Heroes and Villains

For other uses, see Heroes and Villains (disambiguation).

"Heroes and Villains"
Single by The Beach Boys
from the album Smiley Smile
B-side	"You're Welcome"
Released	July 31, 1967
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	October 20, 1966 (backing track of first two verses) February 27, 1967 (chorus backing track) June 12–14, 1967 (remainder)
Genre	Psychedelic rock, progressive rock
Length	3:36
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks
Producer	The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys singles chronology
"Then I Kissed Her" (1967) "Heroes and Villains" (1967) "Gettin' Hungry" (1967)

"Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band The Beach Boys, co-written by the group's leader Brian Wilson and lyricist Van Dyke Parks. Originally intended by Wilson to be the centerpiece of the ambitious but shelved album Smile, a re-recorded version of the song was released on Smiley Smile (1967). This version was also released as a single, with "You're Welcome" on the B-side, which charted at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2004 Wilson released a new version of "Heroes and Villains" on his solo album Smile, and in 2011 the original version of the song appeared on the belated release of The Beach Boys' The Smile Sessions.

Writing

Composed in early 1966, mostly in a large sandbox holding a piano built in Brian Wilson's living room, "Heroes and Villains" was the first collaboration between Wilson and Van Dyke Parks. It is reported that when Wilson first played the melody to him, Parks devised the opening line on the spot. Various musical themes in the song recur in numerous other songs and musical fragments which Wilson recorded for Smile. The song makes heavy use of chromatic scales.

Like most of the Smile songs, "Heroes and Villains" is based around a deceptively simple three-chord pattern. It encapsulates Wilson's musical approach for the project, which was to create songs that were (for the most part) structurally simple, but overlaid with extremely complex and often highly chromatic vocal and instrumental arrangements, and capped by Parks' lyrics.

The lyrics for "Heroes and Villains" exemplify the allusive and playful nature of Parks' writing for Smile, evidently combining the experiences, feelings and preoccupations of both Wilson and Parks. Along with "Surf's Up" and "Cabinessence", it is lyrically among the most complex and ambiguous of all Beach Boys recordings. "Heroes and Villains" is generally thought to have been the first song written specifically for Smile, although "Barnyard" and "I'm in Great Shape" might have been written at about the same time.

Recording

Despite its early genesis, the recording of the song was a difficult and protracted process. Wilson halted work on the other Smile tracks at the end of 1966 and concentrated on producing a version of "Heroes and Villains" for single release. However, despite holding at least twenty recording sessions for the song over a period of several months and assembling several different edits of the track, he was unable to complete the work to his satisfaction until after the May 1967 announcement that Smile had been shelved.

The song went through a number of transformations and at least one segment, the so-called "Cantina scene" was removed from the released versions. Carl Wilson often sang during live shows, a variation of "Do You Like Worms?" featured in the song the lyrics, "Bicycle rider, see, see what you've done" to give homage to some of the unreleased songs off Smile.

The song underwent many changes during its production, and several important elements, including the so-called "Cantina scene" and the segment commonly known as "Bicycle Rider", were taken out of the finished single and album versions, although they were retained in other (unreleased) mixes. A single version of the song was released in mid-1967, but rumors persist of a far longer edit, and it is known that several alternate versions were put together. Both Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys frequently included "Bicycle Rider" when performing the song in concert.

Al Jardine believes that Brian underproduced the song for the Smiley Smile album. As he explains "We recorded a pale facsimile of 'Heroes And Villains', replete with discordant transitions...Brian re-invented the song for this record...He purposefully under-produced the song". However, this version was good enough to place at number 12 on the US Billboard charts, number eight in the United Kingdom, number five in Canada, number six in New Zealand, number 10 in Italy and Sweden. It also charted at number 11 in Australia, number 24 in Germany, number 30 in France, number eight in Holland, Switzerland and Malaysia, according to contemporary national charts sourced and sited by Billboard in fall 1967.

Effect on Brian Wilson

Wilson is said to have had enormously high hopes for "Heroes and Villains" as the follow-up single to The Beach Boys' previous number 1 hit "Good Vibrations". When the single failed to significantly replicate the success of "Good Vibrations", it destroyed his self-imposed competitive rivalry to The Beatles. According to Jack Rieley, Wilson would often recount in "agonizing detail" about how "Heroes and Villains" was supposed to lift The Beach Boys' public image from "surfing/car songs" to being on "creative par with The Beatles". Wilson interpreted the failure of "Heroes and Villains" as an ultimate rejection by the public to his musical growth and artistry. Mike Love would go on to call "Heroes" as "the last dynamic Brian moment".

