In 1966, a 24-year-old Brian Wilson began work on the song "Good Vibrations." It took him over seven months to complete it, but it became one of the centerpieces of the Beach Boys would-be followup album to their landmark "Pet Sounds". Originally titled "Dumb Angel," the album that eventually became known as "Smile" was to be Wilson's "teenage symphony to God," and a grand survey of popular American music influenced conceptually by the work of George Gershwin. But between the challenging material, heavy drug use, and inter-band fighting, the project came to a screeching halt in an incomplete form, and left Wilson in a fractured and insecure mental state.
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Results tagged “smile”
Our Ten Minutes With Beach Boys Legend Brian Wilson
Beach Boys Finally Release SMiLE... 44 Years Later
What Rolling Stone once called "the most famous unfinished album in rock & roll history," will soon be released in a massive, deluxe box set. The never-before-released original 1966/1967 album sessions for SMiLE by the Beach Boys will be available come this November 1st, as the band readies to celebrate the big 5-0 in 2012. We're told:
Is This List of What New Yorkers Like Realistic?
Trying to make sweeping generalizations about the personalities of New Yorkers is never a good idea, but the Daily News thinks it's narrowed down "50 Things That Make New Yorkers Smile." Some of the schadenfreude is spot on ("Seeing the tourists actually stand and wait at the corner till the Walk signal lights up") while other points seem really neighborhood specific ("Going to the Gee Whiz Diner for waffles at 4 a.m."). And is getting a t-shirt from Ollie's Noodle Shop a thing? Because that just seems one step away from "Wearing the 'Hard Rock Cafe' shirt I bought on my high school field trip."
Stabby Hat Makes You Smile
Where was this hat in Sylvia Plath's day? A 22-year-old designer has created a cute little knit cap that literally stabs you in the skull until you smile. It's like Stepford Wife-chic! The claim is that "Through repeated use of this conditioning device you can train your brain to smile all the time." Goodbye sad affect, hello manufactured happiness! See creepy video after the jump. [via Pat's Papers]
Obama's Terrifying Unchanging Smile
Eric Spiegelman put together this amazing stream of 130 photos of Obama posing with dignitaries during this week's U.N. meetings (long video after the jump). And Obama's smile never changes. Of course you may suspect some Photoshopping, but Spiegelman defends himself by directing us to the State Department's flickr site. [Via Daily Intel]
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