Brian Wilson - Smile

A obra genial de Wilson que demorou cerca de 40 anos a ser concretizada. Dá um excelente filme ou romance a história de Wilson e a concretização desta obra.

Work on what would have been the original Beach Boys version of Smile began in 1966, following the release of their album Pet Sounds, and based on the recording mode of their single "Good Vibrations". The original artwork and cover design was done by Frank J. Holmes.
It is a long-known fact that a combination of resistance from the other members of the band (especially Mike Love) and Capitol Records, technical recording difficulties (as many of Brian's ideas were so inventive and new that the technology hadn't been created yet to record his true vision), Brian's growing dissatisfaction (and increasing paranoia) with the project itself, led to the collapse of its sessions and his mental breakdown into severe depression, which went unchecked for decades.
Remnant recordings from the 1966-67 sessions have since surfaced on the occasional bootleg recordings and official Beach Boys greatest hits and rarities compilations, but only very few recordings were completed by the band and released on other albums between 1967 and 1971.


After many years of being asked about possibly completing the album (or even performing any of the songs from it) to mostly negative responses, Brian began to perform a few songs solo at his home studio. He decided in late 2003 to not only revisit and complete the entire album (from mostly memory), he shocked many of his peers and even his bandmates by deciding to perform it live in concert. The new version of the album and its performance was made whole by the addition of either lost or newly composed lyrics by Parks that filled the gaps left open by the original 1966-67 Beach Boys sessions.
A live performance of the newly-completed version of the album was performed by Brian along with his backing band, which included former Beach Boys guitarist Jeff Foskett, members of The Wondermints and percussionist Nelson Bragg, in a live performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London on February 20, 2004, 37 years after it was conceived. Among the people in attendance that first night was Beatles producer George Martin and Beatle Paul McCartney. It was received with a standing ovation that lasted almost 5 minutes and Brian then invited a tearful lyricist Parks onstage. This show was followed by subsequent performances elsewhere in Britain.
As a majority of the original master tapes were only one- and two-minute fragments, Brian decided to re-record the entire album from scratch, but using the original scoring, which still gave it that "Beach Boys" sound. Recording of the new version began in April 2004 with his ten-piece touring band, augmented by a ten-piece string section and an acoustic bassist. The basic tracks were taped at Sunset Sound in just four days, with overdubbing and mixing continuing through April, May, and June.

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