Vegetables (song)

"Vegetables" was composed by Brian Wilson in 1966 and first recorded during the aborted Smile sessions. The song was based on Wilson's reported health obsession at the time.[2] In a 1967 article, Wilson said, "I want to turn people on to vegetables, good natural food, organic food. Health is an important element in spiritual enlightenment. But I do not want to be pompous about it, so we will engage in a satirical approach."[3] Parks said that the song was more specifically inspired by the radio evangelist Curtis Howe Springer, whom "Brian had a great fascination with".[4]

The Saturday Evening Post writer Jules Siegel said that while using marijuana with Wilson and the "Beach Boys marijuana-consumption squad" Michael Vosse mused at how violence in their "vegetative" state could not be achieved, provoking laughter and further discussion of being a vegetable. Siegel said that this encounter was what inspired Wilson to write the song.[5]

Although it is not definitely known to be true, "Vega-Tables" is generally believed to fulfill the Earth part of "The Elements" suite that Brian envisioned for Smile.[6] One of the illustrations created for the album included "Vega-Tables" as part of "The Elements", however, a preliminary track list from December 1966 indicated "The Elements" and "Vega-Tables" as separate tracks.[7]

The "Vega-Tables" spelling may have been inspired by the Vejtables, a group who opened for the Beach Boys at a concert on January 1, 1966.[8]

"Vegetables" is in the key of E major. The main chord progression of verses is I-IV-I. Musicologist Philip Lambert notes this progression as a recurring element throughout Smile, with other songs such as "Wind Chimes" and "The Elements: Fire" also utilizing it.[9]

While the subject matter was conceived by Wilson, the lyrics were written by his collaborator Van Dyke Parks, who incorporated wordplay and absurdist imagery into the song.[10] An earlier recording. sometimes referred to as the "cornucopia" version, features an additional discarded verse: "Tripped on a cornucopia / Stripped the stalk green and I hope ya / Like me the most of all / My favorite vegetable".[11]

Some versions of "Vegetables" feature an additional interpolated section after the verses involving Barbershop-style vocal harmonies sung by the Beach Boys. The lyrics are "Mom and Dad say/sleep a lot, eat a lot / brush 'em like crazy / run a lot, do a lot / never be lazy". This section was considered for inclusion on "Heroes and Villains" under the subheaders "Do a Lot" or "Sleep a Lot" in January 1967, prior to the recording of the rest of "Vegetables".[12]

Smile artist Frank Holmes' "Vega-Tables" illustration

Artist Frank Holmes, who designed the Smile cover artwork, created an illustration that was inspired by the song's lyrics, "The Elements" / "My Vega-Tables". Along with several other drawings, they were planned to be included within a booklet packaged with the Smile LP.[13] In 2005, Holmes shared a background summary of his design choices:

That’s two separate worlds, where they’re able to put two things together. Its an idea I picked up from Asian art, from early woodblock prints, where you could look down into a building and see what’s going on in two or three different rooms. By having this different viewpoint, you’re able to incorporate more than one thing, so here there’s an interior and an exterior, and two separate worlds. It’s just a device to separate the graphics, so that you can experience two things.

That block on the left is supposed to be a photograph of a body of water, with those little black things you clip onto the corners. That was all to do with the elements, of course.

‘Vega-table’ is a split-up word, so I’ve got V-E-G-A sitting on the tops of tables, combining those two images. I got the interior out of the surf thing, with the sun and nature, and birds flying in the sky. Then there’s a picture of someone smiling there, probably Brian. Then there’s all the vegetables growing there, with the water coming down from the bolt of lightning and faucets coming out of the clouds, dripping water onto the plants. And of course the electric socket. Got to have electricity.[14]

The Smile album was reported scrapped on May 5, 1967. Starting on June 3, "Vega-Tables" was rerecorded for the new album Smiley Smile,[37] where it was respelled "Vegetables" and reworked as a kind of campfire song.[38] Apart from its coda (recorded in April 1967), the track was remade entirely from scratch.[38] Wilson played the electric bass on this version[39] and added organ overdubs to the final section of the song.[15]

According to Al Jardine, "I remember telling Brian, 'We’ve got to do something different on this thing.' What the hell, it was four in the morning. I filled some water bottles, tuned it to the key of the song and blew air into the bottles. What you hear sounds like an old organ."[40]

