Vegetables (song)
Another reported inspiration for the song was a humorous comment Wilson heard about the effect of marijuana turning him and his friends into a "vegetative" state.
[1] In February 1967, Wilson had announced that he would issue "Vegetables" as the lead single from Smile, which exacerbated tensions with Parks, who had felt that the song was one of their weaker efforts.
Months later, the band reworked one of its outtakes into a new a cappella song, "Mama Says", that was released as the closing track on their 1967 album Wild Honey.
"[3] Parks said that the song was more specifically inspired by the radio evangelist Curtis Howe Springer, whom "Brian had a great fascination with".
[5] Although it is not definitely known to be true, "Vega-Tables" is generally believed to fulfill the Earth part of "The Elements" suite that Brian envisioned for Smile.
[9] While the subject matter was conceived by Wilson, the lyrics were written by his collaborator Van Dyke Parks, who incorporated wordplay and absurdist imagery into the song.
[11] Some versions of "Vegetables" feature an additional interpolated section after the verses involving Barbershop-style vocal harmonies sung by the Beach Boys.
[12] Artist Frank Holmes, who designed the Smile cover artwork, created an illustration that was inspired by the song's lyrics, "The Elements" / "My Vega-Tables".
Band archivist Craig Slowinski suggests that the session may have taken place on this day, however the exact date is unknown.
[16] On November 4, Wilson produced a session dedicated to capturing a "humorous" situation featuring himself, Parks, Danny Hutton, Vosse, and a man named Bob.
[11] Towards the end of the exercise, the group plays a rhythm on bongos while chanting "Where's my beets and carrots" and "I've got a big bag of vegetables".
[16] At this time, the Beach Boys had engaged themselves in litigation against Capitol, and to taunt the record company, Wilson staged a mock promotion of the "Vega-Tables" by holding a photoshoot at the Los Angeles Farmers Market, where he posed in front of a fruit and vegetable stand.
[19] The location was at Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street, only feet away from where Wilson opened a health food store, the Radiant Radish, two years later.
[19] According to David Anderle, formerly the head of Brother Records, creative differences between Parks and Wilson had escalated since February.
"[26] During the April 10 vocal session at Sound Recorders, which also saw work on "Wonderful" and "Child Is Father of the Man", Paul McCartney of the Beatles joined the Beach Boys in the studio for several hours.
Paul would come on the talkback and say something like "'Good take, Al.'"[2] KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer was also present, as he remembered, "We were in a booth, and we were supposed to shout out the names of vegetables.
Craig Slowinski, who assembled the sessionography included with The Smile Sessions box set, stated: "I was ready to credit Sir Paul with 'veggie munching' [...] but since no tapes were found with his voice or reference to him, we figured I'd better not.
[26] Beatles roadie Mal Evans wrote about singing the traditional "On Top of Old Smokey" with McCartney and Wilson, but was not impressed by Wilson's avant-garde attitude to music: "Brian then put a damper on the spontaneity of the whole affair by walking in with a tray of water-filled glasses, trying to arrange it into some sort of session.
Starting on June 3, "Vega-Tables" was rerecorded for the new album Smiley Smile,[37] where it was respelled "Vegetables" and reworked as a kind of campfire song.
[38] Wilson played the electric bass on this version[39] and added organ overdubs to the final section of the song.
Melody Maker reviewed that "Vegetables" was among the "childish and pointless" songs that made Smiley Smile a "tragedy".
[41] A more positive review in Record Mirror complimented the vocal performances and speculated that the song could be released as a single by the group in the future.
[42] Reviewing the song in AllMusic, Matthew Greenwald called it a "great example of the collaboration of Brian Wilson's and Van Dyke Parks' sense of comedy and psychedelic whimsy.
[citation needed] Music critic Ritchie Unterberger described it as an example of the "low-key psychedelic weirdness" present throughout Smiley Smile.
[43] Lambert wrote that the song heralded a "radically new artistic sensibility" for the group relative to Pet Sounds and Smile.
Those who first heard this album in 1967 recall that the first four bars of “Vegetables” was the initial indication that Brian had given up the race to be the greatest producer in rock.
[46] The details in this section are adapted from The Smile Sessions liner notes, which includes a sessionography compiled by band archivist Craig Slowinski.
