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Author Topic: Jack Reilly  (Read 31559 times)
Magic Transistor Radio
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« on: October 23, 2006, 11:02:46 PM »

One of my favorite of BB's periods was 71-73. They almost achieved the impossibe by appealing to the 'hip' crowd. I would probably give most of the credit to Carl Wilson's producing. But I am sure that Jack Reilly had something to do with this.

Does anybody know why he was fired? I read somewhere that he ticked people off. But who and why?
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"Over the years, I've been accused of not supporting our new music from this era (67-73) and just wanting to play our hits. That's complete b.s......I was also, as the front man, the one promoting these songs onstage and have the scars to show for it."
Mike Love autobiography (pg 242-243)
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« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2006, 12:32:48 AM »

Jack Rieley was fired by Carl (I THINK) because they began to learn that his was murky past that he had told them about wasn't entirely accurate eg. He won a "Peabody" writing award or something, which he hadn't and loads of other unprovable creddentials. Bruce was always sceptical of him, hence why Bruce left / was fired. He also told the Beach Boys that he was going to stay in Holland as he could manage them from there, but Carl went out to fire him. I also think (somebody correct me if I am wrong) he told them he had incurable cancer or some disease and if he could have some money for treatment, but miraculously recovered (wink wink)  Roll Eyes

AGD told me he later managed Kool and The Gang in the 80's and now runs an IT firm. Lives in Pacific North West apparantely.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2006, 12:33:59 AM by Zander » Logged

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« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2006, 12:37:22 AM »

He kept eating all their food and refusing to leave Carl's house, saying things like "I don't believe that you are going to get to the top without making me more grilled cheese sandwiches... so hop to, fat boy." Or waking key members of the group up in the early morning, bollock naked and learing over them with a bottle of olive oil saying in near silent tones "smell this and see if it's edible."

He was also kept quoting non-sensical passages in random books, usually giving away the ending. It was infuriating. TRUST ME. I KNOW.

--------

They also didn't appreciate him producing other such hot acts such as this-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq0zUJCl9Qs
« Last Edit: October 24, 2006, 12:38:25 AM by OLD GREGG » Logged

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« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2006, 04:50:26 AM »

Whatever reason, with hindsight, it was rather unfortunate. They were pretty much finished a s vital creative force when Reiley got the boot - excepting POB and Love You, and some people would argue against the latter.
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« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2006, 08:29:13 AM »

I made some searches, trying to find a corporate picture of him. Just found some corporate info..
http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=899391

checked archive.org for old jfax pages, but I didn't find anything relevant.. Tongue

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« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2006, 10:06:03 AM »

they didnt like his album --- western Justice   Grin
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« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2006, 02:01:16 PM »

It couldn't have had anything to do with homophobia in the Beach Boys' camp at that time, could it?

Despite Jack's failings such as his creative C.V. writing, he really did deliver on making the Beach Boys current and "hip."  Despite Bruce and Brian's misgivings, the BB career was resurrected by Jack and without him I shudder to think what would have happened - probably the dark ages of 1968-1970 would have continued until Mike stepped in to transform the BB into a mouldy oldies band in the 80's.
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« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2006, 03:23:48 PM »

Reilly certainly improved the perceptions of the group...got them some good press and raised their profile...but he didn't exactly turn them around creatively. I'd say Friends, 20/20 and Sunflower were all better LP's than Surf's Up and So Tough. Holland would be as good but not better...IMO. I guess if taking inferior product and getting more attention for it makes you a genius than he was one. But he presided over the dismantling of, or dumbing down of, what could have been the greatest BB's LP...Surf's UP...and saw it turn into a political compromise between members with less artisitc vision while great songs disappeared from it.  The cover is neat...and some of it is genius, but the whole thing could have surpassed Sunflower as a statement of art, and to me it falls way short of even matching it. So Tough falls short of that. Do I blame Reilly?? No. But he was their manager and if he gets credit for the good then folks should be reminded that he was by no means a savior in every way.
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« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2006, 03:24:34 PM »

No luck finding anything new but thought this quote was worth repeating.

    

"To me, Surf's Up is, and always has been, one hyped up lie!  It was a false reflection of The Beach Boys, and one which Jack (Rieley) engineered right from the outset.  Jack was just very, very smart in that he was able to camouflage what was actually going on by making it look like Brian Wilson was more than just a visitor at those sessions.  Jack made it appear as though Brian was really there all the time."
 
Bruce Johnston on the fight that caused him to leave The Beach Boys
 

 

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« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2006, 05:37:07 PM »

I thought Dennis withdrew his 2 SU tracks because he didn't agree with the inclusion of Surf's Up as the closing track. And I guess, behind the curtains, Jack would rather have a dud with a Brian Wilson writing credit (easy folks, I'm talking about the Feet song) than anything else in the next album.

Do I prefer a hipotetic 'Landlocked' album with 'Wouldn't It Nice to Live Again' and 'Fourth of July' and without 'Surf's Up' and 'Take Good Care of Your Feet'?  No. Dennis probably made his bet on a solo album.
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« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2006, 08:51:09 PM »

I do think that Jack Reilly's lyrics were pretty good. Similar to Van Dyke's but more political.

