"Smile At You" - Demo or SYW version
 

Which version do you prefer and why???

I like both........ when I first heard the SYW version I was like EH?? But I have grown to love it as much as the demos...... Now don't get me started on Goodbye Baby :distress:

Amy

i like "Goodbye Baby", but nothing compares to "The Tower"... her voice so high and pretty... she could never really do that demo justice in my opinion, but i am glad she took it out of her vault and released it officially... too good not to... still waiting on "China Doll", however... :shrug:

I have to agree--The Tower was just perfect!! Ooooo--I would love to hear China Doll and Knocking on Doors........ :D And Lady From the Mountains, Mistaken Love, etc etc etc!!!

Amy

I prefer the 'Say You Will' version. The demos are great, but for 'SYW,' Lindsey and Stevie took the song to another plane. Love the Middle-Eastern flare, and the way Stevie's current, more-weathered voice seems to add so much more to the lyrics.

Agree 100%...

I think her voice is annoyingly high in the demo if memory serves me correct. I haven't listened to it in a while. Also, I loathe the way she says "lady" instead of "woman" in the demo. For some reason "lady" bugs me...

I prefer the demo version. The SYW one is ok, but it's one of the songs I tend to skip on that cd now. I think I would have been a lot more impressed with it had I never heard the greatness that was the original. I appreciate what Lindsey & the rest of the band members did with it (I wouldn't have wanted them to try to re-create the demo version), but that song will always be one big missed opportunity to me.

Except she carries the vocal with so little passion.. she might as well just have spoken the lyrics... at least in the demo version, you can actually "feel" what she is singing... i fall asleep halfway through the SYW version everytime i listen to it... :rolleyes:

I like both but I prefer the demo version. Maybe it's just because I heard the demo one first but I feel the passion in Stevie's voice more in the demo version. The SYW version is like a different song almost which is probably good because they couldn't have redone it like they did 20 some years ago.

Definately the demo version. I don't even listen to the Say You Will version, I don't like the vocal or the production.

I respect your opinion, even if I disagree. :)

I "feel" her statement far moreso in the 'SYW' version. Her anger is boiling just under the surface. She's not lashing out as she did in the demo -- she's seething. And I love that.

I agree. That was one pissed off woman. She's angry in such a cutting way and I can so feel it when I listen. I almost feel angry with her. Seething is the way that song is supposed to be sung.

I like the demo better. I randomly found it online one night while I was supposed to be working on a paper...and fell in love with it. It was pretty soon before SYW came out, and I was disappointed when I first heard the album version. I've grown to like it, but I still prefer the demo.

It is important to point out the difference in the Tusk demo and the Mirage demo. The Mirage "angry" demo is stellar and anybody who prefers the tepid SYW version is on crack.

Demo version hands down. All that piss & vinegar not mellowed out? What's not to love?!?!?!?! Now a days, it's all sweet and syrupy like. Like the truth of it has been glossed over cause she's "older" now. Please. She was livid when she wrote that song, and I like the guts and matter of factness of it.

:laugh: :lol: :laugh: :xoxo:

I like the demos better. They are raw and more emotional. It makes for better vocals and performances.

Could you have imagined this song on the Mirage Tour? Wow. It would have become a classic. :nod:

Demo, demo, demo....by far........

The demos are worlds better. For one thing, the choruses have melodies.

- Jake

Oh boy, much as I hate to agree with LiquidBlue, I have to do it here. (j/k) There is no passion in the SYW vocal. Sorry but I am not hearing seething on the album cut. Now the demo...she is pissed hardcore. (my walls are flamin....ouch) I hear way more anger in EFO. I actually like both versions but like I said a long time ago, they are two different songs almost in my mind.

Goodbye Baby....gorgeous song. Lindsey handled it exactly right and her vocal gives me chills. Very lullaby'ish.

i had to go with the album version. i listened to a few different versions (i have sooo much time on my hands ;)) and just really prefer the SYW cut. the Angry demo just seems too out of reach for me, i definitely can't sing along with it while i'm baking a pie. maybe i would like the demos better if they were a little more finished, i really like LB's backing vocals on the album cut. anyways, i have to go take my pie out of the oven. and listen to the Tower...

I really don't like the SYW version at all. The demo version has such fire and Stevie's vocal has a lot of anger and power in it, which I love. And her wails towards end are awesome. I love the line "Don't ask me why..." towards the end.

I don't like the arrangement of the SYW version first of all. I don't think the acoustic guitar works. Given the lyrics, I think it needs to be louder. And the vocals, to me, sound a little strained. Probably one of my least favorite tracks on SYW.

demos aren't supposed to be finished. That's why they're demos. :)

I don't, either. It's like muzak to me. I just don't care for Fleetwood Mac's 2003 conception.

