Customer Reviews

Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Smile has taken on almost mythical status over the years. Rivers of ink have been spilled, speculating as to its exact content, its possible impact had it been released, and the circumstances that derailed the project, along with its creator's peace of mind, back in 1967.
In his new book, Smile historian numero uno Domenic Priore de-shrouds the myth and dispels decades of misinformation -- much of it PR spin spewed out by the Beach Boys organization-to deliver the real story of "Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece," from its inception in 1966 in the wake of Pet Sounds to its resurrection and final delivery almost 40 years later. The author based his work on interviews with all the main figures, including Van Dyke Parks and Wilson himself, along with an extensive archive of press material. The book includes forewords by both Wilson and Parks, plus a photo section, including many never before published shots.
Priore writes in a passionate but clear-headed style, placing Smile in the larger context of its time and place: the creative ferment of mid-`60s Los Angeles centered on the Sunset Strip. He emphasizes that the album was not, as many have claimed, the work of a troubled loner frying on acid in his living room sandbox, but rather a collaborative effort driven by a musical genius riding a tidal wave of creative inspiration that surged across Southern California in 1965-67.
The erudite Parks provides fascinating insight into the songwriting process of the team, the meanings behind his often elliptical lyrics, and the album's grand theme of Americana. The project's many recording sessions are also covered in detail, as is the creation of album's original cover art by Frank Holmes.
While it has often been stated that Smile was abandoned and that some of the tapes were even destroyed (by Wilson himself, in some kind of mad purge), Priore states that this is false. Smile was more or less finished by early 1967, he argues, but fell victim to political power plays by both the Beach Boys and Capitol Records, who effectively pulled the plug on the project, sending Brian into a tailspin that would last for several decades.
But Smile refused to die. Tracks from the album were doled out piecemeal to bolster various Beach Boys albums, while others leaked out on tapes and bootlegs. The quality of the music was undeniable, and the "lost masterpiece" gathered a cult following. As Priore explains in the aptly named chapter "An Underground Train," this growing fan-base kept the flame burning for Smile, through tape trading, fanzine and magazine articles, books (not the least of them being Priore's own Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! tome) and new Smile-inspired music by bands like Ant Bee, the High Llamas, Velvet Crush, Super Furry Animals and the Wondermints. The latter group would eventually become Wilson's backing band and musical collaborators, helping Brian rebuild his confidence and his career and ultimately leading him to revive Smile and deliver it to his fans.
All these decades later, the story of Smile has something nobody would have predicted: a happy ending. The title that once seemed cruelly ironic finally fits perfectly. Smile's time has come and this book has everything you need to know about it.

Domenic Priore had previously published a curious book called "Look Listen Vibrate Smile" which was in effect a scrapbook of press clippings from the sixties about the "Smile" album. For a while that messy, offbeat primary source collection stood as the only book completely devoted to the subject of the famous lost Beach Boys album, and as such it was woefully insufficient. It has long been hoped that 1.) Brian Wilson would finish his odd masterpiece album and that 2.) somebody would sit down and write a proper, readable, blow-by-blow account of the original album's making - its writing, recording, detailed contents, business wrangling, emotional crack-ups, etc. Hope number 1 was fulfilled in 2004. Hope number 2 has not been fulfilled (though at least Keith Badman's book "The Beach Boys - the definitive diary" gives us a solid chronological overview.) This Priore book is short, spotty and sycophantic. It does not deal with the making of the original album in enough significant detail, though it does address the songwriting aspect a little bit with a few choice quotes from Van Dyke Parks (that is, when you can decipher whatever the heck Van Dyke is trying to say. He really is a convoluted speaker.) The book is filled with the author's own quirky opinions and is not terribly well organized or written, nor does it support many of its assertions with confirmation from more than one source when possible. Most of Brian Wilson's own significant emotional problems and eccentricities are glossed over. Famous "Smile" anecdotes are ignored and not investigated. The photographs included are scant; one might hope for more, especially studio shots which are known to exist. Also absent are many memories and input from musicians who worked on the original album. Complicated matters such as the album's original sequencing vs. its 2004 sequencing are half-heartedly dealt with, and are not handled in a way that could be understood by the average reader. That said, anything to do with 'Smile' is of interest, and this is the first book to address the making of the 2004 version. It also includes a fine appendix of art work (in black and white) that was originally intended for the album's packaging. So, this isn't the one we've waited for, but it will have to do until that one comes. Priore seems to be a good, devoted fan but not the guy to write a proper, journalistic book.

