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Title: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 08, 2011, 04:55:23 PM Hey gang--during a slow day at work, I took it upon myself to take all those "Jack Rieley Speaks" bits and re-edit them into something more chronological and pleasant to read--mainly, because his storytelling is so fantastic and full of heart.
It really takes on a whole extra dimension when put in "proper" order--and I promise to share this when I get it done. But I'm wondering if that's all there is...cue Peggy Lee...but Jack mentions at one point that he wants to tell the story of Murry's funeral. Did he ever? Other things make me curious: do we have a sound file or transcript of the Pacifica piece he did on them shortly before joining the group? And did he ever go into deeper detail on his involvement with "Holland"? Or the 1972 SMiLE attempt? (I realize he describes listening to the tapes...but we don't get a sense of what stopped things that time...) And AGD...is your interview with Jack still around anywhere? I'd love to read that to get some more context, since Jack items are so rare... Thanks, all, in advance! Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: smile-holland on April 08, 2011, 09:06:05 PM And did he ever go into deeper detail on his involvement with "Holland"? Or the 1972 SMiLE attempt? (I realize he describes listening to the tapes...but we don't get a sense of what stopped things that time...) You might wanna try this: : http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/index.php/aflevering?aflID=8924011&md5=e0a50d5cd0d603c40bd92f038d4852e6 Press the orange button left-below to start the doc. It's a Dutch documentary on the Beach Boys' stay in the Netherlands. Most of it is in Dutch, even Jack often switches from English to Dutch. But here's a translation of the Dutch parts (which I posted here a while back). (time should correspond with what you see on screen) When the guys start talking English I simply wrote down the first and last words of that fragment. Otherwise it's the complete translation. Transcript Dutch TV broadcast “Andere Tijden”, episode “The Beach Boys in the Polder”, February 19th 2009 Presented by Hans Goedkoop Research: Hannah Dogger, Rens Oving Montage & direction: Femke Veltman Interviews with: Rijk Vlaanderen – Cycle shop-owner, Hilversum / neighbour Carl Wilson Jeroen Helms – Car salesman Jack Rieley – Manager The Beach Boys 1970-1973 Blondie Chaplin – Beach Boy 1971-1973 Don Willard – Sound technician studio Baambrugge Literature Peter Ames Carlin, Catch a wave. The rise, fall & redemption of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, New York, 2006. Steven Gaines, Heroes and Villains. The true story of The Beach Boys, Londen, 1986. Job Twisk, The Beach Boys, in Oor, November, 1997. Shelley Benoit, Holland: The making of an album, in: Back to the beach. A Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys reader, Londen, 1997 Translation: 0:00 For “Andere Tijden” we go to the building of the Dutch Institute for audio and video. Hans Goedkoop: In the 60ies the BB sang about sun, sea and surfing along the coast of California. But in the early 70ies they made an unexpected move. The album Holland, recorded in… indeed… and we’re going to talk about that incredible trip this evening. On how the group moved from that hectic Los Angeles to that small studio between the Dutch cows. Taking along with them their equipment, women, children, staff, and lots more. The Beach Boys in Baambrugge. 0:37: <intro “Andere Tijden” > 1:00: < I Get Around clip > HG: And that was the first U.S. nr. 1 hit of the BB – good evening – I Get Around, 1964, with at about all the elements that made them famous: fast cars, impressing girls, striped shirts, top-notch refrains, Good Vibrations. And to be honest, a completely blank image of happiness. A couple a years later that didn’t appear to be enough for the boys, the 3 brothers Wilson, a nephew, and a high school-friend. Actually they weren’t surf-dudes at all. Actually they’d had a bad childhood. Above all they were brilliant musicians (?!) and composers, Brian Wilson ahead of them. And they showed that more and more. After 1966 they were competing with the Beatles as the worlds most innovative studio band. But, they higher their ambition became, the less their music sold. And also personally they fared middling. Drugs of course, and along with that Brian’s paranoid delusions, and some other things On stage let himself being replaced, and he locked himself up in the studio. And the band struggled on through the late 60ies and early 70ies. The good vibrations were long gone. It became obvious to them that something had to happen, something drastic, away from Los Angeles, new impulses. And with that in mind in the early summer of 1972 they arrived between the meadows of Baambrugge. 2:50: Blondie Chaplin: This is so different from Los Angeles <…> Looking Around in Holland. 3:19: Jack Rieley: I thought, hey this will be really simple. I’ll get a hold of a real estate agent, or something like that. And I’ll tell them we need a house “aan een gracht”, on a canal in Amsterdam for each of the members of the Beach Boys, and we need some cars and that’ll be it, I thought. 3:45: Rijk van Vlaanderen: “Dear Rijk, thank you for your, thank you for you and your family for help in everything. Carl Wilson”. 3:56: clip Little Honda 4:11: Don Willard: They were sort of idols at the time of course, because they had great songs. I still find their harmonies and compositions brilliant, I have to say. (Sloop John B.) I know, their first albums were surfing records. (Surfin’) 4:57: JR: Very quickly it became all about <…> for that matter. (Surfin’ USA) Seems to me <…> striped matching clothes are gone! (I Get Around) 6:02: Carl Wilson: But Jack Rieley’s contribution to <…> the things we were doing. 6:30: DW: At the time the Beatles had been very innovative with (the making of) Sgt. Pepper. And in America, it didn’t go so well with the BB. So they had to, they wanted to give an answer to Sgt. Pepper. 6:51: JR: And they were in bad shape <…> too insignificant musically. (Monterey footage? / Janis Joplin). Just the thought that <…> so Carl and I started plodding (?, planning). 8:31: BC: They wanted Ricky Fataar and I <…> or something (starts laughing), sorry. 8:56: JR: Wouldn’t that be wild <…> into the group. (I’m Bugged At My Old Man) We had finished an album called <…> I love it, what more do we need. (Fun Fun Fun) 10:50: BC: To me it was like an adventure <…> a farmer’s barn. 11:12: DW: It had been a lamp bulb-factory. Before that it had been a big henhouse. And then within the building, another smaller building was built in. And then it became a studio in 1969. 11:27: JR: Fine I’m sure for making a demo recording, but not for what we had to do. 11:32: DW: 2 months before they (the BB) would arrive themselves, carpenters had been busy preparing the studio acoustically and later on also electronically. 11:43: JR: We flew in an entire <…> you name it, we were all there. 12:10: BC: 5 Beach Boys, 5 houses, 5 Mercedesses, few dogs. 12:16: JR: We increased the population <…> we were everywhere. 12:38: RvV: In 1972 I was in my shop, and came outside because of a car that drove out of a lane, with in it a small boy behind the wheel. And that’s how I got in contact with Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys. (interviewer): And what do you mean with a small boy in a car? What happened? RvV: Well, he probably took off the hand break of the car and drove backwards – and, well, there wasn’t so much traffic as nowadays – and hit the fence overhere – one can still see the dents – and that evening I got in contact with his dad – and he said “come by this evening” – and I became aware that it was (one of) the BB, Carl Wilson. 13:32: JR: That was more than a cycle shop. That was a social outpost, if I recall correctly. 13:39: RvV: Yes, and then he would come by at around 12 o’clock or 12:30, and then he would stand beside me in the workshop near the equipment, to talk about all kind of things, and his son would wander around, playing with all those wheels. And I was working then, but in the mean while we were talking with each other. That’s how it went. 14:07: JR: When you’re in a place, you know, no town, small town, a "dorp" (= village) in The Netherlands, in Holland, that pretence of celebrity goes away quick, and in stead there’s something much nicer… and that’s “gezellig, zeg” (= “cosy/pleasant, isn’t it?”). 14:28: RvV: Then we would drive along the Vecht (a Dutch river), and then wanted to see all the castles, and they loved it. I remember that one time that we had to step out near a farmer’s fence, because they had seen a cow. And I was thinking by myself “Strange situation with those people. You live in Hollywood and have everything just around the corner. And here you have to stop for a cow. And then wanting to caress them. Even posed for a photo.And well, yeah, they loved it.” (Funky Pretty) 15:06: JR: I remember walking up a “bloemenmarkt” (flowermarket), along a “single” (town canal) with Brian Wilson. <…> spectacle of flowers all around. 15:24: DW: They experienced it here being liberal. I can understand that, comparing it with America at the time. Because that you’d go to a shop and be able to order a quantity of soft-drugs was totally new for people from abroad. As if you would be going to the butcher. That’s how they would talk about it. “Can you imagine?” 