January 12, 2026

Masterpiece Crate #6: Why The Beach Boys will never get old, and why SMiLE is the greatest album that never was, but now is, thanks to Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys fan community

The Beach Boys' SMiLE, And The Best Music Fanbase Of All Time



The Beach Boys - SMiLE and it's many fan mixes

This article is a deep dive into this fan community’s endless fascination with The Beach Boys, how the community will always keep the group and their beautiful music alive, and why their fanbase will always remain at the top tier of all other music fandoms.

For more on my Masterpiece Crate series doing album deep dives you can go here.

Because this is such a dense article, feel free to click or tap on any section in the table of contents to jump to a particular section.


Table of Contents



Introduction





Unreleased Albums


The Beach Boys' unofficial cover artwork for their unreleased album Adult/Child

There are more than 10 and upwards of 15 or more depending on what one would classify as an unreleased album between group and solo works, which were sometimes assisted with fellow band mates. These include their two most well-known pet projects (heh) SMiLE and Adult/Child. However, due to their constant experimentation and songwriting ambitions, there was also Le’d In Hawaii (live album recorded in Hawaii), Cows In The Pasture (country album project), Add Some Music (rejected album that eventually became Sunflower), ‘Landlocked’ (rejected album that eventually became Surf’s Up), the untitled Caribou album recorded at Caribou Ranch in Colorado, and a number of others. All of these projects range from general blueprints of what kind of album they were planning, to alternate track lists that were rejected and eventually released as some of their best works, to nearly completed works that were never released.

You can read more about all of these unreleased projects in a more comprehensive compiling of them here: http://bellagio10452.com/unreleased.html

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Shifting Perspectives


Of course, hardcore Beach Boys fans being hardcore Beach Boys fans with big imaginations, always take it one step further. Part of the reason may be because some of those unreleased albums mentioned above were simply alternate proposed track listings, such as Add Some Music and Landlocked. Because of this and the what-could-have-been factor, fans have formulated and mixed completely fictional albums that could have been released in alternate timelines by the boys.


Fictional Albums


Unlike similar music communities, such as The Beatles, TOOL, Bob Dylan, or Pink Floyd, which all have in their share inspired younger generations of artists to record and perform covers of classic songs, or create artwork inspired by their art direction, The Beach Boys’ fanbase diverges in one distinct way. Yes, they do all of this as well, but they also participate and interact with The Beach Boys’ immense catalogue of released and unreleased songs by professionally mixing and remixing songs, sequencing playlists, and imagining full-on fictional Beach Boys albums altogether, complete with custom mock-ups of fictional album artwork. This type of fan participation is rare among music fanbases and it has everything to do with how much unreleased material and scrapped albums were reportedly unfinished or shelved. Naturally, this insider knowledge created immense fan speculation and fascination since the very beginning of their recordings.

So much of this speculation also has to do with Brian Wilson himself, since his home run with Pet Sounds, and the legendary lead-up to it with albums such as All Summer Long and The Beach Boys Today!, created a fever pitch of expectation and hype from fans, peers, and industry insiders alike. Even his own band mates would wait patiently while on tour and would be taken aback and be in awe at Brian’s magical sense of melody, harmony, and songwriting structure. So even during their actual run and original lineup, this level of hype always existed.

A Reddit user, by the charming name of u/lts_a_me_asshOle, just recently posted on January 11 on The Beach Boys subreddit a new fictional album, simply titled ‘81. They created this album mock-up, proposing that The Beach Boys, after promoting their cover song “Come And Go With Me” as a single, off their previous album M.I.U. Album, which in fact was actually used to promote their compilation Ten Years of Harmony, decided to cobble together a 9-track album featuring solo material from Dennis’s unreleased Bambu, Carl’s solo work meant for his debut album, and Mike’s Looking Back With Love, since it’s success on the charts as a single was unexpected. It’s an interesting take and an excellent fan-made tribute to The Beach Boys late 70s and early 80s solo and group efforts.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thebeachboys/s/WM7MvcT0Fo

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cN47G6UU3VzEhi-KDh59vgp_yiL6pSRK/view

On this same Reddit thread linked above, another user by the name of u/skullman8942 commented that they made their own fictional album as a proposed follow-up to their 1980 album Keepin’ The Summer Alive, proposing that they released an album of studio covers of songs they previously recorded, and called it Cousins, Friends & Brothers (1983). A look at this users profile pulls another post of theirs of custom mock-up album covers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thebeachboys/s/001bn8LG0P

This is just one of the many examples of how fans interact with the group and their music, often using their treasure trove of unreleased songs, outtakes, and even studio banter and audio experiments not originally intended to be finished recordings as a way to formulate playlists and mixes that reimagine the ever-fascinating what-could-have-been with The Beach Boys if they were to miraculously pull themselves together through all of their legal, personal, and interpersonal conflicts.

