Heroes And Villains

From The Smile Shop

Sessions

SESSIONS:

11-May-1966 – 14 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders.
20-Oct-1966 – 8 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders.
27-Oct-1966 – 4 Musicians + Van & Brian – Western Recorders.
13-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
19-Dec-1966 – 17 Musicians – Western Recorders.
22-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
27-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
28-Dec-1966 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
03-Jan-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
05-Jan-1967 – 4 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders.
20-Jan-1967 – 4 Musicians + Brian – Columbia "Not but used."
27-Jan-1967 – Cantina Tracking – Goldstar Recorders.
31-Jan-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
03-Feb-1967 – 1 Musician – Columbia Recorders.
07-Feb-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
10-Feb-1967 – Brian Only – Goldstar Recorders.
15-Feb-1967 – 19 Musicians + Van – Western Recorders.
21-Feb-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
24-Feb-1967 – Brian Only – Goldstar Recorders.
26-Feb-1967 – Beach Boys – Goldstar Recorders.
27-Feb-1967 – Tracking for Part 2 – Goldstar Recorders.
28-Feb-1967 – Fade to Heroes & Villains – Goldstar Recorders.
01-Mar-1967 – 8 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders.
02-Mar-1967 – 4 Musicians – Goldstar Recorders.

Instrumental track recorded Oct 20, 1966 – March 2, 1967 (Goldstar, Western, Columbia), vocals recorded Dec 13, 1966 – Feb 26, 1967 (Columbia).

Lyrically influenced by Marty Robbins´ hit El Paso, Heroes and Villains was the first song Brian and Van Dyke wrote together. Brian reportedly played the long descending melody line on the piano to Van, who on hearing it came up with the matching lyrics "I´ve been in this town so long... " on the spot. More than any other Smile song, the dozens of musical themes and sections that were recorded for Heroes and Villains give us a glimpse of Brian´s boundless creativity at its´ peak, and reveal him reaching artistically for something totally new and epic in pop music in his attempt to surpass the achievement of Good Vibrations. Heroes and Villains underwent the most complex evolution of any song in Beach Boys history. Following the new working method established by Good Vibrations, Brian rerecorded section after section, recorded new pieces while rejecting old, and assembled at least four or five different mixes of the song prior to the final issuance of the single in July 1967. Unlike Good Vibrations, however, the song´s structure did not remain intact from one incarnation to the next, as Brian experimented with the order and composition of sections of his new mini-suite.

The first attempt at tracking the song on May 11, 1966 (2:45 in length) was unsatisfactory and taped over; it may have included "My Only Sunshine" as a section of the song according to one of the session musicians. It was next tracked on October 20, likely the source for the single´s verse tracking and the recording date of the Barnyard ending. This session has not surfaced but may have followed the three part structure of the Endless Harmony demo of Nov 4: the familiar "I´ve been in this town" and "Once a night" verses, followed by a rustic "fresh clean air around my head/eggs and grits" section, ending with "Barnyard." We know the "eggs and grits" section was tracked on Oct 27 - this may have been a rerecording of the Oct 20 section or perhaps the Oct 20 session did not include this part of the song (see I´m in Great Shape below). This three-part version is the one Tracy Thomas reported in November to be "a three minute musical comedy." Sometime in December after vocals were added to the song Brian became dissatisfied with it and began adding sections, cannibalizing other Smile tracks for new pieces to add to Heroes. The Old Master Painter fade ("false Barnyard") replaced the previous Barnyard tag, and the Bicycle Rider chorus from Worms was added and then rejected. The "cantina" section (recorded Jan 27) replaced "eggs and grits." Brian completed the "cantina mix" Feb 10 1967. The original is missing from the tape library; the released version on the Smiley Smile/Wild Honey 2-fer and the GV box set is a safety copy of the original mixdown tape. It is the only completed Smile era Brian Wilson mix of the song we have.

Brian rejected this mix shortly after it was finished and continued work on the song, recording numerous "Part Two" sections (some of the "Part Two" sessions were held earlier in December/January), many of which are included in the GV box set´s "Heroes and Villains (sections)," and rerecording the "false Barnyard" tag on Feb 28. These were to be incorporated into a new mix with parts or perhaps all of the cantina mix. Press accounts in March indicate at least one approximately five minute mix was completed ("Beach Boys´ new single ´Heroes and Villains´ will probably last 5 minutes"), although it has yet to come to light. As late as June Mike Love played a tape of the song for a Disc magazine interviewer who noted "the tape ran for about 6 minutes."