15:48: JR: I think that the influence <…> for that particular project. 16:22: DW: There’s a song on it, on the record, called Steamboat. At a certain moment it was recorded at double speed: drums, piano and bass. Then it was put on normal speed again, and then that was doubled again, resulting in a beautiful extra layer. (Steamboat) 17:05: JR: I wanted to add <…> used on a lot of tracks (The Trader, live footage Billy Hinsche) 17:40: CW: It was a very creative time for me <…> a very spiritual time also. 18:11: BC: It turned into a pretty mellow <…> you know, it was great (Funky Pretty) 19:10: RvV: Mercedes, they all had one. All rented at a lease company. Don’t know which one, but I think somewhere near Leiden (Dutch city). 19:21: Jeroen Helms: It was of course the order of the year. 8 Mercedesses at once. Even if it was only for 6 months. But at the end, to my calculations, we could earn twice on it. 19:33: JR: You have to take into account that they were expecting a certain life-style. 19:38: JH: “Okay, it includes everything?” I say: “It includes everything, insurance, road tax, etc. etc.”. “Okay, when can we have them?”. 19:47: JR: I can’t remember a single conversation in which was dealt with “You know, you are spending too much money”. 19:55: JH: It was, also for that time, a rather high amount monthly. And it was agreed on immediately. They didn’t have to take care of the pence. 20:03: RvV: “Where do you live from?” Well, 4 to 5 concerts each year in America, they did in a baseball stadium. And that would be sold out completely. And further making 1 record each 2 years. And that would be their income. (Sail On Sailor, footage Billy Hinsche) 20:43: BC: … is a more funky song <…> it wasn’t fully realised. 21:32: JR: It is true that Holland wasn’t the start of a new direction of the BB. It was a new direction on it’s own. But I never felt, that they would go back to Los Angeles, and keep following that same direction. No, it was never the intention of an escape. 22:05: BC: Rolling Stone magazine liked the album a lot <…> but it was the BB. 22:21: JR: Mission completed. That simply was it for me. I have to admit, it wasn’t always easy to work with Brian Wilson, because he’s a very complicated person. At the time I decided after 2, 3 months: if I can get away with it, I wanna stay. And I indeed did that. (interviewer): How long did you stay? JR: 2 and a half year in The Netherlands. 22:58: DW: Afterwards I heard that the whole Holland-spectacle almost made them bankrupt. 23:04: JR: I know that – everything included – it was more than half a million Dollars. 23:13: JH: They were returned, let me say this decently, they were returned very untidy. The interior were, ehm, let me say this differently, you couldn’t sell them like that. Washing them wasn’t effective. I think that, of those 8 (Mercedesses) at about 5 had to be furnished again. They got a whole new interior. (Surfin’ USA) 24:04: HG: Surfin’ USA, with a view on a Dutch ditch. It was a risky combination and a moderate success. The “connoisseurs” regard Holland highly. But all in all, it was more an escape, as Rieley just mentioned, then a way out. Because the future doesn’t put you in a cheerful mood. Back in the U.S. the BB fell back into the troubles they had had. The new members disappeared. The drugs would demand it’s toll. The first of the Wilson brothers died, a second one followed. And even though from time to time something new came, the band started to rely on their old successes and greatest hits tours. The “good vibrations” were finally over. So that, afterwards, one could say that Holland was their last innovative album. Right here on the meadows. “Put that one in your pocket”. We end here. Next week… Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: bgas on April 08, 2011, 10:08:48 PM And did he ever go into deeper detail on his involvement with "Holland"? Or the 1972 SMiLE attempt? (I realize he describes listening to the tapes...but we don't get a sense of what stopped things that time...) You might wanna try this: : http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/index.php/aflevering?aflID=8924011&md5=e0a50d5cd0d603c40bd92f038d4852e6 Press the orange button left-below to start the doc. It's a Dutch documentary on the Beach Boys' stay in the Netherlands. Most of it is in Dutch, even Jack often switches from English to Dutch. That was quite nice, thanxx. Nice pictures . Watching I couldn't help but notice how much more interesting it could have been, Had they bothered to get people that speak English. I mean WTF, don't they speak the international language? ( English) Send em back to grade school!!!! It was weird, tho, how they often flashed Jack Rieley's name when John Candy was on screen. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: Runaways on April 08, 2011, 10:44:06 PM That was quite nice, thanxx. Nice pictures . Watching I couldn't help but notice how much more interesting it could have been, Had they bothered to get people that speak English. I mean WTF, don't they speak the international language? ( English) Send em back to grade school!!!! is this a joke? Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: sherryluvsbrian on April 08, 2011, 10:59:21 PM And did he ever go into deeper detail on his involvement with "Holland"? Or the 1972 SMiLE attempt? (I realize he describes listening to the tapes...but we don't get a sense of what stopped things that time...) You might wanna try this: : http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/index.php/aflevering?aflID=8924011&md5=e0a50d5cd0d603c40bd92f038d4852e6 Press the orange button left-below to start the doc. It's a Dutch documentary on the Beach Boys' stay in the Netherlands. Most of it is in Dutch, even Jack often switches from English to Dutch. But here's a translation of the Dutch parts (which I posted here a while back). (time should correspond with what you see on screen) When the guys start talking English I simply wrote down the first and last words of that fragment. Otherwise it's the complete translation. Transcript Dutch TV broadcast “Andere Tijden”, episode “The Beach Boys in the Polder”, February 19th 2009 Presented by Hans Goedkoop Research: Hannah Dogger, Rens Oving Montage & direction: Femke Veltman Interviews with: Rijk Vlaanderen – Cycle shop-owner, Hilversum / neighbour Carl Wilson Jeroen Helms – Car salesman Jack Rieley – Manager The Beach Boys 1970-1973 Blondie Chaplin – Beach Boy 1971-1973 Don Willard – Sound technician studio Baambrugge Literature Peter Ames Carlin, Catch a wave. The rise, fall & redemption of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, New York, 2006. Steven Gaines, Heroes and Villains. The true story of The Beach Boys, Londen, 1986. Job Twisk, The Beach Boys, in Oor, November, 1997. Shelley Benoit, Holland: The making of an album, in: Back to the beach. A Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys reader, Londen, 1997 Translation: 0:00 For “Andere Tijden” we go to the building of the Dutch Institute for audio and video. Hans Goedkoop: In the 60ies the BB sang about sun, sea and surfing along the coast of California. But in the early 70ies they made an unexpected move. The album Holland, recorded in… indeed… and we’re going to talk about that incredible trip this evening. On how the group moved from that hectic Los Angeles to that small studio between the Dutch cows. Taking along with them their equipment, women, children, staff, and lots more. The Beach Boys in Baambrugge. 0:37: <intro “Andere Tijden” > 1:00: < I Get Around clip > HG: And that was the first U.S. nr. 1 hit of the BB – good evening – I Get Around, 1964, with at about all the elements that made them famous: fast cars, impressing girls, striped shirts, top-notch refrains, Good Vibrations. And to be honest, a completely blank image of happiness. A couple a years later that didn’t appear to be enough for the boys, the 3 brothers Wilson, a nephew, and a high school-friend. Actually they weren’t surf-dudes at all. Actually they’d had a bad childhood. Above all they were brilliant musicians (?!) and composers, Brian Wilson ahead of them. And they showed that more and more. After 1966 they were competing with the Beatles as the worlds most innovative studio band. But, they higher their ambition became, the less their music sold. And also personally they fared middling. Drugs of course, and along with that Brian’s paranoid delusions, and some other things On stage let himself being replaced, and he locked himself up in the studio. And the band struggled on through the late 60ies and early 70ies. The good vibrations were long gone. It became obvious to them that something had to happen, something drastic, away from Los Angeles, new impulses. And with that in mind in the early summer of 1972 they arrived between the meadows of Baambrugge. 2:50: Blondie Chaplin: This is so different from Los Angeles <…> Looking Around in Holland. 3:19: Jack Rieley: I thought, hey this will be really simple. I’ll get a hold of a real estate agent, or something like that. And I’ll tell them we need a house “aan een gracht”, on a canal in Amsterdam for each of the members of the Beach Boys, and we need some cars and that’ll be it, I thought. 3:45: Rijk van Vlaanderen: “Dear Rijk, thank you for your, thank you for you and your family for help in everything. Carl Wilson”. 