SMiLE From The Inside: A Conversation with David Leaf

“Y’know, I’m a fan. I just took it to extreme, what I’ve done in my life.” Welcome (or welcome back) to my channel! For the Vinyl Monday season 2 finale, I covered the “lost” Beach Boys album and Brian Wilson’s masterpiece, SMiLE. In a strange and wonderful turn of events, nearly 2 years later, I got to speak with author, “Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of SMiLE” director, and educator David Leaf. We talked all about his new book “SMiLE: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Brian Wilson” – out today in the US! Keep in touch: Instagram: @abigaildevoe   / abigaildevoe   My website: https://www.abigaildevoe.com Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@abigaildevoe SpunIt (it’s Letterboxd for vinyl geeks): spunit://spunit.io/friendProfile?profile=sZN9N7hTusP0ifQ20TdlzbBvtHd2 I cohost the Dolls Podcast!: https://open.spotify.com/show/4JsH0rs... https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... I voice the bumpers on this radio show!: www.mixcloud.com/jkhoman Follow the Vinyl Monday playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27N... Buy “SMiLE: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Brian Wilson” here: Amazon US: https://amzn.to/4fI5kmg Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/49czwn1 David’s website: https://www.leafprod.com Timestamps: intro – 0:00 why SMiLE? – 2:41 why did Brian shelve SMiLE? – 9:52 Pet Sounds vs. SMiLE – 12:07 what do people love about SMiLE? – 13:07 the SMiLE story – 16:15 Brian – 19:28 writing an oral history – 24:00 editing the book – 28:28 getting fans involved – 31:35 anthology – 33:31 balancing voices – 37:05 Brian and Melinda – 37:54 drugs – 39:45 challenging SMiLE – 41:09 working title – 42:45 crucial interviews – 43:53 who do you wish you got to interview? – 48:10 being a fan – 50:47 what is genius? – 52:40 finishing SMiLE – 54:27 favorite SMiLE song? – 58:00 final thoughts – 59:38 thanks for watching! – 1:02:53 Music: Outtro Music: Ticket To Nowhere Man by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Artist: http://audionautix.com/ #beachboys #brianwilson #smile