Jack Rieley has passed...

[mtaber]

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!

[Peter Reum]

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. 

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

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.  

[SMiLE Brian]

RIP to a legend.

[CenturyDeprived]

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. 

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?

[feelsflow]

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.

[rn57]

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

[Lee Marshall]

Wow!!!


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


Wow!!!

[Andrew G. Doe]

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".

[Cabinessenceking]

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

[Nicko1234]

Sad to hear this news.

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

[bluesno1fann]

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

R.I.P.

[Alan Smith]

Ciao, Jack.

 

[KDS]

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

R.I.P.

Agree 100%

[jet without wings]

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

[Wirestone]

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.

[SBonilla]

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".

Amen.

[Sound of Free]

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.

[rn57]

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

[KDS]

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.  

[Mikie]

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. 

[Lee Marshall]

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.

[JasonK]

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

[Rocky Raccoon]

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.  

[JK]

I think he pushed the band to take noble risks that they would never make again.

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