Description
Making God Smile, sub-titled An Artists’ Tribute to the Songs of Beach Boy Brian Wilson is a multi-artist tribute compilation featuring selected songs written by Brian Wilson, released on Silent Planet Records in 2002. The album was released as a single CD, and as well as an extended version featuring a second disk with nine bonus tracks. The cover picture was made by Kurt Lightner. Lightner wrote in the CD’s liner notes that the cover is his interpretation of Frank Holmes’ original design for the Beach Boys’ Smile album.
Without a doubt the BEST Brian Wilson/Beach Boys tribute album yet, this is an excellent crop of covers, performed by mostly little-known Christian artists, I was really pleased with what I heard on this album. It’s stuffed with fully-produced, sparkly arrangements with just a bit of bite to them that makes each song really come alive. The focus of the producers was to show off Brian’s innate spirituality that he’s often expressed in his favorite songs, and the artists here succeed brilliantly. For example, the trippy piano part that introduces Aaron Sprinkle’s take on «I Know There’s An Answer/Hang Onto Your Ego» is perfect – bright and shiny. And Sixpence None the Richer (the only artist here I’ve heard of) turns in a fab take on «I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times». There’s a grand finish at the end of Phil Keaggy’s «Good Vibrations», and the harmonies on Randy Stonehill’s «Love And Mercy» is breathtaking! Worth buying for just that track. Kevin Max & Jimmy A sound like they’re channeling U2 in their clever re-imagining of «Help Me Rhonda» (and yes, that’s a compliment), and there is a lazy, summer-days (and summer nights) feel to Phil Madeira’s instrumental «Heroes and Villains». Kate Campbell uses chiming guitars and a gentle country swing to «Add Some Music To Your Day», and Doug Powell creates a drenching guitar-and-vocal power-pop wall of sound for «’Til I Die». There’s more, and all of it good or at least interesting. The songs sound brand-new, instead of decades old, and that’s a great tribute to Brian and to these artists. The fat color booklet includes each artists’ impressions of the songs they’ve chosen and of Brian Wilson. Included as a bonus for those who purchase this set from the Silent Planet website is a second disc of nine additional tracks which won’t be available in stores and which includes a couple of alternate mixes, additional songs, and one new song by Harrod & Funck called «Brian Wilson’s Room» which is a reverent folk-tinged song, a perfect closer to a near-perfect album. [BeachBoys.com, June 2002]
Silent Planet Records knows how to throw a good birthday party. While Hit Radio is populated with boy bands and midriff girls who are younger than your car, Brian Wilson turned 60 years old this summer. And although many young VH1-watchers may only recognize Wilson as that guy the Barenaked Ladies sang about, Wilson’s innovation and influence in rock music cannot be denied. With Making God Smile, Silent Planet has assembled more than twenty artists to pay tribute to this legendary singer/songwriter/producer with renditions of his songs that are often both true to the original and fresh at the same time.
Phil Keaggy’s version of «Good Vibrations» is spot-on accurate from the vocal layering down to the way the drums were mic’ed. Keaggy explains in the liner notes that the theramin sound was replicated with a guitar and vocal mix. Kevin Max & Jimmy A’s U2-inspired version of «Help Me Rhonda» is given a fresh spin, and Terry Taylor digs up a whimsical rare gem, «Vegetables».
Another stand-out on the album is Jan Krist’s rendition of «Wouldn’t it Be Nice». In the liner notes, Krist explains the significance of the song to her, as she recounts her experience watching the movie “Roger and Me” with her husband, and the ironic touch this song gave as a background to the scenes of run-down, desolate streets in Flint, Michigan.
Jason Harrod and Darrick Harris add reverent versions of «In My Room» and «Don’t Worry Baby», respectively, and Brooks Williams gives us an inspired rendition of the title track of what many have called the best record ever, Pet Sounds.
The second disc, available from the Silent Planet website (the single-disc version is available in stores), features alternate edits of the first two songs from disc one, plus Harrod & Funck’s «Brian Wilson’s Room». Among the remaining six songs are wonderful renditions of Wilson and Beach Boys songs such as Frank Lenz & Richard Swift’s version of «Caroline, No,» the Lost Dogs’ a cappella cover of «With me Tonight», and Jacob Lawson & Riki Michele’s take of «Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)».
The second disc is half as long as the first, and although the music is brilliant, the distribution between the two discs seems a bit odd, especially considering the alternate edits. Despite this small detraction, Making God Smile is as good a tribute album as has been released in some time, and Wilson is a most deserving subject. Great care was obviously taken in researching and recording these songs, and it is evident that each of these artists is grateful for Wilson and what he has meant to music over the last 40-plus years. The album’s title is a tribute itself, both to the unreleased Beach Boys record, Smile, and to the spirituality evident in Wilson’s music (Wilson called Smile a “teenage symphony to God.”)
Making God Smile should be on the must-have list of any fan of the Beach Boys or Brian Wilson. For those unfamiliar with the musical seeds Wilson has planted in the world of pop and rock, this album is a great place to start. With any luck, it will inspire a peak in sales of Wilson’s catalog.
Happy birthday, Brian Wilson. [Dave Kerschbaum, The Phantom Tollbooth, 4 August 2002]
2CD tracklist:
Disc One
1-01. Tom Prasada-Rao and Amilia K. Spicer – Your Imagination – 5:04
1-02. Phil Keaggy – Good Vibrations – 4:08
1-03. Sixpence None the Richer – I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times – 3:02
1-04. Aaron Sprinkle – I Know There’s an Answer (Hang On to Your Ego) – 3:16
1-05. Randy Stonehill with Terry Scott Taylor – Love and Mercy – 3:34
1-06. Kevin Max and Jimmy Abegg – Help Me Rhonda – 4:55
1-07. Phil Madeira – Heroes and Villains – 5:01
1-08. Kate Campbell – Add Some Music to Your Day – 3:54
1-09. Doug Powell – ‘Til I Die – 3:24
1-10. Jason Harrod – In My Room – 3:52
1-11. Dolour – This Whole World – 1:53
1-12. Terry Scott Taylor – Vegetables – 2:00
1-13. Derrick Harris – Don’t Worry Baby – 3:36
1-14. Jan Krist – Wouldn’t It Be Nice – 3:04
1-15. Brooks Williams – Pet Sounds – 5:02
1-16. Jane Kelly Williams – Lay Down Burden – 4:24
1-17. Rick Altizer – Surf’s Up – 4:05
Disc Two
2-01. Frank Lenz and Richard Swift – Caroline No – 3:23
2-02. Lost Dogs – With Me Tonight – 2:14
2-03. Jeff Elbel and Ping – You Still Believe in Me – 2:45
2-04. Kate Miner – God Only Knows – 3:24
2-05. Jacob Lawson and Riki Michele – Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder) – 3:34
2-06. Irwin Icon – Sloop John B – 3:30
2-07. Phil Keaggy – Good Vibrations (Guitar Ending Mix) – 4:54
2-08. Tom Prasada-Rao and Amilia K. Spicer – Your Imagination (Extended Mix) – 6:53
2-09. Harrod and Funck – Brian Wilson’s Room (Bonus Track) – 3:26
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