3:56: clip Little Honda 4:11: Don Willard: They were sort of idols at the time of course, because they had great songs. I still find their harmonies and compositions brilliant, I have to say. (Sloop John B.) I know, their first albums were surfing records. (Surfin’) 4:57: JR: Very quickly it became all about <…> for that matter. (Surfin’ USA) Seems to me <…> striped matching clothes are gone! (I Get Around) 6:02: Carl Wilson: But Jack Rieley’s contribution to <…> the things we were doing. 6:30: DW: At the time the Beatles had been very innovative with (the making of) Sgt. Pepper. And in America, it didn’t go so well with the BB. So they had to, they wanted to give an answer to Sgt. Pepper. 6:51: JR: And they were in bad shape <…> too insignificant musically. (Monterey footage? / Janis Joplin). Just the thought that <…> so Carl and I started plodding (?, planning). 8:31: BC: They wanted Ricky Fataar and I <…> or something (starts laughing), sorry. 8:56: JR: Wouldn’t that be wild <…> into the group. (I’m Bugged At My Old Man) We had finished an album called <…> I love it, what more do we need. (Fun Fun Fun) 10:50: BC: To me it was like an adventure <…> a farmer’s barn. 11:12: DW: It had been a lamp bulb-factory. Before that it had been a big henhouse. And then within the building, another smaller building was built in. And then it became a studio in 1969. 11:27: JR: Fine I’m sure for making a demo recording, but not for what we had to do. 11:32: DW: 2 months before they (the BB) would arrive themselves, carpenters had been busy preparing the studio acoustically and later on also electronically. 11:43: JR: We flew in an entire <…> you name it, we were all there. 12:10: BC: 5 Beach Boys, 5 houses, 5 Mercedesses, few dogs. 12:16: JR: We increased the population <…> we were everywhere. 12:38: RvV: In 1972 I was in my shop, and came outside because of a car that drove out of a lane, with in it a small boy behind the wheel. And that’s how I got in contact with Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys. (interviewer): And what do you mean with a small boy in a car? What happened? RvV: Well, he probably took off the hand break of the car and drove backwards – and, well, there wasn’t so much traffic as nowadays – and hit the fence overhere – one can still see the dents – and that evening I got in contact with his dad – and he said “come by this evening” – and I became aware that it was (one of) the BB, Carl Wilson. 13:32: JR: That was more than a cycle shop. That was a social outpost, if I recall correctly. 13:39: RvV: Yes, and then he would come by at around 12 o’clock or 12:30, and then he would stand beside me in the workshop near the equipment, to talk about all kind of things, and his son would wander around, playing with all those wheels. And I was working then, but in the mean while we were talking with each other. That’s how it went. 14:07: JR: When you’re in a place, you know, no town, small town, a "dorp" (= village) in The Netherlands, in Holland, that pretence of celebrity goes away quick, and in stead there’s something much nicer… and that’s “gezellig, zeg” (= “cosy/pleasant, isn’t it?”). 14:28: RvV: Then we would drive along the Vecht (a Dutch river), and then wanted to see all the castles, and they loved it. I remember that one time that we had to step out near a farmer’s fence, because they had seen a cow. And I was thinking by myself “Strange situation with those people. You live in Hollywood and have everything just around the corner. And here you have to stop for a cow. And then wanting to caress them. Even posed for a photo.And well, yeah, they loved it.” (Funky Pretty) 15:06: JR: I remember walking up a “bloemenmarkt” (flowermarket), along a “single” (town canal) with Brian Wilson. <…> spectacle of flowers all around. 15:24: DW: They experienced it here being liberal. I can understand that, comparing it with America at the time. Because that you’d go to a shop and be able to order a quantity of soft-drugs was totally new for people from abroad. As if you would be going to the butcher. That’s how they would talk about it. “Can you imagine?” 15:48: JR: I think that the influence <…> for that particular project. 16:22: DW: There’s a song on it, on the record, called Steamboat. At a certain moment it was recorded at double speed: drums, piano and bass. Then it was put on normal speed again, and then that was doubled again, resulting in a beautiful extra layer. (Steamboat) 17:05: JR: I wanted to add <…> used on a lot of tracks (The Trader, live footage Billy Hinsche) 17:40: CW: It was a very creative time for me <…> a very spiritual time also. 18:11: BC: It turned into a pretty mellow <…> you know, it was great (Funky Pretty) 19:10: RvV: Mercedes, they all had one. All rented at a lease company. Don’t know which one, but I think somewhere near Leiden (Dutch city). 19:21: Jeroen Helms: It was of course the order of the year. 8 Mercedesses at once. Even if it was only for 6 months. But at the end, to my calculations, we could earn twice on it. 19:33: JR: You have to take into account that they were expecting a certain life-style. 19:38: JH: “Okay, it includes everything?” I say: “It includes everything, insurance, road tax, etc. etc.”. “Okay, when can we have them?”. 19:47: JR: I can’t remember a single conversation in which was dealt with “You know, you are spending too much money”. 19:55: JH: It was, also for that time, a rather high amount monthly. And it was agreed on immediately. They didn’t have to take care of the pence. 20:03: RvV: “Where do you live from?” Well, 4 to 5 concerts each year in America, they did in a baseball stadium. And that would be sold out completely. And further making 1 record each 2 years. And that would be their income. (Sail On Sailor, footage Billy Hinsche) 20:43: BC: … is a more funky song <…> it wasn’t fully realised. 21:32: JR: It is true that Holland wasn’t the start of a new direction of the BB. It was a new direction on it’s own. But I never felt, that they would go back to Los Angeles, and keep following that same direction. No, it was never the intention of an escape. 22:05: BC: Rolling Stone magazine liked the album a lot <…> but it was the BB. 22:21: JR: Mission completed. That simply was it for me. I have to admit, it wasn’t always easy to work with Brian Wilson, because he’s a very complicated person. At the time I decided after 2, 3 months: if I can get away with it, I wanna stay. And I indeed did that. (interviewer): How long did you stay? JR: 2 and a half year in The Netherlands. 22:58: DW: Afterwards I heard that the whole Holland-spectacle almost made them bankrupt. 23:04: JR: I know that – everything included – it was more than half a million Dollars. 23:13: JH: They were returned, let me say this decently, they were returned very untidy. The interior were, ehm, let me say this differently, you couldn’t sell them like that. Washing them wasn’t effective. I think that, of those 8 (Mercedesses) at about 5 had to be furnished again. They got a whole new interior. (Surfin’ USA) 24:04: HG: Surfin’ USA, with a view on a Dutch ditch. It was a risky combination and a moderate success. The “connoisseurs” regard Holland highly. But all in all, it was more an escape, as Rieley just mentioned, then a way out. Because the future doesn’t put you in a cheerful mood. Back in the U.S. the BB fell back into the troubles they had had. The new members disappeared. The drugs would demand it’s toll. The first of the Wilson brothers died, a second one followed. And even though from time to time something new came, the band started to rely on their old successes and greatest hits tours. The “good vibrations” were finally over. So that, afterwards, one could say that Holland was their last innovative album. Right here on the meadows. “Put that one in your pocket”. We end here. Next week… I loved it. Carl looked awesome. Blondie has a good sence of humor. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: Andrew G. Doe on April 09, 2011, 01:01:27 AM That was quite nice, thanxx. Nice pictures . Watching I couldn't help but notice how much more interesting it could have been, Had they bothered to get people that speak English. I mean WTF, don't they speak the international language? ( English) Send em back to grade school!!!! is this a joke? Attempted one. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: smile-holland on April 10, 2011, 03:55:24 AM And did he ever go into deeper detail on his involvement with "Holland"? Or the 1972 SMiLE attempt? (I realize he describes listening to the tapes...but we don't get a sense of what stopped things that time...) You might wanna try this: : http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/index.php/aflevering?aflID=8924011&md5=e0a50d5cd0d603c40bd92f038d4852e6 Press the orange button left-below to start the doc. It's a Dutch documentary on the Beach Boys' stay in the Netherlands. Most of it is in Dutch, even Jack often switches from English to Dutch. That was quite nice, thanxx. Nice pictures . Watching I couldn't help but notice how much more interesting it could have been, Had they bothered to get people that speak English. I mean WTF, don't they speak the international language? ( English) Send em back to grade school!!!! It was weird, tho, how they often flashed Jack Rieley's name when John Candy was on screen. I assume that - as this doc was specifically aimed to a Dutch audience - the main language that was used was Dutch. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 11, 2011, 01:32:25 PM So...is it safe to presume Rieley didn't post anything more after the "Speaks" reupload?
