The Smiley Smile Message Board

from Billy Hinsche's facebook:

This just in: sad to report that former Beach Boys' manager and lyricist, Jack Rieley, passed away in Berlin last Friday. His credits include co-writing "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows" with Carl Wilson and writing the lyrics for my own solo single "Music is Freedom." He was tremendously supportive of my documentary film, DENNIS WILSON FOREVER, and debuted it on his flasher.com website, for which I am very grateful. So long, Jack, and thanks for being such a good friend ...

RIP Jack.  Thank you for the contributions you made to an exciting era in the group's career.

Wow. ...
RIP

RIP

Musically, a great period for the band

RIP

Strange coincidence that Feel Flows was just played on MLB Network.

Great contribution to the band's legacy. Very sad to hear.

The puzzle pieces keep slowly falling away...

This is really sad news, I really enjoy Jack's contributions to the Beach Boys.

Jack Rieley was a very important player in the early 1970's resurgence of the Beach Boys. In my opinion he really understood what the Beach Boys were all about at that time.

RIP Jack, The Beach Boys made much of the best music of their career under your watch. Sad to hear you've gone.

I can't conceive of what might have happened to the Beach Boys without Jack's presence and influence. There would be a huge portion of quality missing, and far fewer people might have discovered and learned to appreciate the band. A very underappreciated figure in their history. RIP.

Thanks for the collab on "A Day in the Life of a Tree".  Such a beautiful, idiosyncratic song.

Thanks for the info, Ed.  I can't say I got to know him as you and Billy did, but wish him peace.  He always had an interesting perspective.

Damn. R.I.P.

Gonna be listening to "A Day in the Life of a Tree" many times today

Rest in peace, Jack.  :angel:

Brian posted about it too.

Damn this sucks. Very improtant figure in the band's history. Think I will listen to Mt. Vernon and Fairway today.

Perhaps Brian will dedicate Sail on Sailor to his memory. 

Maybe we can hope that Brian, or Mike's Beach Boys, adds Long Promised Road and Feel Flows into the setlist as a tribute also. 

Game changer. His band intros alone, during those great early 70's college shows, were a clear marker that this was a new era for the Beach Boys.
Tree and Mt. Vernon, it is...

Brian Wilson @BrianWilsonLive  ·  17m 17 minutes ago

Sad to hear about Jack Rieley passing away. Jack was our manager in the early 70s and helped us a lot. My thoughts go out to Jack’s family.

Condolences to his family and friends.

RIP and thank you for some really cool music outside of the Beach Boys as well.

An amazing guy that leaves behind quite a legacy.

I've read a few personal accounts of his time with the band, and he was always a fascinating study. Wish he wrote a book about that period, but then again - he always seemed to maintain a dignified silence (unless the subject of the Lovester came up).  ;)

RIP Jack. In that period of time, you really were Superman .

From my point the best thing that ever happened to the Beach Boys after Derek Taylor. Sad to hear this. R.I.P.

This is so heart breaking. I was just thinking about him late last night wishing he would write a book.

On another note, does anybody have a working link to the 2 part interview that used to be on the internet somewhere?

and elaborating more on Facebook: 
>>
Brian Wilson

I’m sad to hear about Jack Rieley passing away last Friday. Jack was our manager in the early 1970s and helped us a lot. He wrote the lyrics for “A Day in the Life of a Tree” which blew me away. I also had Jack sing the lead on that one because his voice seemed to fit the song. Jack was a real force on our “Surf’s Up” and “Holland” albums and I’ll always remember his kindness. My thoughts go out to Jack’s family and friends.
 - Love and Mercy, Brian  <<

Jack may have had his flaws here and there but thanks to his and Carl's persistence, Surf's Up, the song, was finished and released, and that started the chain of events that, ever so gradually, got Smile out to the world.  For that alone, we all owe him bigtime. But there's also Feel Flows, The Trader, his encouragement of Dennis's songwriting....his work in getting the band covered in Rolling Stone et al... and a lot of other things.  RIP

The pop world could do with more colourful characters like you, Jack. Rest in peace.

