The Smile Sessions

This article is about the 2011 compilation. For the original album, see Smile (The Beach Boys album).

The Smile Sessions
Compilation album and box set by
the Beach Boys
ReleasedOctober 31, 2011 (2011-10-31)
RecordedOctober 15, 1965 – 1971
Studio
Length
  • 48:03 (album reconstruction)
  • 140:57 (2-CD)
  • 396:28 (box set)
LabelCapitol
ProducerBrian Wilson (original recordings)
Compiler
The Beach Boys chronology
Summer Love Songs
(2009) 		The Smile Sessions
(2011) 		That's Why God Made the Radio
(2012)
Singles from The Smile Sessions
  1. "Cabin Essence" / "Wonderful"
    Released: June 15, 2011

The Smile Sessions is a compilation album and box set recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on October 31, 2011, by Capitol Records. The set is the follow-up to The Pet Sounds Sessions (1997), this time focusing on the abandoned recordings from the band's unfinished 1966–1967 album Smile. It features comprehensive session highlights and outtakes, with the first 19 tracks comprising a hypothetical version of the completed Smile album.

The compilation is the first and only package devoted to the 1960s Smile recordings originally produced by Brian Wilson, arriving after decades of public anticipation and numerous false starts. The project was led primarily by audio engineers Alan Boyd, Mark Linett, and Capitol A&R director Dennis Wolfe, with Wilson acting as a remote supervisor, assisting the engineers with some mixing decisions. Previously, Wilson had completed a solo album based on Smile in 2004, which Boyd, Linett, and Wolfe used as a blueprint for The Smile Sessions. Wilson later stated that, while the compilation is "not a far cry" from his original vision, he prefers his 2004 version.

The Smile Sessions received virtually unanimous critical acclaim upon release.[1] It was ranked number 381 in Rolling Stone's 2012 list of the greatest albums of all time[2] and won the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards.[3] A spiritual successor, 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow, followed in 2017.

  1. ^ "The Smile Sessions – The Beach Boys". Metacritic. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  2. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Beach Boys, 'Smile 2011 Version'". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. ^ Alyssa Toomey and Rosemary Brennan (February 10, 2013). "2013 Grammy Awards Winners: The Complete List". E!. Retrieved April 12, 2013.