I do agree about the Surfs Up album that it could've been better. Not to mention SDT by Mike. I don't mind SU being on there, but Dennis' songs would've improved it big time. In the late 60s they also left several excellent songs off albums, like 'Soulful Old Man Sunshine' and 'Celebrate the News'.  Instead they included 'Cotton Fields' and 'Bluebirds..'?
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"Over the years, I've been accused of not supporting our new music from this era (67-73) and just wanting to play our hits. That's complete b.s......I was also, as the front man, the one promoting these songs onstage and have the scars to show for it."
Mike Love autobiography (pg 242-243)
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« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2006, 08:59:19 PM »

Jack's lived in New England for some years now. Don't think he's connected with the stated IT firm now. Interviewed him in 1982 - interesting cove.
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« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2006, 10:23:07 PM »

Would love to read it Andrew! My 2 cents is that the Beach Boys LP's during his tenure didn't match up with the half dozen ones that came before. That said they are all still solid albums to me. The live shows WERE the best during his era. Desper has said Brian and Jack got along well at first and he even said Jack helped Brian be a more regular visitor to the S.U. sessions then the ones for 20/20 or Sunflower.  The difference with S.U. though is that while he may have done more consistent work in the background, what Brian did do on 20/20 and Sunflower was more central to the music particularly on the later.
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« Reply #13 on: October 25, 2006, 03:58:08 AM »

It was printed in a very old copy of Stomp - when I get back home, I'll dig it out and post a few of the more interesting bits.
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« Reply #14 on: October 25, 2006, 08:37:13 AM »

Jack Rieley was briefly on PSML twice many years ago. I remember when he first joined and posted an intro message, he was severely flamed with messages saying stuff like "The same Jack Rieley who lied his way to hook up with the Beach Boys?" and other angry posts....he left pretty much right away. A couple of years later he joined again and stayed around long enough to answer questions, including what was going on during the writing and recording of "Feel Flows" (basically a lot of silliness among Carl, Annie, and Jack) and who wrote the "A children's song..." lyrics. (I seem to remember Jack said that Al Jardine wrote them -- I seem to remember the phrase "pure Jardine" being involved...but another member quoted another post to me in which Rieley implied that he wrote the words.) He just sort of disappeared from the list after a month or so.
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« Reply #15 on: October 25, 2006, 01:07:44 PM »

I would be more interested in hearing a non-Jack Reilly influenced BB record from 1970-73. Sunflower and SU both fall short of Friends, 20/20. They went a different direction artistically (trying to not sound like the beach boys) after Jack arrived and im not sure it was for the better.

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« Reply #16 on: October 25, 2006, 01:21:03 PM »

I think Jack only arrived at the scene after the release of Sunflower.
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« Reply #17 on: October 25, 2006, 06:52:18 PM »

He really did sound like a dying tree on "Day in the Life of......", you've got to give him that.
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« Reply #18 on: October 25, 2006, 08:48:05 PM »

Thanks Andrew. Jack's posts on the message board from 1996 are very interesting. Boy he really hates Bruce, Al and Mike. I wonder what he thinks of the Al and Mike's fallout.
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« Reply #19 on: October 25, 2006, 09:54:57 PM »

I really liked Reilly's voice on 'Life of a Tree'. But wouldn't Dennis have fit well on that song, too? Or perhaps Murray, if he would do it.

I think he did a good job on the 'Fairy Tale' as well.

As far as the Beach Boys changing styles, I disagree with that on SU, but 'So Tough' and 'Holland', yeah. But I liked it. Especially 'Holland'.
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"Over the years, I've been accused of not supporting our new music from this era (67-73) and just wanting to play our hits. That's complete b.s......I was also, as the front man, the one promoting these songs onstage and have the scars to show for it."
Mike Love autobiography (pg 242-243)
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« Reply #20 on: October 26, 2006, 03:27:12 AM »

I hear a change on Sunflower only in that it is mixed better then previous albums. Surf's Up I hear a real change because of how the vocals are done, subject matter, and Dennis and Brian moving to the background.
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« Reply #21 on: October 26, 2006, 09:18:27 PM »

Any comments about the Jack postings?
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« Reply #22 on: October 26, 2006, 10:06:20 PM »

Quote
Oct 19 1996 - 7:24pm

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.

- Jack (Rieley)

It seems to me that Jack's analysis rings largely true.  The live shows (I attended a couple in 73-74) were particularly good.  Most notably they contained elements of maturity and moving forward that earned respect for the group. 
When I next saw them perform (New Years 1976-77) it was a bit of a train wreck even though there were some great musicians on stage and Brian was there.   
     
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« Reply #23 on: October 26, 2006, 11:34:01 PM »

First time I've ever heard Brian Epstein's management referred to as 'professional' - the amount of money he literally allowed to slip through his fingers is astounding.

Also, the BB had strong direction up to early 1967 - they did what Brian said, at least in musical terms.
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« Reply #24 on: October 27, 2006, 12:52:09 AM »

Interesting observations. I think Jack liked to build his role up, but has a lot of insight. It is clear that he has a grudge against Bruce, Al, and Mike although his story about Love's dance moves to Marcella is a riot. Didn't think he and Brian were so chummy. It's also strange but I have heard about Brian loosing weight in Holland but he is heavier then ever on the back cover. Too bad there haven't been more photos of the trip publically shared.
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