Jack sings Day In The Life Of A Tree onstage in Long Beach, Dec 3 '71

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcorwiADBeM

Never before or since have I heard a BB insider give a quote that is more on-the-nose and well-written than Jack's famous quote, which doubles as Rocker's signature:

"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."

Wow, I just saw Brian's facebook post. That's a shame, he might've had some sketchy credentials, but the guy did a lot to rehabilitate their image and helped Carl, Brian, and Dennis write some great songs. Him recalling how Brian felt about Heroes and Villains' failures is one of my favorite quotes about the band, and the one in Rocker's signature too. Sad to lose another member of the band's history.



What else did he do? I can't really find much on him.

I remember when he was a member of the Pet Sounds mailing list back in the mid-90's. He shared quite a few very interesting stories about his time with the Beach Boys. I kept copies of all of them. One of them he called "The Gravedigger", about the time Brian dug a grave in his backyard. Pretty wild stuff.

Such sad news... Jack Rieley gave the Beach Boys a great new direction and kicked off one of the most creative periods in the band's history. Just listen to "Surf's Up", "Carl & the Passions" and "Holland"! Thanks Jack for adding another facet to the legend of the Beach Boys...  :-[

Jack was brought in to help make the band hip. I think he succeeded. I think he wrote more avant-garde artsy-fartsy lyrics than Van Dyke did.

There's a great interview with Jack somewhere on the Internet, maybe even on this website. Recommended reading. Jack was very candid and comical and really exposing his feelings about a lot of things. Always loved "You Need A Mess Of Help" and "Hold On Dear Brother". Jack's best stuff is on the CT&P album. Anybody here heard his album Western Justice?

I'm going home tonight and play the live '73 version of Marcella and turn it up LOUD in Jack's honor. I love this song. Jack conveyed what Brian was thinking about the masseuse in West Hollywood:

Mystic maiden's more than soft and sexy
She can mess my mind with the stuff that she knows
Her new found beauty goes beyond her covering
And sets a flame in her soul!

Brave new woman standing proud and dazzling
Grips the goal that eluded her soul
Direction bringing her to now's tomorrow
And my love for her still grows!

One arm over my shoulder
Sandals dance at my feet
Eyes that knock you right over
Ooo Marcella's so sweet!!

I remember when I played "Mount Vernon & Fairway" in the dark a few times for my then 5 year old daughter.

"Dad?"
"Yes."
"Who's the voice of the Pied Piper?"
"Brian."
"Brian sounds funny!
"Yeah."
"Who's the other man talking?"
"Jack."
"Is Jack a Beach Boy too?"
"Kinda, but he's helping Brian with the Fairy Tale."
"I like the music in the background."
"Me too!"

Try to find the Western Justice album, he made with Machiel Botman (in 1974/75). It's quite good.

can you post the stories here for those who didn't get to read them then?

Sad news.

'Tree' breaks my heart as much as Til I Die, so I thank Jack for the part he played in enriching my life with that recording and of course for the other contributions he made.

Sure. I'll look them up tonight when I get home.

It's not much, but there's some music and bits of interviews here:

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/jack-rieley-rip.html

I'll go one further and say it's rather brilliant.

Back in the day when Brian was 'iffy' and the Beach Boys were sailing with little wind and absolutely NO rudder...Jack saved them, gave them direction, made them valid and turned them into one of the greatest live acts in the world.

That he was never reintroduced into the equation was a sad commentary on what has been without wind and rudder for most of these past THIRTY-THIRTY-FIVE years.

A great and important member of our team.  A terrible loss for his loved ones, friends and family.  A devastating loss for the group...WAY back when.

Next to a healthy and creative Brian Jack Rieley was as important as ANY other member of the group.  Just getting rid of those matching white suits was a HUGE bonus...let alone his direction and input regarding the music.