This level of fandom is unprecedented and has thus become a galaxy all its own, which is constantly breathing new life into The Beach Boys’ music through multiple generations of fan interpretations.

Another user, u/Ikesters97, seemed to take this fictional album project to the extreme, and created an entire alternate discography, with 100% new albums that they dreamt up by The Beach Boys, complete with their audio edits, alternate track listings, artwork, and inserts.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thebeachboys/s/9x81U1LzlX

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1bNGcnIXrIZxX3VISU91ErKbyb8t1yC0A

Again, this is extremely unique work, obsessive, and maybe even a little bit concerning, but it is undeniably a rare treat that no other fan community is capable of pulling together, especially with all of these fan projects appearing independently of one another. There really is something in the air that makes The Beach Boys fans go wild like this.

Most of these edits tend to be playlist-based, which makes sense since unreleased albums typically consisted of alternate track orders. Others are very detailed mixes with exhaustive studio work involved. This brings us to our next section and second argument of my article: that SMiLE is the greatest album that never was, but now is, thanks to Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys bootleg and fan mix community.

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SMiLE, And Its Never-Ending Revolving Door Of Remixes, Reimaginings, And Reconstructions


Before I continue to the second part of this article, SMiLE deserves a short, but detailed and concise explanation for what it is and what it meant for The Beach Boys and modern pop music.


What Is SMiLE?


Custom SMiLE artwork by u/4-eyes-4-ever on Reddit
SMiLE is Brian’s long abandoned and long sought after masterpiece, originally recorded and meant to be the follow-up album to Pet Sounds. It was his giant leap from Pet Sounds to a grander vision and idea of what an album could conceptually be and the message it could convey through the speakers. With his one good ear, Brian was able to create this glorious wall of sound, originally mixed in mono naturally. It was also a bit of a call-and-response with The Beatles and their landmark album run.

Both groups were very fond of each other and curious as to what the other was going to put out next. John Lennon once said “The Little Girl I Once Knew” was one of the best records he’s ever heard, a song of which was the beginning of bigger ideas for how a pop song could break away (no pun intended) from preconceived notions of how a modern pop song could be composed. It was the precursor to Pet Sounds, and it was recorded during those sessions.

Ultimately, SMiLE never made it, but Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band took its place and was and still is today considered one of the best albums ever released. But that’s for another article.


SMiLE’s Album Structure


Brian’s “teenage symphony to God” is an ode to the founding of America and the big wide county, the human spirit, and the worldly elements of creation, and it’s generally agreed upon to be divided into three parts, or suites of music, as Brian set out to do in the 60s and set in stone in 2004.

The first is the America suite, which contains songs that are a tribute to the founding of America and living in the country. These are accented by old traditional, standard song styles and have lyrical themes of the old west and frontiersman, Mexico’s influence on America, the founding of the original English colonies, living in a cabin in the countryside, working in a barnyard, the trains that traveled across the country, and the farms or more specifically cornfields that were harvested.

The second suite that follows is the Child / Innocence and Loss of Innocence / Coming of Age suite. This section is more ambiguous and it contains songs that are introspective, nostalgic, sentimental, and deal with emotional maturity and the pains of growing older. It ends with one of Brian’s signature songs, originally intended for SMiLE, but which eventually became the title track for their 1971 album Surf’s Up.

The final suite of songs is The Elements suite. It is the most experimental, visceral, and avant garde section of the album, and contains songs that cover the 4 basic elements of the earth, being air (Wind Chimes), earth (Vega-Tables), fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow), and water (Love To Say Dada, later retitled to In Blue Hawaii in 2004). They are certainly a trip, with Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow winning Brian his first Grammy award in 2004 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

In all, these three sequenced suites of music detail the country, the human condition, and the natural world we all live in. It’s a magnum opus of worldly themes and is a musical achievement that was bigger than Brian was able to contain and focus on and see through to the end. I call it an achievement because while officially unreleased, the parts were all there, even if some songs’ vocals were never tracked and mixed. Brian’s SMiLE was the biggest musical undertaking that modern music had ever known.


