Jack Reiley

[rogerlancelot]

Does anybody know much about him? I read the thread from Pet Sounds blog or whatever. Very interesting person and I really want to know more about him.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Does anybody know much about him? I read the thread from Pet Sounds blog or whatever. Very interesting person and I really want to know more about him.

Check out either the Gaines or Carlin books. Interesting chap.

[rogerlancelot]

I have both books. I was more or less wondering what he has been doing since 1972. There is a very small entry on Wikipedia.

[rogerlancelot]

From Wikipedia:

"Although there are many books and articles about the Beach Boys, Rieley was only ever interviewed once before November 2007 (in a summer 1982 issue of the UK fanzine Beach Boys Stomp, by Andrew G. Doe) when he was interviewed by Flasher.com in relation to the documentary Dennis Wilson Forever."

[the captain]

You can find posts by Rieley on this board from, I believe, a predecessor of this board. Quite a bit of info from him. Try a search.

[mikeyj]

You can find posts by Rieley on this board from, I believe, a predecessor of this board. Quite a bit of info from him. Try a search.

Do you mean this Luther?

http://smileysmile.net/index.php/jack_rieley_speaks_part_one
http://smileysmile.net/index.php/jack_rieley_speaks_part_two

[the captain]

Yep.

[Andrew G. Doe]

From Wikipedia:

"Although there are many books and articles about the Beach Boys, Rieley was only ever interviewed once before November 2007 (in a summer 1982 issue of the UK fanzine Beach Boys Stomp, by Andrew G. Doe) when he was interviewed by Flasher.com in relation to the documentary Dennis Wilson Forever."

I really should post that here.

[rogerlancelot]

You can find posts by Rieley on this board from, I believe, a predecessor of this board. Quite a bit of info from him. Try a search.

Do you mean this Luther?

http://smileysmile.net/index.php/jack_rieley_speaks_part_one
http://smileysmile.net/index.php/jack_rieley_speaks_part_two

I have already read those. Very interesting.

Would love to see Andrew's interview!

[rogerlancelot]

Sorry about the topic name. It should be Jack Rieley.

[Sheriff John Stone]

When you read about Jack Rieley in books, he doesn't come across very well, and he was, in fact, fired after only a couple of years with the group. However, when I look at the list of songs he contributed to:

Long Promised Road
Feel Flows
A Day In The Life Of A Tree
You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone
Marcella
Sail On Sailor
Funky Pretty
Mount Vernon And Fairway

well, I like every one of those very much. I guess his contribution to those songs was less than more(?), but, he did seem to have a knack of being around good songs.

[the captain]

He was also around during what was undoubtedly a live resurgence. To his credit? I don't know. But it happened while he was there.

[rogerlancelot]

I wish he was a member of this board. It would be fascinating to chat with him!

[Sheriff John Stone]

I wish he was a member of this board. It would be fascinating to chat with him!

There is a Jack Rieley (with THAT spelling) on Facebook; give it a shot!

[rogerlancelot]

I wish he was a member of this board. It would be fascinating to chat with him!

There is a Jack Rieley (with THAT spelling) on Facebook; give it a shot!

Now awaiting a friend confirmation. The profile is of course private. Could be interesting.

By the way, for any of you who are on Facebook I am Eric Lapp is Shreveport, LA. Add me.

[Nicko]

I guess he was always economical with the truth and I read those old posts with that in mind.

[MBE]

I guess he was always economical with the truth and I read those old posts with that in mind.

Indeed don't take his word as gospel!

[c-man]

From Wikipedia:

"Although there are many books and articles about the Beach Boys, Rieley was only ever interviewed once before November 2007 (in a summer 1982 issue of the UK fanzine Beach Boys Stomp, by Andrew G. Doe) when he was interviewed by Flasher.com in relation to the documentary Dennis Wilson Forever."

I really should post that here.

Here, here!

[shelter]

There was a documentary about the Holland album on Dutch TV last year and Rieley was interviewed for that.

[BillA]

He and Carl seemed to make a good songwriting team.

[adamghost]

I suspect Jack Reiley is one of those people that reminds us that people are complicated and not easily broken down to black/white, good/evil.  I find it really easy to believe he was a bit of a con artist, but also that he was the guy that understood how to make the Beach Boys relevant to early '70s audiences, and that is really quite amazing.

I have to say that since the early '70s, Reiley-influenced Beach Boys were what hooked me on to the group, I might never have become a fan were it not for his direction of the band.

[mtaber]

Yeah, Jack actually made me think that the Beach Boys could finally be considered "cool" by the masses...

[Nicko]

I suspect Jack Reiley is one of those people that reminds us that people are complicated and not easily broken down to black/white, good/evil. 

Very possibly. Ironically though his views of the BB members appear to be that simplistic.

[tomstuart]

He does seem to certainly get rather slagged off, with Al being less than pleasant about him in a recent interview. But I don't really care about what he was like as a person, I care about what he did for the band, and personally I think the guy did good. Namely:
He co-wrote probably the best three songs Carl ever produced: Trader, Feel Flows, Long Promised Road;
His lyrics were always weird, cryptic, unusual i.e. interesting (especially on, say, Funky Pretty);
He got the band, even if only temporarily, to perform more musically diverse live shows, instead of relying mainly on their early back catalogue - as a result the period when he was their manager is generally considered their finest period as a live band;
He told the band he'd make them fashionable again - and then did, with Surf's up entering the Top 30 (their previous album Sunflower remember didn't even make the Top 150);
He introduced Rickey and Blondie to the group - again it was only temporary, but listen to 'Wonderbill' to hear how much they contributed to the band's incredible live sound. Plus they gave us some great vocals on record, along with Leaving this town.

So yeah, I rate him, me.

[Synth Wash]

Those '96 posts from Reiley were if nothing else, vividly detailed. Thanks for sharing. The part about Brian's weirdness around his daughters was rather frightening though. For those who have warned about Reiley's liberties with the truth, those are the parts I want to believe are made up or exaggerated. The Brian digging his own grave thing also doesn't quite make sense. Why would Marilyn be laughing so quickly about a joke like that played on her (if it was a joke)?

Jack's posts certainly paint his vision of the infighting perfectly. I still think that the Beatles were just as bad in this regard though, and that their "unity" had little to do with their continued success into the late '60s vs. vs. the Beach Boys, as Jack contends. From what I've read, it was Epstein who kept the message consistent, and when he died, the infighting eventually broke them apart. In fact, had they been more unified, I think they would probably be less revered, and more like the Rolling Stones, having stayed together too long to be legendary.