ESQ’s ADD SOME MUSIC GIVEAWAY: September 2020

The Beach Boys Smiley Smile album was released on Sept. 18, 1967. In celebration of the 53rd Anniversary of the album, Endless Summer Quarterly magazine is ready to giveaway this instant collectible!

This giveaway includes:
• The 2016 Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions of The Beach Boys Smiley Smile album signed by Brian WilsonMike LoveAl Jardine, and Bruce Johnston.

The winning comment and name will be selected and posted on Friday, Sept. 25, and announced on ESQs Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as the ESQ eBlast!

To be eligible:
1) Enter how long you’ve been a subscriber to ESQ
2) Leave your thoughts on what you think is special about Smiley Smile and the timelessness of The Beach Boys music

Want to know more about ESQCLICK HERE

If you don’t subscribe to the magazine, visit the Magazine Subscription page HERE

Post your comments below!

esqdave101

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Jamie Hill

4 years ago

This is my 3rd overall year as a subscriber. For me Wonderful is one of those songs that speaks to me, it reaches a spiritual plane of tranquilness.

Joseph Long

4 years ago

I have been a subscriber for 15+ years.
Smiley Smile – still have the copy I bought in 67. At the time what a weird album. So different from the past. But the times were a-changing. The album just grew on you. Came to Love it’s quirkiness. And Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains!!!

Bryan Ducey

4 years ago

I’ve been a subscriber for 3 years. Smiley Smile has a sound unlike any other album in the catalog. It’s dark yet strangely relaxing and satisfying. A true classic!

Stuart M Pace

4 years ago

ESQ subscriber for many years. My older brother turned me on to the late 60s early 70s BB catalog. As a kid of 6 years old upon release this particular album introduced me to Wonderful. So quiet and calming.

Bob Koenig

4 years ago

I’m a new subscriber as of 2020, but ive loved the Beach Boys for years. Their albums (Like “Smiley Smile”) are often ignored by fans of their “Oldies” sound, but I love the progressive period of works from “Pet Sounds” through the early 1970’s. Can’t beat this music. Thank you for the opportunity to win this classic signed LP!

Deborah Leggett

4 years ago

I’ve been a subscriber to ESQ for just a few years. I love the interviews and tidbits about the band I never knew before.
I have to say this is one of my top five Beach Boys albums! I like the fact that they have a couple of obscure, somewhat silly songs on SS!

ROBERTO TOGNACCINI

4 years ago

Dear ESQ this is my 15th year as a subscriber. Each time i found in the mail the new issue a Wonderful SMiLE comes in my face!
Smiley Smile, how i love this album! Since i saw for the firt time the cover i was captured…always remind me Henry Rousseau painting. I subscribe each word of the Indian Wisdom on the back cover “The Smile that you send out returns to you”. A mythical album, full of masterpieces! The legendary “Good Vibratons” (more than a song, a turning point that continue to influence our culture), “Vegetables”, “Heroes and Villains”, “Wind Chimes”! A special place in my heart for “Wonderful” (i love it so much, i can listen and listen, Carl’s voice at one of his so many peak…so great also the live version in medely with The Flames “Don’t Worry Bill”) and “With me Tonight”!
Beach Boys music timelessness, the songs they wrote are part of us, Forever and ever in our heart and soul!

William Coder

4 years ago

Proud to be a newbie to ESQ, signing up in just June 2020, but absolutely loving it! I first discovered Smiley Smile around the summer of 2000 when I was 16 years old. I was introduced to it as the “watered-down Smile” album, so always had a bit of disdain for it. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to really, truly appreciate it. To me, it showcases the earnestness of Brian Wilson and the music of the Beach Boys. It is the rare mix of simple but also something you must truly sit and listen to in order to appreciate it. I suppose that is true of all of the Beach Boys music and what makes it so timeless. At its surface, it’s songs about cars, surf, boy/girl, friends, etc., but when you really listen to it it creates a feeling. Growing up on the East Coast, I’ll never forget seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time and listening to the Beach Boys and finally being able to say “I get it- this feels like home” That’s what Smiley Smile is to me…it’s the putting of genius on the lower shelf for the listener to sit, be still and get it.

esqdave101

4 years ago

Congrats William, you’ve been selected to receive the Smiley Smile LP!!