What Makes SMiLE The Greatest Album?


Because of its history being unreleased and its subsequent bootlegs, SMiLE will always be a canvas. A canvas with many paints, brushes, elements, and painters, and a pastiche of the American tradition that came before it. Brian Wilson, the old master painter himself, presented his long-awaited masterpiece in 2004, nearly 40 years after his first well-documented attempt at creating the impossible, which then took on a mythic, legendary status among fans, peers, and bootleggers. Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE ultimately became the template that informed all future iterations of the unreleased “symphony to God”, and it gave passionate, SMiLE-obsessed fans new inspiration to create their own fan mixes. Using Brian’s finished solo effort, and by mixing alternate takes, pitch and tempo-shifting musical sections, and splicing and editing sessions in a very similar fashion to Brian’s modular style he pioneered almost 60 years ago, new generations of talented artists and fans have unleashed a wide assortment of excellent reconstructions, but this time with all the niceties of cutting edge studio technology, mixing tools, and sound extraction technology. Only now does it really, truly reinforce the difficulty and pressure that went along with the attempted composition and creation of SMiLE in the 60s. It became too much for even Brian, and we get it. Its vision was gargantuan and insane.

You may think what is the big deal with SMiLE? Aren’t they just fan-made playlists? The answer is so much more awesome than it initially seems. SMiLE reconstructions are not just a simple this song goes here, that song goes there. Almost every single song is a jigsaw puzzle. Brian recorded SMiLE and its containing songs in bits and pieces, across many exhausting sessions that ran up Capitol Records’ bill. It’s no wonder it took Brian almost a year and a half to “finish” the lead single Heroes And Villains, and even then it wasn’t completely finished in Brian’s eyes. This makes every fan edit and reconstruction of SMiLE or its associated songs totally unique! Even completed and finished songs like Good Vibrations or Heroes And Villains start sounding different with each new iteration. This makes every version a journey in their own right. Fans can choose their own adventure with their favorite fan mix.

This article won’t reveal anything new or groundbreaking for Beach Boys fans, nor does it claim to be a sessionography of what went down during those SMiLE sessions. Rather, it is the argument that SMiLE, being the canvas that it is, has no equal, and is the greatest album in modern music specifically due to its amorphous form and fan participation. It’s the ultimate musical “what-if”, which has led to so many amazing reconstructions. Hopefully, this will entice more music listeners to give it a shot, perhaps starting with a highly regarded fan reconstruction, or maybe with its official archival release Smile Sessions, or even Brian’s 2004 version, since it’s the only officially complete version.

Since SMiLE didn’t release in 1967 as planned, Brian and the rest of The Beach Boys picked up the pieces of the finished and scrapped songs of SMiLE and eventually repurposed them for many follow-up albums. What fans didn’t get to witness in all of its glory ultimately became glimpses and hints at what could have been, with songs like Heroes And Villains, Vegetables, Cabinessense, Our Prayer, and Surf’s Up all appearing in other works. These songs and other SMiLE cuts were sprinkled in 5 later albums, but it left fans with no real idea of what had been planned. That all started to shift when the first official, yet unofficial, SMiLE bootlegs surfaced in 1983 and again with a second edition in 1985.

Not so much fan mixes but rather the first compilations of session material and songs, these bootlegs were a vital starting point to get the ball rolling. They both are a fascinating look at how little fans had to go on at the time, and if you come across them, you would be lucky to find them for $50 or less, as they fetch a whopping several hundred dollar price tag on record collector and auction sites.

So without further ado, and without getting too deep into them, here is my attempt at a comprehensive list of SMiLE bootlegs and fan mixes with my personal thoughts on each.

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The Most Noteworthy And Creative SMiLE Bootlegs And Fan Mixes, And My Thoughts On Each Of Them


My favorite mix by far is Tragiclifeform’s SMiLE - 1967 mix. This mix is just stunning! Absolutely mind blowing, even when you’ve heard SMiLE done over countless times.


