The Smile Sessions

Plans for a Smile archival release go back to at least early 1980s, when it was proposed that the album be issued in some form.[4] In his 1978 biography The Beach Boys and the California Myth, David Leaf wrote that Smile "can never be completed as Brian intended, so a compromise solution might be to release the surviving tapes and outtakes in a series of records called The Smile Sessions [like] Elvis' Sun Sessions ..."[5] In 1993, the box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys included the debut of several unreleased Smile recordings. In 1997, Capitol Records issued The Pet Sounds Sessions, which featured an assortment of alternate mixes and highlights of the Pet Sounds recording sessions spread over four CDs. The releases provoked speculation that an official Smile release was imminent.[6]

In 2004, Wilson released a reimagined version of the album, Brian Wilson Presents Smile. A comprehensive and official package dedicated to the original Beach Boys' recordings had not been compiled partly due to the logistics in organizing the dozens of convoluted song components. Band producer/archivist Mark Linett stated, "All we had were a bunch of bits and pieces—a few songs that were more or less completed later. And without some kind of a sequence from the artist, it would have just sort of been a jumble of sessions. And I think frankly until Brian felt comfortable with after all that time, he was able to finish what he started, there really wasn’t anything to seriously talk about."[7]

In mid-2010, before the project was officially greenlit, Linett and the other compilers began assembling what would become The Smile Sessions.[4] It was originally planned as a three-CD set, but ultimately grew to five CDs, with two of those devoted solely to the sessions for "Heroes and Villains" and "Good Vibrations", respectively.[7]

The first nineteen tracks of The Smile Sessions constitute a hypothetical version of a completed Smile album that loosely follows the template established by Wilson's 2004 version. Wilson himself made a few suggestions to the compilation's sequencing after it was presented to him by the compilers Mark Linett, Alan Boyd and Dennis Wolfe.[7] Linett said that the track listing would "present the whole piece as close to it as was envisioned, or as is envisioned, as possible ... with input from Brian as from everybody else".[4]

According to Darian Sahanaja, "there was a discussion about whether to follow the 2004 sequence or completely present something new. In the end, of course, it all has to be approved by the Beach Boys themselves, and Brian lobbied hard for The Smile Sessions to follow the template of Brian Wilson Presents Smile."[8] Asked if there had been anything newly unearthed from the sessions that would have influenced the 2004 assembly, Sahanaja responded, "No. Nothing major. Perhaps a few variations here and there, but nothing that would have altered the making of Brian Wilson Presents Smile."[8]

The reconstruction runs at over 48 minutes, which would have been too much content to fit on a two-sided vinyl LP in 1967. Referencing this, Linett argued that The Smile Sessions may be more accurate to Wilson's vision than if he had completed the album in 1967, surmising that Wilson "would have been happier if he had had a bigger canvas to present [Smile]."[9] Asked if Linett and Boyd had arrived at what he had envisioned during the 1960s, Wilson responded: "Somewhat, yeah. To some degree. It's not a far cry from what I thought it would be."[9] He added that he preferred his 2004 version.[10]

The reunited Beach Boys in 2012, performing "Heroes and Villains" during their 50th anniversary tour

On February 3, 2011, Al Jardine told an interviewer that "Capitol Records plans to issue a Beach Boys version of Smile sometime this summer to begin the celebration of the Beach Boys’ 50th anniversary. Smile is the Holy Grail for Beach Boys’ fans, so it will be good." Jardine also mentioned that the surviving Beach Boys "didn't do any new recording. I'm happy to see it finally come out. Brian’s changed his mind about releasing the material, but it was inevitable, wasn’t it?" The release was confirmed by Capitol Records on March 11, with the acknowledgement that an official release was planned for later in 2011.

After numerous delays, The Smile Sessions was released online via iTunes on October 31, 2011, and the next day on CD, vinyl and through other online services via digital download.[12] The compilation was released in an array of physical format releases, including a single CD release, a double LP release, a deluxe 2-CD package, as well as a limited edition deluxe box set composed of 5 CDs, 2 LPs, 2 singles on 7" vinyl records, a poster and a 60-page booklet that features high quality photographs, essays and liner notes on the reconstruction process.

The crowdsourcing film studio Tongal was used to create the music videos for The Smile Sessions, where fans in 2011 could submit video concepts, which were voted on and ultimately selected by other fans for two videos.[13][14]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	96/100[15]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]
The A.V. Club	A[17]
Consequence of Sound	A+[18]
The Guardian	[19]
One Thirty BPM	100%[20]
Paste	[21]
Pitchfork	10/10[22]
Rolling Stone	[23]
Ultimate Classic Rock	[24]
Record Collector	[25]

The Smile Sessions was met with universal acclaim. It was named the best reissue of 2011 by Rolling Stone magazine,[26] while The Wire magazine placed it fifth in its annual critics' poll of the top releases of the year.[27] In 2012, it was ranked number 381 in Rolling Stone's list of the greatest albums of all time.[2] It won the Best Historical Album award at the 2013 Grammy Awards.[3]

Pitchfork reviewer Mark Richardson gave the album a perfect score and wrote, "What's here is brilliant, beautiful, and, most importantly, finally able to stand tall on its own."[22] The Los Angeles Times' Randall Roberts encouraged its inclusion in "every library of American recording history," suggesting, "university composition departments, music professors, budding recording engineers and composers should study it."[28] Rolling Stone's David Fricke declared in his review, "there is delight and confidence in Wilson's exchanges with his studio crew. ... Wilson never found it, but the greatest pop album ever made is still in here, somewhere."[23]

Writing in LA Weekly, musician Henry Rollins praised the compiled recordings as "even better than advertised ... Sonically, the album is one of the best things you are likely to hear in all of your life. There are moments on SMiLE that are so astonishingly good you might find yourself just staring at your speakers in unguarded wonder, as I have."[29] PopMatters' Thomas Britt wrote "There is something holy in the tapestry of the album" and when reflecting on the drama surrounding the album's history stated "Contemporary bands could certainly stand to realize that all the band myths and stories in the world don’t matter much if you can't bring the songs, and no one brought the songs like Brian Wilson."[30]

Adapted from band archivist Craig Slowinski.[11]