Smiley Smile Research Paper
Smiley Smile is the twelfth studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys. It was released on September 18, 1967 and managed to reach number nine on the UK record charts. In the US however, it was not perceived as well and only managed to reach spot forty-one. The CD comes off weak compared to the album Smile, which was a much more well-constructed LP that was never released by the Beach Boys. Smiley Smile took a lot of its inspiration from Smile, the most notable change being that four pre-existing songs from smile were taken to Smiley smile with significantly scaled down arrangements. This however does not make Smiley Smile a bad CD. There are many elements to Smiley Smile that made it an album that stood out for its time such as its Lo-fi
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production along with a Pronominal rock approach to arranging which gives it a unique, minimalistic sound. Carl Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, also commented on the nature of the album saying it was “a bunt instead of a grand slam.” The CD mainly consists of organ, honky-tonk piano, and electronic bass. What resonates with me the most from this music is the combination of these instruments. It creates a very minimalist sound especially since the music was recorded in one of the band members house and they recorded it in. While they did start recording for the album on February 17, 1966 most of the recording was done in a different more modern approach in Brian Wilson’s, one of the band member’s, home studio from June 3 to July 14, 1967. I find it impressive that with these things combined it was able to achieve such a high rating and maintain it for a while, also while having a fans to the current day.
It created a sound that is still able to appreciate today and still gaining followers actively even if it has not particularly been really popular at one point in time. Since its release there have been multiple other popular rock bands through the years that have been able to take inspiration from this CD and the music they were able to create, such as Pete Townshend from The Who and Steven Tyler from the band Aerosmith, who have stated they would pick this album as a personal favorite. This CD has a significant difference from the popular Beach Boy songs that reach the top of the music charts such as good vibration, which was the only single to come from the album. The CD as a whole is a lot slower and not as loud as it is for the singles that are common from the Beach Boys. It was a very different time for the band when they created this CD compared to the rest of their career. It is interesting that for such an awkward time in these artists lives they were able to create a sound and put it all together in a CD and produce it as a studio
album.
production along with a Pronominal rock approach to arranging which gives it a unique, minimalistic sound. Carl Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, also commented on the nature of the album saying it was “a bunt instead of a grand slam.” The CD mainly consists of organ, honky-tonk piano, and electronic bass. What resonates with me the most from this music is the combination of these instruments. It creates a very minimalist sound especially since the music was recorded in one of the band members house and they recorded it in. While they did start recording for the album on February 17, 1966 most of the recording was done in a different more modern approach in Brian Wilson’s, one of the band member’s, home studio from June 3 to July 14, 1967. I find it impressive that with these things combined it was able to achieve such a high rating and maintain it for a while, also while having a fans to the current day.
It created a sound that is still able to appreciate today and still gaining followers actively even if it has not particularly been really popular at one point in time. Since its release there have been multiple other popular rock bands through the years that have been able to take inspiration from this CD and the music they were able to create, such as Pete Townshend from The Who and Steven Tyler from the band Aerosmith, who have stated they would pick this album as a personal favorite. This CD has a significant difference from the popular Beach Boy songs that reach the top of the music charts such as good vibration, which was the only single to come from the album. The CD as a whole is a lot slower and not as loud as it is for the singles that are common from the Beach Boys. It was a very different time for the band when they created this CD compared to the rest of their career. It is interesting that for such an awkward time in these artists lives they were able to create a sound and put it all together in a CD and produce it as a studio
album.