SMiLE - 1967 (Tragiclifeform Mix)

Comments on his mix: yes, it doesn’t follow BWPS to a T. I get it, but we already have Purple Chick and many others. Yes it does follow it to an extent, but the creative detours and sequencing that were chosen are a delight to hear. I dig Tragiclifeform’s mixing decisions. Yes he included a song that wasn’t a part of the sessions, but by golly, Little Pad and the way it is incorporated is a total surprise and how it goes into the next song is so cool (I won’t spoil it though, just listen to it). Yes his mix is missing several sections I enjoy such as On a Holiday, Love To Say Dada, and that ending section of Vega-Tables, but the overall presentation and the way Surf’s Up goes into Good Vibrations ala The Beatles’ “Day In The Life” is mindblowing. What a mix in my humble opinion.




Purple Chick Reconstruction

The grandaddy of BWPS mixes. It’s a great one! It does things that 2011 doesn’t do. However, 2011 sort of unseats it. I still consider it an absolutely essential listen and member of the peak level SMiLE mixes club. It’s just a wonderful historic moment of the SMiLE fan mix story.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:


Dae Lims Presents SMiLE AI

Given what Dae Lims has been doing on his youtube channel, with reimagining of songs in other eras (Little Saint Nick done Love You style for example), it’s definitely a curiosity I welcome, even if I sort of reject some of the AI vocal inserts. Some of his work though is absolutely necessary I think, such as the Mono and Stereo mixing using AI extraction tools. This is just more studio wizardry that we now have and I consider it legit and the beginning of a new era of sorts of SMiLE work that will be done. Some parts of Dae Lims Presents SMiLE AI I think blew me away the first time I heard it. The AI vocals have worn on me in some parts but some of the songs are still very cool. I rearranged it myself though by putting You’re Welcome back at the end and switching Side A so the You Are My Sunshine Reprise doesn’t come before Old Master Painter/Sunshine. I also removed some audio clipping where it was a bit egregious. Overall: not essential, but still plenty enjoyable and a great one to listen to at least once!



Pearly White Smile - by Bowman and Gwaunch

Overall another pretty cool mix. Clarity is getting peak on these past few years’ SMiLE fan mixes. Some AI vocals are inserted like Dae Lims’ mix, and you may hate it or be okay with it. Overall though, it’s very clean sounding and I appreciate the editing of some of the songs and sequences, which are a nice surprise. Pretty fun listen to check out!


SMiLE (Excitations Mix) by MonotoneTim

This is a mix that is truly in a class all its own! I love this mix. While every other mix is a vision for what SMiLE could have sounded like if it were released, this mix is basically what SMiLE being created could have sounded like. It is a collage of studio chatter, alternate cuts, and overall has this vibe that no other mix has. It’s sort of like a party in the studio vibe, or a DJ mix. It contains elements of songs that weren’t part of the sessions like With Me Tonight and Can’t Wait Too Long but what the hell, it’s a really really cool mix! This is a super high recommend if you want a SMiLE mix that’s totally different but still crazy good.



SMiLE - The 19.67 Mix (1967 Fanmixes)

This one is also pretty good and well made. Only real criticism is that it calls back to Heroes And Villains several times on Side A, which I’m like, okay I get it lol. Besides that, I haven’t really sat with this one long so I haven’t formed a more detailed opinion on it, but the editing rocks. Worth a listen. Heads up, I’ll say all of these are worth a listen if you haven’t noticed by now.

https://1967fanmixes.bandcamp.com/album/smile-the-1967-mix


SMiLE - The 19.73 Mix (1967 Fanmixes)

This one is made by the same creator 1967 Fanmixes and asks what if SMiLE was released in 1973 instead of the planned 1967. This means there are more creative liberties that are taken. The creator mentions a couple of lyrics were recorded by them, but upon listening it works. The whole thing starts with the comedic skit of Brian being stuck in his piano right after Our Prayer. It’s a funny little preview of what a little ditty would sound like and what a psych record or concept album at that time might have been. This sort of works but is a neat route to take. More happens in Heroes And Villains that is unexpected, and it becomes clear that this is going to be an editing style that is a through-line for the mix, so a lot of interesting editing in here. Pretty rad in my humble opinion.

https://1967fanmixes.bandcamp.com/album/smile-the-1973-mix


Smile Smile Remix (Jon Hunt)

Another musical what-if, and unlike all other SMiLE mixes, because it asks what if the SMiLE cuts were only meant for Smiley Smile, which essentially makes it a Smiley Smile remix album. Because of this some vocals and tempos are pitched down and slowed down respectively. You may not care for this type of audio manipulation but I think it’s a pretty creative perspective to take.