If there's nothing else, I'll start posting my edited version--in chunks... Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 12, 2011, 11:40:35 AM Jack Rieley Speaks
Edited For Reading Pleasure Early October 1996 Meeting The Beach Boys for the first time I met Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Jardine and Bruce Johnston at the Pacifica studio in Los Angeles in 1970. Brian Wilson and I first met personally when he asked me to visit him at the Radiant Radish. During a long broadcast report I did then about the decline and fall of the Beach Boys, I told them the group was acting as though their fans were chumps by doing 45-minute string-o-hits sets; that they looked irrelevant and totally out of touch wearing uniforms on stage; that the music which had touched peoples' hearts -- Brian's music -- was being neglected. They asked and were told that I had previously worked as reporter / news director for a San Juan NBC affiliate. Upon getting to know them, Carl Wilson and I hit it off. Brian Wilson and I hit it off. Later, when I met Dennis Wilson, we too hit it off. No one could have been a better friend than Dennis Wilson. I met him in New Mexico just weeks after being signed up with the Beach Boys. He was on location for Two Lane Blacktop, the minor opus he did together with James Taylor. Dennis scared the sh*t out of me upon our first meeting, greeting me with a mistrusting stare, scowling and shouting-spitting the words, "So you're the butthole who's supposed to save us, heh? Well guess what, ass hole: I'm quitting the Beach Boys." Speechless, I wanted to crawl back to the rental car and drive off. After staring me down for another long moment Dennis' face changed abruptly to a caring, bashful SMiLE. He put his arms around me. "Carl says you're the best thing that has happened to him!" I was confused, maybe even trembling slightly. It was the odd beginning of a deep friendship. Collaborating with Dennis meant brooding with him, being harsh with his self-indulgence, providing encouragement to his brilliance. When he sat down and played the piano and sang, I could not help but feel excited. He loved his brothers very deeply. He was in awe of Brian; always concerned about Carl. "Gotta watch out for the quiet one," he warned frequently with a wink. I firmly believe Murry convinced Dennis during early childhood that he was a dumb f*cker. And I am certain that Dennis worked most of his life to live up to his father's definition. Once, in Milwaukee when he met my father, he embraced him and said he was "humbled" to "be in your presence." I got involved with them because I believed then, as I do today, that Brian Wilson is the greatest composer of this century. At the same time, having seen their absurd, hideous live show (string-of-hits, striped shirts, bullshit), I felt it criminal to see how the group so misrepresented / ignored / negated / yeah, even violated that unfuckinbelievably gorgeous music. So I was determined to change things. Several persons…refer to me as having been the "manager" of the Beach Boys. It is a title that I consistently refused, both within the group and without. When forced by circumstance to take a title back then, I elected "career direction." Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 12, 2011, 11:41:19 AM Behind Brian's withdrawal
Until joining them I also thought Brian Wilson had gone recluse because he hadn't completed SMiLE. That was, after all, the line which the press had taken. It turned out that Derek Taylor, one time mastermind of press for the Beatles, invented that version in an attempt to create a Beach Boys mythos. Reality would have been a more compelling tale. Brian blurted it out one evening at Bellagio, and later spoke about it several times in agonizing detail. He had expected that Heroes and Villains would be greeted by Capitol as the work which put the Beach Boys on a creative par with the Beatles. All the adoration and promotional backup Capitol was giving the Beatles would also flow to his music because of Heroes, he thought. And the public? It would greet Heroes with the same level of overwhelming enthusiasm that the Beatles got with record after record. As it was, Capitol execs were divided about Heroes. Some loved it but others castigated the track, longing instead for still more surfing/cars songs. The public bought the record in respectable but surely not wowy zowy numbers. For Brian, this was the ultimate failure. His surfing/car songs were the ones they loved the most. His musical growth, unlike that of Messrs. Lennon and McCartney, did not translate into commercial ascendancy or public glory. The power division within the group The Beach Boys have been a bitter power struggle since shortly after the beginning. Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson represented the creative side: the appeal to musical beauty and romance and funk and get-down and freakz/fanz; Love, Jardine and Johnston represented unbridled commercialism and power. Before I got there, Love, Jardine and Johnston had control. Because Brian or Dennis often didn't bother to show up for meetings, the vote was general 2-3 against them. Their then-business-manager Nick Grillo and Steve Love disliked me from the start. Love, Jardine and Johnston wanted me on board to improve their image. However, I believed then, as I do today, that the projection of their image depended upon the content of their records and live performances. When I arrived and changed the group's direction, it signaled a change in the power-center as well. With the backing of Brian, Dennis and Carl, I fired Johnston, who had stymied the group's creative cohesiveness. (During my time there, Bruce consistently displayed pure, shameless disdain for Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson.) At the same time I encouraged the Wilsons to act as a unit. Votes shifted to 3-2. Interestingly, Beach Boys record and live revenues soared in that period, having suffered heavily in the period that ended with the sales debacles 20/20 and Sunflower. The unreleased collection known as Landlocked, and how its nonrelease evolved into the Surf's Up LP What I am setting out is a broad outline of a very detailed period. Before agreeing to join them I set a few conditions... No more striped shirts or 45-minute-string-o-hits shows, but concerts instead. Brian would agree to finish Surf's Up and to allow its release. Carl would be the musical leader of the band, which he was anyway but never got the authority. Landlocked came to me as an album title because it represented departure: it was meant as a demarcation line, separating striped shirted bullshit that had become irrelevant -- an object of public scorn -- from artistry, new creativity, great new songs. We even had a cover: stark bright white san-serif letters on a stark black field. Then I heard the songs, among which were titles like Loop De Loop and others which were, believe it or not, even more forgettable. I was perplexed: no strategy was worth anything without the goods, and the goods were not there. Embarrassed, I met with Mo Ostin at WB, who listened to the tunes and declared "no way." Toward the end of that meeting, during which Mo explained that WB had already dropped a whole lotta cash by signing them (Mo was a true Brian Wilson fan), I made him a promise: Brian would finish Surf's Up, we would retitle the album Surf's Up but the cover would be miles away from the beach. Mo gave me encouragement to lobby hard for the solution. By then I had seen how Carl had so much incredible composer potential within him, trying hard to get out, so a new album began formulating in my head. The cover was something that caught my eye at an antique shop near Silver Lake. It was a painting and I bought it. Reminded me a bit of the old Brother Records logo, but it was different. Brian flaked out too many times to recall. "There is NO WAY for me to finish that track," he wailed with mock emotion. I reminded him of his promise and he eventually agreed to go into the studio (the living room), where he duly went, albeit with lots of push. Brian Wilson loved Surf's Up. He knew very well that it may be one of the most important pieces of music in this century. He was dying for Surf's Up to be acknowledged for what it is, but terrified that it would get ignored, discarded, lost, much as Heroes and Villains was virtually ignored years earlier. In short, Brian Wilson lived in terror of public failure. A lot has been made of his drug use/abuse, which may indeed have had searing effects upon him. But it was the public failure of Heroes to to wow Capitol and thus wow the world that caused him to withdraw. When the withdrawal began to attract notice, Brian's keen senses picked up on the fact. Soon he was feeding off the crumbs of legend available to "Brian Wilson, eccentric recluse" -- a hideous second-best to the public acclaim he was denied. No wonder that he was unsure of my plan to complete Surf's Up and release the track. As related earlier, I changed the album title from Landlocked to Surfs Up. The shift was to principally honor the song's greatness. But the shift was also evidence to Brian