Giggens

4 years ago

Hey ESQ! I’ve been a subscriber for three years now, and I absolutely love it. Having something to look forward to in the mail about my favorite band is truly exciting, and all the content is exactly what hardcore Beach Boys fans want! The interviews are amazing, and the detail the guys go into really makes every era of the band come to life. I absolutely love this magazine! As for Smiley Smile, it’s the album that showed me a whole other side of the Beach Boys, and what they were capable of. It was my gateway album to discover everything else they ever did that wasn’t the early 60’s stuff. For that, this album is incredibly special to me and is so important in the Beach Boys discography. Without it, we wouldn’t have gotten all the incredible music that came after it! Thanks for reading and take care!

Sean Courtney

4 years ago

I’ve been subscribing for about a year. I first heard Smiley Smile when I bought it on cassette as a 15-year-old in 1990, at the beginning of my fandom. I had never heard of Smile, so to me, Smiley Smile was simply….a goofy album; basically, Beach Boys’ Party! on acid. After learning about Smile, I felt Smiley Smile was kind of depressing, a collection of audio ruins of the destruction of what could have been. Over time, I’ve re-gained my appreciation for the album, especially after realizing that what Brian was doing with Smiley Smile wasn’t so much destroying what he had worked on for over a year, but rather re-doing it in what would be the next production trend: mellowing out. Brian’s productions did just that with Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, and Friends. The Beatles’ productions took the same turn: going from the over-the-top symphonic style of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band to the toned-down, back-to-the-roots grittiness of their 1968 self-titled album. With the 2012 stereo release, I’ve learned to appreciate Smiley Smile even more; you can actually *hear* Brian’s home studio!

Matthew J Brown

4 years ago

I’ve been a subscriber for about 2 years. For be Smiley Smile is the beauty of The Beach Boys harmonies and melodies preferred through a fun house mirror. I didn’t appreciate it immediately, but it rewards listeners who are open to experiencing something unexpected.

Joel Beaver

4 years ago

Well, I actually subscribed for the first time this year and I’m definitely glad I did! I’ve since bought several older copies of ESQ as well, I love it!. As for Smiley Smile, I think it is a highly underrated album, a masterpiece of it’s own that is overshadowed by SMiLE. Honestly I believe that if it had come out on it’s own without the weight of SMiLE expectations on it’s back, it would be considered more of a classic than it is. I absolutely love this album!

Brian Long

4 years ago

Hey there!! My name is Brian and I’m hoping to win this album for my younger brother Reagan! We’re both huge fans and since I wasn’t able to take him to see The Beach Boys this year, I signed him up for ESQ back in April for his 21st birthday! Personally, Heroes And Villains is the best track, I feel like all the other other songs on this album were built around Heroes And Villains. The whole album is great!

Rob Conlin

4 years ago

I’ve been an ESQ Subscriber off and on (mostly on!) from the very beginning from Rick’s early days out of San Diego! Always such wonderful in depth reporting and analysis.

Harley Pinson

4 years ago

Thank God for Brian Wilson.

TOM MADDOX

4 years ago

Been a subscriber sense the 90’s give or take , Has for Smiley Smile another great album Heroes & Villains , Vegetables and Fall Breaks and Back( love that song) and the classic Good Vibrations and I love the cover mono with the worm just another great album Surfsup

Eric Aniversario

4 years ago

Hi, I’ve been a subscriber for most of the past 25 years and have enjoyed receiving ESQ in my mailbox for many many quarters.

I won the Smiley Smile / Wild Honey twofer CD back in 1993 on a radio station contest. I was not quite 18 yet and the DJ was furious that I had said earlier in the conversation that I was old enough to win! He did let my dad claim the prize, which also included two tickets to a Beach Boys show.

I had borrowed that twofer CD from the library a few times before I won it. I look back on both albums with fondness. I love the warm vibe of Smiley Smile. While I have always appreciated Smile, I’ve always preferred Smiley Smile. The Boys sounded more relaxed and content on Smiley Smile vs Smile, which to my ears is more intense.

I’ve been a huge Beach Boys fan since 1991 and have followed their career closely since then. I even started a website (Eric’s Beach Boys Setlist Archive) that was popular before another larger setlist website was established. I have had the pleasure of meeting Mike, Al, Brian, David, Bruce, and Blondie, as well as many band members, on several occasions. The Beach Boys’ music (group and solo) never grows old for me, and is firmly ingrained in my mind and heart as the soundtrack of my life!

Cian O'Neill

4 years ago

The Beach Boys are my favourite band. I’ve looked into buying signed items on eBay with just one or two members names on them, having something signed by all four living Beach Boys: Bruce Al Mike and Brian, would mean a lot to me and would be a beautiful addition to my Beach Boys memorabilia collection. I would hang it on my wall. Love and mercy, Cian.