SMiLE ‘67 Reconstructed (Soniclovenoize Mix)

Pristine, not much to complain about. It’s a very nice mix that seems to change the sequencing. Soniclovenoize goes in depth on his blog post justifying his reasoning, arguing SMiLE would’ve instead released as a standard 2 side 6 songs per side album with 12 pop songs in total, which consequently breaks up the suites and cuts some material. I can dig it, but I don’t think it’s definitive, which Soniclovenoize seems to be pretty sure about. He did a “Disc 2” following the BWPS sequence if you don’t care for his version on the 2018 Upgrade. Overall I welcome all different versions since we have the BWPS sequencing mostly prevailing in fan mixes nowadays.

2018 Upgrade is linked in one of the comments in this blog here: http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-beach-boys-smile-upgrade.html



SMiLE A.D.

This one was taken down in a couple of places, but you can generally still find it in various other Smile A.D. threads on the web. I only checked out a few songs so far. They don’t sound much different from other mixes, but it’s apparently one of the earliest examples of what constitutes as the modern era SMiLE boot. I’ll be checking this out in more detail soon.




SMiLE 1985 Bootleg (Second Edition)

Cleaned up audio from 1983 (but 1983’s charm is its muddy audio), makes this a pretty big improvement over the first. These first 2 boots are very scattershot with material but pretty cool nonetheless because it’s just a different first-ever experience of SMiLE and what it could have been. They are so OG and sounding like you’re listening through the filter of history which is badass. Vega-Tables is by Jan and Dean, not The Beach Boys which is curious.



SMiLE 1983 Bootleg

The first EVER SMiLE bootleg is rough sounding but an essential historic artifact. Starts with Good Vibrations with the alternate lyrics. Audio is muffled and really gives the experience of what it must’ve been like when this was all fans had to go on. Like most other commenters on the YouTube, it has this eerie quality that is more than any other mix because of the audio quality. Wonderful, which is the SS version, in this muffled audio is so eerie sounding. Such a cool listen specifically for this weird vibe. Theres a Miles Davis song that’s snuck in there around 43 minutes. This first boot might actually be up there for me in terms of favorites. It’s just so neat, and no others present the lo-fi sound except the Smiley Smile Remix, but that is just more polished compared to this. As far as audio fidelity, it’s wild how far we’ve come! My pops was lucky enough to just recently pick up both of these bad boys for $25 a piece at his record shop. They were just sitting there in the front!! Wtf lol, that was quite an overlook by whoever priced them.



R.M.R. Presents SMiLE AI+

Here, this fellow, R.M.R., made a mix that I just recently checked out. The amount of creative add-ins to this SMiLE mix are so eyebrow-raising, but I’m kind of laughing about it. Not at it but with it. After so many fan mixes trying to create the perfect mix, people gotta just have fun with it and not be super serious about it all the time. After all, Brian was a humorous guy as well, which is well-documented in the archival release Smile Sessions. This guy R.M.R. though straight up made some of the songs so unnecessarily bouncy with drum kits, but I sort of really dig it 😂 check it out.



SMiLE - Full Cover Album (Jsmith)

This is the first and I’m sure not the only cover album of SMiLE. I discovered it on YouTube by a guy who was only 16 when he made it! He used a MIDI keyboard for the instrumentation but damn, it’s a great full cover album to check out. Kudos my fellow SMiLE fan. Amazing work!



The Beach Boys - The SMiLE Sessions But In The Super Mario 64 Soundfont

Okay, is this really happening?This is getting absolutely insane! I just stumbled upon this mix which just came out on New Year’s Day 😂 and what’s funny about the comments in this mix is the general consensus: that Beach Boys fans are a crazy and creative and extremely obsessive community. It leads to mixes like this one here, and I can’t say I’m surprised or that I’m not impressed. This one was lovingly created by BeatlesRanked, so we got some Beatle fandom crossover for real. Go ahead and bask in its glory 😂



Obviously there are more mixes than this. It’s apparent that we are entering a new period of creative add-ins that weren’t part of the original recordings, but some are pretty cool if they’re not uncanny. Why the heck not, there are so many SMiLE mixes that attempt to be the “official” authentic one, so let’s switch things up I say! It’s just so cool how much material exists and how many different turns a mix can take.