that I was serious about making his work shine. At the same time, the re-titling served to prevent Brian from giving in to his terror. The arrangement that you hear on the album resulted from many talks with Brian, and a careful examination of the real SMiLE tapes -- the originals. Carl and I got Brian's explicit support to remove the originals from the vault and take them to Carl's place on Coldwater, where the two of us listened to songs and snippets, full works and outtakes, night after night after night. Without even an engineer around, we tried mending and splicing the brittle multi-track recordings. Sometimes we succeeded. With the Fire tapes, which were there but damaged (and not by fire), we had to settle for long passages and short gaps. There's much more to say about SMiLE, of course, but this note is about Surf's Up. The song was in several disjointed, uncompleted sections. Child was clearly intended to be the climax. After many nights of listening -- at least two with Brian on Coldwater with us -- we set out to construct and reconstruct. I first flirted with the thought Brian should sing the lead on the first section, but Brian insisted that Carl do it, and Carl was clearly thrilled. It was the right thing to do. The Brian solo section is of course constructed around Brian's televised appearance for Leonard Bernstein. Carl played the bottom end synth, I decided to cut all effects from Brian's voice on the title line. We had lots of musicians in to redo parts of the track that had been played badly. Recording went on for several weeks, with Brian very involved but Carl heading the effort. It was going to be a masterpiece. By the time we got to Child, some of the moving parts had Brian excited and active. He chose Carl for a couple, took on a two for himself, assigned two more to me, got Marilyn for still another. Desper seemed to realize he was recording something extraordinary: his acid humor was replaced by, ahh, reverence. Credit for the brilliance of Surf's Up, the recorded song, must be shared by Brian Wilson, who composed that incredible crown jewel, and Carl Wilson, who guided and nurtured the amazing recording project, in addition to singing a truly spectacular lead vocal. My own role was to fight through Brian's terror with honor, respect and enthusiastic persistence, so that you all could hear Surf's Up. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 12, 2011, 11:41:55 AM The tag lyrics to the 1971 version of Surf's Up:
A children's song, have you listened as they played? Their song is love, and the children know the way. The couplet was written during the recording of the moving backgrounds for the Surfs Up album. There's no writer's credit officially given...it was not Brian, Carl, Jardine, Love, Johnston, Van Dyke Parks, Dennis or Steve Desper. Perhaps you will excuse this admittedly chicken-sh*t way around [the question of who wrote these lines]. The couplet's authorship should of course have been credited. It was not. The decision [to use a portion of Child is the Father of the Man in the Surf's Up tag] was made by Brian. He stated clearly that it was his intent all along for Child to be the tag for Surf's Up. Meanwhile, Carl Wilson and I began to write. Long Promised Road began to be created. Then came the seed for Feel Flows. Til I Die became a must. Tree was born. Love, Jardine and Johnston began to get testy about it all. There was a long meeting during which they tried to force me to march into Mo's office and sell him on Loop. I refused and Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson backed me up. Love, sensing that I might be on to something by rejecting the string-o-hits crap as out of date, suddenly came up with Student Demonstration Time, which had Carl and I blushing with embarrassment and which thoroughly disgusted Dennis. Then Jardine demanded that his Feet song go on the album. Johnston got Tears. When Carl and I compiled the album running order, most versions had the Wilson songs on one side and the jive on the other. It was uncool, so we changed to the running order you know. I really liked San Miguel but the thing was just a hook, not a song, so we had to can it. I still hum it... guess it has always been one of my favorite hooks... has that same special flair of Dancing In the Street and other gems.... perhaps you should know that the decision to can it was made by Dennis Wilson, with Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson and I supporting him. A Day in the Life of a Tree Brian Wilson and I had been talking a lot about the sorry state of the planet back then. He was filled with questions and we went on for hours about it. Forests were dying, the air had turned brown, the earth's future was beginning to appear hazardous to health. When Brian first played the chords and sang the tentative melody for me, he asked what the song should be about and I suggested a single tree as metaphor for the earth; that single tree as metaphor for more than ecology. I fell in love with the chords at once and loved the swelling tension of that droned bass line; the song seemed to lend itself to the lyrical concept. He went nuts for the lyrics when I showed them to him. Loved 'em, memorized the first verse and was singing around the house. Carl and I were positive that Brian had to sing A Day In The Life Of A Tree. We recorded the instrumental track in a few days. On the day we were to record the lead vocal, I was with the engineer in the control room (this was in Bel Air, at the Bellagio house) and Brian was in the studio. He did a few warm-up takes and then, dramatically animated as was in wont, tore the headphones from his ears and exclaimed that he needed me to help him. I went out into the studio and he pleaded that he just wasn't getting the feeling that I intended with the lyric. "Show me what I'm supposed to do," he insisted, handing me the headphones as he ran to the control booth. I did about 5 takes of the song, all except for the false-setto bit near the end. Each time I screwed up one part or another, and after each take Brian used the talkback to inform me something like, "I see what you mean. But how about the blah-blah part. Do another take so I'll know just how to do the song." And dumb me: I did another take. It was after one of those that Brian burst from the control booth to the studio, laughing loudly, a proclamatory laugh. He rushed me like a bear, raised both arms into the air as would a victorious high school athletics coach and exclaimed that I had just done the final lead vocal! I protested. It was turning into another BW cop-out, I suspected. But by then Carl was there too. He said Brian had told him a couple of days previous that I had to sing Tree. It had all been cooked in advance. To my astonishment, the false-setto bit turned out easy. After Van Dyke's bit, the added voice at the end is Linda Jardine. Reports of Brian crying, with joy or otherwise, upon hearing my vocal are bullshit. Disney Girls was selected for inclusion on Surf's Up before Rieley's firing of Bruce Johnston Bruce asked me to write lyrics for the song. I declined. It's not always wise to let one's personal feelings toward artists influence our opinion about their art. Johnston has written songs which have clearly touched you, and nothing about his actions need change that. After all, Disney Girls has not been unmasked as a repackage of Mein Kampf. Remember, we all have the option of liking the art while concluding that the artist is a schmuck. I have never heard a word about Love's earthquake song. Surfs Up was never meant as an eco concept album. Fourth Of July was set for the album but then fell victim to glaring envy -- so the world got Feet instead. Near the end of recording of the Surf's Up album, in a parking lot off Sunset Boulevard where Love, Jardine and Johnston requested that I join them at some awful vegetarian restaurant, following a meal that they raved about and I detested, after they had complained with particularly venomous fervor about the brothers Wilson, Love took me aside, stared furiously at me, curled his lip and snorted nastily, "Long after you are no longer part of the Beach Boys, I will be writing songs with Brian, and don't you ever forget that." He stabbed the air to emphasize "don't", "you", "ever" and "forget." That wasn't all. I..." he exclaimed, "I AM the Beach Boys!" Love didn't have much good to say about 'Til I Die, Tree, Long Promise Road or Feel Flows. They were depressing. They were downers. They were too ethereal. They were trivial. He accepted the importance of Surf's Up in a commercial sense, but derided its artistic merit. He hated Burlesque more than anything, particularly because its lyric is a about a stripper and even more pointedly because of the last line of that lyric. Fascinating, I thought, considering the man's own private life, that he was so adamant about family values on Beach Boys songs. Burlesque was Brian at his most passionate, most playful, most daring, and it would have made a really cool track on the album. But Love killed it. Brian Wilson created 'Til I Die. No one else. There is a certain moment in that song, as it begins to