Brian has done the right thing but I'm not so sure that the 'Beach Boys' will salute him.  There was animosity.  A certain individual had been pushed back from the front of the stage much to the improvement of the over-all picture.

Damn!!!  :(
__________________

Yeah, Ed, that was the interview I was alluding to earlier. Good stuff.

RIP Jack. Thank you for everything, and particularly for co-writing Funky Pretty, one of my very favorite Beach Boys songs.

Great post, Mikie, providing a sense of the creative energy Jack Rieley brought to the group.  Yes, he definitely succeeded in making the BBs come across as a more hip contemporary band.  I well remember his announcements from the stage during the Dec. 3, '71 Long Beach Arena concert, as well as his vocals, accompanying BW on organ, on A Day in the Life of a Tree.  A truly great time to be a fan.

Don't know if the site is still functional, or selling, but try here:

Western Justice (http://www.western-justice.com/home.html)

Sorry to hear the sad news. RIP Jack. Love your lyrics.

  Very sorry to hear this. I've always liked what Jack Rieley did for the band. "Feel Flows" and "Steamboat" are among my all-time favorites.

You can listen to the Western Justice album on Spotify, by the way.

Saddened to hear of his passing. All things considered he was one of the best things that ever happened to the group. Will spin some Holland in his honor.

Sorry to hear about Jack's passing...

Recently found (and bought) a vinyl copy of the Western Justice album, have always regarded it Holland's cousin, they go together remarkably well.

I know Roel Kruize, the managing director of EMI/Bovema in those days, was considering a reissue on vinyl a few years ago (from the original multitracks), so for those interested, please do try and contact him via the link posted by Andrew.

You can also buy it on iTunes.

COMMENT:

Jack's influence was interesting to work with and he was a pleasure to know. Being around him was soothing and calming.  Rest in peace Jack and may you have eternal . . . Good Listening,  ~Stephen W. Desper

RIP Jack... sad news.

Parts of the Western Justice album periodically get stuck in my mind - "No Rain" and the title track in particular - though I haven't heard it in 20 years.

Jack did make the band as "cool" as they ever were... he deserves a lot of credit for that.

And ADITLOAT is classic, perfect, and one of my favorite songs ever.  Brian was right to have Jack take the vocal!

I never met Jack Rielly. He took The Beach Boys into a place in society that was progressive. In these days of denial of climate change, he was able to channel their ideas into several songs that addressed the planet's health. Jack, being gay. probably scared a few guys in the Band. But it is a tribute to many of The Beach Boys that they saw him as a business person. His sexual orientation made no difference to them. While he was business manager, The Beach Boys played a Berrigan Brothers rally. For awhile they were truly a force in changing the country. I will miss him. 

Jack's all too short time with the band was my absolute favorite period in the band's career. He created the band's resurgence in the early 70's making them as relevant as they could be during a tumultuous time when they needed it most.
Although Van Dyke's lyrics were incredible for Smile, Jack's were my favorite. Too bad he didn't/couldn't sustain his relationship with them. RIP, Jack.  :'(

RIP to a legend.

This might be a tough question to approach, but could anyone elaborate on how the BB band members reacted to the knowledge of Jack's sexual orientation at the time?

Jack was very important to the development of the Beach Boys.  His lyrics are an important part of how we look at the early 70's Beach Boys.

He came up with a plan to get the live shows rockin' and running like a well oiled machine.  I thank him for that.

He was a class act, the spark needed.

He will be missed by those who loved and knew him, and me too.

rest in peace, dear brother.

