Surf's Up At Last

Brian Wilson ends a decades-long wait for 'Smile'

BY ISAAC GUZMAN

What a Concept: Wilson has brought new feel to an old project.

For nearly 40 years, fans of the Beach Boys have been waiting, speculating and fantasizing about Brian Wilson's never-finished potential masterpiece, "Smile."

In books, magazine articles and on the Internet, "Smile" has been the subject of fervent debate. Working with scraps of evidence and dozens of bootleg recordings, Beach Boys completists have assembled possible track listings, pieced together shards of orchestral music and tried to complete a portrait of the album Wilson started recording in 1966.

All that conjecture is about to end.

On Sept. 28, Wilson will finally release, on Nonesuch Records, what he says is the definitive version of "Smile." While some have hoped that Wilson would one day issue a complete edition of the original sessions, he has chosen instead to write a few new songs and record the entire suite with his current band, led by musical director Darian Shanaja.

Classic songs such as "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains" have been expanded and augmented, but only devotees will notice the subtle changes.

Meanwhile, "Our Prayer" is a nearly note-for-note replication of the original. Van Dyke Parks' impressionistic lyrics remain intact.

While the result will certainly be debated among purists, there is no denying that the music sounds every bit as gorgeous and lush as the early recordings. In fact, the clarity of digital technology approaches the full spectrum of timpani, horns and stacked harmonies that Wilson first heard in his head.

What's lost is the romantic veneer of the '60s sessions. Thanks to the period analog recordings, those versions possessed a warmth and unmistakably ethereal quality that seemed to suggest the major artistic leap Wilson was trying to make.

The stories and myths that have sprouted up around the genesis of Wilson's "teenage symphony to God" are manifold. They include a day on which Paul McCartney visited the studio, played Wilson a version of "A Day in the Life" and chewed a stalk of celery, which was recorded and turned into ersatz percussion for "Vega-Tables."

Some believe that Wilson's tireless work on "Smile" may have contributed to his rapid mental decline. While he usually saw music as his refuge, Wilson was squabbling with other Beach Boys about his new sounds and ingesting hallucinogens and hashish.

When the Beatles released "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in June of 1967, Wilson was dismayed. He recognized the album's genius and believed his peers had beat him to the punch.

"Pet Sounds" had already earned Wilson a huge amount of respect in the mid-'60s. But there's no telling how much songs such as "Surf's Up," "Cabin Essence" and "Roll Plymouth Rock" might have enhanced his reputation.

It's usually a misstep when an artist finishes a project that lay fallow for decades. But the sense of reverent solitude and wonder that pervades the completed "Smile" almost makes the wait seem worthwhile.