go into the fade chorus, just as the overlapping voices haunt us, at the split-second the resolve begins, during which -- when I hear it -- time stops, space disappears and E doesn't equal mc2 anymore. Genius. He sings, "These things I'll be until I die." As for Feel Flows, the song was composed, written and recorded under seriously powdered conditions. Carl and I worked on it for days at Bellagio, often getting trapped in laughing jags that seemed unending and thus made the sessions more fun / exciting and the music more daring. The guitar solo is Carl's best in his life. The lyric came to me in the studio early one summer evening just after the solo was recorded. Trapped with Carl in another laugh riot, I somehow managed to overcome the effects and drive over to Carl & Annie's place on Coldwater to write in peace. Half way and numerous lines through the lyric Annie and I got still deeper into one of those laugh jags. I couldn't stop until going out back, stripping off my clothes, jumping into their pool and swimming for a long while, still strongly under the influence. When I came out of the water it was to find that Annie had taken my clothes and hidden them inside the house. Prude me slightly freaked and pouted until I got them back. By then the idea for the lyric changed somewhat and all the lines I feel good about began popping into the song. The middle part, with Carl's unfuckinbelievable solo followed by the synth and flute, is the sound of orgasm, plain and simple. My favorite things on the song are Carl's "ah-yeaahhh-yeah-yeah" rounds during the solo and my "aaaah" exclamation. It's all about orgasm, dewdz. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 12, 2011, 11:42:25 AM Positioning within the rock "pantheon": Beatles vs. Beach Boys
I will be blunt. The Beatles were focused, strategic, professional and well led during the years of their mounting ascendancy in critical and commercial acclaim. John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the creators, spoke the same "line" as did George Harrison and Ringo Starr. There was true career direction, which the group followed carefully. During that same period The Beach Boys were divided, unprofessional and horrendously led. Brian Wilson, the creator, had the respect of his brothers but not of the others in his band nor of their manager. The brothers spoke one "line" while Love, Jardine, an emerging Johnston and Murry Wilson spouted another. There was no career direction to speak of and chaos reigned. Tragically, the same parameters held true during most--but not all of-- the group's career. An exception, I contend, was during the period in which I guided their career direction. To sum it up, they blew it, they blew it consistently, they continue to blow it, it is tragic and this pathological problem caused The Beach Boys' greatest music to be so underrated by the general public. Remember the key difference: the Beatles were a unified group with coordinated career direction telling one clear story, while the Beach Boys were wracked by disunity, lack of support for the musical heart, and a total absence of career direction. Since perception was, as it remains, 90% of reality, it made Strawberry Fields (and other tracks) a much easier sell than was Heroes. Do You Dig Graves? With Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson cheering me on, I had just gone into hock for much too much in order to acquire a classic 1954 Bentley R type, previously owned by the British charges d'affaires in L.A. The wooden picnic tables, the foot pedal which greased the car and its solid ride thrilled me, even if the right-hand drive was difficult to cope with. Brian came out to my place in Topanga Canyon and insisted upon acting as my driver for an afternoon. He even brought and wore a chauffeur's cap. We visited all the spots -- a Piggly Wiggly, some smorgasbord place in the Valley, the dry cleaner and a wine shop where I picked up an expensive Medoc. My driver was in a particularly happy mood -- we spent the day laughing a lot. Late the following afternoon my phone rang. Marilyn was hysterical. "Come quick! ... It's awful!! .... Please hurry!" There were no explanations, not that I sought any: Brian was in big trouble. The Bentley performed more than adequately, getting me from Topanga to Bel Air in no-time-flat. When I pressed the button next to the gates at Bellagio, Marilyn shrieked with worry. "At last! Please, drive through! Hurry!" The gates swung open, I drove the final bit and rushed into an open front door. Mar was in the kitchen, looking through the big window that overlooked their enormous Bel Air pool and garden. Her tears would not stop flowing. "He's there," she managed, pointing to a spot far back in the yard. I looked, could not believe what I saw, then thought carefully how to deal with the situation as I walked slowly out to the spot where Brian Wilson stood. He was gripping a big shovel and he was concentrating mightily on digging a hole. It was more than 6 feet long, a couple of feet wide and it was getting deep. Was Brian aware that I had walked out to him and was indeed but a few feet away? I believe he was but shall never know for certain. In any event, he continued digging away. Shuffling methods of dealing with the crisis in my mind, I said nothing for a long moment, and he did not acknowlege my presence. Finally I mustered a cheery "Hi Brian! How ya doin?" He turned to me, smiled fleetingly as one does upon seeing a friend, then -- with a good deal of drama -- he threw that shovel to the ground. "I'm pissed off!" he declared. Silence. And then: "I've been diggin' this grave for hours, tryin' to get it just right. But you know what? Fuckin' Mar refuses to cover me up with dirt when I get in!" His tone was angry. I stared at him, began to open my mouth, but words did not come to me. Our eyes now met, my dumb stare meeting his frustrated, angry glare. After a few seconds Brian Wilson suddenly broke into peals of loud guffawing laughter. He continued to laugh, eventually I joined in with him. The joke was over. The prank was complete. The comedian's bit had reached its punch line. He came up to me, still reeling with his own loud laughter, put a hand on my shoulder, and we walked back toward the house. Soon Marilyn, who had apparently watched it all through her kitchen window, came outside and joined us, she now laughing too with that fog-horn laugh of hers that I loved to imitate. We never spoke of the incident again. Never. Today, nearly 25 years later, I still haven't got a clue whether Brian Wilson was on this side or that side of the line on the afternoon he dug his own grave. Brian and the Spring project I used to have a wonderful dog whose name was Bingo The Magic Dog, and he was well know for being loving, friendly, fun-filled and capable of speaking/howling the word "hello." Incredible but really true. Bingo was almost always in a great mood, unless I left him at home alone, when he would show his distaste for my neglect by finding and chewing on recording tapes. Good friends loved Bingo as I did. Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson adored him, as did Audree and Mar and Annie and others. The dog seemed to be happy, but a couple of times -- when I drove out to the country with Bingo to give him a real run -- I wondered about his self-esteem. He'd run free and run some more and keep on running until he found some cow dung. Inevitably he began rolling in it. Ecchhh. Somehow that's the metaphor which always comes to mind when I think of Brian's involvement with Spring. Brian was definitely rolling in the Spring project, but he seemed not to care much about it. They got the "B" and "C" songs, he dutifully did his shtick and on rare occasion we actually had fun with it. Like on Down Home. Brian's relation to Diane, who he seemed seldom to notice for months at a time, warmed during Spring. And when Murry died, by the way. But he never exuded pride at all about the project. Never in my presence. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 12, 2011, 11:43:02 AM Carl & The Passions -- So Tough
