Vegetables (song)


"Vegetables" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks for American rock band the Beach Boys, released as the second track on their September 1967 album Smiley Smile. It was first recorded for the unfinished album Smile and was briefly projected to be the album's lead single. Like other tracks on Smiley Smile, the finished arrangement was more stripped-down than the version conceived for Smile.
The song was partly inspired by Wilson's obsession with physical fitness in the late 1960s. In a contemporary article, he stated, "I want to turn people on to vegetables, good natural food, organic food. Health is an important element in spiritual enlightenment. But I do not want to be pompous about it, so we will engage in a satirical approach." 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.
The Beatles' Paul McCartney is rumored to have contributed chewed celery noises on a version of "Vega-Tables", later released on the compilations ' and The Smile Sessions. While McCartney and others corroborated this story, his presence could not be verified on the extended session tape.
"Mama Says'" is an a cappella song released as the closing track on the band's December 1967 album Wild Honey''. It is a rerecording of what was intended to be a section of "Vega-Tables". The only lyrics are "sleep a lot, eat a lot / brush 'em like crazy / run a lot, do a lot / never be lazy". Although the music and lyrics were unchanged from "Vega-Tables", Parks' contributions were not honored for "Mama Says", and instead the co-writing credit was given to Mike Love.

Background

The song was composed in 1966 and first attempted during the aborted Smile sessions. In a contemporary article, Wilson said, "I want to turn people on to vegetables, good natural food, organic food. Health is an important element in spiritual enlightenment. But I do not want to be pompous about it, so we will engage in a satirical approach." Biographer David Leaf wrote that the song was based on Wilson's reported health obsession at the time. The Saturday Evening Post writer Jules Siegel said that while using marijuana with Wilson and the "Beach Boys marijuana-consumption squad" Michael Vosse mused at how violence in their "vegetative" state could not be achieved, provoking laughter and further discussion of being a vegetable. Siegel said that this encounter was what inspired Wilson to write the song.
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. Some versions feature an interpolated section after the verses involving Barbershop-style vocal harmonies sung by the Beach Boys. The lyrics are "mom and dad say / sleep a lot, eat a lot / brush 'em like crazy / run a lot, do a lot / never be lazy".

Recording

Recording for "Vega-Tables" or "Vegetables" spanned from through. All versions of the song except for "Mama Says" feature the novel use of raw vegetable chewing as percussion. In early April, the band spent at least eight studio dates recording "Vega-Tables" before embarking on a US tour on the 14th of the month. During the April 10 vocal session at Sunset 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. McCartney had last met with Wilson in late August 1966, during which he was played an early acetate record of the Beach Boys' forthcoming "Good Vibrations". He returned to the United States in early April 1967 to reunite with his actress girlfriend Jane Asher and to learn of developments in the San Francisco music scene. Al Jardine remembered that:
On the existing tapes for these sessions, McCartney's presence cannot be verified. The Smile Sessions co-producer Mark Linett explained:
KROQ DJ Rodney Bingenheimer said he was present at this session with McCartney: "We were in a booth, and we were supposed to shout out the names of vegetables. I was a young, punk kid at the time, and I shouted out 'TV dinners!' I didn't know..." McCartney supported the story, recalling in 2016:
Afterward, McCartney performed his song "She's Leaving Home" on piano for Wilson and his wife. Wilson said: "We both just cried. It was beautiful." 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." In a January 1968 interview, Wilson stated of the McCartney episode that "it was a little uptight and we really didn't seem to hit it off. It didn't really flow.... It didn't really go too good."
The original Smile album was soon scrapped, and over the summer of 1967, "Vega-Tables" was rerecorded for the album Smiley Smile, where it was respelled "Vegetables". Apart from its coda, the track was remade entirely from scratch.

"Mama Says"

In 1967, the song was revisited for the last time as the closing track "Mama Says" on Wild Honey. This version consisted of an extended re-recording of the unused "Vega-Tables" interpolation mentioned above. Inexplicably, Parks' songwriting credit was not honored, and instead Mike Love was listed as the song's only co-writer.

Personnel

Smiley Smile version
  • Brian Wilson – lead vocals, bass
  • Al Jardine – lead vocals
  • Mike Love - harmony and backing vocals
The Smile Sessions version
"Mama Says"