| Smiling Pets | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Compilation album by various artists | |
| Released | May 15, 1998 |
| Recorded | 1997–1998 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 55:11 |
| Label | Sony Records (SRCS 325) |
| Compiler | Seiji Morita |
Smiling Pets is a multi-artist tribute album consisting of experimental/alternative cover versions of Beach Boys songs from Pet Sounds (1966) and the never-finished Smile project. [1] [2] It was released exclusively in Japan by Sony Records in March 1998. [3]
Some song titles differ from how they have been officially published by the Beach Boys. The most prominent of which is "Tones", which is a cover version of the instrumental Smile track "Holidays". Prior to Smiling Pets, most Smile material was only sparsely available on the compilation Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys (1993). Because "Holidays" had not been officially released until more than a decade later on The Smile Sessions (2011), it is highly likely that unauthorized bootlegs with erroneous track lists were consulted by Smiling Pets artists. "Tones" (also known as "Tune X") was actually a working title for an entirely different composition recorded by Carl Wilson during Smile sessions. Another misleading title is "Heroes and Villains", which can arguably be more accurately described as a reprise of "Do You Like Worms?".
Tracks from this album later reappeared on individual band compilations or album reissues. "Surfin' U.S.A." is present in complete form on Melt-Banana's MxBx 1998/13,000 Miles at Light Velocity (1999). Secret Chiefs 3's cover versions of "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains" are on their compilation Path of Most Resistance (2007). The Olivia Tremor Control's versions of "Do You Like Worms?" and "Little Pad" were later included as bonus tracks on reissued releases of Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle (1996).
An album similarly-fashioned to Smiling Pets was released two years earlier, entitled The Christmas Album, which was a tribute to the compilation A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector (1963). It was also compiled by Seiji Morita and included some of the same performers. [4]
The Ships and FORMS are aliases of the Olivia Tremor Control and Secret Chiefs 3, respectively. OnoTetsu is the pianist for Harpy, an experimental Japanese noise band. Short Hair Front and Feelds were short-lived bands seemingly led by the album compiler Seiji Morita, and he is credited as arranger for their contributions "I'm Waiting for the Day" and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times". Little is known about the album's more unrecognizable artists Sports Guitar or R. Gree & Grey Tea. They may also be pseudonyms.
Writing in his 2005 book about Smile, Domenic Priore praised Smiling Pets and highlighted "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter" and "Cool, Cool Water" as stand-out tracks. [5]
The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies, adolescent themes, and musical ingenuity, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. They drew on the music of older pop vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and black R&B to create their unique sound, and under Brian's direction, often incorporated classical or jazz elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways.
Brian Wilson Presents Smile is the fifth studio album by American musician Brian Wilson, released September 28, 2004 on Nonesuch. It features all-new recordings of music that he had originally created for Smile, an unfinished album by the Beach Boys that he abandoned in 1967. The project was an intense emotional undertaking for Wilson, who had been psychologically scarred by the difficulties surrounding the original Smile album.
Smiley Smile is the 12th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on September 18, 1967. It 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. Critics and fans generally received the album and its lead single, "Heroes and Villains", with confusion and disappointment. "Good Vibrations" and "Gettin' Hungry" were also released as singles, but the former was issued a year earlier, while the latter was not credited to the band.
Brother Records, Inc. (BRI) is a holding company and record label established in 1966 that owns the intellectual property rights of the Beach Boys, including "The Beach Boys" trademark. It was founded by brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, and their cousin Mike Love. As of 2003, the corporation was equally owned by four shareholders and directors: Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, and the estate of Carl Wilson.
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 album release. Much of it consists of outtakes from earlier albums. It reached number 3 on UK record charts and number 68 in the US. 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.
"Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. Released as a single on October 10, 1966, it was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record charts in several countries including the US and UK. Characterized by its complex soundscapes, episodic structure and subversions of pop music formula, it was the costliest single ever recorded at the time of its release. "Good Vibrations" later became widely acclaimed as one of the finest and most important works of the rock era.
"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 failed to meet critical and commercial expectations, but was a hit record, peaking at number 12 in the US and number 8 in the UK.
"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, the song tells the story of a young girl's sexual awakening and its disruption of her devotion to God and her parents. It was the only "boy-girl" song they wrote for Smile.
"Darlin'" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys with Carl Wilson on lead vocal. It opens the second side of their 1967 album Wild Honey and was also released as a single, backed with "Here Today" from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. The single peaked at No. 19 in the United States, No. 11 in the United Kingdom and No. 10 in New Zealand. The song was previously recorded with different lyrics and structure as "Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby", also written by Wilson and Love, by singer Sharon Marie in 1964.
"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.
"Little Pad" is a song written by Brian Wilson for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1967 album Smiley Smile. On the track, the group sings in unison about wanting a "little pad in Hawaii" while accompanied by a Hawaiian guitar, an organ, and clip-clop percussion.
"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).
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 focuses on abandoned recording sessions from their unfinished 1966–1967 album Smile. It features comprehensive session highlights and outtakes, with the first 19 tracks comprising a hypothetical version of the completed album.
"Rio Grande" is a psychedelic western saga co-written by Brian Wilson and Andy Paley and co-produced by Brian Wilson and Lenny Waronker for Brian Wilson's first solo album. Its modular set of movements hearkened back to the style that Brian Wilson used during the "Good Vibrations"/Smile era with musique concrète. "Rio Grande" was evidence that he could still create brilliant, pictorial landscapes of music similar to Smile whenever he had the freedom, confidence, and courage to do so. It is the longest piece of music in the Brian Wilson catalogue at eight minutes and 12 seconds.
"Do You Like Worms?" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their never-finished album Smile. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, the song is about the recolonization of the American continent and contains lyrical 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.
Smile is an unfinished album by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was planned to follow their 11th studio album Pet Sounds (1966). It was to be a twelve-track concept LP assembled from short, interchangeable musical fragments similar to the group's 1966 single "Good Vibrations". Instead, the album was shelved and the group released a downscaled version, Smiley Smile, in September 1967. Over the next four decades, few of the original Smile tracks were officially released, and the project came to be regarded as the most "legendary" unreleased album in popular music history.
The Beach Boys' bootleg recordings are recordings of performances by the Beach Boys that attained some level of public circulation without being available as a legal release. Many albums by the band were fully assembled or near completion before being shelved, rejected, or revised as an entirely new project. In recent years, new rarities compilations and reissues of studio albums have been released with studio outtakes included as bonus tracks.
Lei'd in Hawaii is an unfinished live album by American rock band the Beach Boys featuring performances recorded by the group shortly after the completion of their 1967 studio album Smiley Smile. Some of these recordings were released on subsequent compilation albums, box sets, and bootleg recordings.
"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).