In late 1967, during sessions for the unreleased album Lei'd In Hawaii, The Beach Boys recorded a stripped down live-in-the-studio version of "Heroes and Villains". Later, Mike Love and Brian Wilson would overdub this version with a self-deprecating monologue satirizing the song, with Love calling "Heroes and Villains" a "nuclear disaster" and that "being basically masochists, [The Beach Boys] kind of enjoyed having this record bomb". Love also assures the listener that "it's all in fun", and presumably, all within Wilson's approval as he laughs in the background, despite it harshly criticizing his musical ability and commercial shortcomings.

"It topped the charts at about 40, and the next week it just zoomed right off to about, oh well, about 250. Right now, it's lurking at about 10,000 on this year's 'Top 10,000'! ... We've gotta figure on one hit, well, I mean, every six years, you gotta get a little animosity generated somehow ... We want to thank you for coming to show and throwing all these nice objects at us. Really, we'll see you back again next time around."

Although the track was meant to be taken lightheartedly, it can be interpreted as a reflection of Wilson's extremely low self-confidence as a musician at the time.

Releases

Capitol Records had scheduled January 13, 1967 as the release date for the single. Yet, although he was renowned for his efficiency in the studio, Brian Wilson clearly struggled to complete "Heroes and Villains", and despite devoting more than twenty sessions to it between October 1966 and March 1967, he was unable to complete it to his satisfaction.

A number of different edits of the song exist; one was released as a single in July 1967 and appeared on their September 1967 LP Smiley Smile. The original Smile version was eventually released as a bonus track on the Beach Boys Smiley Smile/Wild Honey two-fer in 1990—this included the Cantina Scene and some additional lines ("At threescore and five, I'm very much alive, I've still got the jive to survive with the heroes and villains"). A 2001 stereo mix appears on the Hawthorne, CA album. On the Endless Harmony Soundtrack, there is a demo of the song, which also incorporates two other songs: "I'm in Great Shape" and "Barnyard".

There have been persistent rumors of a far longer two-part edit, reputedly running for six, seven or even ten minutes, and that this edit was intended for single release, split across the two sides of a single. However, it is possible that this rumoured long edit (if it exists) may in fact have been part of a trial assembly of the song and related fragments as part of the planned sequencing of the Smile tracks. Regardless, the intended "Heroes And Villains" single was originally assigned as Capitol 5826, issued with a white picture sleeve showing six pictures of the group members. However, Brian Wilson was still experimenting and creating further concepts for the song, thus the Capitol single was never pressed. By the time of the final single mix, The Beach Boys created their own Brother label and issued "Heroes And Villains" as its first single (Brother 1001) with the cartoon picture sleeve. The picture sleeve for the unreleased Capitol single is a rare, highly sought item among Beach Boys collectors.

The Beach Boys have released four different live versions of the song: on The Beach Boys in Concert; on Good Timin': Live at Knebworth England 1980, as part of a medley with Cotton Fields; on the Endless Harmony Soundtrack, and also on the Beach Boys Concert/Live in London twofer, as a bonus track. It is also on Al Jardine's Live in Las Vegas album. While Brian was absent from the touring section of the group, Jardine sang lead on this song. The song was re-recorded in 2004 as part of Brian Wilson's Smile solo album, with the 'cantina' segment included.

In 2011, The SMiLE Sessions were released, containing several new versions of the song, along with extensive session highlights.

Personnel

Smile version (original, released 2011)

• Hal Blaine – drums
• Carol Kaye – bass guitar
• Lyle Ritz – string bass
• Don Randi – piano
• Billy Strange – guitar
• Brian Wilson – lead vocals, harmonies
• Mike Love, Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Bruce Johnston – backing vocals, laughter

Smiley Smile version

• Hal Blaine – drums
• Al Jardine – vocals
• Bruce Johnston – vocals
• Carol Kaye – bass
• Mike Love – vocals
• Brian Wilson – lead vocal
• Carl Wilson – vocals
• Dennis Wilson – vocals

Brian Wilson's Smile version

• Brian Wilson – lead vocals, and keyboards
• Scott Bennett – vocals, keyboards
• Nelson Bragg – vocals, percussion, whistle
• Jeff Foskett – vocals, guitar
• Probyn Gregory – vocals, guitar
• Jim Hines – drums
• Bob Lizik – bass
• Paul Mertons – baritone saxophone, harmonica
• Taylor Mills – vocals, percussion
• Darian Sahanaja – vocals, keyboards
• Nick Walusko – vocals, guitar
• Staffan Findin – bass trombone
• Andreas Forsman – violin
• Erik Holm – viola
• Anna Landberg – cello
• Malin-My Nilsson – violin
• Bjorn Samuelsson – trombone
• Victor Sand – saxophone, flute, clarinet
• Markus Sandlund – cello