A Listener’s Smile

The strange, circuitous story of Brian Wilson’sSmileis a familiar one. With good reason, the tale is generally told from the standpoint of the creators: Brian Wilson in particular, along with lyricist Van Dyke Parks, the other Beach Boys, and the many musicians and studio technicians who participated in extensive sessions for the ill-fated album in 1966 and 1967. The events subsequent to these sessions are well known, beginning with the extraordinary disappointment of the project’s collapse by mid-1967. Brian Wilson’s health and creativity declined rapidly thereafter, for a period extending over more than two decades. Meanwhile, as Andrew