Sir Larrikan, I have one correction to make concerning your post about "Smiley Smile." "Good Vibrations" was NOT recorded after Brian Wilson's mother died. Audree Wilson died in 1997, "Good Vibrations" was recorded and released as a single in 1966, and featured on the album "Smily Smile" in 1967, 30 years before Brian Wilson's mother died.
And another thing, "Good Vibrations" was originally meant to be included on the legendary "lost" follow-up to "Pet Sounds", "SMiLE". Wilson had his famous mental breakdown during the period when "SMiLE" was being recorded. Brian never finished SMiLE (until 2004). SMiLE was supposed to be Wilson's grand masterpiece, it would've blown "Sgt. Pepper's" out of the water if it were finished back in the 60s. Instead of putting out SMiLE, the Beach Boys made "Smiley Smile", featuring the hit single "Good Vibrations", plus low-key, minimalist, rough sounding remakes of several SMiLE songs. "Smiley Smile", although it is a good album, is nothing compared to SMiLE. The "Creative drought" may refer to the fact that Wilson went through an actual "creative drougt" after SMiLE, "Smiley Smile" being a product of this "drought".
Sir Larrikan, I have one correction to make concerning your post about "Smiley Smile." "Good Vibrations" was NOT recorded after Brian Wilson's mother died. Audree Wilson died in 1997, "Good Vibrations" was recorded and released as a single in 1966, and featured on the album "Smily Smile" in 1967, 30 years before Brian Wilson's mother died.
And another thing, "Good Vibrations" was originally meant to be included on the legendary "lost" follow-up to "Pet Sounds", "SMiLE". Wilson had his famous mental breakdown during the period when "SMiLE" was being recorded. Brian never finished SMiLE (until 2004). SMiLE was supposed to be Wilson's grand masterpiece, it would've blown "Sgt. Pepper's" out of the water if it were finished back in the 60s. Instead of putting out SMiLE, the Beach Boys made "Smiley Smile", featuring the hit single "Good Vibrations", plus low-key, minimalist, rough sounding remakes of several SMiLE songs. "Smiley Smile", although it is a good album, is nothing compared to SMiLE. The "Creative drought" may refer to the fact that Wilson went through an actual "creative drougt" after SMiLE, "Smiley Smile" being a product of this "drought".