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My Personal SMiLE Mix


Finally, I have one for you, after so many fan mixes that have made me SMiLE-crazed, I wanted to sequence my own SMiLE, but purposefully break the rules without disrupting its flow


I give you: SMiLE - More Vibrations Mix

🍏🎶
 


⚪️if👁️
 

I purposefully broke the rules and included songs outside of the sessions, but I have some good reasons for some of them so hear me out. Here is the track list:

1. Our Prayer - Smile Sessions
2. Gee - Smile Sessions
3. Heroes and Villains (Stereo) - Smile Sessions
4. Roll Plymouth Rock - SMiLE
5. Barnyard - SMiLE
6. My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine) - Smile Sessions
7. Can’t Wait Too Long - That Lucky Old Sun
8. We’re Together Again - I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions
9. Cabin Essence - Smile Sessions
10. Rio Grande - Brian Wilson
11. Wonderful - SMiLE
12. Song For Children - SMiLE
13. Child Is Father Of The Man - SMiLE
14. Surf’s Up - Smile Sessions
15. Old Folks At Home / Old Man River (Alternate Version)
16. I’m In Great Shape / I Wanna Be Around / Workshop - SMiLE
17. Vega-Tables - Smile Sessions
18. With Me Tonight - Smiley Smile
19. On A Holiday - SMiLE
20. Wind Chimes - Smile Sessions
21. Been Way Too Long (Sections) - I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions
22. Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow - SMiLE
23. In Blue Hawaii - SMiLE
24. Good Vibrations - Smile Sessions
25. You’re Welcome - Smile Sessions
26. There’s So Many - Brian Wilson
27. Whistle In - Smiley Smile

All of this started because I really wanted to include and argue that Rio Grande is a song that absolutely belongs on SMiLE. Several reasons. It has the vocal melody of Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow, it’s imagery of the great big river, the Rio Grande, is a perfect addition to the America suite, and because it has a gorgeous medley and each musical section is so SMiLE-like!

Its placement after Cabin Essence and as the final track of the America suite is just stunning and perfect. It picks up musically with that banjo twang like in Cabin Essence, and it has the train whistle, calling back to the iron horse in Cabin Essence. It is just so epic and its final moments end with a finality that closes out America and allows Wonderful to pick up and start the next suite seamlessly.

So for the other songs:

Because I included Rio Grande I decided to step it up and add a few more that make this a very cool and expanded SMiLE experience. We all know Can’t Wait Too Long was never a part of SMiLE, but its mistaken inclusion on the first and second edition bootlegs sealed its fate as an acceptable entry in SMiLE fan mix canon. You Are My Sunshine has a nice descending melody that really continues on with Can’t Wait Too Long, and I went with That Lucky Old Sun’s version since it’s short and sweet and not too long (no pun intended) of a detour. Plus it’s a nice precursor to the expanded (Sections) version in the later half of the mix, which I also included because it has that same Wind Chimes melody and it definitely has SMiLE-like sections.

After That Lucky Old Sun’s version, I included one more diversion in We’re Together Again, because it has that Americana or country vibe. It’s not too long of a track, and it’s a beautiful little ditty that is SMiLE-like in my humble opinion, so I added it.

With the Wonderful suite, it’s just too good on its own, so I couldn’t mess with it. I had the Surf’s Up Smile Sessions version replace Brian’s version but Brian’s mostly dominates this suite for the completed tracks and smooth transitions.

If you listen to how Surf’s Up ends, you might appreciate the short melancholy piano at the beginning of Old Folks At Home. It has slow, rising strings after that piano that have a bit of a SMiLE-like vibe. Old Man River is like a callback to the America suite, with this show-tuney American track, which is about the Mississippi River. I like the imagery and how it’s very Americana again, with the cotton fields and potato fields, and the river itself sort of mirroring the end of the America suite’s Rio Grande, but this time it is the beginning of and ushering in the Elements suite. Also, being that Brian covers You Are My Sunshine, I thought it only be appropriate that his cover of this American standard be included as well.

If you listen to how Old Man River ends, its tone turns over to a very beautiful, show-tunesy, and carnival-like orchestra in I’m In Great Shape, Brian’s version. It’s a great moment so I think Old Folks At Home / Old Man River slots in very well between Surf’s Up and I’m In Great Shape.

