"Wind Chimes" is a song composed by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks for the American rock band The Beach Boys. The original version of the song was written and recorded for the aborted 1966 album Smile. The band completely re-recorded the song for inclusion on their next album, Smiley Smile. That version was released on the b-side of "Wild Honey", their 1967 single which charted at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
When Brian Wilson returned to finish Smile as a solo project in 2004, he would record the song again. This version was also used as a b-side, this time for Wilson's solo recording of "Wonderful", which charted at #29 in the UK.
[edit] Original version
"Wind Chimes" was originally written and recorded for the Smile project. It is one of the few songs that was completely finished for the album and was included as one of the previously unreleased tracks on the Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys boxset released in 1993. Most reference sources on the Smile project concur that the song was intended as the "Air" section of a planned four-part 'mini-suite' called "The Elements", which was to have been incorporated into the larger structure of Smile; the other sections of the suite were "Vega-Tables" (Earth), "I Love To Say Dada" (Water), and "Mrs O'Leary's Cow" (Fire).
In its original version, "Wind Chimes" was in AAB form. The finished 'A' sections feature Carl Wilson on lead vocals, singing over a backing track consisting of marimbas, percussion, and double bass. As with all parts of the project, Brian Wilson experimented with a number of variant arrangements for "Wind Chimes" - Takes 1-3 and Takes 8-9 of the A-section backing track feature an alternative arrangement in which the marimbas were replaced by multiple keyboards (possibly celeste, organ, piano and/or harpsichord). There is also a surviving alternate vocal version of the A section (possibly a demo) on which Brian sings the lead vocal.
The B section consists of variations on the bass line from the A section, first sung by the whole group over a full backing track, and then, repeated much more quietly, by three pianos. The session tapes reveal that (as in the recording of Pet Sounds) while Brian was usually exacting in his musical demands as a producer, he was also very alert and responsive to improvisations and even apparent "mistakes" made by his session musicians. During a 'pickup' take for the 'B' Section backing track (included in the bootleg Beach Boys compilation Unsurpassed Masters Vol. 17) one of the keyboard players accidentally plays a scale of five semitones, instead of the central 3-semitone riff. Wilson immediately stops the take, enthusiastically declares "That was a good mistake!", and then instructs the musicians to incorporate this accidental change into the next take.
The song was recorded in three sessions. On August 3, 1966 at Gold Star Studios, Brian Wilson produced the backing track. Two months later, on October 5, the A sections of the backing track were redone with a much smaller band, and the band recorded their vocals on October 10. The October recording sessions were at Western Studios and were engineered by Chuck Britz.
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[edit] Smiley Smile version
After Smile was abandoned, the group quickly recorded an album, to be released in its place. Smiley Smile would be released in September 1967 and featured both new songs and new recordings of songs originally intended for Smile. The new version of "Wind Chimes" was recorded by the band on July 10 & 11 at Brian Wilson's home studio. It starts with 2 A sections, just like the original version, but the rest of the song is different, ending with a vocal tag based on a Smile track called "Holidays".
As with the other Smile songs that were re-recorded for Smiley Smile, the arrangement is much sparser than the original recording. Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, and Dennis Wilson all take turns on the lead vocals.
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