It's part of a tour nearly four decades in the making, but finally, Brian Wilson will take the stage at Boston's Orpheum Theatre to bring his long-lost masterpiece "SMiLE" to the masses.
Wilson is perhaps best known as the brain behind the Beach Boys, the California beach band that brought the world such '60s surf hits as "Catch a Wave" and "Surfin' Safari."
Though he mostly disappeared from the public eye following a nervous breakdown in 1967, the famed songwriter has recreated his career anew in recent years, and the concert at the Orpheum is part of his latest tour following the final release of "SMiLE."
The legendary origins of "SMiLE" date all the way back to the 1960s, when catching a wave had just become hip, while heroes and villains still roamed the boardwalks around Surf City.
At the time, the Beach Boys were made up of brothers Carl, Dennis, and Brian Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. The five musicians had become America's darlings, the West Coast's answer to the Beatlemania that had taken the nation by storm.
The group made their name on lighthearted ditties that captured the spirit of the California surf craze, but Wilson and his fellow surf bums were determined to prove that they, like the Beatles, were far more than one-hit pop wonders.
When the Beatles released "Rubber Soul" in 1965, Wilson despaired that his surf quintet would never be able to match the overarching rock opera that the group's British rivals had created.
Spurred to new heights by the competition, he wrote and directed the groundbreaking "Pet Sounds" (1966), which revolutionized the Beach Boys' image through its good vibrations, and is still often considered one of the top ten all-time albums today.
The Beatles' "Revolver" (1966) dwarfed anything the California beach bums had previously produced and once again put the boys from Liverpool at the crux of the still-surging wave of pop music sensations.
As Wilson was never one to simply cry "uncle" and hang on to his ego, he began work in 1967 on what he called "a teenage symphony to God" - an album that would far and away outplay the best that anyone else could come up with, putting the Beach Boys back in the warmth of the sun once and for all.
Long before it was ready to hit the recording studio, "SMiLE" had already become the stuff of legend. Early publicity hailed it as Wilson's crowning achievement, and the public soon grew ravenous for the complete album.
But circumstances again conspired against the Beach Boys. The technical and musical ability required to play "SMiLE" proved to be far beyond what any of the young band members could manage, and as delays began to mount, Wilson soon lost heart that his masterpiece would ever come to fruition.
Popular legend has it that the Beatles themselves were what finally pushed Wilson over the edge. With the release of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Band" (1967), the young composer is said to have suffered a nervous breakdown upon hearing it for the first time. He abandoned all hope of ever matching the Beatles, and the "Smile" project, still stuck in delays after almost a year of production, was finally shelved.
Instead of "SMiLE," Beach Boys fanatics got "Smiley Smile" in late 1967, a toned-down version of Wilson's original vision. Though it included hit single "Heroes and Villains," many of the songs on the makeshift album were rushed and it failed to live up to the hype that had surrounded the now-legendary "Smile."
It wasn't until November 2003 that "SMiLE" began to rise from its watery grave. Though Wilson was nervous about reviving his long-dead masterpiece after god only knows how long, with a little urging from his wife, he decided to give its endless harmony a second chance.
Finally, in 2004, almost four decades after it was first conceived, "SMiLE" was released to the masses.
At first glance, it seems impossible that the legendary album could live up to its forty years worth of hype, but even one run-through on the stereo puts any fears one might have to rest.
"SMiLE" is a symphonic ballad in three parts, and it clearly is the crowning achievement that Wilson once hoped it would be.
"SMiLE" takes its listeners on a musical tour of the United States, from the rolling waves of Plymouth Rock to holidays in Blue Hawaii. One song transitions smoothly to the next as the underlying musical themes and harmonies from the headliner numbers show up again in later pieces, turning the album into a rock opera in the purest sense of the phrase.
Perhaps "SMiLE" really was far too advanced for its 1964 audience; perhaps it couldn't be fully appreciated until today. But aside from the hype, aside from the musical battles and the now-legendary nervous breakdown that it inspired, the album is destined to live on as Brian Wilson's crowning achievement.
And that, truly, is something to smile about.
