Jack Reiley

[Smilin Ed H]

"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."

I thought that was Carl and Al.

[mikee]

I like Jack because I like what happened on his watch.  There was a successful evolution to more mature themes,  there were great records, there was improved audience popularity, and there was a great live band.  I should add that I love "A Day in the Life of A Tree"!    

[phirnis]

One of my favorite lyrical contributions of his has to be "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone". Not cryptic at all and I've always felt it was probably meant to describe the then-current situation of the song's composer. True or not, it certainly is a Beach Boy lyric I can quite easily relate to.

[Dove Nested Towers]

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!

If he was there, he's not there any more as far as I can tell. Maybe he got wind of this posting and took himself off.

[Ang Jones]

They did an internet link to Jack Rieley at last year's UK Stomp and he talked for some time, answering questions and sharing various anecdotes. He told us of how he and Carl had repaired old SMiLE tapes and of how he had written the lyrics to Song for Children for Surf's Up.  Jack said he liked BWPS but that he had such affection for the original material. He would have liked to see the release of this at the time but said he had enough trouble getting them to do Surf's Up.

Someone asked Jack if he felt that he had been airbrushed out of the history books and he replied that he really didn't know because he didn't read them. My sister told Jack that she felt that without his input the group might not have survived and this got general applause and Jack seemed genuinely pleased.

I found Jack extremely interesting to listen to . He obviously had strong opinions about some members of the group - fairly or not I can't really tell. He did say that he might be able to come over some time but perhaps just being polite. He certainly seemed like a person with whom it would be possible to have a meaningful discussion and quite a 'simpatico' sort of guy who took the trouble to be polite to those who were questioning him.

[rogerlancelot]

They did an internet link to Jack Rieley at last year's UK Stomp and he talked for some time, answering questions and sharing various anecdotes. He told us of how he and Carl had repaired old SMiLE tapes and of how he had written the lyrics to Song for Children for Surf's Up.  Jack said he liked BWPS but that he had such affection for the original material. He would have liked to see the release of this at the time but said he had enough trouble getting them to do Surf's Up.

Someone asked Jack if he felt that he had been airbrushed out of the history books and he replied that he really didn't know because he didn't read them. My sister told Jack that she felt that without his input the group might not have survived and this got general applause and Jack seemed genuinely pleased.

I found Jack extremely interesting to listen to . He obviously had strong opinions about some members of the group - fairly or not I can't really tell. He did say that he might be able to come over some time but perhaps just being polite. He certainly seemed like a person with whom it would be possible to have a meaningful discussion and quite a 'simpatico' sort of guy who took the trouble to be polite to those who were questioning him.

Sounds fascinating! You wouldn't happen to have a transcription of this by any chance, would you?

[Ang Jones]

Afraid I don't have a transcript. I'd be happy to share what I can remember if you email me (ang.liz@virgin.net).

[Autotune]

>> The Beach Boys has 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.

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. At the same time I encouraged the Wilsons to act as a unit. Votes shifted to 3-2.

taken from

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

priceless...

[Autotune]

Reiley on "Surf's Up" at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/surfsup.shtml

and

http://www.mywire.com/a/PRNewswire/Jack-Rieley-Breaks-Silence-Beach/4862655/?extID=10051

[Mr. Cohen]

I find Jack's insistence that Brian claimed it was the failure of "Heroes and Villains" to wow people that caused him to withdraw musically. After all, the Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, Friends, and the shows in Hawaii (for which Brian devised a whole new minimalist sound for the band) show the Brian was still interested in making music. He had just given up on making hits. He did what was fun. Making huge productions wasn't fun for him any longer, even if making songs was still fun. The story seems to be, according to Jack, that the when the initial mix of "H&V" failed to impress the execs at Capitol (although some, like Hal Blaine, Carl and Dennis claim that it was great, a worthy successor to "Good Vibrations") and some of the band, Brian went into a tailspin. He thought he had another masterpiece and couldn't believe it when a lot of people in his immediate circle weren't wowed by it.

