Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)

"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)" is an instrumental composed by Brian Wilson for American rock band the Beach Boys. Released in 1967 as the third track on the group's album Smiley Smile, the composition derives from "Fire" – a piece recorded by Wilson several months earlier, but left unreleased due to his paranoia.

"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)"
Instrumental by The Beach Boys
from the album Smiley Smile
ReleasedSeptember 18, 1967 (1967-09-18)
RecordedJune 29, 1967 (1967-06-29)
StudioBrian Wilson's home studio, Los Angeles
GenreAmbient, avant-garde, lo-fi
Length2:15
LabelBrother/Capitol
Composer(s)Brian Wilson
Producer(s)The Beach Boys
Audio sample
"Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)"
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Composition
See also: The Elements: Fire

Wilson said of this version, "That was sort of a song about a cold winter scene. We tried to paint a picture of winter and then spring, late summer, and then broke into winter. We used the 'Woody Woodpecker' theme because it was descriptive to us of spring and summer."[1]

Biographer David Leaf noted its "bizarre woodpecking" percussion, the use of a squeeze box that emulates the iconic Woody Woodpecker laugh, and wordless vocals by the Beach Boys.[2] Musicologist Daniel Harrison described the track (along with other Smiley Smile tracks) as "a kind of protomiminal rock music", and that "the lack of formal or harmonic development makes the listener focus upon other quaities such as instrumentation, timbre, and reverberation. A concentrated listening effort thus goes quickly to subtle details.[3]

Personnel

Legacy

Writer Richard Goldstein characterized "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter" as a precursor to the sound of experimental pop band Animal Collective.[4] In 1996, the instrumental was included in David Toop's Ocean of Sound, a 2-CD compilation album meant to accommodate his book of the same name.[5]

Cover versions
See also: List of cover versions of Beach Boys songs

References
  1. Benci, Jacopo (January 1995). "Brian Wilson interview". Record Collector. UK (185).
  2. Leaf, David (1990). Smiley Smile/Wild Honey (CD Liner). The Beach Boys. Capitol Records.
  3. Harrison, Daniel (1997). "After Sundown: The Beach Boys' Experimental Music" (PDF). In Covach, John; Boone, Graeme M. (eds.). Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis. Oxford University Press. pp. 33–57. ISBN 9780199880126.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  4. Goldstein, Richard (April 26, 2015). "I got high with the Beach Boys: "If I survive this I promise never to do drugs again"". salon.
  5. Bush, John. "Ocean of Sound – David Toop". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
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