Timely Hello

Welcome to my SMiLE site: a little collection of essays about the album that was originally intended to follow the Beach Boys masterpiece Pet Sounds…an album that was eventually completed, thirty-seven years later, by Brian Wilson.

If you want to know more about the history of SMiLE, there are hundreds of places to find that information, including books, websites and films. Be prepared, though. It’s a tangled story, and there’s plenty of disagreement about the facts.

These essays were originally envisioned as chapters of a SMiLE-focused book, way back in 2004. Now, twenty years later, I thought it might be worthwhile to revisit them. (More detail about all of that in due course.) The essays will appear as blog posts: a suboptimal arrangement, but it works.

I want to express my profound thanks to the friends who encouraged me to write them: to the distinguished gentleman who proposed the book project and who invited me to take part (I’m not going to name him here), and to my colleague and collaborator MacAndrew, who contributed so many brilliant insights.

As for the name: it’s my way of paying tribute to the late, lamented SMiLE Shop site…with “attic” added to suggest a place full of forgotten old things.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you find something interesting here.