The Great Music Thread!!!!

'tis the season in the Land of Pleasant Living.

 
Replays: Brian Wilson's Smile

"Smile"
was an interesting historical fulcrum. Brian Wilson ("The Beach Boy") worked on it a long time. He thought it was ready, so he sent out some copies to some people who were impressed by it. That included Lennon and McCartney of "The Beatles", who were impressed by it (confirmed by George Martin). But then, apparently Brian delayed the release, and it did not come out until Sgt Pepper's. The Beatles were praised for bringing out the first album based on a full overarching structure. Some people claim that this idea was Brian Wilson's. Actually, I felt the idea was the natural progression of what was going on in album designs. The order that songs were arranged and which songs were included was increasingly important, and long musical compositions were there from the beginning. Longer form classical music?, Songs from musicals? They were all "pop" music at one time or another. Both albums were good and so were the component songs. For me, that counted.

As for "Smile" itself, oddly, I had never actually hear the whole album as a single piece before. It was one of those random chance things. I could not afford many records per year and "Smile" got put off until it was no longer a priority for me. I recently found this performance on YouTube. This is actually a 2005 performance, and having heard it, I think I would say that I still have not heard the whole album played as a unit, because this live performance, has some changes and is not really the same as the original album. But I am happy to have heard it in this form for now. NOTE: It is NOT "the Beach Boys". It is Brian Wilson:

"Brian Wilson - SMiLE live",
posted Jan 26, 2013 by "Sweven", [Length 51:55]
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