Alternative History
Smile
Smile band circa 1969
Brian May (left), Tim Staffell and Roger Taylor, outside The Royal Albert Hall, London, 27 February 1969.
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres Blues rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock
Years active 1968-1976
Labels Mercury, Parlophone
Associated acts Tim Staffell Band
Past members
Brian May
Roger Taylor
Tim Staffell
Mike Grose

Smile were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. It included Brian May as secondary guitarist, Tim Staffell as lead singer and bass guitarist, and Roger Taylor as drummer. They are best known for their chart hits "Doing All Right" in 1969, and "I'm In Love With My Car" in 1975.

In 1968, Brian May, a student at London's Imperial College, and Tim Staffell formed a group when May placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Ginger Baker type" drummer, and a young dental student named Roger Taylor auditioned and got the job. Smile were signed to Mercury Records in 1969 and had their first experience of a recording studio in Trident Studios that year. The group's biggest public performance was on 27 February 1969 at the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and Her Child. Held at the Royal Albert Hall, May, Taylor and Staffell performed as a trio on guitar, drums and bass respectively. The band signed a contract to Parlophone in 1971.

The band released three albums during its eight-year existence, among them their self-titled debut album in 1969, "Light Moon", in 1974, and "Here I Am" in 1975. Brian May left in 1972 after three years with Smile, and joined a recently formed group called Blue Cupid, eventually getting replaced by bassist Mike Grose. Staffell left the band in 1974 to perform for his self-named beat group, with Grose and Taylor continuing as a duo before dissolving the band a year later. Despite the long and truncated interval between their two biggest chart hits, Smile has been viewed by musical historians as a precursor to modern hard rock despite them having never performed in the genre. To date, only four of the twelve tracks by Smile have been released publicly, with much of their unsuccessful singles having been broadcast on radio only during their existence. Since 1980, May has controlled the publicity rights to the band's music and related projects.