Obviously many people expected a book in the vein of The Making of Pet Sounds, which was very good, but this is a different kind of book - much like Smile is a different kind of album. Pet Sounds has been for over 30 years my favorite album and will remain so, but Smile (in its original form) is a close contender. Count me among the many who have been patiently awaiting the "Smile Boxed Set" but were overjoyed that Brian finally finished it with the help of Van Dyke Parks. I saw the live show at Disney Concert Hall and it was incredible!
As to Domenic Priore's book, I believe it was essential to shed some background on the music and cultural scene of the times to contextualize the making of SMiLE. And it IS a fascinating story, well-told. It's too bad that Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston have chosen not to be interviewed about the project. That said, Priore has talked to lots of people involved in the original, as well as the principals, Brian and Van Dyke, and I HIGHLY recommend this book to any fan of Brian, the Beach Boys, and particularly SMiLE.

When the author, Domenic Priore, isn't presenting his own outrageous opinions as absolute fact, he's giving incorrect factual information. It also doesn't help that there are several sections in the book where the author exudes attitude and immaturity, such as his rather unnecessary use of the F word. He does know a lot about The Beach Boys, but his sense of context of the music world of the time is where most of his errors creep in. Many of his cases of citing one particular record as the inspiration for another are highly questionable (I'd wager something substantial that neither Roger Waters nor Paul McCartney ever told anyone their bass parts on "See Emily Play" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" were directly inspired by the bassline of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High," yet this book states they were.)

I wouldn't call this book a total bomb. It certainly presents some interesting quotes from the 'Smile' crew and scenesters of the day, but I urge any readers to be wary of any factual tidbits contained within. I personally would love to see noted rock writer Richie Unterbeger write about 'Smile.' He always has a keen sense of historical perspective, and is more trustworthy that Priore.

Trust me. I almost didn't purchase this because of the low average rating. After reading this book I am still baffled at the low rating. My review of the book is below, but first I want to correct some other reviewers:

One reviewer was complaining about Priore's book, saying that "Priore seems to be a good, devoted fan but not the guy to write a proper, journalistic book." Another review says that Priore "doesn't use factual information" - to both of these claims I will ask why would Brian Wilson AND Van Dyke Parks give their recommendation for this book if it is full of false information? I will also point out that the first paragraph in the 'Acknowledgements' section is FULL of the names of the people who DIRECTLY contributed to this book...this list includes Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks, Tony Asher, David Leaf, Chuck Britz, and many others.

As a consumer it irritates me when I see a blatant lie in an amazon review: 'Joe Shmo' writes "I'm not exaggerating by saying that most of the book has nothing to do with SMiLE itself." I respond by saying that the entire book is about SMiLE (hence the title). Sure, Priore gives background information on the Beach Boys and of the music scene in LA at the time, but this is VERY necessary for people not familiar with the starting of Psychedelia/Folk-Rock in LA. I'd say that 95% of the book deals directly with SMiLE.

If you actually read the book you will see how jaded many of these negative reviews are. I will say again that if you are even remotely interested in SMiLE ignore the majority of the negative reviews and check out this book.

On to my review:

Priore gives convincing arguments about the reasons for the non-release of SMiLE and Brian's mental breakdown. The book was a quick read for me: This was due to my interest in the subject matter, Priore's writing style, and the length of the book (it is a perfect length for a book on one album, at 190+ pages). As for Priore's writing style: he doesn't just lay out boring statistics and details, rather he tells a story. He covers both the 66/67 SMiLE as well as 'Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE' of 2004. The majority of the emphasis on 66/67 SMiLE.

Another great aspect about this book is Priore's multi-dimensional look at the entire SMiLE project: from the music, to the artwork, to the lyrics, Priore shows most sides of this project.

Now, I have some issues with this book: One, Priore doesn't seem to pay any mind to Brian's drug addictions (or just drug use period) and how this could have (or did) effect his work. I have listened to and read several interviews of Van Dyke Parks, and many others associated with SMiLE that say drugs had a great deal to do with this project. However, I can imagine that Priore saw that the majority of Brian Wilson Bio's and television features already covered this aspect of his life thoroughly, and it didn't need any more coverage - this is understandable. My second issue is that Priore doesn't pay much attention to the musicians who played the music in the original sessions. This is one thing I LOVED about 'Catch A Wave' by Peter Carlin was that he spent many-a-chapter talking about the importance of the wrecking crew. That seemed to be lacking in this book. However, none of these negative aspects (for me) really ruined the book.

If you are remotely interested in psychedelia music and/or the Brian Wilson's "teenage symphony to God" I 100% recommend getting this book.

