Sure, the "East Coast girls are hip" and the southern girls have a beguiling way of speaking. Certainly, the midwest girls have learned a few things watching the farm animals, and the northern girls, having nothing better to do and having extra padding, know how to keep a guy warm. But if you could move them all to Southern California you'd see a transformation! Darker, lighter and lighter is the way it ought to be, the way it's got to be! The Beach Boys don't travel to the babes, the babes come to them. (David Lee Roth found this image hilarious: we'll transform this nation! In his version of the song, the vocals rise to a crecendo of hometown boosterism and visions of endless miles of streamlined, color-coordinated nymphettes, forever young, forever nubile.)
Don't take the Boys wrong, though. They know that it's all a joke. You can hear them smiling as they sing. It's a nice fantasy though, like a Budlight commercial.
By 1966, Brian figured he'd join the psychedelic generation where he could disguise his adult expressions in the jargon of peace, love, understanding, flowers and "Good Vibrations." The story of the six months in the studio (studios - they recorded in four) and the fanatical perfectionism with which Brian attacked his "3 Minute Symphony" is well known. What isn't often discussed is the why.
Early in his career, Brian used the surf-youth culture as his theme upon which to make music that would be popularly successful and pleasing to himself. He felt restricted in the latter in order to maintain the former. The growing gap was driving him, quite literally, insane. To top it all off, the Beatles, his only real peers, had just released the baroquely ornate and rapturously received Sgt. Pepper album.
"I can top that. I can put together an even better album that will confirm once and for all that I am not only their equal, I am their superior. I have this handicap. I must remain a child. That's all they will accept from me, even my own brothers and cousin want children's stories. I'll show them. I can get hip to this psychedelic lingo. I've taken acid, too. My Mother used to always talk about vibrations - how dogs and animals could pick up on fear and stuff. Why not people too?"
Mike was into it. He was a psychedelic guy himself, always ready for something new. Anything to stay young and take his mind off of his hair, or vice versa.
The song took all Brian had. By the time he finished "Good Vibrations" he was drained emotionally, physically, mentally and artistically. The proposed album, Smile, fell apart. Brian destroyed the master tapes. "Good Vibrations" was great, but was it worth it? Probably not. It would have been preferable to have a sane Brian Wilson for the next 20 years.
Article comments
1 - Emily
Great post, Eric! FYI, California has recently granted permission to mark the childhood home of the Wilsons in Hawthorne, CA an official state landmark, even though the home was dozed over a decade ago to make way for the 105 freeway.
2 - Eric Olsen
thanks Emily, I really appreciate the kind words and that's great news about the Hawthorne home and its famous garage, which no longer exist
3 - Eric Olsen
Update - a mini-film about the making of Smile is now available above, check it out.
4 - riley moriarty
There was talk that a recording of the smiLE concert from carnegie hall 10/12 or 13 may be available through NonSuch Records. Do you have any information on that?
5 - Eric Olsen
Riley, I don't see anything about it yet on Brian's site