Worst Beach BOys Song on Smiley Smile - Part 12 in an Ongoing Series

the instrumental seems like the weakest but its hard for me to vote for that as the worst as it is a pretty bizarre and interesting composition

I'm tempted to say "Good Vibrations", because it doesn't fit and I never play it when I play this album

that is kinda true

I rarely listen to this one, not caring for the half-arsedness of many of the songs. Voted Little Pad. The instrumental is one of the highlights for me.

aw Little Pad is like a Martin Denny song!

It's one of my favourites! So hard to choose a worst track, I love all of them

"Veg" is a half-assed, recorded in 10 mins, rendition of the Smile track.

So, that.

If not for the goofy opening, "Little Pad" would be one of the most gorgeous, soothing things in the BB's catalogue. As it is, it's mostly soothing and kind of acid-fried. I love it.

I'm not a huge fan of this version of "Wind Chimes," tho...

"Veg" is a half-assed, recorded in 10 mins, rendition of the Smile track.

It's still great though

ohhhh yeah, forgot that this is the weird, stoned out of its mind version of "wind chimes." yeah totally, that is the one I like the least here. just knowing how lovely it is on the smile sessions .... xpost

But that bit at the end that you can hardly hear is beautiful and the fact that it's mixed so it's almost inaudible is so weird

alleged inspiration for the cover art:
http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~pex/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/rousseaudream.jpg

man there are definitely some flubbed bass notes in Vegetables, which is kinda ridiculous considering how simple the part is

well, this was the first record any of the beach boys actually played on for a couple years, right? i guess they were touring all that time ... but they weren't touring super high.

there is only one song I skip on this. and that's good vibrations there i said it

'little pad' is the only thing on this I listen to regularly. love it.

this is a good album, but there are more interesting versions of most of these songs elsewhere, so in 2009 I think it's kinda outlived its purpose.

I think I'm voting for 'gettin hungry'

I'm listening to it now and yeah its kinda shocking how *little* instrumentation is on it - the instrumentation is almost entirely Brian playing organ and piano, with the occasional guitar part from Carl (or Al?). And apart from H&V/GV there's no drums at all, just the occasional hand percussion. (lolz maybe drums were too loud for Brian's basement)

you're voting for "Getting Hungry" as the WORST song here? That song rocks!

yeah Getting Hungry is great.

I think I'm voting Whistle In - nothing particularly interesting or memorable about it, doesn't have any Smile-session bits appended or included in it, total throwaway.

If Good Vibes wins this... lol

was just listening to the Faces' version of 'Getting Hungry' -- a weird idea that works pretty well actually.

wind chimes is the worst by far. i would have no reservations about full-out loving the album if it weren't for that song, which makes me cringe every time it comes on. have to admit i considered voting for "she's goin bald" for like a split second as i was scrolling down the list.

I don't think getting hungry is actually bad, but I've never really loved the weird manly chant bb songs

in my mind that includes here comes the night + got to know the woman

this is a great record, I don't know why people hate on it. I mean I guess I do, they hate on it because it isn't Smile, but Smile didn't get finished and come out and this did, and this is pretty good.

like I said before, I think it's a good record, but if there are better versions of almost every song...what's the point?

Because these are the songs that were made available to buy in a shop?

people still do that?

Now this, this is my favourite Beach Boys album, and also my first studio album by them. So it was a rushed follow up and a poor replacement for what should have been Smile, so what? It's entertaining, psychedelic, dark, funny, and such a huge leap from what had come before (or what was to come after). If you consider the jump from Summer Days to Pet Sounds and compare that to the stylistic shift between PS and Smiley Smile, there's no competition.

So worst song? Very very very difficult. I'm tempted to say that the worst song is actually Good Vibrations. No, it's not a bad song at all, it's a very good song indeed, one of their best - but it just seems so crowbarred in there. This epic summer symphony in among all these spooky autumnal baubles, it just doesn't work and as usual interrupts the flow of the whole affair.

haha, i realise a lot of these points were made upthread.

Kind of tempted to vote for "Wind Chimes", which sounds tame and unfinished here and yet glorious om "sMiLe".

I dunno I think y'all that are rapping GV in this thread are misconstruing the point of the poll - since to call GV a qualitatively BAD song is kinda insane. It doesn't matter that it doesn't fit with this album (I agree it does not), but condemning it as a poor song alongside the likes of Student Demonstration Time, Lady Lynda, and How She Boogalooed It is just uhhhhh waht

I think saying that this album is redundant now that Smile is out misses the point entirely. Wind Chimes is so far removed from the Smile version it's basically another song, as is Wonderful and they work on their own merits. Wind Chimes especially - the eerie vocals do sound a bit dissonant like a lot of wind chimes can. I think this is one of my all time favourite albums.

Does anyone have a link to the original Smile bootleg, I don't think I can handle hearing the 2004 version any more.

Shakey - I can't fault this album other than Good Vibes is on it and that should have just been a single and that's that. IT's a good song but I don't wanna hear it on this, it's like a different band. If Student Demo Time had been recorded by a different band, it might not be so hated, but in context of Surf's Up it sucks.

dog latin: there are like a bazillion smile demos of these songs. I can link you to...some?

