Look (Song for Children)

Last updated
"Look (Song for Children)"
Song by the Beach Boys
from the album The Smile Sessions
ReleasedOctober 31, 2011 (2011-10-31)
RecordedAugust 12, 1966 (1966-08-12) –1971
Studio Western and Beach Boys, Los Angeles
Length2:31
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s) Brian Wilson
Producer(s) Brian Wilson
Licensed audio
"Look (Song for Children)" on YouTube
"Song for Children"
Song by Brian Wilson
from the album Brian Wilson Presents Smile
ReleasedSeptember 28, 2004 (2004-09-28)
Recorded2004
Studio Sunset Sound, Hollywood
Length2:16
Label Nonesuch
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Brian Wilson
Licensed audio
"Song for Children" on YouTube

"Look" (also known as "I Ran" and "Untitled Song #1") is an incomplete musical piece that was composed by American musician Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys' aborted Smile album. Wilson produced the backing track at the start of the Smile sessions in August 1966. It is theorized that a missing session tape may have contained a vocal track that he recorded with his bandmates in October.

Contents

In 2004, Wilson rerecorded the track as "Song for Children", with new lyrics written by Van Dyke Parks, for his album Brian Wilson Presents Smile , where it segues between the songs "Wonderful" and "Child Is Father of the Man". The 2011 compilation The Smile Sessions included a version of the original Beach Boys recording with additional vocals sampled from their 1971 song "Surf's Up".

Background

"Look" was one of the earliest pieces recorded during the Smile sessions. Musicologist Philip Lambert speculated that some parts of the music possibly evolved from one of the riffs in "Good Vibrations". [1]

Recording

The instrumental track for "Look" was recorded on August 12, 1966 at Western studio. It was titled "Look" on the tape box, but on the AFM sheet, it was logged as "Untitled Song #1" with a runtime of 2:16. The instrumentation featured upright bass, vibraphones, keyboard, French horn, guitars, organs, trombone and woodwind. Take 20 was marked as best. [2]

Capitol Records documentation suggests that, on October 13, all six Beach Boys were involved in a vocal overdubbing session for the track, now logged as "I Ran (Formerly Untitled Song #1)" with a 3:10 runtime. Writing in The Smile Sessions liner notes, Craig Slowinski said that "a tape from that session has not turned up in a search of the Capitol and BRI vaults." [3]

In November, journalist Tom Nolan wrote about Wilson in The Los Angeles Times West:

He has this great self-taught approach to music, which Barney Kessel calls “kind of a Stone-Age-Man approach,” so that every now and then he will do something that makes these veteran guys snicker behind his back, like saying to the engineer: "That trumpet over there should be a little louder; the one with the – what is that, a mute?" Or someone will point out to him that the four bars which he thought was a traditional vamp is actually from Twelfth Street Rag, which is copyright material. "That’s all right," he’ll say, "I’ll pay for it. You know I don’t steal." [4]

"Song for Children"

Wilson rerecorded "Look" as "Song for Children" for his 2004 version of Smile. According to Darian Sahanaja, during the album's assembly, "I was moving things around in Pro Tools, putting things together to show Brian. I dropped 'Wonderful' next to 'Look', and we listened to it. Brian's eyes lit up, and he said 'That's it! That's how we'll do it!'" [5]

After Van Dyke Parks joined the project, "Look" was renamed to "Song for Children", and Parks provided lyrics to further establish connections with other tracks on the album, especially those within the second movement. The track serves as the link between "Wonderful" and "Child Is Father of the Man", thus being the second track of the album's second movement. In this version, the "Twelfth Street Rag" section is not performed. [1]

Personnel

Per band archivist Craig Slowinski. [3]

The Beach Boys

Session musicians (later known as "the Wrecking Crew")

Related Research Articles

<i>Smiley Smile</i> 1967 studio album by the Beach Boys

Smiley Smile is the 12th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on September 18, 1967. Conceived as a simpler and more relaxed version of their unfinished Smile album, Smiley Smile is distinguished for its homespun arrangements, "stoned" aesthetic, and lo-fi production. Critics and fans generally received the album and its lead single, "Heroes and Villains", with confusion and disappointment. The album reached number 9 on UK record charts, but sold poorly in the US, peaking at number 41—the band's lowest chart placement to that point.

<i>20/20</i> (The Beach Boys album) 1969 studio album by US band The Beach Boys

20/20 is the 15th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released February 10, 1969 on Capitol Records. The LP was named for being their 20th overall release when factoring in live albums and compilations. Much of 20/20 consists of outtakes from earlier albums. It reached number 3 on UK record charts and number 68 in the U.S. Brian Wilson was absent during most of the album's recording after admitting himself into a psychiatric hospital, requiring brothers Carl and Dennis to retrieve several outtakes he had recorded years earlier. While Brian does not appear on the front cover, the inner gatefold of the original vinyl release features him alone, behind an eye examination chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heroes and Villains</span> 1967 single by the Beach Boys

"Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile and their unfinished Smile project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Wilson envisioned the song as an Old West-themed musical comedy that would surpass the recording and artistic achievements of "Good Vibrations". The single was Brother Records' first release. While it failed to meet critical and commercial expectations, it was a hit record, peaking at number 12 in the U.S. and number 8 in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Help Me, Rhonda</span> 1965 song by the Beach Boys

"Help Me, Rhonda" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys, appearing first on their 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! and subsequently in re-recorded form on the following 1965 album Summer Days . It was written by Brian Wilson, with additional lyrics by Mike Love. Unlike many other songs by the band from this period, "Help Me, Rhonda" features a lead vocal sung by Al Jardine.

