Talk:Smile (The Beach Boys album)

message: re this. Not only was I following what is said in the main text, but David Leaf writes in the liner notes to Brian Wilson Presents Smile that Smile was "born in the summer of 1966" and, as context for the songwriting for the majority of the album, "the then-current Beatles album was Revolver". The timeline offered in one of the external links also supports an August date (25 August). So …? JG66 (talk) 13:58, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: To use Pet Sounds as an example, the album was not "officially" begun until January 1966. Half of the songs were still written or recorded before then. It's not meaningful to draw these sorts of lines. In the end, August 1966 is just the month "Smile" was being drawn on the tape boxes. "Good Vibrations", "Heroes", "Wind Chimes", and "Look" were already in the process of recording. That's about 30% of the album, potentially. --Ilovetopaint (talk) 14:15, 17 February 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Recognised start of the project 

message: I just came across this essay for the first time(?) and had some thoughts about the article.
Confusing timeline / structure
5 years later and I'm still not sure how to tackle Smile. I think all of the details regarding the album's conflicts should be trimmed and moved to Collapse of Smile. Put "Promotion" and "Project collapse" under "Background"?
Lacking in historical context
Some details about psychedelia and the LA scene in '66 should be covered. Wilson was a huge figure in this time and place, even if he wasn't as directly involved as, say, Zappa. Gaines' book notes some interesting connections with Derek Taylor as a middle man.
 Sourcing / original research / too much detail 
Self-evident and already tagged.
 Important but somehow obscure details that are missing
The essay includes these claims that should be sourced and integrated to the article or to Collapse of Smile:
* Brian had struck a deal with the Boys at the beginning of Pet Sounds to allow him to do one whole album of "Brian" music instead of "Beach Boys" music. The Boys agreed to try it on one album and Brian and Mike even shook hands to seal the deal. 
* Brian and Van Dyke were on the same wave-length in some ways, but their backgrounds were almost opposites.  Van Dyke had had a privileged upbringing but was a poverty-stricken recording artist in his young adulthood. Brian had had a lower middle class upbringing but was a millionaire recording artist in his young adulthood.
* Nick Grillo, the Boys' business manager, had been working since Spring 1966 on developing a corporate organization that would allow Brian and the other Boys to produce records, films, other artists, publish music and create and control any other project they cared to pursue independent of Capitol Records.  In late September/early October David Anderle, formerly a deal-maker with MGM Records and manager of Brian and Van Dyke's friend/singer Danny Hutton, was positioning himself to take over those duties from Nick. Anderle persuaded Jules Siegel, an acquaintance of his working for the Saturday Evening Post, to do a story about Brian and the Boys. Jules would cover the SMiLE story for 3 months. Brian was looking for a personal assistant and Anderle suggested a college chum of his, Michael Vosse, who was a reporter and also an acquaintance of Jules. These three would all hang with Brian through several months of the creation of SMiLE. New friends, new interests.
* Like Asher, Van Dyke worked with Brian over a 3 month period using his words to lyrically illustrate Brian's ideas; unlike Asher, Van Dyke claims he made no contribution to the writing of the music [although he would have been more than capable]. Brian and Van Dyke worked on the songs and themes for the SMiLE album through August and September and by the end of October all the songs had been written. Van Dyke often sat in on SMiLE sessions as a studio musician through October but after October 1966, with his job as lyricist finished, Van Dyke would only rarely visit the studio. 
* The Boys were being hailed as conquering Pop heroes and voted Best Vocal Group in England at the same time as they were being criticized in the British press for being Brian's puppets, frauds who didn't play their own instruments on their records. 
* Michael Vosse felt that SMiLE "was a totally conceived entity" by the return of the Boys to L.A..
* January of 1967 was sort of a good news/bad news month for Brian, Van Dyke and the Beach Boys. Van Dyke signed a contract with Warner records; Carl refused as a conscientious objector to report for induction to the draft; the SMiLE album booklets and jackets were ready; Brian was feeling the pinch of studios not being available when he wished; the formation of Brothers Records was announced; the deadline for the Heroes & Villains single and the SMiLE album passed; Dennis and Carl began trying their hand at producing tracks on their own; Good Vibrations fell from the Billboard Singles Chart; Brian had some fun recording tracks with pal Jasper Dailey, a mild-mannered restaurant supply salesmen by day and a super SMiLE and rock Ôn roll celebrity photographer/chronicler by night. At the end of the month, Brian was holding mixdown sessions.
* February 1967 began with Brian recording more tracks with his pal Jasper Dailey and continuing work on Heroes &Villains; producing the so-called "cantina mix" around February 10, 1967. No sooner had Brian created this mix than his Rolls Royce was burglarized while parked in the lot of a movie theater. Two "perps" were apprehended and Brian was called to the police station. This real-life heroes and villains experience supposedly caused Brian to re-think Heroes and Villains and record new instrumental and vocal tracks in the last half of February for a longer 4 to 5 minute version of the single
* Perhaps the Boys felt SMiLE was a second "Brian" album and that he had gone back on his word; maybe they were stung by the accusations regarding their lack of involvement with their musical product [the Monkees were being accused of the same thing]. 
Overall, probably >10k of the current revision needs to be trimmed out.--Ilovetopaint (talk) 19:47, 1 April 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Some issues that should be addressed someday