What If The Beach Boys Released "SMiLE"?

In today's video, we are chatting about SMiLE again! What are your thoughts?
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[@ronfowlermusic]

I'm glad we got Smiley Smile. Weird as it is, I love it! I always seem to find myself singing "if I only had a little pad in Hawaii". Love Friends and Wild Honey, too.

[@Giggens]

Smiley rulesssss!

[@ronfowlermusic]

@@Giggens I'm glad we have both, even if Smile was never quite completed.

[@WhisperinWinds67]

I still think Brian would’ve became the recluse he was in the early 70s, though maybe less extremely. I think some of the public might’ve been critical, and the reception of the public was extremely important to Brian at that time

[@Giggens]

He was always going through alot!

[@denniswood1437]

There is a Canadian rock/pop writer who stated that Smile was pretentious and boring and if released would have sunk to the bottom of the charts. I reacted to his blog by stating that any album with "Good Vibrations", "Heroes & Villains", "Cabin Essence", "Wonderful" & Surf's Up" would have been great and would have still been top 20 despite being so avant-garde & advanced. He literally blocked me from his blog for my disagreeing with him. By what we now know with the Smile Sessions box set, it would have been successful. The hippies would have loved the new look & music of the Beach Boys if they introduced Smile at Monterrey in June of 1967.

[@ms8596]

Totally agree. Before it was announced that Smile was being shelved, the band was on top in the US and UK. The "buzz" was out there. Surf's Up reinforced it once aired on the Bernstein CBS Special in April '67. It was also close enough to the arc of Good Vibrations being #1 in the charts (Oct '66) whereas by the time Smiley Smile came out, Good Vibrations was a year old. (Smiley Smile, as Carl put it, was "a bunt instead of a grand slam.") Cancelling on Monterrey was HUGE! Closely after the announcement Smile is being shelved, you pull out of a major happening. Could they have played Smile onstage? In the context of 1967, they could have been early in what became the norm within a year or two - augmenting the regular band with backing players. As it was, members of the Wrecking Crew were already playing there to augment any act that didn't have a band. Heck, they knew Brian's music.

[@marcofalzone6469]

What was the average set length of bands at Monterey pop?

[@paladin1726]

Absolutely. There's three chart hits in that group, and then the deep cuts would've made this a top album. Wind Chimes, Mrs. O'Leary's Cow, Cabinessence, Wonderful are great songs for trippin. Who doesn't love Vege-tables? A lot of trippy, a lot of catchy, and great radio songs as well. You got blocked for being correct.

[@Giggens]

Can't believe that person blocked you, so lame!

[@CzarofMudkipz]

I still think Wild Honey and Friends would’ve come out. Even if SMiLE was a huge success, I think there was too much internal struggles with the band and wanting to be more collaborative. My theory is that Carl would finish SMiLE for late 1967 before Christmas. Just piecing together what Brian has done, maybe adding some vocals here and there. He was the member that would participated the most in the sessions and allow that transition forward to create a more collaborative environment.

[@Giggens]

Would have been great to see Carl finish it!

[@lamontsouth5301]

Good Question..Giggens..... I think Smile would have been a top 20 hit....but wouldn't be appreciated until years later, just like Pet Sounds. Nobody cared about Pet Sounds until the 90's. The incredible songs like Surf's Up, Cabinessence, Wonderful, the complete Heroes and Villians, and the other music wouldn't have been appreciated at the time, like it is now. Too bad most people just want a tune they and hum or whistle to without taking the time to really understand and appreciate the music. Thanks. Lamont

[@Giggens]

Great comment!

[@kevystead]

In my opinion. I think there would have been a fairly equal split between the public. A lot would have been YEA, and A lot NAH. I'm just glad to have come across it in the early 2000's and I went down the rabitt hole from there.

[@Giggens]

I hear ya!

[@skitcentral.]

My theory is: If Brian stopped taking drugs and let Carl work the tracks, Released Heroes and Villians on January 13 1967, Smile on January 15 1967 using the ORIGINAL TRACKLISTING making Vega-Tables as Earth and Wind Chimes as Air on Brian's Handwritten Note. they would have still become THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD...Until Strawberry Fields Forever and Sgt Pepper Came Out making The Beatles the Best Band in the World Again. Then they would make Smiley Smile with other tracks, Perform at the Monterey Pop Festival, Make Lei'd in Hawaii, Wild Honey and Friends and just be the best band in America. Simple as that.

[@Giggens]

I can dig it!

[@christiandoll4435]

I like Beach Boys. However I don't think it would've mattered. The Association played Monterey.

[@marcofalzone6469]

Good point. That would've been sooo messed up if they dissed the beach boys and learned GV then PERFORMED it😂

[@paladin1726]

Association played some great songs (Enter the Young, Along comes Mary, Windy) but the Beach Boys could've blown them out of the water with a more diverse setlist.