Keith Belbin

4 years ago

1. I am not (yet) a subscriber to ESQ. (But I love the Beach Boys).

2. What I love the most about Smiley Smile is it’s sonic psychedelic quirkiness and the element of fun that it adds! The lyrics are great too! The beach boys are timeless in their innocence and always promote a longing for an optimism we never reach. In this way it appeals to hope for a better life!

Zachary Silva

4 years ago

I’ve been a subscriber for 10 seconds now, but it feels like 15.

“Smiley Smile” was the group’s attempt to salvage Brian’s greater vision, and while it certainly didn’t live up to “SMiLE”, it should be required supplementary listening material. A relaxing album with a lo-fi feel, almost like covers of “SMiLE”.

Alexander Schmidt

4 years ago

I am not yet a subscriber, but apart from that, when I discovered that the Beach Boys were not only a light teenage surfband, apart from “Pet Sounds” “Smiley Smile” was the one I realized there is a genius at work.

Maria Taliercio

4 years ago

I just found out about this magazine & subscribed. I can’t wait to receive my first one! Every Beach Boys song brings back a memory & I love them perpetually! How I wish we could go back to that simpler time…

Mary Lynn cardosa

4 years ago

What can I really say but think God gave us these boys theirs was the music that brought us all hope.

Lance Ward

4 years ago

This marks my first 59 seconds as a subscriber. IMHO, Smiley Smile is The Beach Boys deconstructed; by laying bare assumptions previously made about how music is to be manufactured and tracked for recording, Brian innovated all new means of voice and instrumentation via layering, creating fresh and rich harmonial compositions that even today feel warm and genuine.

Mike Mcloughlin

4 years ago

Two years now as a subscriber. I first heard Smily Smile when I was 15 around the end of 1970 and initially found it to be quite a strange album, but it grew on me and I loved its quirky ness, in fact it’s probably the strangest album they made, but WONDERFUL too!

Paula J McPoland

4 years ago

Have loved The Beach Boys since I first heard their music decades ago. I was 12 when I first listened to them. Now, I am 68 and still enjoying their music. Thank you all for what you have brought to us over the years! We love you!💕❤️💕

Michael Rast

4 years ago

I just subscribed, so I suppose I am a newbie. In any case, I am a huge fan of Brian’s work and in my heart I believe Brian is one of the greatest American Composers of all time. I put him up there with Gershwin and Roger and Hammerstein, though I believe his vocal arrangements far exceed any of them. I will be 64 years young on the 15th of October and I have been a music addict since I was 5. I started on the piano @ the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music in New York and I have been playing Guitar and mostly Bass guitar recently. The best music paints a picture in my opinion, and I love the gallery of pictures Brian has painted. Anyone who can inject a Theramin into Rock ‘n Roll is beyond noteworthy in my soul. I hope to meet you before I die Brian!

Kyle Te Poel

4 years ago

I’ve been a subscriber (via a gift subscription—thanks to my wife!) since last Christmas. I live ESQ and love Smiley Smile! The harmonies, mellow moods, unique character, and even the occasional bursts of laughter on this album have always made it my favorite Beach Boys album. It puts me in a good mood; I could listen to “Little Pad” all day.

Liutauras Trapnauskas

4 years ago

I am not subscriber but I LOVE Beach Boys and Brian Wilson solo works. This album is one of my favourite psychedelic albums. Very strange, very trippy, very experimental, just amazing album. This album means a lot for me, a lot of good and bad memories, happiness. Sometimes this LP is better than SMILE. And I dreaming about this album and autographs.
With love from Lithuania, Liutauras

rickey f Corkum

4 years ago

I’ve been a subscriber for about 5-6 years, love the beach boys my all-time favorite group, as for their Music it will NEVER go out of style

Frederick Scott Hintze

4 years ago

This is my first time to subscribe. However to have the original Beach Boys autograph of Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love and Bruce Johnson. They will always be my favorite surf band.

Tim Copacia

4 years ago

I’ve been an ESQ subscriber since 2015 and a fan of The Beach Boys since I was very young. As a kid growing up, I had always associated the music of The Beach Boys with summer, pool parties and family cookouts. That all quickly changed when I got a little older and started collecting all their albums, at which point I quickly realized this was much more than a summer and surf band. The complex arrangements and harmonies of Brian Wilson of course captured my attention, but what was equally amazing to me is how the band was able to create such a diverse variety of sounds, incorporating different musical styles and production techniques while somehow always staying true to a signature sound. A prime example is the “low-fi” era of the late ‘60s, kicked off in unexpected fashion with Smiley Smile.

