Source: http://www.comiclist.com/smileshop/viewtopic.php?t=5411&start=15
Message Tue Nov 30, 2004 9:47 am
from the Smile Shop MSGboard by 'Chalk & Numbers'
Hi All,
Peter, I had to say "thank you" for your kind words. Mac and I are having great fun researching and writing, and (I know I can speak for Mac here as well) we're grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the book...which is sure to be a cornerstone of any SMiLE fan's library.
Thanks to CC, too, for thinking of me.
gf: Thanks for the Les Paul suggestion. I will pursue it.
I keep an eye on the conversation around here, but lately the tone of that conversation has been a bit off-putting. The generous spirit of collaborative discovery appears to have ebbed. Take a spin through some of the old saved threads, and maybe you'll see what I mean. Too many posts are met with derisive, contemptuous, smarmy reactions; and many posts are devoted to excessively narrow, technical points that don't seem to be made in the context of an overall "human" appreciation of the SMiLE music. Some days - please excuse the strained metaphor - I feel like a bunch of vivisectionists has taken over a community built by and for a group of animal lovers. No point in saying any more; I wouldn't want my comments to be taken as personal criticisms (they're not intended as such).
This thread is very interesting. The idea of an "influences" compilation is an excellent one, and I think it might make for an enjoyable CD. Here are some specific suggestions:
(Note: I've pasted, at the end of this post, the substance of my original "Long, Long Ago" comments - if anybody's interested.)
"Gee" - The Crows
"El Paso" - Marty Robbins
"Peace in the Valley" - Take your pick...there are hundreds of recordings out there (Johnny Cash? Boxcar Willie?)
"C C Rider" - I would probably go for the Big Bill Broonzy version, although the Elvis version is an option as well
"Anything Goes" - Again, you can take your pick...but make sure the selected recording includes the intro (that's where the "Plymouth Rock" reference is)
"Waiting for a Train" - Jimmie Rodgers (just for the opening vocal train-whistle effect)
"Old McDonald" - Any version you like
"Barnyard Blues" - Original Dixieland Jazz Band (this song is also known as "Livery Stable Blues")
"Old Master Painter" - Dick Haymes? Mel Torme? Frank Sinatra?
"You Are My Sunshine" - Jimmie Davis (the original)
"Home on the Range" - Any version you like
"America the Beautiful" - Any version you like
"Working on the Railroad" - Any version you like (anyone have any personal favorites?)
"The Grand Coulee Dam" - Woody Guthrie
"Ring Around the Rosey" - Any version you like
"Frere Jacques" - Any version you like
"Auld Lang Syne" - Any version you like
"I Wanna Be Around" - Tony Bennett
"Ukelele Lady" - Any version you like
"Pour, O pour the pirate sherry" (Opening Chorus) from Pirates of Penzance
"The Pirate King" from Pirates of Penzance
"Lazy Moon" - Harry Nilsson (unless you can track down the Oliver Hardy version)
"Pauahi 'O Kalani" - Any version you like
"Long, Long Ago" - Any version you like
"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" - Any version you like
"Cool Water" - The Sons of the Pioneers
"Blue Hawaii" - I'd opt for the Bing Crosby recording rather than the Elvis version
"Aloha Nui Kuu Ipo" - Alvin Kaleolani Isaacs
("Long, Long Ago" notes:)
This song was written by a gentleman named Thomas Haynes Bayly, c.1830. As the title suggests, it's a sustained reflection on time and love long past. Here are the lyrics:
Tell me the tales that to me were so dear,
Long long ago, long long ago:
Sing me the songs I delighted to hear,
Long long ago, long ago:
Now you are come my grief is remov'd,
Let me forget that so long you have rov'd,
Let me believe that you love as you lov'd,
Long long ago, long ago.
Do you remember the path where we met,
Long long ago, long long ago.
Ah yes you told me you ne'er would forget,
Long long ago, long go.
Then to all others my SMiLE you prefer'd,
Love when you spoke gave a charm to each word,
Still my heart treasures the praises I heard.
Long long ago, long ago.
Though by your kindness my fond hopes were rais'd,
Long long ago, long, long ago,
You by more eloquent lips have been prais'd,
Long long ago, long ago.
But by long absence your truth has been tried,
Still to your accents I listen with pride.
Blest as I was when I sat by your side,
Long long ago, long ago.
This is actually a rather remarkable lyric. The speaker is addressing his long-absent lover, who has now returned from her "roving"; and he is trying mightily to make himself believe in her - to feel toward her as he did before she left:
Let me believe that you love as you lov'd,
Long long ago, long ago
In that sense, this song is a blurring of past and present. And this blurring, appropriately, occurs at the point where the long-gone winds of the pirate seas are arriving at a modern-day window to set the wind chimes tinkling...literally mixing past and present. And it's worth noting that the lyric begins with a request for old stories and songs:
Tell me the tales that to me were so dear...,
Sing me the songs I delighted to hear
SMiLE itself - rich in musical and historical resonances - tells many an old tale, and sings many an old song. It's interesting, too, that SMiLE isn't the first work to quote "Long, Long Ago" in a new context. Charles Ives - a composer whose influence on SMiLE deserves a discussion of its own - incorporated "Long Long Ago" in his Fourth Symphony. Brian and Van Dyke are in good company.
Posts