There has been a lot of speculation about how SMiLE got lost, tied up with how Brian Wilson got "lost." It has become general knowledge in the music world that SMiLE was killed, and Brian's ability to work with his creation, The Beach Boys, was killed off by arguments over whether to stay with the top-20 hits formula. A formula which frankly had run out of gas in the paisley Summer of '66.

Domenic Priore had stumbled onto fragments of the music and story some years back, and started an agitation newsletter to try and kick the music loose and get it on the market. Failing that, he wanted to try and reconstruct the process, and get the sequence right for the underground, which was swapping bootleg fragments and whole movements from SMiLE. The faithful thought enough material was out that if they got the song sequence right, the mystical album that insiders had heard and loved would be availiable to them.

Priore ended up as a once-removed part of the little working group, including Darian Sahanaja of Wondermints, which had coalesced around Brian Wilson as he grew more confident in his life post-marriage, and that put the Brian Wilson Concerts machine together. And eventually, as wife Melinda Ledbetter pointed out to Brian, they had done well over half of the album life in concert anyway to great response from audiences, so why not return to his lost masterwork?

The book is a mix of outsider-in-awe looking back, and insider-helping-restore in the last chapters, as the twinkling magic of SMiLE came first to live audiences in 2004 in England, then to CD players and turntables everywhere. With the fifth leg of the SMiLE tour presently finishing up in Europe, it's a wonderful read for anybody who wanted to know how SMiLE... or The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album... or The Byrds... all clear derivatives of the musical fusion Brian was spreading among the top acts in the mid-60s worldwide... were created.

It's also a good read for a rainy day, provided you are able to get out and buy the SMiLE album (or DVD, to watch a concert presentation of the album) if you don't have it. You will want to, and it is highly recommended. In one year, it has gone top-30 on ultmatecharts.com, and was five star recommended by reviewers from Rolling Stone from, certainly, your local major-city newspaper. Best stuff out there today.

This book is impossible to read. It JUMPS AND JUMPS AND JUMPS aroud so much. I'm not exaggerating by saying that most of the book has nothing to do with SMiLE itself. Most of the book is about Beach Boys history and Brian. Not about the actual album. I know everything there is about Brian, I wanted to find out about the album and the creation. Barely anything written about it. My main critique is that it jumps around chronologically and off-topic. Hard to read. Not very interesting either. Nothing a Brian Wilson fan wouldn't know

Somewhere in the story of Smile many of us went from fans and obervers to participants in its remarkable 38 year saga. Domenic is one of those people. The story of Smile is one of human tragedy, renewal, and healing.Brian was blessed to have a group of fans who not only loved his music, but cared about HIM as a human being. Several people who startd out as fans ended up as a part of bringing Smile to fruition in 2004. I think Domenic's role in bringing the album to fruition is crucial. He tells the story here accurately and with a reverence for the music that displays his command of the scope of the work and its context.The fact of the matter is NO ONE has spoken to as many principles in the story as Domenic, and Van Dyke Parks has actively supported the book and its marketing. There are interpretations Domenic draws and inferences he makes that I do not agree with, but the big picture is accurate, and I recommend this book without reservation to anyone as a well done picture of the entire Smile Saga.

Despite all of its recent successes it would seem that Brian Wilson's & Van Dyke Parks' meisterwerk will forever be plagued by controversy and doubt, as some of the reaction to this book has proven. The author is a true authority on the subject matter from both a musical and cultural perspective and, despite some confusing passages and questionable theories, this book is an integral part of understanding the mythos of SMILE. Brian Wilson was not an isolated figure in 1966 - he was part of a much bigger musical collage that Priore does an excellent job of re-assembling. Many of the primary sources (lengthy interviews with Van Dyke Parks, Danny Hutton, etc.) are as important as any previous word on the matter. There are gaps to be sure, but one walks away with the impression that SMILE is truly a work-in-progress and that this book's intention was to tell not only the story so far, but also what has been revealed so far.

I consider myself a very hard core BW/BB fan having read every book that's been published on Brian Wilson & the Beach Boys. (starting with Tobler's book in 1979 to, most recently, Domenic's new book)

The greatest appeal of this book, to me, is the wealth of new information that is presented. Instead of a boring regurgitation of rehashed material, we have new insight to a very important part of some of our musical lives. Van Dyke's contribution and endorsement is enough for me. But, add to that Danny Hutton's and other participants/observers comments from that specific era, and I have a vivid picture that Domenic has helped to paint.

I was already a fan of Domenic via the "Dumb Angel Gazzette" and his contributions to projects like Ed Wincentsen's book on Dennis, but this book gives me all the tedious, wonderful details I crave not only from the original era but also Darian's incredible work and insight on the new project.

5 Stars & thank you Domenic for doing another project that I can enjoy again and again.