Domenic Priore has maintained that Heroes and Villains was to be a 2 sided single consisting of Parts One and Two; the evidence is scanty for this, as the "Part Two" designation for sessions was not uncommon for Brian to use on songs recorded with the "sectional" method of this time, and which he continued to use on songs for Smiley Smile. On February 10th Brian told reporter Tracy Thomas "I´m doing the final mix on the A side tonight, but I can´t decide what to do on the other side" (see Little Red Book below). The recent discovery that the tapebox with the instrumental and vocal tracking for the Heroes and Villains chorus eventually used for Smiley Smile was marked "Side Two" may be the first solid indication that Brian considered a Heroes and Villains 2 sided single. Michael Vosse in his 1969 Fusion interview mentions there "was an A side B side version lasting about six minutes." While the chorus instrumental tracking was likely recorded in February 1967, it is unknown when the vocals were done.

The Smile 2004 version of Heroes was the single version with "cantina" included and ending with the "Prelude to Fade."

While a complete catalog of Heroes and Villains sessions is beyond the scope of this compendium, a list of some of the instrumental sessions and vocal sessions matched with specific musical sections follows:

Instrumental sessions:

Oct. 20: 8 musicians at Western, verse tracking plus Barnyard.
Oct 27: 4 musicians at Western (Great Shape)
Nov/Dec: H & V Intro (chimes version) – on comp tape that dates to this time period
Dec 19: tracking (possibly including a rerecord of verse section)
Jan 3: a comp tape of work done on this date includes Do a Lot (piano/drums version found on H & V sessions boot)/Tag to Part One, three takes/Bridge to Indians (vocal ascending "aahh aahh . . . hmmm")/Pickup to 3rd verse (same as Bridge but without the hmmm ending)/Bag of Tricks instrumental, 2 takes (has same bassline as Smiley´s Fall Breaks, whistles similar to H & V Intro on GV box set)/All Day (see Dada)
Jan 5: tracking for "Part 2"
Jan 20: tracking for "experimental session – not to be used"
Jan 27: cantina tracking
Feb. 15: 19 musicians, "Prelude to Fade" – the "Country Western" theme with strings, clip clop percussion, and French horn ending. Also tracked was the tack piano version of the Heroes and Villains theme (Bicycle Rider from Worms in a different key).
Feb 27: tracking for "Part 2" – possibly Heroes and Villains theme chorus instrumental tracking (used in Smiley version)
Feb. 28: Fade to Heroes and Villains – a rerecord in twenty-five takes, with Carl providing live "doo doo" backing vocals.
March 1: 8 musicians for "Part 2 (Intro)"
March 2: 4 musicians for "Part 2 (insert)"

Vocal Sessions:

Dec 13: group vocals (possibly for Barnyard)
Dec 22: group vocals for "insert for H & V – overdub" - "Swedish frog" or "swine" vocal session – although Paul Williams recounts this as being recorded Dec. 24.
Dec 27: Brian only for "H &V (overdub)"
Dec 28: Brian only for "(insert) H & V (overdub)"
Jan 3: group vocals for "(insert) H & V (overdub)"
Jan 20: group vocals (6 Beach Boys)
Jan 27: probably Mike lead on cantina tracking, mixes of Brian/Mike shared lead on verses
Jan 31: group
Feb 3: group
Feb 7: group – cantina vocal tracking, "dum dum dum" section
Feb 10: Brian only
Feb 21: group (Brian plus 4)
Feb 24: Brian only
Feb 26: group (Brian plus 5)

Section titles and possible dates of recording:

Soul Made Beautiful (aahh . . . doot doo doo doo doo dooo … doo … doo – on GV box set (sections) immediately preceding Bridge to Indians section), likely Nov/Dec
Hold On (dit dit dit . . . Heroes and Villains . . . with clip clop percussion) likely Dec/Jan
Part 2 revised version (How I Love My Girl), likely Dec/Jan

-- Lou Shenk, A SMiLE Primer

Song title:
Studio:
Time of session:
Engineer:
Master Number:
Length Of Song:
Musicians/vocalists:

Song title: Heroes And Villains
Studio:	Columbia
Time of session:
Engineer:	most likely Ralph Balantin
Master Number:
Length Of Song:
Musicians/vocalists:

Heroes And Villains

From The Smile Shop

Contents

Sessions

May 11, 1966

October 20, 1966

October 27, 1966

December 13, 1966

December 19, 1966

December 22, 1966

December 27, 1966

December 28, 1966

January 3, 1967

January 5, 1967

January 20, 1967

January 27, 1967

January 31, 1967

February 3, 1967

February 7, 1967

February 10, 1967

February 15, 1967

February 21, 1967

February 24, 1967

February 26, 1967

February 27, 1967

February 28, 1967

March 1, 1967

March 2, 1967

June 12, 1967

June 13, 1967

June 14, 1967

Available Session Recordings

Official Releases

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