Listen to Brian Wilson's new song from "SMiLE" - "Heroes And Villains!"

[AKA]

The new version of the song was played on the radio in California on Friday night, and since then has been spreading in MP3 format amongst rabid Brian Wilson/Beach Boys fans.

I've uploaded it to my webspace, but since the original version isn't that well-known anymore, I thought I'd also upload it for comparsion's sake.

1967 - The Beach Boys - "Heroes And Villains" (alternate take) (http://home.comcast.net/~aka909walrus/hv-smilemono.mp3)
Also known as the "Cantina Version," this wasn't officially released until 1990, when the Beach Boys' Capitol catalog was first remastered and issued as "twofers."

1967 The Beach Boys - "Heroes And Villains" (single version) (http://home.comcast.net/~aka909walrus/hv-singlemono.mp3)
The version most people know. The track was heavily reworked and placed on the album Smiley Smile. This version was also released as a single (b/w "You're Welcome") in July, 1967 and peaked at number 12 on the Billboard charts..

1967 - The Beach Boys - "Heroes And Villains" (2001 stereo remix) (http://home.comcast.net/~aka909walrus/hv-singlestereo.mp3)
In 2001, the "single version" was mixed into stereo for the first time.

2004 - Brian Wilson - "Heroes And Villains" (http://home.comcast.net/~aka909walrus/hv-2004.mp3)
The newly-recorded version with Brian's current band.

[Crapple]

Oh my god...you're right. His voice sounds fantastic!

BTW, my favorite original version is still the "Cantina" version.

How long are you going to leave this up? I'd like some other folks to hear it.

[AKA]

Originally posted by Crapple
Oh my god...you're right. His voice sounds fantastic!

BTW, my favorite original version is still the "Cantina" version.

How long are you going to leave this up? I'd like some other folks to hear it.

About a week or two.

[AKA]

Originally posted by Crapple
BTW, my favorite original version is still the "Cantina" version.

See, I like the Cantina Version, but for me, nothing beats the Smiley Smile version. The main selling point is the "boys and girls" backing vocals (http://home.comcast.net/~aka909walrus/untitled.mp3) during the a capella "my children were raised" section.

Absolute greatness.

Glad Brian's incorporated them into the Cantina Version. You get the best of both worlds, really (I never really liked the "often wise"/"jive to survive" lyrics, which have fortunately been scrapped).

[APPLEI]

i listened to "heroes and villians" 2004 and i really enjoyed it.
i prefer that version to "heroes and villians" hit single that made it to #12 on the billboard charts but i think that the "in the cantina" version on smiley smile is still the best.
that aside if the rest of "SMiLE 2004" is as good as "heroes and villians" 2004 i will be way beyond happy!
it will be the music event of the decade!
i hope it will encourage capital records to release a SMiLE boxset to capitalize on SMiLEmania.

[AKA]

Heroes And Villains
(Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks)

I've been in this town so long that back in the city
I've been taken for lost and gone
And unknown for a long long time

Fell in love years ago
With an innocent girl
From the Spanish and Indian home
Home of the heroes and villains

Once at night Catillian squared the fight
And she was right in the rain of the bullets that eventually brought her down
But she's still dancing in the night
Unafraid of what a dude'll do in a town full of heroes and villains

Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done
Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done

Stand or fall I know there
Shall be peace in the valley
And it's all an affair
Of my life with the heroes and villains

In the cantina, Margarita keeps the spirit high.
There I watched her, she spun around and wound in the warmth,
Her body fanned the flame of the dance.
Dance, Margarita, don't you know that I'm in love with you
You're under arrest!

My children were raised
You know they suddenly rise
They started slow long ago
Head-to-toe healthy weathy and wise

I've been in this town so long
So long to the city
I'm fit with the stuff
To ride in the rough
And sunny down snuff I'm alright
By the heroes and

Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done
Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done

[AKA]

1966 - Brian Wilson - "Heroes And Villains" (demo) (http://home.comcast.net/~bradpreston/hv-demo.mp3)
Brian's original demo of the song, it also includes elements of what would evolve into other sections of the SMiLE album, including the songs "I'm In Great Shape" and "Barnyard."

1972- The Beach Boys - "Heroes And Villains" (live) (http://home.comcast.net/~bradpreston/hv-72.mp3)
Slightly reworked live version of the song. In Brian's absence, Al Jardine took the lead vocals.

1980 - The Beach Boys - "Heroes And Villains" (live) (http://home.comcast.net/~bradpreston/hv-80.mp3)
Recorded on June 21, 1980 in Knebworth, England, this is from the last English appearance by the original Beach Boys lineup (Dennis Wilson would pass away three years later). Even though Brian was a part of this concert, Al also sings lead vocals here.

1967 - The Beach Boys - "Heroes And Villains" (http://home.comcast.net/~bradpreston/heroesvillains.mp3)
A very simple edit I made to more closely match the SMiLE version. All I did was take the Smiley Smile version and fly the "cantina" section into the appropriate break. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a clean enough copy of the "train whistle" sound to place before "you're under arrest."

[AKA]

Unused lyrics from "Heroes And Villains" (can be heard in the "Cantina Version"):

My children were raised,
You know they suddenly rise.
They started slow, long ago,
Head-to-toe, healthy, wealthy, and often wise.

At three-score and five,
I'm very much alive.
I've still got the jive to survive
With the heroes and villains.