Heroes and Villains is possibly the most unfinished finished song ever released. We have the released single version from Smiley Smile, and then the Cantina mix from Feb 67. We have the Humble Harv demo from Nov 66 and then a whole lot of contemporary reports of versions lasting 5 to 6 minutes, a two part single, and others that would include My Only Sunshine and "production techniques that would surprise a lot of people" and descriptions of a "3 minute musical comedy". And so many session tapes and mix attempts. By itself, Heroes and Villains is a whole musical universe.
And then there was the report of the Durrie Parks acetates that came up for auction a while back. And a description of one in particular that talked of a different version of Heroes and Villains presumably from late 66. One that had different takes of the "I'm In Great Shape" and "My Children Were Raised" sections edited together. It was this that really grabbed my attention and made me think of what Brian's original ideas were for a finished track during the end of 1966. And so this mix was created. Trying to pull these ideas together in a way that flowed.
This mix is not exactly historically accurate in that it uses sections and vocals from all over the timeline. So it would never have been edited like this by Brian. But it purely exists as a big "maybe" to suggest where Brian's thoughts could have been heading.
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