What lingers as the real tragedy of Smile Smile is what could have been at the time. Between the finally released version of Smile and the sessions to follow, Brian Wilson had something beautiful. Would it have rivalled Pet Sounds? With the likes of Heroes and Villains on there, quite possibly. But The Beach Boys were adamant about making the times move for them, rather than with the overhaul of sound at the time. It is what left them playing catch-up soon after the turn of the 1970s, after Surf’s Up. Their acapella-like creations were just not hot. But where else could they go? Smiley Smile has a barbershop style to it and the result is a charming, frustratingly close-to-great, piece of work. Hindsight is everything for a release like Smiley Smile.
Complexity opens and closes Smiley Smile but something is lost in-between. Those luxurious string sections and formidable instrumental sections which were expanded on decades after the release of Smiley Smile are intermittent. It is how far you are willing to go in accepting the unique stretch of creative flavours from Wilson that will limit listeners. Chomping on vegetables on the aptly titled Vegetables hints at some light fun but the depths of its layering, of its dedication to such a light feel, are powerful. It makes for a neat bit of joy before the oddly sinister and heart-pounding follow-up, Fall Breaks and Back to Winter. This must be where the stoner image comes from. Hear this too loud and a bad trip is inevitable. A darker edge can be heard in Smiley Smile which is not played up as much on later releases of the same work.
Yet here the dark clangs are of a 1950s sci-fi variety. From the alien noises and TV advertisement sounds of She’s Goin’ Bald, The Beach Boys set about offering their listeners a feverish experience but back out after Little Pad for the familiar touches of Good Vibrations. The standout song of Smiley Smile and it fits in with the theme so well. Those cosmic vibrations, the feel for someone of friendly intent like a dog sniffing out an exciting new experience, begin the B-Side brilliantly. It is a step away from the psychedelic rapture of the preceding tracks but does continue the trend. This is a Wilson-led exploration. A bold push as he speaks not to someone in his life but you, the listener. Wind Chimes is the dark horse of Smiley Smile, a quacking and raving scattershot of instrumentals before a slow and somewhat forgettable end.
Smiley Smile will forever hang over The Beach Boys and their fans as one of the greatest “what could have been” moments. It would likely not have propelled them to mega stardom but perhaps their future was a little brighter with Wilson in full creative control. He would not have made a NASCAR-themed album, after all. Or maybe he would have. He had a knack in the 1960s for finding the source of the future, the sounds which people would obsess over for years to come. While he may have had to fight to bring this to listeners of the time, his efforts were not futile. Smiley Smile is an exceptional taster session of the album to come, of what Wilson would finally get a chance to complete decades later.
Excellent review of Smiley Smile. I love the album, and prefer it to Smile. The albums that follow Wild Honey, Friends, 2020 and Sunflower are also excellent from an era of Beach Boys brilliance.