "At one point, it is believed that these recordings will somehow figure into the 'Vegetables' track itself."

The first major session dedicated to tracking any part of "Vegetables" took place on January 3, 1967. However, at this time, part of the song had been configured as a section of "Heroes and Villains" and logged with the title "Do a Lot". Material recorded this day did not become part of the finished song. During the session, Wilson can be heard saying to his bandmates before a take, "If there's not anymore cooperation of this, I'm splitting, I mean it. We better get back into the groove, you know?"

March – April 1967 sessions

In February 1967, Wilson announced that "Vega-Tables" would be the lead single from Smile. At this time, the Beach Boys had engaged themselves in litigation against Capitol, and to taunt the record company, Wilson staged a mock promotion of the "Vega-Tables" by holding a photoshoot at the Los Angeles Farmers Market, where he posed in front of a fruit and vegetable stand. The location was at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street, only feet away from where Wilson opened a health food store, the Radiant Radish, two years later.

According to David Anderle, formerly the head of Brother Records, creative differences between Parks and Wilson had escalated since February. Parks was against having the song as the album's lead single, commenting, "[I didn't want] 'Vega-Tables' to be given too much emphasis. For Smile, that celebrated collaboration, to be dependent on a commercial release of 'Vega-Tables' as a single, was to me tremendously ill-advised, wherever it came from."

On March 2, after a session for "Heroes and Villains", their partnership was temporarily dissolved. A recording session for "Vega-Tables" vocals was held the next day, but further session dates, scheduled on March 28 and 30, were cancelled. Parks returned to the project after March 31.

The band spent at least eight studio dates recording "Vega-Tables" before embarking on a U.S. tour on April 14. Parks' last recorded appearance on the album's sessions was for a "Vega-Tables" date on April 14, after which he withdrew from the project. Wilson then took a four-week break from the studio.  On April 29, band publicist Derek Taylor reported that the single, backed with "Wonderful", would soon be released. He described it as "a light and lyrical, day to day, green grocery song on which Al Jardine sings a most vigorous lead."

McCartney visit

During the April 10 vocal session at Sound Recorders, which also saw work on "Wonderful" and "Child Is Father of the Man", Paul McCartney of the Beatles joined the Beach Boys in the studio for several hours. Asked about his involvement in a 2001 interview, McCartney said he had no memory of the session, where he was said to have chomped vegetables. In a 2016 Q&A given for his website, he offered a specific recollection:

Jardine said, "I remember waiting for long periods of time between takes to get to the next section or verse. Brian [seemed to have] lost track of the session. Paul would come on the talkback and say something like "'Good take, Al.'" KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer was also present, as he remembered, "We were in a booth, and we were supposed to shout out the names of vegetables. I was a young, punk kid at the time, and I shouted out 'TV dinners!' I didn't know..." Wilson's then-wife Marilyn recalled, "Brian had some fresh vegetables out, for the mood. He sprinkled salt all over the console table near the mixing board and started dipping celery into the salt and chomping on it. Paul followed his lead and picked up the celery and did the same thing. It was priceless to see this."

It is unclear if any record of McCartney's performance has survived, as his presence cannot be verified on existing session tapes. Craig Slowinski, who assembled the sessionography included with The Smile Sessions box set, stated: "I was ready to credit Sir Paul with 'veggie munching' [...] but since no tapes were found with his voice or reference to him, we figured I'd better not. Too hard to say that any veggie munching on his part remained on tape through the final stages of production." Sessions co-producer Mark Linett said, "Unless Paul is being very quiet, there’s no evidence that he’s a part of the chomping. And there’s quite a lot of discussion going on while that particular track is being recorded."

After the "Vega-Tables" session, McCartney performed his song "She's Leaving Home" on piano for Wilson and his wife. Wilson said: "We both just cried. It was beautiful." In turn, he performed "Wonderful" on piano for McCartney. Beatles roadie Mal Evans wrote about singing the traditional "On Top of Old Smokey" with McCartney and Wilson, but was not impressed by Wilson's avant-garde attitude to music: "Brian then put a damper on the spontaneity of the whole affair by walking in with a tray of water-filled glasses, trying to arrange it into some sort of session." In a January 1968 interview, Wilson stated of the McCartney episode, "It was a little uptight and we really didn't seem to hit it off. It didn't really flow. [...] It didn't really go too good."

Smiley Smile recording history
The Smile album was reported scrapped on May 5, 1967. Starting on June 3, "Vega-Tables" was rerecorded for the new album Smiley Smile, where it was respelled "Vegetables" and reworked as a kind of campfire song. Apart from its coda (recorded in April 1967), the track was remade entirely from scratch.  Wilson played the electric bass on this version and added organ overdubs to the final section of the song.

According to Al Jardine, "I remember telling Brian, 'We’ve got to do something different on this thing.'  What the hell, it was four in the morning.  I filled some water bottles, tuned it to the key of the song and blew air into the bottles.  What you hear sounds like an old organ."

"Vegetables" was mixed to mono on June 3, 1967. A recording for "You're with Me Tonight", held on June 6, was logged as a "Vega-Tables" session.