[@jameswatson5370]

Normally you would think that Brian would feel pressure to now have to top Smile if it had been a big success, but the way things played out, luckily for him, the production race would end the next year in time for a new album. Stripped back albums by eg. the Band, Stones, Beatles, and Dylan would have alleviated the pressure to top Smile. Of course, Brian was one of the main instigators of the stripped back approach with Smiley Smile, so maybe he would have just done a Wild Honey or Friends style album next regardless.

[@Giggens]

Very true!

[@SaxonsSidepiece]

Hello everyone, Giggthony Enstano here

[@Giggens]

Hello!

[@AlexHolmes.]

I can imagine there would be a movement/ slogan similar to the ‘Elvis is dead, Long live the Beatles’ I have a feeling people in downtown burbank would be wearing shirts that said ‘We don’t want to meet Sgt Pepper all we want to do is SMiLE’ or something like that ahaha

[@Giggens]

Hahaha!

[@MARCUSSINGLETARY]

Would have been risky. The Burbank cops are pretty tough nowadays. I can't even imagine what they would have been like back then, when the longhairs were outnumbered by the squares in LA.

[@morrits3969]

Not being at monterey was one of the biggest mistakes in their career. If they performed back then and released Smile in early 1967, they perhaps wouldnt have lost their audience. The fact that Heroes and Villains went to #12 a whole year after Good Vibrations is a sign they still had a bit of goodwill, since the song doesnt sound like a hit, but it was too little too late. If released in early 1967 both the album and the single wouldve hit top 10, but nowhere near Sgt Pepper. It was psychedelic, but it was never gonna be as hip

[@Giggens]

Well said!

[@nathanreiber6819]

WOW. Noones ever asked this question before?!

[@repete5411]

I don't see any standalone song on Smile able to match Good Vibrations as a hit on the radio. It's just a different format that would not be suitable for radio. I don't think Vega-Tables would have been a smash as a single. The only other song i possibly can see work as a standalone single is Wind Chimes. So it's hard to see it work commercially. I think the album would have had a slow climb to the top. It would get there, but not as an instant smash. Brian was done for after the smile sessions. I can't see him working instantly on a new album after that even if it had been released. Don't think it would have been physically possible. But after the slow climb to appreciation for Smile i think Brian Wilson would have worked on more thematic and spiritual albums like smile, and worked his way back to a more commercial combination like Good Vibrations.

[@Giggens]

Well said!

[@mike04574]

Didn’t know This guy had a channel

[@Giggens]

He does!

[@cherrybombcoffee]

Just not far enough in the mixing. It would've been epic. Listening to the complete Sessions/extensive bootlegs. Monterey could have worked out and been the closest to complete renditions for unreleased songs.

[@Giggens]

Wouldve been awesome!

[@MARCUSSINGLETARY]

It wouldn't have changed much. The style of music would have gone out of style either way, and they still would have morphed into a "roots rock" group because of the direction commercial music took. It's not like they were playing much of this era's material in the '70s, when they were touring with Chicago, and beyond. Yes, it would have been a success. No, they wouldn't have been playing the material much on "greatest hits" tours.

[@Giggens]

I hear that!

[@paladin1726]

We have to finish the set list with a song everyone knows and one that's really upbeat and with the times, and that means Good Vibrations finishes the set. Let's say we have 9 songs, which is among the most played at Monterey Pops. Gotta focus on the introspective while showing off how the Beach Boys understand the times. SET LIST: Wouldn't It Be Nice When I Grow Up or I Know There's an Answer Our Prayer + Heroes and Villains In the Back of My Mind (to put Denny on the Mic) CabinEssence That's Not Me God Only Knows Surf's Up performed by Brian behind the piano Good Vibrations So many great highlights to this set that people will be talking about for decades to come, especially Brian's Surf's Up. The strangeness of Cabinessence, H&V and Surf's Up will show that the Beach Boys are still creating gold. In the Back of My Mind/When I Grow Up will give people another look at Today, and they need to give a better listen to Pet Sounds as well. Free Lovers and Brooders should love Pet Sounds.

[@WhisperinWinds67]

I think wonderful would fit better than cabinessence

[@paladin1726]

@@WhisperinWinds67 I appreciate that, but I don't think it's a good concert song. And it's one of my favorite BB songs with excellent lyrics. Cabinessense cranks during the chanting. and the layers of singing is very appealing for a concert.

[@Giggens]

Awesome set list!

[@jccoimbra6120]

I know its very controversial, but i think Smile is uneven. Some of my favorite songs in the world are there but a good portion of it i just skip.Not in my top 5 Beach Boys albums

[@Giggens]

Interesting!