With Me Tonight is the first Smiley Smile track I included. I thought it would fit nice after Vega-Tables for no reason in particular really, other than the fact that I wanted it included in this More Vibrations Mix. It’s a nice, soft, and chill break from the SMiLE tracks and is one of the lesser lo-fi songs of Smiley Smile, so it’s not really a jarring tonal shift in the playlist. It’s a cool little break and it transitions well into On A Holiday.

Been Way Too Long (Sections) is the second longest song I added after Rio Grande, but not by much. They’re both pretty long. It has this same or similar melody of Wind Chimes, which is why I followed it up with this, and its several sections are simply epic and very SMiLE-like. That part with the distorted instrument at 1:48 is so cool and attention-grabbing and it sounds very much like it’d be one of the sound experiments you’d find on SMiLE.

Everything else after follows SMiLE order, shifting between Brian and the sessions, except for the final 2 tracks. There’s So Many is one of the chills-iest songs I’ve ever heard by Brian. Its instrumentation feels so SMiLEy. You might think it is a bit anticlimactic having a couple final cuts after You’re Welcome, but I totally stand by this one. It’s just so epic! I love this song so much and its ethereal tone and theme makes it sound like SMiLE could just blast off into the stratosphere.

Whistle In is one of those songs that I thought was a nice little whistle-y vocal ditty to give this mix a soft landing. I like the way it ends Smiley Smile and after There’s So Many, I thought the mix needed one more short little ending.

There you go. I hope you enjoy it if you give this More Vibrations Mix a shot! Plenty of fans might get mad at me for breaking the rules, but I will die on this hill for Rio Grande! This was a very fun experiment though and I personally really enjoy listening to it.


Some More Personal Beach Boys Playlists I Created, Consisting Of Expanded Album Experiences, Fictional Albums, And Other Song Groupings


Like many other Beach Boys aficionados, I am also responsible for the creation of fictional albums and alternate track listing. Again, completely independent of others’ influence, but inspired by the wealth of material they recorded. This fact will never not impress me about the amount of fan participation.


The Beach Boys Friendly Playlist


This playlist is my way of wanting to expand the Friends experience by keeping the album sequence but interspersed with other session cuts to give it a lot more space to do fun and interesting things. I used the Friends Sessions compilation as well as the 20/20 sessions compilation just because those followed closely after so some songs I think still maintain that Friends vibe.

Here is the track list:

1. Be Here in the Morning Darling
2. Old Folks at Home / Old Man River (Alternate Version)
3. Meant for You
4. Friends
5. Our New Home
6. Wake the World
7. New Song
8. Be Here in the Morning
9. When a Man Needs a Woman
10. Passing By
11. We’re Together Again
12. Anna Lee, the Healer
13. Little Bird
14. Be Still
15. Busy Doin’ Nothin’
16. I’m Confessin’ / You’re As Cool As Can Be 1
17. Diamond Head
18. The Gong (Session Highlights)
19. Transcendental Meditation
20. Mona Kana (2018 Mix)
21. Child is Father of the Man (Original 1966 Track Mix)
22. We’re Together Again (A Cappella)

Quick note about the playlist. My favorite moment of this playlist is Diamond Head -> The Gong (Session Highlights) -> Transcendental Meditation. This trio just rules! While The Gong has Dennis singing very unlike the rest of the Friendly playlist, it opens with similar field sounds and water sounds that carries over from Diamond Head, and then Dennis gets all introspective in the microphone. I think it then perfectly transitions with its thematic carryover into Transcendental Meditation with its bombastic music. I also ended with We’re Together Again (A Cappella) because it’s a different cut from the other one and has a nice finality to it. Hope you enjoy it if you choose to check it out.


The Beach Boys Unreleased Dream Album


This is one of my fictional albums, using only unreleased songs, except for the leading single “Break Away”. My goal was to imagine a diverse and multi-genre release of many different studio outtakes. It’s not based on any band lore, but has a very nice flow to it and contains some of their best songs that curiously never made it into an official release. Enjoy.


The Beach Boys alternate cuts🔹


This is simply a condensed sequenced playlist of cuts that don’t really sound like the traditional “Beach Boys” sound.


