Andy’s Comments (group member since Nov 05, 2013)

Andy’s comments from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Library and Archives group.

One thing I found really interesting in this book is the discussion on pages 99-103 regarding Jules Siegel's 1967 essay called "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God!" and how a lot of the mythology surrounding SMILE can be traced straight back to that essay. All the key elements from the public race between Wilson, the Beatles, and Dylan to be the preeminent geniuses of pop music, to the sandbox in the living room, to the collaboration with Van Dyke Parks and the tension around his exit from the project -- all of it was first covered in this essay. It's an interesting example of how literature about art can have a profound effect on how the art itself is then perceived and experienced by its audience. For all of you avid rock music readers out there, can you think of some other examples of this happening?

Same here! I enjoyed the discussion of Spector's "Be My Baby" and Wilson's "Don't Worry Baby" on pages 52–54, which made me revisit those recordings too.

Like many people, I've found that good writing about music often makes me want to go back and listen to the music it describes. In this book, for example, the discussions of "In My Room" and "Lonely Sea" (pages 26-27) prompted me to revisit the recordings. In particular, Sanchez's point about "devastating beauty" (a combination of inward-looking bleakness and open exuberance) often being a part of Brian's music made me hear these songs in a slightly new way. Did anyone else have experiences like this while reading the book?

I agree with you, Lindsay, that a little more discussion of SMILE itself would have been welcome. However, I personally spent a decent amount of time listening to The SMILE Sessions and reading its liner notes before reading the Sanchez book, and I also watched the Beautiful Dreamer documentary, so honestly, I wasn't necessarily looking for more behind-the-scenes info on the songwriting or the making of the recordings.

My take on the book is that its purpose is to show that SMILE was an extension, expansion, and reclaiming of what the Beach Boys' music had ultimately been about from the very beginning. For example, on page 112, Sanchez writes: "What I hear is the sound of an artist working to win back the essence of sincerity that powered The Beach Boys' music from the beginning, and to show that it had (and has) more stories to tell." If this is the point of the book, I think Sanchez does a pretty good job of it. As a book only about the SMILE album, sure, it probably fails, but I don't get the sense that's what it's supposed to be.

So, even though the book doesn't go into detail about the creation of the album, did anyone nonetheless come away with a better understanding of the album or at least about the impulses behind its creation?

Welcome, everyone! I hope you've enjoyed reading Luis Sanchez's book SMILE. What are your thoughts and impressions of it? I've seen that a number of reviewers on Goodreads and Amazon have been frustrated that the book wasn't what they anticipated. It wasn't necessarily what I expected either, but I actually quite enjoyed much of it and learned a few things. How about you?