They were getting recognition once again, this time for the superb music of Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson. Surf's Up was receiving great notices and the group was playing exciting, impressive two-hour concerts instead of forty-five minute string-o-hits shows. A pair of bright entrepreneurs booked Carnegie Hall for the grand return to New York and the event was a triumph. Rolling Stone and Melody Maker, the western world's musical tastemakers-extraordinaire, declared them valid, vital and highly worthy. College students, who had disdained them only a year earlier, now flocked to see and hear and scream and cheer them. The Beach Boys were back. We had to prepare a new album for Warner Bros., which by then was very supportive of the immense progress made. I disliked going to their office on Ivar Street in Hollywood, preferring to work from my little rustic house in Topanga Canyon. Creativity was better in Topanga, but my absence from the office provided both space and opportunity for the losers to plot. As I moved to shift the power balance from Love, Jardine and Johnston to Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson, sparks flew. The non-Wilsons first aligned themselves with Nick Grillo and his trusted assistant Steve Love, both of whom did little to mask their contempt for me, and the path I had chosen to rekindle the group. Within a few months, private detectives were hired to follow my car, check up on my friends and dig into my private life. That really got to me. I felt violated. The fun of contributing to their career was disappearing fast. The joy of music was being eclipsed by stench from the swine. You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone was the first basic track I recall being recorded for the album. Brian was really into composing and recording the song, which he did with Carl's funky voice in mind. I titled it and took quite a while to write the lyric. It's one of the lyrics for the Beach Boys that still makes me feel real good to think about. About that time Brian began talking in detail about a massage parlour in West Hollywood and one of the girls who worked there. At first he spoke only of going there for massages. Some days later he began going on and on about the masseuse who he said was turning him on. He was hot for Marcella. One day I arrived at Bellagio to find him showing off a dildo. He needed the dildo, he said, to impress Marcella. His dick was too small, he protested, so he needed the dildo to show off. It was not the first nor the last time that Brian devoted hours to discussing his sexual insecurities. The fact that he had given birth to two girls was, he said, proof that Murry was right: Brian wasn't a real man. Murry fathered three boys, Carl had one and another was on the way, Dennis had fathered boys. But he, Brian, could only father girls. The conversations went on for hours at a time. Then there came the day I was in his living room with Carnie and Wendy when Brian strode in, a huge dildo protruding from beneath his jeans. I was repulsed as Brian caused Carnie to come over to him while he talked about the dildo. When I chided Brian, he reacted by telling his daughters, "Carnie, Wendy... I'm not your father." Soon I evacuated the kids to the garden. The only thing I could think of to quell Brian's fixation was to channel it. Thus it was I who suggested Marcella as the title for a tune Brian had been working on. With my promise to write the Marcella lyric, he jumped into the project with immense enthusiasm. Brian, Carl, Desper and I worked hard on that record. Dennis helped too. The zither was a cool idea but it was mixed poorly. My lyric was minor... efficient at best. On the night we finished the mix, Love came by to give it a listen. He stood in the corner of the control booth behind the mixing counsel as the tape rolled. Rather than really listening to the music we had created, Love began rehearsing his stage moves. He acted out "One arm over my shoulder" by placing his right arm over his left shoulder. "Sandals dance at my feet" had him pointing the index fingers of both hands to downward. "Eyes that'll knock you right over" found him sailing his hands from the side of his head on a downward arc. And on "Ooh Marcella so sweet" he cradled his crossed arms and rocked them a bit. I nearly got ill. The In Concert live album During the tour that produced In Concert, Carl and I went out to the mobile truck after the gig to listen to what had gone on tape. Outside of a few out-of-pitch harmonies and the odd flub, one problem real got to us. The two tracks upon which the grand piano was recorded seemed to be out of synch to the rest of the multi-track. We couldn't figure it out. The engineers swore there was nothing wrong with the tape transport. Cables were always a problem, but could they produce a delay? It was eerie. The next day we listened again and the problem remained. Spooky. Eventually we got round to listening to the piano tracks while muting the rest. Nothing seemed really wrong. In fact an engineer put a stopwatch to the solo piano tracks and it never varied in beats-per-minute, from beginning of each song to the end. At last that was our clue. We began muting just the piano and listening to the rest and, sure enough, the band started at a certain b.p.m. but, as a song went on, often speeded-up a bit. Enthusiasm, the live-vibe, whatever you wanna call it, inevitably caused the tempo to increase as songs went along. But Daryl Dragon, who wore earplugs, stayed consistently at the original tempo. He was right, the rest of the band was wrong, but we had to re-record numerous piano parts after the tour. Otherwise, In Concert was really a live album. There were studio overdubs but certainly the album was not "faked." The bit about them not knowing the words to Don't Worry Baby is utter bullshit, as is the assertion that Caroline No was only a studio job. The last time I listened to the album, maybe a year or two ago, it still sounded fuckin' great. Listening to the original SMiLE tapes in 1972 Damn, my heart was fluttering when we set-up the multitrack at Carl's place to listen to the SMiLE tapes. I had read every word that had been published about SMiLE before starting to work with the Beach Boys. Unlike some, I was and remain a real fan of Smiley Smile. But my whole being was going bananas to hear the real thing. I listened to all of the tapes at least 100 times... some of them much, much more. Without getting too much into detail in this note, I can confirm that the longer Brian Wilson worked on SMiLE's tracks, the more they degenerated. Early versions were brilliant -- brisk, melodic, innovative and, yes, even funky at times. Songs and fragments alike were outstanding. But Brian had no collaborators, no peers, no one to encourage him and point the way. There were the in-group and in-group-circle and in-house-Capitol detractors and backbiters and naggers. But no one was there to insert continuity to the fragments or to declare a track ready when it was ready. In the absence of approval, Brian labored on long after certain tracks were done, trying to improve on music that needed no improvement. Indeed, the process led to an extraordinary degradation. Reconstructing events was easy because there were all those tapes, complete with carefully dated boxes, track sheets et all. Brian Wilson did present the original Heroes to Capitol and the group, but neither reacted with enthusiasm. Carl and Dennis were alone in wild praise for the track. So, he labored on to "improve" it, and lost so much in the process. The lyrics, as much as we may love their poetry, also contributed toward making Heroes a hard sell. There are frequent moments, phrases, sections and entire passages that excite me more than any released record or CD I have heard. Instrumentation that soars, harmonic structure that tingles the skin, melodic moods that are profound. For example, Heroes and Villains is absolute genius, even though it is fragmented. The Fire tapes [aka Mrs. O'Leary's Cow] are terrifying, even though parts are missing. Cabinessence is hypnotic, spectacularly so, even though it is unfinished. Wonderful reached only demo stage on SMiLE. As most everyone knows, the album was not completed. Using today's recording techniques, the raw master tapes could be manipulated and blended by wannabe producers and well meaning fans and hucksters/exploiters, much as photos of total strangers can be transformed into apparently seamless family portraits. But there is no album. If it is ever to be completed, then it must be finished by Brian Wilson and probably supported-assisted-compiled by Carl Wilson. Umberto Eco wrote about an abomination called the Palace of Living Arts in Los Angeles. It features three dimensional, wax, life-size, full-color reproductions of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, El Greco's Cardinal de Guevara and other great works of art. Those who visit are encouraged to have faith in fakes. SMiLE, the album, does not exist. It is a collection of unfinished works, not just a few of which are masterpieces, a couple others mastersnippets, still more just uncompleted bits and pieces. Those who would enhance, blend or hawk SMiLE as a nearly completed album are mere vendors of fakes. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 12, 2011, 11:43:26 AM The end of Jack's involvement with The Beach Boys
