Brian Wilson has spoken to the NME about his performances of the lost Beach Boys album 'Smile' at London's Royal Festival Hall as part of their Heroes & Villains season.
Wilson created 'Smile' back in the late sixties, but though most of it was recorded it was never actually released. The whole recording was locked away and later lost, and many expected the album would never be heard after Wilson had a nervous breakdown and fell out of the public eye. But after returning to the stage two years ago, Wilson decided to perform the album live in London earlier this year. That was so well received he agreed to a whole season of performances of the album, plus he has returned to the studio and a recorded version of Smile will be released in Sep.
Talking about the current Smile shows, Wilson told NME yesterday: "I love being in London again. I feel like I belong here. Performing 'Smile' brings back lots of memories for me and I feel like the audience are all my friends, every night. We're really blowing peoples' minds. When we get to the encores, I feel like the roof is lifting off the hall and we're all going to take off".