Was the solo piano version of “Surf’s Up” supposed to be on SMiLE?
The arguments in favour of it are quite strong, and I’m yet to find a feasible argument against it.
Arguments in its favour:
1.) Brian double-tracked vocals in it. He wouldn’t have done that if it was “merely a demo”, as many ppl say.
2.) The lost sessions from January 1967 included a 16-piece string and horn section that was overdubbed onto a bounced tape of the backing track from December 15. This session apparently happened on Jan. 23rd, 1967.
Arguments against it:
1.) The “canvas the town and brush the backdrop” lyric isn’t there on the first verse.
2.) There’s a recording of the Part 1 track from I believe October 1966 (I think he just decided not to use it).