Billboard.com
m.billboard.com
It's an event that pop music fans have been waiting for since the Summer of
Love: Capitol Records is planning to release the Beach Boys' great lost album,
"Smile," later this year.
Two longtime Beach Boys associates -- engineer Mark Linett and archivist Alan
Boyd -- are co-producing the release, which Capitol has titled "The Smile
Sessions."
The project will be released in three versions: a two-CD set, an iTunes LP
digital album and a limited-edition boxed set containing four CDs, two vinyl
LPs, two vinyl singles and a 60-page hardbound book written by Beach Boys
historian Domenic Priore.
Q&A: Engineer Mark Linett Talks "Smile" Release
"The Smile Sessions" is being released with the support of the band, including
Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson. Wilson wasn't immediately available for an
interview but he expressed his excitement about the release in a statement
released through Capitol.
"I'm thrilled that the Beach Boys' original studio sessions for 'Smile' will be
released for the first time, after all these years," Wilson said. "I'm looking
forward to this collection of the original recordings and having fans hear the
beautiful angelic voices of the boys in a proper studio release."
Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
"The Smile Sessions" doesn't yet have a specific release date, with Capitol
saying only that it will arrive later this year. That will inevitably spark
skepticism among long-suffering fans who've had their hopes dashed before. When
Warner Bros. Records signed the Beach Boys to a record deal in 1970, part of
the label's interest in the group was rooted in its hopes of releasing "Smile."
Linett, who has engineered Beach Boys reissues for more than two decades,
recalls going through the "Smile" tapes as early as 1988. And in 1995, Capitol
told Billboard that it was preparing to release a three-CD compilation
tentatively titled "The Smile Era" for release in August of that year. But that
set never saw the light of day.
"The major thing in the past, I don't think we had support from all the band,
and now we do," says Bill Gagnon, GM/senior VP of catalog marketing at EMI
Music North America. "All parties are supporting it coming out. Everybody is
onboard now."
Also backing the project are the related rights-holders. Capitol owns "The
Smile Sessions" master recordings, with publishing rights controlled by
Universal Music Group's Rondor Music, the Beach Boys' own Brother Records and,
depending on which tracks are included on the final release, Wilson himself.
Since "Smile" was never completed, what exactly will be issued? Linett says the
goal is to present "the whole piece as close to as it was envisioned, or as is
envisioned, as possible . . . and obviously with input from Brian and from
everybody else."
Linett is a better judge than most, having recorded and mixed the critically
acclaimed 2004 version of "Smile" that Wilson recorded with his road band for
Nonesuch.
Although a track listing hasn't been finalized, Linett says he expects that an
approximation of the original "Smile" album will occupy one CD or three sides
of vinyl, with session outtakes and studio chatter occupying the rest of each
version of the release.
"When you say 'album,' it presupposes everything was recorded and finished, and
that's not the case," he says. "We have gaps where we are missing some vocal
parts. But all the music was recorded, which is heartening." All of the vocals
were recorded by the Beach Boys, usually at the same time around the same mic,
including the lead vocal, Linett says. The music was mostly played by the
Wrecking Crew, the legendary group of Los Angeles session musicians that played
on numerous Beach Boys hits, although some "Smile" tracks feature Carl Wilson
on guitar and Dennis Wilson on drums, Linett says.
Linett says Wilson's 2004 "Smile" album has served as a blueprint for the
current project, which will be mixed in mono because that's how Wilson‹who's
deaf in his right ear‹intended it. But Linett adds that other selections from
the 30 hours of "Smile" session recordings will more than likely be issued in
stereo.
"Some of these questions are hard to answer because not only haven't we
assembled them yet, this has to be played for Brian and the other members of
the group to see what kind of input they have," he says. "Just because Brian
did it the way he did it in 2004 [doesn't mean] he won't say, 'Well, let's add
"You're Welcome," ' which was the B-side on the 'Heroes and Villians' single."
"The main thing I am getting from everybody, after waiting 40 years to have it
officially released, is, 'We want to make sure it is right,' " Linett says.
But is there any doubt surrounding the project this time around? "No," Gagnon
says. "It's coming out."
Original Page:
http://m.billboard.com/news/beach-boys-lost-smile-album-to-see-release-1005070202.story
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