1 - you're assuming I'm not bound to secrecy... on what grounds ?

2 - assuming you're correct, do the phrases "protecting your sources" and "keeping a confidence" mean anything to you ? Ah, no, of course not, as you've twice revealed on other boards the contents of private messages I've sent you. If I had chosen/were able to say anything, you are the very last person I'd tell, because you've proven yourself completely untrustworthy.

3 - your actions over the last seven months have totally undermined any credibility you might have once had among the online community. You're a laughing stock, a figure of fun held up for ridicule, and rightly so. Every step of the way, someone - including people from inside the project - attempted to point out how utterly wrong you were with your claims that the project was in trouble and faltering, and you chose to ignore them, purely because it suited your purpose to believe that the box would not be released. Your every last assumption and supposition has been proven wrong. No-one is ever going to take you seriously again.

You guys don't really want to keep fighting all the way to the release date, do you?

Don't worry Linda. I'm not taking the bait.

Peace and Love? Your name wouldn't happen to be Ringo? (Just joking)

It's unfortunate that Andrew doesn't seem to want to take the high road, and it's terrific that you're not "taking the bait" and all ... but don't you think an apology to all the people you derided as empty-headed "SMiLE dreamers" for months would be appropriate? After all, we "dreamers" did nothing at all to warrant the smear -- other than disagree with your doomsday rantings -- and you, after all, turned out to be WRONG. I'm a huge fan of letting the past be the past, and never mentioning this cyber-drama again, but you could sure help yourself a by showing a little humility.

Either way, I can promise you that I have nothing more to say about any of it. SMiLE is coming in two weeks, and I don't CARE who was right and who was wrong two MONTHS ago. However, I don't like being insulted, and that I won't forget easily. Just sayin'.

But I was branding certain people as "Smile Dreamers" for the increasingly unrealistic fantasies that they were spinning, especially on the "Smiley Smile" forum(in the total absence of information)concerning the box's contents during the five months that Capitol was stonewalling it. The reality: we'll be getting upgraded sound quality(in some cases slight, in some cases significant) on the already bootlegged materials, and a few previously unbootlegged pieces, and an approximation of the "Smile" album that will contain some 21st century pro-tooled confections. All of this in a very beautiful looking graphics package.

As for Mr.Doe, he won the online jousting match, but he's not being a gracious victor. And, as for the secrecy contracts that I refered to, only actual participants in the creation of the "Smile Sessions" project were asked to sign these documents. Mr.Doe was not a participant in the box set's creation.

Who's fighting ? I'm stating established facts, he's back-pedalling furiously.

I'm done, anyway. There's nothing more to say. As for being a gracious victor, Phil, you forfeited that respect when you broke the confidentiality of the PMs I sent you.

And what if the outcome had been different, ,and Mike Love or Al Jardine's attorneys had found some excuse to seek an injunction to stop the release of "Smile"? Would I have been gloating if the project had been cancelled or subject to an 18-month postponement similar to that which put "The Pet Sounds Sessions" in limbo. No, I wouldn't have been gloating.

No, sir. Most of us knew that we were getting exactly (or somewhat -- we still don't know, do we?) what you described above. You were calling people "dreamers" simply for believing that the set would be released AT ALL. But I have your answer now, and it was very informative.

Phil, I don't think we need worry about what we do and don't get on the box cos we can rely on you to fill the gaps via BigO, yeah?

I would think that everything in that compilation will appear in the official box. That unofficial collection served its purpose(in the absence of an official release), and I am more than happy that it will be rendered obsolete in early November.

Which is what I'm looking forward to. In addition to paying money via "legitimate" channels for something named "Smile" from an artist named "Beach Boys" that doesn't include the word "Smiley" in the title. It's all good.

