In 1966, The Beach Boys began recording the follow-up to ‘Pet Sounds’. It took 45 years to release it
In 1966, as The Beach Boys released *Pet Sounds*, Brian Wilson began developing *Smile*, an ambitious follow-up intended to extend the band’s studio experimentation. The album was never completed amid tensions within the group, Wilson’s worsening mental health and drug problems, and distrust from the record label.
The band reworked some of the material into *Smiley Smile* in 1967, while Wilson later revisited the songs for his 2004 solo version. In 2011, *The Smile Sessions*, assembled from the original recordings under Wilson’s supervision, gave listeners the closest available version of the planned album, nearly 50 years after work began.
In short
- Brian Wilson began work on *Smile* after *Pet Sounds*.
- Group tensions and other pressures left the album unfinished.
- Original sessions were released in 2011.
Explained simply
The Beach Boys were a California band whose songs often featured close vocal harmonies. Brian Wilson, their singer, songwriter and producer, increasingly shaped their recordings in the studio. After *Pet Sounds* in 1966, he began work on *Smile*, a more elaborate collection of songs and musical ideas.
The project ran into difficulties as tensions grew between Wilson and the other band members, and Wilson’s mental health and drug problems worsened. The band released some of the material in a different form as *Smiley Smile* in 1967, but the planned album remained unfinished. Wilson later recorded his own version, and original studio recordings were assembled for release in 2011, offering listeners a way to hear how the project had developed.