Collapse of Smile

The collapse of Smile—the projected 12th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys—is often reported as the pivotal episode in their decline, as well as the decline of their principal songwriter Brian Wilson. The cancellation has been attributed to several factors: internal resistance towards the project; legal battles with Capitol Records; the prolonged formation of Brother Records; technical difficulties with recording; Carl Wilson's draft battle; and Brian Wilson's escalating substance abuse, mental health issues, and creative dissatisfaction.

The original Smile sessions spanned February 1966–May 1967. A stopgap album, Smiley Smile, was recorded throughout June 1967 and released three months later in September. Smile was abandoned and left incomplete while Wilson gradually abdicated his leadership of the band and retreated from the public eye; over the ensuing decades, he became disabled by his mental health problems to fluctuating degrees. Following his reemergence as a solo artist, in 2004, Wilson completed a rerecorded version of the album: Brian Wilson Presents Smile.

Indicative of the Beach Boys' popular status between 1966 and 1967, they had been twice voted as the world's number one vocal group within readers polls conducted by UK magazine NME; ahead of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. By this time Wilson had been pressured into assuming a role as benefactor for the band and their families, which added to his hesitancy in delivering a product that had the potential to be a great commercial failure. Wilson had also exhibited varying signs of poor mental health before this point, such as at the end of 1964 where he suffered a nervous breakdown while on a flight to Houston. By December 1966, Wilson had completed much of the album's backing tracks. When the Beach Boys returned from their tour of Britain, they were confused by the new music he had recorded and the new coterie of interlopers that surrounded him.

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