This thread has all Jack's posts that appeared in October '96.  Where his sexuality is concerned....although gay managers and producers were not as widely prominent in the American rock/pop scene as in the UK, there were several notable ones in the '60s and '70s - Bob Marcucci and Bob Crewe come to mind. So Jack's being gay wouldn't have been that much of an eyebrow-raiser then....though I recall reading in some of the books about the band that Mike was somewhat less accepting of Rieley's sexual preference than the others.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,9651.0.html

Wow!!! :o


And no lawsuits.   >:D   So it pretty much has to be the true sh*t.   8)   And somehow Al...floated to the top. ???  That Brian really does have a good heart.   :hat


Wow!!! :o

Over the weekend I'll dig out the interview I did with Jack in London, summer 1982 (as then-manager of Kool & The Gang - I believe it was the very first one he ever did). It's an interesting thing to read with the benefit of some 33 years hindsight and further research. He was without doubt a fine raconteur and an engaging personality. In the BB cosmos, he was as pivotal as he was controversial: it's highly possible that without his intervention and influence in the early seventies, we'd not be where we are today. Like VDP, at times he bypassed clarity and comprehension for overall tonal effect, and that's not in any way a criticism. His lyrical contributions to the albums 1971-73 defined that era of the band. Who knows what may have come to pass had he remained at the helm (something he strongly denied to me - he always considered himself an advisor rather than a manager). In my infrequent recent exchanges with him, he never once mentioned his medical problems, although they were noted in his Facebook posts. As with most folk who swim into the BBs proximity, a fascinatingly flawed individual. Can you imagine a world without "Feel Flows", or "Marcella", or "The Trader" ?

God bless, Jack, say hi to Dennis & Carl for us. The R&R Heaven band just got a fine new lyricist. And "manager".

Oh Lord I Lay Me Down

Many good memories from listening to the fantastic output by the Boys in the early 70´s. Jack Rieley was paramount in making it happen and for that I am forever grateful and admiring his resolution and determination to work with Carl and make that revival possible. He believed in the group when not many others would.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fANTtBJoXcA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fANTtBJoXcA)

Sad to hear this news.

Obviously a very positive influence on the band both in the studio and on stage.

Oh wow, can't believe this. He should have managed The Beach Boys a lot longer than he did...

R.I.P.

Ciao, Jack.

 :rock

Agree 100%

Very sad. His lyrical and managerial contribution to the Beach Boys is immeasurable. 
"Close to the source, gentle force..never ending"

rip
Jet Without Wings

A measure of his influence is the fact that his ecological themes were still showing up as late as SIP and Al's solo album. Such a missed opportunity.

Amen.

I wish the Boys had found Jack when they were getting ready to leave Capitol. I can picture him telling him there was no way they could gave a label they were leaving Breakaway/Celebrate the News. I picture him having the Boys fulfill their contact with We're Together Again and a cover for the B-side, then using Breakaway and Celebrate the News to get them their next deal, as in "Brian is still writing and producing great songs, and the rest of the band is stepping up too, like on this one from Dennis."

Then he'd have them reestablish cred before releasing the single, so that DJs wouldn't turn down the Beach Boys (as Fred Vail) related because they were not cool. Maybe Breakaway released a a single in 1970 could have been the big commercial comeback they needed.

It's been alluded to, but Jack Rieley was Carl's Van Dyke Parks, writing pretty sounding lyrics that are incomprehensible (Feel Flows) and lyrics that tell the Native Americans' mistreatment at the hands of the white man (Trader).

Rest in peace, Jack.

And every time someone else in the story dies -- which is happening much to frequently now -- it's always amazing to think that Brian Wilson, probably months away from death in 1982, has outlived another one.

Rock on, Brian! And Al, Dave, Mike, Bruce, Blondie, Ricky and everyone else who is still with us.

Yesterday when I learned of Rieley's death, I remembered that he was a Wisconsin native...and Steve Gaines' H&V reminded me that he attended Beloit College in that state. So I put his name and "beloit" in Google and the first link below came up.

As a fair number of SS'ers no doubt know, for a while the complete archives of Billboard magazine from about 1950 until the '90s have been at books.google for a while, which is always helpful for determining release dates, gigs etc.  This link shows a reference to Rieley from Oct. 1961, when he was a DJ at his college station and soliciting 45s.  Surfin' was a few weeks away from being released. I wonder if he was spinning it back then.