I'm not arguing that the 2004 version makes this redundant (tho I personally think 2004-smile > smiley smile) - I'm arguing that these are relatively boring (restrained?) versions of these songs in general.

I had one back in 2001-2002 which I downloaded from a site. It seemed fairly succinct and was basically what came out in 2004 but recorded back in the sixties, obviously. Sadly I played my CD-r of it to death. I think the site might have been called the Smile shop or something, but can't be sure.

I tell you what is redundant though, this big yellow book I have called "Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile!" by Domenic Priore which is mostly just tons of newspaper clippings about "Smile", but written before 2004 so there's loads of speculation about the ungeard tracks and various bootlegs. It looks beautiful on my bookshelf.

compare:

oops, one was supposed to be:

dog latin: here's a place where you can dl the above version

http://linear-zap-music.blogspot.com/2007/06/purple-chick-smile-mix.html

vs.

cheers iatee!

I thought the orthodoxy about Smiley Smile being a disappointing half-assed effort had been disposed of finally by the release of Smile in 2004. Smiley Smile is one of the most idiocyncratic and interesting albums of the 60s! Smile is either a bunch of unfinished demos or inauthentic cover version recorded 35 years after the fact. No version of Smile hangs together as well as Smiley Smile (the comments above about GV notwithstanding).

I dunno, I mean who's in charge of this orthodoxy? I mean 2004 Smile was super well received critically (http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/wilsonbrian/smile?q=smile) and the hardcore fanbase was pretty approving too - even though a lot of them prolly still listen to above-type recreations more often than the 2004 version.

No version of Smile hangs together as well as Smiley Smile

oh cmon

uh minus one 'I mean'

Smile never sounds particuarly "whole". Except the 2004 version but who would rep for that over an awesome "real" Beach Boys album like Smiley Smile?

Smiley Smile was always way underrated b/c of the context in which it was released. Taken on its own, it's a great, great album.

yeah, it's great -- but i don't think that it would stand up to any version of Smile. as noted above, the Smile Smiley versions of these songs are simply not as good! it's a total fact. and Smile would've included Cabinessence and Surf's Up (and a bunch of other good to great tracks). i enjoy smiley smile for what it it -- a low-key effort, with some beautiful music and some good times. but it's not a masterpiece, by any stretch.

otm-ness

a lot of it is pretty half-assed, let's just admit. that's part of the album's immense charm, but it is half-assed. DO NOT DENY IT.

this is soooo the geekiest argument I've been in for a while.

I dunno -- I've never thought of it as "half-assed." I think the textures and arrangements on "Little Pad," "With Me Tonight" and a few other tracks are among the most sublime Brian ever committed to tape.

the beach boys were not using their whole ass on this record

half-assed doesn't mean it's not good. (some parts of this album are so good *because* of being so.)

but I mean, if you consider the story of its creation, it's pretty hard to argue that this wasn't half-assed - if not artistically, at least historically.

kinda like the spanish american war

mike love vs. william randolph hearst

Citizen Love
http://www.wgn.net/~lenmark/assets/images/Mike_Love.jpg

his last words were "Wrinkles, I'll see you on the other side ..." What did he mean?

hahahahahaha

Ha-ha. This is indeed a geeky conversation. Whatever. I'm going to check out some other versions and I'll probably change my mind. I've never heard a lot of these bootlegs, apart from the principle Smile tracks. This should be good.

This is my favorite Beach Boys album. I love the loose, quirky, unfinished feel of it. It's like an avant-garde (but still accesible) version of Beach Boys' Party!

"Smiley Smile" was a bunch of unfinished demos that probably should never have been released, had it not been for the fact that the actual "Smile" was unavailable for release ever.

But it was still better than "Wild Honey", making it the best Beach Boys album of 1967 at least.

(And this was mainly because of "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes And Villains" - two glorious songs that save this album somewhat.

oh pfff

I'm not even that keen on Heroes & Villains, especially the version on Smiley Smile which (if I remember correctly) doesn't have the "You're under arrest" bit. It's something to do with the fact it's one of the few Brian songs that descend. The long verse phrasing sounds like it's slowly running out of breath, starting very enthusiastically and then slowly chugging down to a crunch.

I found my 'edit' of Smile (on cassette) a while ago, there's a great 7 min edit of "Heroes & Villains" on there.

Will have to upload it someday.

"Smiley Smile" was a bunch of unfinished demos that probably should never have been released

Balls. I'm going to vote "Good Vibrations" just to annoy Geir.

Feels a bit contrary to vote for Good Vibrations here but if I was going to vote I think thats the hook I'd land my hat on also

good vibrations by a landslide i bet.

It's like an avant-garde (but still accesible) version of Beach Boys' Party!

^^^this. and I agree about the half-assedness of this album being part of its charm - if one considers erm "using their whole ass" as involving meticulous studio arrangements, detailed compositions, multi-tracking multiple takes, etc. then its pretty clear that none of that is present. This is a bunch of guys singing along with Brian on the organ/piano and occasionally hitting a woodblock. That's about the extent of "complexity" on display.