"Let's Go Away for Awhile" [sic] is an instrumental by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. It was composed and produced by Brian Wilson, and performed by uncredited session musicians later known as the Wrecking Crew. The track is the first of two instrumentals that appear on the album, the other being its title track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surf's Up (song)</span> Song written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks for the Beach Boys

"Surf's Up" is a song recorded by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks. It was originally intended for Smile, an unfinished Beach Boys album that was scrapped in 1967. The song was later completed by Brian and Carl Wilson as the closing track of the band's 1971 album Surf's Up.

"Wonderful" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile and their unfinished Smile project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, it was their only collaboration that resulted in a love song, telling the story of a young girl's sexual awakening and its disruption of her devotion to God and her parents.

"Our Prayer" is a wordless hymn by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1969 album 20/20 and their never-finished Smile project. Composed by Brian Wilson, it was originally planned to be the introductory track on Smile. He later rerecorded the piece for his 2004 version of Smile in medley with the 1953 doo-wop standard "Gee".

"Wind Chimes" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile and their unfinished Smile project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, it was inspired by wind chimes hanging outside Wilson's home and was one of the first pieces tracked for the Smile sessions.

"With Me Tonight" is a song written by Brian Wilson for the American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on their 1967 album Smiley Smile. The piece has been characterized as "psychedelic doo wop" and the similar descriptor "do it yourself acid casualty doo-wop".

"She's Goin' Bald" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile. It was written by Brian Wilson, Mike Love, and Van Dyke Parks. Like many of the songs on that album, it has roots in the abandoned Smile album, as the short song "He Gives Speeches". Both compositions follow the "How Dry I Am" progression.

"Vegetables" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile and their unfinished Smile project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, the song was conceived by Wilson as a tongue-in-cheek promotion of organic food. Another reported inspiration for the song was a humorous comment Wilson heard about the effect of marijuana turning him and his friends into a "vegetative" state.

"Let Him Run Wild" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1965 album Summer Days . Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it was issued as the B-side to "California Girls".

"Fire" is an instrumental by American musician Brian Wilson that he originally composed for the Beach Boys' never-finished album Smile. Named after Catherine O'Leary and the Great Chicago Fire, the track was originally conceptualized as part of "The Elements", a four-part movement based on the four classical elements: Air, Fire, Earth, and Water. Wilson's friends, family, and colleagues later referred to its recording as heralding his period of psychosis and the unraveling of the Smile project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You're Welcome (song)</span> 1967 single by The Beach Boys

"You're Welcome" is a song written by Brian Wilson for American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on July 24, 1967 as the B-side of the "Heroes and Villains" single. It later appeared as a bonus track on the compilations Smiley Smile/Wild Honey (1990) and The Smile Sessions (2011).

<i>The Smile Sessions</i> 2011 compilation album and box set by the Beach Boys

The Smile Sessions is a compilation album and box set recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on October 31, 2011, by Capitol Records. The set is the follow-up to The Pet Sounds Sessions (1997), this time focusing on the abandoned recordings from the band's unfinished 1966–1967 album Smile. It features comprehensive session highlights and outtakes, with the first 19 tracks comprising a hypothetical version of the completed Smile album.

"Do You Like Worms?" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their unfinished album Smile. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, the song is about the recolonization of the American continent and contains references to the Sandwich Islands and "Bicycle Rider Back" playing cards. None of the lyrics appear to mention worms; asked about the title, Parks said he could not remember where it came from.

"Child Is Father of the Man" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys that was written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks. It was originally recorded for the band's never-finished album Smile. In 2004, Wilson rerecorded the song for Brian Wilson Presents Smile. In 2011, the Beach Boys' original recording was released on The Smile Sessions.

"Love to Say Dada" is an unfinished song that was written by American musician Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys' Smile project. It referenced the drug LSD in its initials and was one of the last tracks recorded for the album. The song subsequently evolved into "Cool, Cool Water" from Sunflower (1970).

"Holidays" is an instrumental by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson for their never-finished Smile album. In 2003, it was rewritten with new lyrics by Van Dyke Parks as "On a Holiday" for the project Brian Wilson Presents Smile (2004).

References

  1. 1 2 Lambert, Philip (2007). Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: the Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius. Continuum. p. 268. ISBN   978-0-8264-1876-0.
  2. ↑ Badman, Keith (2004). The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio . Backbeat Books. pp. 145, 151. ISBN   978-0-87930-818-6.
  3. 1 2 The Smile Sessions (deluxe box set booklet). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records. 2011.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ↑ Nolan, Tom (November 27, 1966). "The Frenzied Frontier of Pop Music". Los Angeles Times West.
  5. ↑ Bell, Matt (October 2004). "The Resurrection of Brian Wilson's Smile". Sound on Sound. soundonsound.com. Retrieved 16 July 2013.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.