But I love Illume!

I was completely dissapointed with the SYW version. It lacks the passion and depth of the demos. To me, the SYW version sounds very mechanical. They should have recorded and mastered the song sooner and put it on Mirage or Tango. What a waste. But then I was dissapointed with much of SYW anyway. :distress:

I'm surprised to hear you say that. You don't generally go for the "raw."
Drop Dreams & Gypsy from that tour's set list & replace them with Smile at You -- or Straight Back & Gold Dust Woman.

Gold Dust Woman would have been primo to me in 1982.

I like them both. :)

Ah AHHHHHHHHH! My ears, my ears! A great song, ruined. Hopefully if they ever reissue Mirage we'll get that version. Mick Fleetwood made a mistake leaving this off of Mirage. :distress:

That's the only good thing about it. His bass on the demo is quite good also.

She sings "woman" in the Mirage demo.

come on, u know u love me :xoxo:

Does anyone know what she is saying in the beginning of the Mirage demo? I mean when she is speaking? She sounds pissed.

I think she says "Think about feelings for once in your life"....ouch! Could that possibly be directed at Lindsey.

BAM magazine: September 11, 1981

Just use your best material, Stevie!

I still find it interesting that Ken Caillat claims Fleetwood Mac never recorded this. That it is, instead, a Stevie solo demo that she wanted FM to do, but that Lindsey balked at.
It doesn't seem possible that Ken could be correct about this, and yet he seemed totally convinced that was the case.

From the Penguin's Q&A with Ken Caillat....

Hi Ken, thanks for your time. There is a song of Stevie's called 'Smile At You'. I've heard a few different versions of this tune but there is one kick-ass take that sounds like it fell right off the 'Rumours' album. Do you remember anything about this tune? And if you do, find it and get it released! Thanks again. (Doug Levasseur, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)

Good question! I do remember Stevie's song "Smile at You". It's great! It was done as a demo with her friends. This was all Stevie. I can't remember who the guitar player was but he nailed Lindsey's parts. Was it ever put on record? I like it now that I'm the one asking questions. I just called Leo, and he doesn't know of a "Smile at You". I've got her demo at the studio, I'll look into it. Thanks!

Hi Ken! Thank you so much for taking your time to answer our silly questions! This means more to all of us fans than we can say. My question is, why was the song "Smile At You" left off of both Tusk and Mirage? In my opinion, this is Stevies most powerful song ever. Will we ever hear from it? Again, thank you so much! (Louie Golden, Sanford, North Carolina, USA)

Hello Louie: I think answered a question about "Smile at You " yesterday. Smile at You was a great song, but it was never recorded for Mirage or Tusk. Stevie played that for me, it was a demo she had done at home with some musician friends. I remember suggesting to Lindsey that we record "Smile at You". I think he was put off with some of the musicians used by Stevie. Anyway he didn't want to record it.

I would say I like them both equally. However, I feel her demo -- I mean, wow -- it's fierce. Vocally, I think she's incredibly strong and what she lacks in technique (because it's more of her just screaming and working the vocal out, IMO but I love it) she makes up for in emotion.

I love every version of it, as with all great songs, I always like to discover how many faces they can have. :)

Romy

Smile At You has never been a favorite song but I MUCH prefer the demo. It's more rocking and her vocals are spectacular and the emotion is raw. In most cases I prefer the album versions to demos for 2 reasons: 1) I like production and it's sometimes hard for me to get into a song when it's just instruments and vocals without any production and 2) I heard all of the album version before I ever heard any demos so I got used to them. It may have been different if I heard the demos before the album versions although I do prefer some demo versions.
They SYW version of SAY is boring to me. I can't believe the songs of hers that were picked for Mirage over this, although I can see how it may have caused some controversy amongst the band members and press, etc.
I do however like the SYW version of Goodbye Baby over The Tower demo. It is a very deep, dark, emotional song and the Tower demo is sung higher and the music is more upbeat. I like that the music and vocals on the SYW version are more intense and haunting. It seems to fit the theme and the lyrics better.

One word for Lindsey Buckingham. EGO.

Yes, that is exactly what she says! :nod: :nod: :nod:

For me, the demo version is much better than the official version, although I can appreciate the SYW version, too.

Her "flaaaaaaaaamin" at the end is GREAT!!

I was so pleased when the "masters" of SYW surfaced. The sound quality is much better than the other demos that I had listened to previously.