Release and reception 
"Vegetables" was issued on September 18, 1967 as the second track on Smiley Smile. Melody Maker reviewed that "Vegetables" was among the "childish and pointless" songs that made Smiley Smile a "tragedy". A more positive review in Record Mirror complimented the vocal performances and speculated that the song could be released as a single by the group in the future.

Reviewing the song in AllMusic, Matthew Greenwald called it a "great example of the collaboration of Brian Wilson's and Van Dyke Parks' sense of comedy and psychedelic whimsy.", also noting it as among the strangest songs of the group's career. Music critic Ritchie Unterberger described it as an example of the "low-key psychedelic weirdness" present throughout Smiley Smile. Lambert wrote that the song heralded a "radically new artistic sensibility" for the group relative to Pet Sounds and Smile. David Leaf, writing in 1990, described the song as marking a new phase in Wilson's development as a musician.

The Smiley Smile rendition of the song was listed by Mojo as the Beach Boys' 47th greatest song, with the Mojo staff describing it as "endearingly daft", and praising the group's vocal harmonies and the "stripped back" arrangement. In 2015, the French edition of Rolling Stone named "Vegetables" the Beach Boys' 38th greatest song.

"Mama Says"

In 1967, the song was revisited for the last time as the closing track "Mama Says" on Wild Honey (1967). This version consisted of an extended re-recording of the unused "Do or Lot" or "Sleep a Lot" module. It was the first time a track with thematic links to Smile was used to close a later Beach Boys album, a practice that the band repeated with "Cabinessence" on 20/20 (1969), "Cool, Cool Water" on Sunflower (1970), and "Surf's Up" on Surf's Up (1971).

Parks' songwriting credit was not honored, and instead Mike Love was listed as the song's only co-writer. Wilson's 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson, makes note of this as an example of what he perceived as Love's questionable songwriting credits, but does not disclose a reason why he himself did not credit Parks.

Alternate releases
 In 1993, a composite version from the Smile sessions was given its first official release, under its original title "Vega-Tables", along with a slew of other Smile material, on the Good Vibrations boxset.
 In 2001, some recordings related to the song were released on the rarities compilation Hawthorne, CA.
 In 2011, many more composite versions were made available on The Smile Sessions.
 In 2013, a 1993 live performance of the song was released on the compilation Made in California with Carl Wilson and Al Jardine on lead vocals.

Cover versions

1968 – Jan and Dean (under the name Laughing Gravy) on a single released in 1968 and later under Jan and Dean on their 1971 Jan & Dean Anthology Album and in 1974 on their Gotta Take That One Last Ride album. The version on Gotta Take That One Last Ride contains additional instrumental and vocal overdubs by Brian Wilson and American Spring in 1973.}
1991 – Sink, Vega-Tables
 2001 – "Receptacle for the Respectable" from the album Rings Around the World by Super Furry Animals also features Paul McCartney chewing celery and carrots.

Personnel

The details in this section are adapted from The Smile Sessions liner notes, which includes a sessionography compiled by band archivist Craig Slowinski. and from Keith Badman

The Smile Sessions edit
The Beach Boys
 Al Jardine – lead, backing and harmony vocals, miscellaneous percussion and sound effects, vegetable chomping, whistling (uncertain credit)
 Mike Love – backing and harmony vocals, laughter, vegetable chomping
 Brian Wilson – backing and harmony vocals, laughter, grand piano, miscellaneous percussion and sound effects, vegetable chomping, detuned grand piano, electric harpsichord, whistling (uncertain credit)
 Carl Wilson – backing and harmony vocals, laughter, miscellaneous percussion and sound effects, vegetable chomping, Fender bass, overdubbed ukulele
 Dennis Wilson – backing and harmony vocals, laughter, miscellaneous percussion and sound effects, vegetable chomping, thump percussion, overdubbed drum, xylophone, rattling percussion

Session musicians

 Arnold Belnick – violin
 Samuel Boghossian – viola
 Chuck Berghofer – overdubbed upright bass (verses)
 Joseph DiFiore – viola
 Joseph DiTullio – cello
 Jim Gordon – hi-hat, castanet, cups
 Raymond Kelley – cello
 William Kurasch – violin

 Nick Pellico – vibraphone
 Bill Pitman – tenor ukulele (Danelectro bass on early takes)
 Ray Pohlman – Fender bass (fade)
 Lyle Ritz – upright bass (fade)

Partial sessionography

 Likely October 17, 1966 - Columbia ["Cornucopia"] (discarded demo)
 Brian Wilson – grand piano, lead vocals, backing vocals & laughter
 Mike Love - lead vocals, backing vocals & laughter
 Dennis Wilson - backing vocals & laughter
 Carl Wilson - backing vocals & laughter
 Al Jardine - backing vocals & laughter
 Bruce Johnston - backing vocals & laughter
 Marilyn Wilson - backing vocals & laughter
 Diane Rovell - backing vocals & laughter