As for the Smile vs. Smiley Smile angle - I've never listened to the 2004 Smile version and frankly I'm not particularly interested in it. The original versions available on bootleg are, in many ways, superior to the stuff that shows up here - Heroes and Villains, Wonderful, and Vegetables in particular were all more fully realized and compelling in their Smile versions. The Smiley Smile versions are still fun in a laid-back avant-garde minimalist way, but better...? eh, that's pushing it.

i enjoyed the 2004 Smile OK, but for me it's just another piece of the Smile puzzle. In fact, that's what I kinda like about Smile geekery in general -- there's no definitive version, it's all conjecture and guesswork, in terms of song versions, tracklistings, mixing, etc. it's a fun collage of possibilities. it IS nuts that they still haven't gotten around to releasing a Smile Sessions box set, but as is perhaps evident from these polls, the Beach Boys is some crazy motherfuckers.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

There's loads of "Smile" bits on the BB Box set.

I wonder if that "Heroes and Villains" take 1 which is in actuality, part of the 'fire' suite, was mistitled on purpose to get it past Brian.

If it was, that was quite a trick they pulled on Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE then...

"Honest, it's a 60 minute suite based on the theme from "Shortnin' Bread""

There's loads of "Smile" bits on the BB Box set.
yeah, and that's great, but it's really just scratching the surface of those sessions. Just seems like more than 40 years later, the Beach Boys would finally be able to just go ahead and put all of that stuff out -- obviously there's interest. But nooooooo, what the world really needs is a comp of Beach Boys car songs. Mike Love is almost certainly to blame.

there's so much unreleased stuff of theirs in general - I imagine a lot of it won't come out until everyone involved is dead

mike love almost certain to outlive us all

I just pulled down a ton of bootlegs from them online -- and got an entire set ("Psychedelic Sounds") of "George Fell Into His French Horn"-type skits Brian did with his crew of friends (the ones the other BB's hated) and the musicians for inclusion in Smile. Pretty interesting stuff.

yeah that Warnakey guy has awful lot... altho if you cross-check his posts with that link someone else posted of unreleased Beach Boys songtitles there's still quite a lot missing (I would be very curious to hear the Fred Vail album, for ex)

I had a triple LP which had a scenario on side six: They all sat in a room, in a rowing boat (imaginary or real, I don't know), and they had to vote out somebody. They voted Mike Love off, and most of the rest of the track consists of ML abusing them from outside the door, to great laffing.

When the first series of Big Brother was announced, I said "Oh, I've got that on an album by the Beach Boys", and everyone assumed I'd misheard what had been described....

mike love almost certain to outlive us all

yes, but is his life even worth living without the one he loves?

Am I the only one who loves this version of Wind Chimes is the ultimate and all the others are so prim they sound like they're being sung at a church camp?

sounds like my kinda church camp

Like in the Smiley Smile one he sounds genuinely distressed and heartbroken that 'though it's hard, I try not to look at my....wind chimes..." and in the 'proper' one it's just some words that are there to have lyrics in the song.

He's just got so damn much malaise about those wind chimes!

I'm with you Abbott

Brian sounds oddly affable/functional in that interview

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

oh fuck off

There's a big diff between 'worst song' and 'most notable outlier'!

lol results

There's a big diff between 'worst song' and 'most notable outlier'!

yeah I tried to say that upthread (I think) but really who of you 7 actually think GV is a BAD song...? If you're gonna be all challopsy then bring the supporting arguments to back it up

I'd imagine it'd win 'best song' too

Gettin Hungry is one of my favs from that album too!

I loved it, but I loved it more when (for years) I thought they were singing "I'm getting hungry – hungry for MAC-A-RONI!"

bah, I forgot to vote for "Wonderful." most of the leftover Smile tracks ("Wind Chimes," "Vegetables," "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow") respond well to the druggy/shambolic Smiley Smile treatment, because they were already pretty goofy even in their squeaky-clean original incarnations. but the Smile version of "Wonderful" is so stately and sweet and earnest, it totally loses the plot when it's recreated with studio chatter and a drowsy organ line in place of the glorious harpsichord & backing vox. it's kinda like making a copy of the Ghent Altarpiece with pizza boxes and gel pens, then hiding the original work in a warehouse for a few hundred years until only serious art buffs remember what it used to look like. it's a cute gag, but a teenage symphony to god doesn't deserve to be reduced to a punchline.

(I don't mean to sound too butthurt here)

The punchline is adulthood.

oh

well

lol!

Voting for "Good Vibrations" on the basis that it has nothing to do with the rest of the album and sticks out like a sore thumb, plus you've heard a billion times before anyway, is no more ridiculous to me than saying I don't like Song A because Song A was done much better on an album that was never released or else leaked out 30 years later.

It also sticks out on my mix of "Smile" to be honest.

Just listened to this again, first time in a while - this is a really interesting and ultimately very strange album. In some ways I can't believe Capitol released it. It's almost a capella, super slow, weird vocal effects, ultimately very dark and creepy. Much further out than the Stones or Beatles in 1967, if in a completely different way. Beyond "Heroes and Villans" and "Good Vibrations" there isn't a song that would have been played on pop radio in a million years.