Undoubtedly, there will be much speculation concerning the combining of familiar bits of music in unfamiliar ways(sequencing segments via editing, and/or resynchronizing or flying in parts from one take onto a different take) and whether these new, unfamiliar combinations are re-creations of things attempted on test edits in the 1960's, or found on acetates.......versus what newly heard combinations are simply a product of the imagination or studio "creativity" of Mark Linett & Alan Boyd.

Since there will be much speculation concerning the authenticity of certain new combinations, perhaps a few weeks from now, the compilers will clarify these things in interviews.

And If I've given the Mr.Doe an excuse to hurl a few more insults at me, so be it.

Many years ago, Mike Love explained the absence of an official "Smile" CD by saying "You've got it all already". Detailed information about discs 2,3 & 4(revealed on Steve Hoffman's forum) show, that while there ARE some previously unheard, unbootlegged variations in the session excerpts in "The Smile Sessions", that the recordings came no closer to completion than what previous bootleg or official releases of "Smile" material have suggested. In a sense, Mike Love's statement was correct. No wonder Capitol Records won't permit Amazon.com & its affiliates to present audio excerpts. And, of course, download sellers(such as iTunes) that require audio excerpts, are simply not offering "The Smile Sessions" for preorder.

It would seem, that for much of the "lost" "Smile" tapes, that the recordings likely never existed. On the positive side, there's no doubt that the sound quality and packaging quality of "The Smile Sessions" will be superb, and that this will be the end of the road in the fans' quest for "Smile" material. It's possible(but not likely) that bootleggers or private collections may have additional materials. Time will tell.

When asked(in the Icon Fetch interview) if there is any further unreleased 1960's Beach Boys material, compiler Mark Linett mentioned the possibility of doing stereo remixes of Beach Boys albums that are presently available only in mono sound. Linett mentioned that the previously unreleased late 1967 version of "Surf's Up"(included in the "Smile Sessions" box) was discovered during research when doing transfers to digital from the "Wild Honey" tapes. Of the Beach Boys albums offered officially (to date) only in mono sound, it would seem apparent that the only one of those albums for which a complete set of multitracks exists(for a musically identical[to the mono] stereo remix).....is "Wild Honey".

Is that true? Didn't we already (indirectly) get some audio here?

I'm refering to brief excerpts of every track, which both Amazon & iTunes would normally present on their websites when an upcoming release is imminent.

I understand, but is the current lack of clips because they aren't permitted or because they just haven't been posted yet? Will we see them next week?

Phil wants everything to be a conspiracy, so he assumes that EVERY potential SMiLE purchaser out there has heard EVERY bootleg, and will therefore be crushingly disappointed if they heard audio clips on Amazon or iTunes. Therefore, Captiol MUST be hiding the ugly truth that EVERYTHING on the box has been heard before, and are therefore withholding the clips to dupe unsuspecting fans into buying it without hearing it.

Or ... maybe they just want it all to be a surprise. I like the fact that nothing has leaked (aside from what they chose to release); it will make November 1st that much more special. But then, I'm a SMiLE dreamer, so what do I know?

My research on search engines suggests that the set may have briefly leaked on one website, but it was taken down due to the website operator being confronted by Capitol.

Speaking as someone who is a Beach Boys fan (fave album, the original two-fer of Summer Days, Summer Nights/Today) but only has one of the old Sea Of Tunes versions of Smile, may I say that I don't care what's been flown in or edited or whatevered, I just want the music on this set to move me the way the best music always does. That's all.

Phil's most recent post in this thread has been removed, along with the replies to it, and I've deactivated his account. Enough was enough.


Couldn't agree more.

The wait is almost over!

I am looking forward to this! This is much more music than the original lp could ever cover to the nth degree. We all know it was never completed = most likely over hyped but it still promises to be an amazing listening experience. 99.999999% of us have never heard most of it - this is really going to be something!

The same week the 4 disc 1971 Zappa set will also be released - as Gail ALWAYS does - no hint as to was is on there either but that does not stop us Zappa fans...I'd rather not be surprised but if you want it - one has to accept it.