"Vegetables" was mixed to mono on June 3, 1967. A recording for "You're with Me Tonight", held on June 6, was logged as a "Vega-Tables" session.[15]

"Vegetables" was issued on September 18, 1967 as the second track on Smiley Smile. Melody Maker reviewed that "Vegetables" was among the "childish and pointless" songs that made Smiley Smile a "tragedy".[41] A more positive review in Record Mirror complimented the vocal performances and speculated that the song could be released as a single by the group in the future.[42]

Reviewing the song in AllMusic, Matthew Greenwald called it a "great example of the collaboration of Brian Wilson's and Van Dyke Parks' sense of comedy and psychedelic whimsy.", also noting it as among the strangest songs of the group's career. Music critic Ritchie Unterberger described it as an example of the "low-key psychedelic weirdness" present throughout Smiley Smile.[43] Lambert wrote that the song heralded a "radically new artistic sensibility" for the group relative to Pet Sounds and Smile.[44] David Leaf, writing in 1990, described the song as marking a new phase in Wilson's development as a musician.

Those who first heard this album in 1967 recall that the first four bars of “Vegetables” was the initial indication that Brian had given up the race to be the greatest producer in rock. With just a repeating bass and a jug (pouring juice as an effect), “Vegetables,” as it was released, marked the end of Brian Wilson’s reign as the “leader of the studio pack.” Of course, others felt that this track represented the beginning of Brian’s minimalist period and were blown away by Smiley Smile’s dry, trippy vocals, sparse production and incredible melodies…feeling that once again, as Brian had done on Pet Sounds, he was charting new territory.[2]

The Smiley Smile rendition of the song was listed by Mojo as the Beach Boys' 47th greatest song, with the Mojo staff describing it as "endearingly daft", and praising the group's vocal harmonies and the "stripped back" arrangement.[45] In 2015, the French edition of Rolling Stone named "Vegetables" the Beach Boys' 38th greatest song.[46]

In 1967, the song was revisited for the last time as the closing track "Mama Says" on Wild Honey (1967).[37] This version consisted of an extended re-recording of the unused "Do or Lot" or "Sleep a Lot" module. It was the first time a track with thematic links to Smile was used to close a later Beach Boys album, a practice that the band repeated with "Cabinessence" on 20/20 (1969), "Cool, Cool Water" on Sunflower (1970), and "Surf's Up" on Surf's Up (1971).[2]

Parks' songwriting credit was not honored, and instead Mike Love was listed as the song's only co-writer. Wilson's 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson, makes note of this as an example of what he perceived as Love's questionable songwriting credits, but does not disclose a reason why he himself did not credit Parks.[47]

• In 1993, a composite version from the Smile sessions was given its first official release, under its original title "Vega-Tables", along with a slew of other Smile material, on the Good Vibrations boxset.[12]
• In 2001, some recordings related to the song were released on the rarities compilation Hawthorne, CA.[11]
• In 2011, many more composite versions were made available on The Smile Sessions.
• In 2013, a 1993 live performance of the song was released on the compilation Made in California with Carl Wilson and Al Jardine on lead vocals.

• 1968 – Jan and Dean (under the name Laughing Gravy) on a single released in 1968 and later under Jan and Dean on their 1971 Jan & Dean Anthology Album and in 1974 on their Gotta Take That One Last Ride album. The version on Gotta Take That One Last Ride contains additional instrumental and vocal overdubs by Brian Wilson and American Spring in 1973.[48]}
• 1991 – Sink, Vega-Tables
• 2001 – "Receptacle for the Respectable" from the album Rings Around the World by Super Furry Animals also features Paul McCartney chewing celery and carrots.[49]

The details in this section are adapted from The Smile Sessions liner notes, which includes a sessionography compiled by band archivist Craig Slowinski.[15] and from Keith Badman[50]

• Vegetables: Verse (Master Take Track/2011 Smile Version) on YouTube
• Vegetables Promo (Instrumental Section / Remastered 2001) on YouTube
• Vegetables (Track And Background Vocals) on YouTube
• Vegetables (Live In New York/1993) on YouTube