Wait, that’s The Beach Boys?!🤯


This one is similar to the previous, except it is more like a sampler of albums in a 20 year span. This is basically an anti-“Beach Boys” playlist if that makes any sense. It’s to show people who are only tuned in to the mainstream and introduce newcomers as well to their amazing diversity in their catalogue, and is meant to be a surprising eye-ear-mind opening experience.

I started this playlist as early as 1965 when they started to diverge and went forward 2 decades to 1985 and I only wanted 2 or 3 songs as a sampler to represent albums without having this playlist feel overstuffed and bloated. And I also added 3 songs from In Concert since that is such an amazing standout live album that shows how awesome they were live during that period. It works great on shuffle and I think can be an essential playlist to convert casuals into more involved fans of their music. Check it out. 


The Beach Boys Bangers! 🎸


This is a playlist that I wanted to make to match the energy of songs like “I Get Around”, “Do You Wanna Dance”, “Dance, Dance, Dance”, and “The Girl From New York City”. These songs have so much incredible energy and are undeniably certified bangers. I tried to locate and collect other songs throughout their career to have it be a nonstop good time (no pun intended). It’s subjective as to what songs qualify or don’t quite make the cut, but it’s certainly a bangin’ good time.


The Beach Boys “Chills”


This is probably my very first conceptual playlist mix I did of these guys. Early on in my fandom, I wanted to compile and sequence a list of songs that really have that special ability to give listeners the “chills”. Some of their music is so awe-inspiring, emotionally complex, and beautiful that is gets the hairs to stand up and give goosebumps, or chills, from its surreal and wonderful experience while listening, either for the first time or even after many repeated listens. It starts slow in the early years and slowly becomes more grandiose and experimental, but it’s a pretty awesome listen throughout. Check it out.


The Beach Boys A Cappellas 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️


Just as the title says, this one is all of their released a cappellas to date, ordered in a beautiful sequence, to display how amazing and nearly complete sounding songs were that they created purely from their vocals alone. It’s all stunning.


These are just a few of many more playlists I’ve felt compelled to make. Trust me, once you become a bigger Beach Boys fan, it’s very hard to resist.

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Final Thoughts


My question to you is this: is SMiLE stronger for being the album that never was and arguably the most resilient legendary album for the treasure trove of recorded material and countless fan mixes?

I believe what makes SMiLE so astounding and legendary is that it never got released. There just simply aren’t endless fan recreations of other legendary albums, such as Dark Side of The Moon or Abbey Road or others, because they were already released in the artists’ intended vision, with their arrangements already set in stone.

SMiLE on the other hand is such a journey through amorphous sonic landscapes that the best descriptor of it is constant change. Before listeners get too comfortable in one movement, the next takes them by surprise. Not only that, but the fact that the arrangement besides Brian’s 2004 version has never truly been set in stone, since 2011 has some different decisions being made with I’m in Great Shape’s placement, as well as Brian’s own possibly faulty memory of his original SMiLE concept, if it was ever a complete vision from the start, leads me to believe that the overarching plotline and theme of SMiLE is this kaleidoscopic carousel that can take multiple forms.


And If It Were Ever Released In 1967?


Custom SMiLE artwork by u/boiisfunny on Reddit

If it were ever released in its original form in 1967, it surely would have unequivocally changed the The Beach Boys’ trajectory as an artistic powerhouse, but in that respect fans might have missed out on their follow-up albums Smiley Smile, Friends, Surf’s Up and other amazing S-tier level LPs. Maybe the insane amount of acclaim would’ve ruined the band from producing anything remotely different as they have in this timeline we are currently living in. As a final point, a fixed arrangement would’ve always been just that, with no fan speculation or remixes ever taking shape. If the album were originally released, fans would have their masterpiece to behold, but if say, Brian had any subjectively weak points to the album, then they would forever be a part of its legacy.

I believe that SMiLE is truly the greatest music album, possibly of all time, specifically because it was never released, and because its wealth of existing recorded material allows it to be remixed, reconstructed, and constantly experienced anew for both newer and older generations of fans. It’s many shapeshifting forms makes its magic shine on.

I hope all of this shines a light on why The Beach Boys are one of the greatest bands ever, and why SMiLE is the goat of all modern pop albums and music albums in general.

Be safe and well.


With love and mercy,


Dang Harmony

DJ Dark Flow~


PS, if you’re all SMiLEd out but feel like cracking a Smiley Smile, then check out my other article on Smiley Smile and why it reached such a cult status among diehard Beach Boys fans.

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