Admittedly, Smiley Smile is weird enough to turn off even the most die-hard Beach Boys disciples. When I first heard it, I didn’t really know what to think, and I put it back on the shelf for awhile. The bare-bones arrangements and quirky chatter at first seemed to emit a sense of carelessness, which doesn’t make a lot of sense considering this album was released just a year after the most meticulously-crafted pop album of all time, Pet Sounds. I was not alive when Smiley Smile was released, but can only imagine the shock (and perhaps even disgust) felt by fans expecting this to live up to the hype of the Smile project. But time has told us that anyone expecting Smile was missing the point.

What The Beach Boys gave us instead was a small slice of weirdness that has moments of genius that could not be duplicated by anyone else if they tried. What lacks in production is made up by the quality of songwriting and the voices themselves. Whatever you think of the album as a whole, Smiley Smile delivers some of the most unique (and ahead of its time) music ever created by a mainstream popular music group.

Thanks for reading my thoughts on the album and it would be an honor to win the signed vinyl copy!

Reinhold Lüthen

4 years ago

This is my second year as a subscriber.
Smiley Smile was the album that followed Pet Sounds and though it is an album in its own right people tend to believe that it is only Smile light. For me it is one of the best albums of the band. It starts with the fairytale-like cover. An invitation for a trip into the enchanted wilderness. And the songs on the album fulfill what the cover promises. Take for example the two iconic hits Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains – far ahead of its time. Then you have the songs full of humor like Vegetables, She´s Goin´ Bald, Little Pad, the groovy rock song Gettin´ Hungry or more or less romantic songs like Wonderful and With Me Tonight. Apart from Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains, it is a laid back, lo-fi album with sparse arrangements and fine vocals by the Beach Boys. Smiley Smile puts their voices, their harmonies in the limelight. I am sure it will stand the test of time.

Cameron S Catalano

4 years ago

I’ve been a subscriber to ESQ since early 2020 and a fan of the Beach Boys since I was 7. Smiley Smile was the lp I spent the longest time trying to find a good mono pressing. I like how the instrumentation is so basic on this album which really lets the voices breathe, particularly on Little Pad and With Me Tonight. My wife can’t stand She’s Going Bald and now can only listen to that on headphones or when she’s not at home. I think it’s one of their most far out songs. It may be the funnest album by the band.

Chris G.

4 years ago

Smiley Smile holds a place in history for the album that gave the world Good Vibrations. Mine and millions other’s favorite Beach Boys song of all time. The song that speaks to generations. As proven it’s my thirteen-year-old daughter’s favorite all-time song. The world needs more Good Vibrations these days

Brian Douglas

4 years ago

1) I just subscribed today, 9/22/2020
2) Smiley Smile is the whole package – you have two of the greatest Beach Boys songs, Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains, some incredibly mellow and relaxing tracks, and beautiful cover art

Marc Troglione

4 years ago

I’m in my second round as a subscriber, don’t know what took me so long!

My dad introduced me to The Beach Boys when I was a small child, it was the only tape I wanted to hear. They have been the soundtrack of my life.

Smiley Smile means a lot to me, it was very fun but relaxing, always a pleasurable listen.

Derek Bohn

4 years ago

I’ve been a subscriber for 6 issues and am loving every one.
While Pet Sounds is arguably The Beach Boys’ best, Smiley Smile is my favorite. The stark contrast in production from Pet Sounds to Smiley is jarring, yet refreshing. The LP shows that even when the group doesn’t try something as grandiose as SMiLE and instead goes with a more scaled back lo-fi approach, they can still make an amazing album. Sometimes, it’s best to take a step back, relax, reflect and just chill. Smiley is a loose, fun record that showcases the band exploring new sonic territory to great result. The songwriting and harmonies still shine through as strong as before. I work in a record store and every time someone buys any Beach Boys music, I always make sure to recommend Smiley Smile to them. It’s an album that’s still killer 50+ years on.

Nathan Martinez

4 years ago

I just subscribed, and I don’t know what took me so long. It’s definitely something I should have done much sooner.

Smiley Smile is a very special album, not just for the Beach Boys, but popular music in general. The stripped back production created a sound unlike most pop albums. It allowed their harmonies to shine on songs such as With Me Tonight and Vegetables. It created for eerie beauty on tracks like Wind Chimes. It showed their sense of humor on the incredibly trippy She’s Goin’ Bald. It’s also a great example of using very little lyrics and allowing for other aspects to shine like in Little Pad. It’ calming, weird, creepy, gorgeous all in one album, and I love it. It’s such a treat to listen to from beginning to end. There’s just no other album like it, and I mean that in the best possible way. This album, along with countless others in their discography, is a great example of how the band could create music that wouldn’t truly be appreciated until many years later.

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