The second link is interesting. It's from a site devoted to the Club Pop House, which was a teen dance hall/social club in Beloit that existed from the 1940s to the '70s - I guess like Arnold's on Happy Days with a ballroom attached, or something.  The photo there, from 1962, shows a half-dozen admiring young ladies surrounding a pompadoured young man who, it turns out, is named Russ Mackie - the same Russ Mackie who was Rieley's assistant and sometime BBs house photographer in '71-'73. A comment below the photo says that Mackie, at that time, was an aspiring teen idol, and that Rieley was his manager.  

This is the first time I've ever heard of Rieley managing anyone before he got involved with the BBs.  What Mackie would have been doing to get the attention of these girls is an interesting question. The comments suggest he was a singer, but then again just about anyone in the BBs circle who could carry a tune (and some who could about halfway carry one like Jack) usually ended up doing a backing vocal or three with the guys, and Mackie never showed up on their records except as the photographer/designer of Holland's jacket.  

https://books.google.com/books?id=wiAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=%22jack+rieley%22+%22beloit%22&source=bl&ots=4OqoTYH1nf&sig=cgLGxS65Agbm3ehppIAZoU_3uNc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7-I3Vb_6DuG1sATppoCIBw&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22jack%20rieley%22%20%22beloit%22&f=false

http://pophouse.accardiweb.com/?p=20

Well said.  

I honestly didn't realize how many great songs Jack Rieley was credited on until the posts since his death.  

Truly amazing stuff.  

Its too bad that Jack quit before the release of Endless Summer.  Maybe he could've convinced the Boys to stay the course, and we'd have more albums on par with Surf's Up, Carl and the Passions, and Holland.  

Of course The Beach Boys' California Saga is full of maybes, what ifs, and whys.  

At least Jack had a great impact on them, if just for a brief time.  

I think it's unfortunate that Jack didn't let himself be interviewed more often after the one he gave to the PSML in 1996. He was very open and seemed accessible then. So much so that it's surprising he pretty much clammed up after that.

I think it's also unfortunate that he didn't make himself available to authors of Beach Boys books and magazine articles since his departure from The Boys. I understand his reasoning, but could you imagine the quantity (and quality) of material and information that could have been an asset to any publication? An example is his recollection of the grave digging episode in Brian's back yard. I think that's the only time that story has ever been told. There's still quite a bit that went on between 1971 and 1973 that we don't know about, especially the recording of the C&TP album. His opinions and information concerning Surf's Up and Holland and Smile were invaluable at the time (1996) and after reading it again, they still are. 

Seems that Brian and Dennis got more than the music 'thing' from Murry.  Maybe Carl too but Jack didn't write about it in the post I saw Mikie.

Brian...'digging' his grave ... ... ...  Dennis scaring the crap out of Jack when they first met ... ... ... THOSE 2 examples strike me as being such ODD humour that they must have gotten that sense of 'it' from their father.

In a way...Jack's 'take' on Brian and the legendary reactions post 'Heroes and Villains' kinda of reaffirms what Lorren Daro was suggesting about Brian when he was visiting here 3 months ago.

What context was Feel Flow's played on MLB network?  Was it n a certain program?  Thanks.

Sad to hear about this.  While he seems to have been a controversial and divisive figure in the Beach Boys mythology, the legacy he left in the group is a mostly positive one.  All of Carl Wilson's best songs as a writer were done with Rieley.  Brian probably never would have finished "Surf's Up" if it hadn't been for his insistence.  His vocal on "The Day In the Life of a Tree" is so heartrendingly beautiful as it is odd.  While I'm not as big on the Carl and the Passions and Holland albums as some fans are, I do appreciate what he and the band were trying to accomplish at that time, I think he pushed the band to take noble risks that they would never take again, and that era remains as one of the most interesting periods in the Beach Boys career.  