 November 11, 1966 - Western ["Promo"] (this session produced a Vegetables-themed spoken-word skit primarily featuring Brian Wilson and Hal Blaine, likely intended for incorporation into the final track)
 Brian Wilson - spoken word
 Hal Blaine - spoken word
 Michael Vosse - spoken word

 January 3, 1967 – Columbia ["Do a Lot"] (discarded recording)
 Brian Wilson – group vocals, upright piano, overdubbed grand piano, overdubbed whistling (uncertain credit)
 Dennis Wilson - group vocals, overdubbed thumb percussion (uncertain credit)
 Carl Wilson - group vocals
 Mike Love - group vocals
 Al Jardine - group vocals
 Bruce Johnston - group vocals

 April 4, 1967 – Sound Recorders ["Verse"] (this session produced the master take for the verse)
 Brian Wilson – grand piano, backing and harmony vocals, laughter
 Al Jardine - backing and harmony vocals, laughter
 Dennis Wilson - backing and harmony vocals, laughter
 Carl Wilson - backing and harmony vocals, laughter
 Mike Love - backing and harmony vocals, laughter

 April 6, 1967 – Sound Recorders ["Verse"] (this session produced the bass track and sound effects overdubs for the verse)
 Chuck Berghofer – overdubbed upright bass
 Brian Wilson - miscellaneous percussion and sound effects
 Carl Wilson - miscellaneous percussion and sound effects
 Al Jardine - miscellaneous percussion and sound effects

 April 7, 1967 – Columbia ["Sleep a Lot"] (this session produced the "sleep a lot" section)
 Brian Wilson – vocals, detuned grand piano
 Dennis Wilson - vocals, thump percussion
 Carl Wilson - vocals
 Mike Love - vocals
 Al Jardine - vocals

 April 10, 1967 – Sound Recorders ["Verse"] (this session produced the verse lead vocal and sound effect overdubs)
 Al Jardine - double-tracked lead vocals, overdubbed veggie chomping
 Brian Wilson – overdubbed veggie chomping
 Dennis Wilson - overdubbed veggie chomping
 Carl Wilson - overdubbed veggie chomping
 Mike Love - overdubbed veggie chomping

 April 11, 1967 – Sound Recorders ["Chorus 1" and "2nd Chorus"] (this session produced the first and second chorus)
 Brian Wilson – electric harpsichord, group vocals, whistling (2nd Chorus, uncertain credit)
 Carl Wilson – fender bass, group vocals
 Dennis Wilson – group vocals, xylophone, overdubbed drum (Chorus 1), rattling percussion (2nd Chorus)
 Mike Love - group vocals, bass vocals (2nd Chorus)
 Al Jardine - group vocals, bass vocals (2nd Chorus) whistling (2nd Chorus, uncertain credit)

 April 12, 1967 – Gold Star ["Fade"] (this session produced the fade)
 Bill Pitman - tenor ukulele (Danelectro bass with fuzztone on earlier takes)
 Ray Polhman - Fender bass, overdubbed high Fender bass
 Lyle Ritz - upright bass (arco)
 Jim Gordon - hi-hat, castanet, and cups (drums and bongos on earlier takes)
 Nick Pellico - vibes
 Arnold Belnick - violin
 William Kurasch - violin
 Samuel Boghossian - viola
 Joseph DiFiore - viola
 Joseph DiTullio - cello
 Raymond Kelley - cello
 Brian Wilson - conductor (upright piano on earlier takes)

 April 12, 1967 – Sound Recorders ["Fade" and "Insert (Part 4)"] (these sessions produced the insert preceding the fade and the vocals on the fade)
 Brian Wilson - grand piano, vocals (Insert Part 4), backing vocals (Fade)
 Carl Wilson - vocals (Insert Part 4), backing vocals, overdubbed ukulele (Fade)
 Mike Love - vocals (Insert Part 4), bass vocals (Fade)
 Al Jardine - vocals (Insert Part 4), scat lead vocals (Fade)

 April 13, 1967 – Sound Recorders ["Fade"] (this session produced Brian's overdubbed falsetto vocal on the fade)
 Brian Wilson - overdubbed wordless falsetto vocals

 April 14, 1967 – Sound Recorders ["Ballad Insert"] (this session produced the ballad insert used as part of the song's outro)
 Brian Wilson - lead vocals, stacked backing vocals, grand piano

 June 3, 5-7 1967 – Western Recorders (new modules attempted for the song as the first sessions for Smiley Smile)
 Al Jardine - vocals
 Brian Wilson – vocals, electric bass, overdubbed organ 
 Dennis Wilson - vocals
 Carl Wilson - vocals
 Mike Love - vocals
 Lyle Ritz - upright bass

 June 15, 1967 – Bel Air (final vocals recorded for the song)
 Al Jardine - vocals
 Brian Wilson – vocals
 Dennis Wilson - vocals
 Carl Wilson - vocals

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

1967 songs
The Beach Boys songs
Brian Wilson songs
Songs written by Brian Wilson
Songs written by Van Dyke Parks
Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson
Song recordings produced by the Beach Boys
Jan and Dean songs
Songs about plants
Satirical songs
Paul McCartney