 It was billed as the "lost masterpiece" pop genius Brian Wilson had been working on when he cracked up in the mid 1960s.
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Almost 40 years on, Smile was given its first public airing in Birmingham last night, one of the few places in the world selected by Wilson to showcase the music that accompanied his dive over the edge of sanity. It was a mesmerising night for the fans lucky enough to get a ticket for Symphony Hall. The first half set was a breathless run through Wilson's Beach Boys' repertoire with emotive performances of introspective hits such as God Only Knows. The good time up-tempo songs were featured too, including Dance, Dance, Dance, California Girls and Sail on Sailor. The second half of the show was dedicated to a complete performance of Smile, the enigmatic collection of songs lost to the world as a result of Wilson's paranoia, drug consumption and the breakdown in his strained relations with the Beach Boys. The songs have been arranged by Wilson, lyricist Van Dyke Parks and Darian Sahanaja, a member of the Wondermints, a Los Angeles band who provided the nucleus for the 18-strong ensemble. Some of the numbers have been released on other albums but the complete work has never before been heard as the dedicated entity in which it was conceived. So there was Heroes and Villains, the beguiling Surf's Up, which Wilson wanted to be the centre piece of Smile - and a whole lot of crazy stuff. The unreleased album was designed to be an imaginative recreation of Americana, although the Beach Boys thought it was plain weird. Certainly some of the offerings were not suitable for a high school bop. The trademark Wilson harmonies, aural textures and swelling instrumentation provided an insight into what might have been if the performer had not mentally and physically disintegrated following the 1966 release of Pet Sounds. People used to say: "It's just Brian being Brian" when he asked musicians to perform strange antics. And it was good to see nothing had changed as Wilson got some of his band members to don firemen's hats for a rendition of Fire. When the piece was initially recorded in the studio, Wilson requested that a fire be lit. The multi-million selling single Good Vibrations, written by Wilson through the mind-scramble of LSD formed the shows climax. I don't remember it first time round but I know it is one of the greatest records of all time. Last night, I experienced why. If it is possible to touch divinity through music, you won't have got a better chance than Symphony Hall last night. What an elation. | 