I like that. I've never been a fan of C&TP but I'll be hearing it in a different light now.   

I loved Jack's posts--so full of heart. Wish he'd written a book--maybe we'll find out that he has already, but he seemed to be the kind to move on from the past, while remembering it vividly at the very same time.

I'm a full-blooded American, but I somehow envy his guts to leave it all behind for a better life in Amsterdam.

In case somebody hasn't already reposted this, here's my edit of all of his long posts into something resembling an article:
http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,10155.msg182234.html#msg182234

Bye, Jack. Thanks for helping out with the boys.

Thanks for re-posting the link to those stories. Fascinating stuff.

Yes indeed. I remember reading these edits first time round. Thanks a bunch, Onkster. 

Just wanted to add this for all to remember some of the great lyrics Jack wrote for the Beach Boys. These are definitely among their very best.


Hi
Trader

Trader sailed a jeweled crown
Humanity rowed the way
Exploring to command more land
Scheming how to rule the waves

Trader spied a virgin plain
And named it for velvet robes
Wrote home declaring
"There's a place where totally folks are free"

Happily completely
Nourishment fills the prairies and the hillsides
And animals stalk the mountains and the seaside
And fish abound the lakes and birds the skies
Signed sincerely

Trader found the jeweled land
Was occupied before he came
By humans of a second look
Who couldn't even write their names, shame

Trader said they're not as good
As folks who wear velvet robes
Wrote home again and asked, "Please help
Their breasts I see, they're not like me"
   (They don't believe our deity)

Banish them from our prairies and our hillsides
Clear them from our mountains and our seaside
I want them off our lakes so please reply
Signed sincerely

Trader he got the crown okay
Cleared humanity from his way
He civilized all he saw
Making changes every single day, say

Shops sprang over the prairies and the hillsides
Then roads cut through the mountains to the seaside
The other kind fled to hide, by and by
And so sincerely cried

Making it softly
Like the evening sea, trying to be
Making it go creating it gently
Like a morning breeze, a life of ease

Eyes that see beyond tomorrow
Through to the time without hours
Passing the eden of flowers
Reason to live

Embracing together
Like the merging streams, crying dreams
Making it full begging intently
For a slight reprieve, a night of ease

Hands to touch beyond the sorrow
On to the force without power
Piercing the crust of the tower
Reason to live

Hoping like a budding rose
Humbling shows
Making it struggling lonely
Like a desert field
Break the seal, make it real

Ears to hear beyond the showers
On to the suns of tomorrows
Burning the flesh of all sorrows

Reason to live
Reason to continue
Reason to go on
Reason to live
Reason to live
Reason to live
Reason to live




Source: http://www.songlyrics.com/beach-boys/the-trader-lyrics/

Thanks Rocker.  It sure ain't Fun X 3.

Carl and Jack.  Great team.  Now...perhaps reunited somehwre between here and there.  It's a mighty BIG universe after all.

BV for the last line is "They don't believe our deity".

Thanks, I inserted this in the above post.
Such a great song. It gets better and better. Criminally underrated. Not bad this band

The best song the band ever did IMO.

Man, as douchey as people can be on this board, it's nice to see these lovely tributes to Jack. (And wonder how many of these tributes are from people who twice flamed him off PSML many years ago.)

What were Jack's posts on PSML? I'd love to read those...although I'd hate to witness the flaming, even years after the fact. (I have a bad feeling one of the flamers was, uh, a major player on the list...)

I've got a ton of PSML saved from the old days, but haven't had the time to sift back through...if there are any Jack gems, please post--or at least post the dates, so I can search back easily...

Hello ? There's a link to all the PSML posts earlier in this thread of less than four pages.

I didn't expect to be as saddened as I am by Jack Rieley's death. As an occasional writer, Jack is a huge influence.

        John Frank Rieley III

'Are you sleeping Brother John?'

        JACK of many trades