I tried to leave the group when Holland was finished, because I chose not to return to the U.S. -- wanted instead to live in The Netherlands. They insisted I should run things from Amsterdam, a ridiculous pseudo-solution because of the distance involved and the day-to-day need for up-close interaction with BW, CW and DW. When Carl ran into domestic tumult and I wasn't around, he felt let down. I did return on several quick occasions at the request of Brian, Carl and Dennis. Also came back to help the family upon Murry's death (wow, that was a weird week). Eventually it became clear to them that I had lost interest in being zookeeper. Upon my departure, the Wilsons went back to disarray. Carl was going through terrible domestic problems. Dennis was having a divorce. Brian adjusted poorly to life back in Bel Air after his highly creative, physically positive (he rode a bicycle daily and lost weight) stay in The Netherlands. Love and Jardine saw the hole in their armour and rammed through to renewed supremacy. Their musical/ideological vision of the Beach Boys was totally different from that represented during my period there. Love's bitter resentment of Brian's musical genius and his newly re-won power meant it was back to shuck and jive. Within a year the Beach Boys had returned to the state they were in before I came along, but with revenues built upon those generated during the Surf's Up, So Tough, Holland, Live In Concert period. Could this have been prevented? The Wilsons should have determined my successor. They did not. I must once share with you the bizarre tale of a night in London, long after I had left the group, when Dennis broke down my hotel door because he was afraid I was dying. He was trying to save me. Remind me as well to take time, sometime, to relate the story of Murry's funeral. On a visit to L.A., a year or two after the Holland album, I stayed at Dennis' house in Malibu for a few nights. He was still with Barbara then. I was to fly to Milwaukee in order to visit my dad before returning to Europe. About 4 a.m. on the last night of my stay with them, Dennis came into the guest bedroom and awoke me with a gentleness that grips me still. He looked grim, sad beyond words. "Your brother is on the phone," he said softly, caressing me as a parent caresses a child. My brother had phoned to say our father had died. When we played a free gig at the California state prison for women, I nearly flipped to see how many of the inmates knew Dennis personally. Of course the Manson girls were there, hooting and cheering every song. His solo album may be a bit over the top, but it is filled with so much intensity, so much raw emotion, so much musical mastery and beauty that now, just thinking about it, I get goose pimples everywhere. I have never read a Beach Boys book or article since leaving the zoo. Friends have asked me to, warned me not to, begged me to, etc. I also have not ever granted interviews to anyone writing those books. It was partly because of an overdose of confidentiality I felt toward them for a long, long time. Living in Europe, as I did until two years ago, also gave me a healthy dose of disdain for the breathless-supermarket-style of writing that passes as research and journalism here. From what I have been told, the true story of Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson and those other guys has certainly not been written yet. A couple years after leaving the group, friends cautioned me about an NME article that defamed my character. That one time I read the article and had legal counsel act. A prominent apology and retraction of all negative references to me -- they were all provably false -- quickly appeared in the NME. But I was busy with my own life. I was living in Europe, far from the zoo which interested me less and less. think I didn't miss much -- I don't really get off on taking legal action. I listen to today's music 90 percent of the time, which does not include the Beach Boys. When I have the occasion to hear Brian Wilson's music of the period from shortly after the beginning through about '74, I am enchanted. Carl Wilson has, for my money, one of the greatest fuckin' voices ever recorded. He is also an incredible songwriter when he is inspired. Still today I miss Dennis very much. Very very much. Title: Postscript Post by: onkster on April 12, 2011, 11:46:00 AM Hey all-
This is by no means perfectly polished, and I'm still hoping to turn up some more great Rieley letters to mix in, but methinks this "reorganized" version makes for a pretty great read. Once again, what Rieley says is so full of heart and passion, it makes for a piece to return to again and again. Let me know how it reads for you, whether you have any editing suggestions, and of course, whether any more of his list messages turn up. Thanks! Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: tpesky on April 12, 2011, 01:09:49 PM It's one view of things, incredibly biased, (Jack always makes himself look like the hero) with some factual errors but an interesting read nonetheless. I'm not sure I would call Brian's stay in Holland "creative."
Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 12, 2011, 01:41:58 PM I agree...it is entirely Jack's view. But I love it, nonetheless.
Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: ♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇 on April 12, 2011, 05:47:31 PM Quote Then there came the day I was in his living room with Carnie and Wendy when Brian strode in, a huge dildo protruding from beneath his jeans. I was repulsed as Brian caused Carnie to come over to him while he talked about the dildo. When I chided Brian, he reacted by telling his daughters, "Carnie, Wendy... I'm not your father." Soon I evacuated the kids to the garden. WTF?! Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: bgas on April 12, 2011, 07:54:54 PM Quote Then there came the day I was in his living room with Carnie and Wendy when Brian strode in, a huge dildo protruding from beneath his jeans. I was repulsed as Brian caused Carnie to come over to him while he talked about the dildo. When I chided Brian, he reacted by telling his daughters, "Carnie, Wendy... I'm not your father." Soon I evacuated the kids to the garden. WTF?! This was the seed for "Luke, I am your father" Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: rogerlancelot on April 13, 2011, 03:22:04 AM It reads great. Excellent job!
Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: RONDEMON on April 13, 2011, 08:26:13 AM Quote Then there came the day I was in his living room with Carnie and Wendy when Brian strode in, a huge dildo protruding from beneath his jeans. I was repulsed as Brian caused Carnie to come over to him while he talked about the dildo. When I chided Brian, he reacted by telling his daughters, "Carnie, Wendy... I'm not your father." Soon I evacuated the kids to the garden. This might be the absolute best Brian-related story ever. This seems to be a reoccuring topic in his life. I read in one of the many books he had a lot of hangups about this kinda thing (masculinity issues?) and was bummed he never had any male children? Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the second time I've heard about this issue. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: onkster on April 13, 2011, 09:10:13 AM Having an obnoxious macho bully of a dad would do a number on anyone. Being sensitive only makes it worse!
Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: Myk Luhv on April 14, 2011, 11:57:03 PM I like that he had a huge dildo in his possession in the first place!
Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll on April 15, 2011, 12:25:37 AM dunno how much of this is 100% accurate but I reckon this part at least :lol - "On the night we finished the mix, Love came by to give it a listen. He stood in the corner of the control booth behind the mixing counsel as the tape rolled. Rather than really listening to the music we had created, Love began rehearsing his stage moves. He acted out "One arm over my shoulder" by placing his right arm over his left shoulder. "Sandals dance at my feet" had him pointing the index fingers of both hands to downward. "Eyes that'll knock you right over" found him sailing his hands from the side of his head on a downward arc. And on "Ooh Marcella so sweet" he cradled his crossed arms and rocked them a bit."
Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: bgas on April 15, 2011, 07:36:30 AM I like that he had a huge dildo in his possession in the first place! Perhaps it was Marilyn's? Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: sherryluvsbrian on April 15, 2011, 10:56:20 AM Quote Then there came the day I was in his living room with Carnie and Wendy when Brian strode in, a huge dildo protruding from beneath his jeans. I was repulsed as Brian caused Carnie to come over to him while he talked about the dildo. When I chided Brian, he reacted by telling his daughters, "Carnie, Wendy... I'm not your father." Soon I evacuated the kids to the garden. WTF?! For real? He must have been out of his mind. People go to prison for doing things like that today. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: bgas on April 15, 2011, 11:02:57 AM Quote Then there came the day I was in his living room with Carnie and Wendy when Brian strode in, a huge dildo protruding from beneath his jeans. I was repulsed as Brian caused Carnie to come over to him while he talked about the dildo. When I chided Brian, he reacted by telling his daughters, "Carnie, Wendy... I'm not your father." Soon I evacuated the kids to the garden. WTF?! For real? He must have been out of his mind. People go to prison for doing things like that today. Brian; in prison; yeah, he is, in a way. Title: Re: Jack Rieley - is there more? Post by: Runaways on April 15, 2011, 12:18:48 PM Brian; in prison; yeah, he is, in a way. oh jeez...need air..i almost passed out from that cliche. |