Then, in desperation, he spends a bunch of time working on songs that were already done. Maybe, somehow, he can squeeze out that masterpiece people didn't see "H&V" as. It doesn't work, as songs like "Wonderful" seemed to get worse as Brian works on it more, causing Brian to throw his arms up in the air in despair and give up.
 
Then, a few weeks later, he goes on a quest to find the holy grail, a chorus for the song "H&V". I'm sure people like Mike and many of the execs at Capitol complained that the original "H&V" didn't have a hook (which we can guess was similar to the cantina mix in many ways), and felt that hit songs needed a catchy hook. That's what motivated Brian to do it. He finds it by using the "Bicycle Rider" theme, and excitedly, consults his astrologist on when to release it. He releases the 45 mix and sales are disappointing. Even with a chorus, the public didn't fall in love with "H&V" (of course, many fans think that "H&V" could have been a bigger hit with different mixes, as this one was kind of minimized, too thought out - but for whatever reason, Brian didn't feel that way). Brian was crushed by this also, according to Jack.

Really, this story, which builds off of what Jack claims Brian told him multiple times, seems to make a lot of sense. I think a lot of the other reasons that popped up in subsequent decades for SMiLE falling apart were examples of people mythologizing the events after the fact.

[tpesky]

>> The Beach Boys has 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.

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. At the same time I encouraged the Wilsons to act as a unit. Votes shifted to 3-2.

taken from

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

priceless...

I have never particularly cared for Jack's lyrics, except for Long Promised Road and Day In the Life of A Tree. I think they tend to take away from the songs they are on. I have heard concerts where Carl apologizes for terrible lyrics in Feel Flows. I think he deserves some credit for the turn around of the live band and the Surf's Up relevance.  The quote above is just ridiculous and certainly makes it hard to take him seriously at all.  Ya Bruce was the reason that Smile failed and they cancelled at Monterrery Pop.

[Paulos]

Jack and Bruce really didn't like each other did they? They have both had nothing but bad things to say about each other.

[Nicko]

Jack and Bruce really didn't like each other did they? They have both had nothing but bad things to say about each other.

Indeed but I would tend to believe Bruce more. Rieley has said that Bruce treated all of the Wilson brothers with disdain which doesn't make that much sense to me as Bruce was later invited to appear on Love You and POB and then it was Brian who asked Bruce to rejoin the band.

[Smilin Ed H]

It's a tricky area.  Neither Mike nor Dennis were particularly diplomatic about Bruce when he left, but, of course, he still made the odd live show and did come back on and off until he rejoined. On top of that, Bruce's best song was recorded during the Rieley period and he certainly got a lot out of Carl, Al and Mike, whatever the personal disdain.

[Dave in KC]

JR also added Daryl D. and Toni T. and they fit in very well. I can remember people asking each other "who is the lady" as the concert started at Pine Knob in September 1972. The stage was VERY populated at that show. Even Jack was running around right before the music started. The energy was high level pre-show versus others I saw in the early 70's.

[tomstuart]

"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."

I thought that was Carl and Al.

True, but it's something I can't see having happened without Reiley as manager and his attempts to get the band back in fashion. It's hard to see Rickey and Blondie joining the group during, say, the Sunflower period.

[The Heartical Don]

Anybody heard 'Western Justice' by Jack Rieley and Machiel Botman (a Dutchman)? I heard Carl contributed, but this may be wrong. Rare LP, don't know whether it surfaced as a CD. Concept album on the decline of the West and nature in general. Ahead of its time, prolly.

[smile-holland]

Anybody heard 'Western Justice' by Jack Rieley and Machiel Botman (a Dutchman)? I heard Carl contributed, but this may be wrong. Rare LP, don't know whether it surfaced as a CD. Concept album on the decline of the West and nature in general. Ahead of its time, prolly.

www.western-justice.com

CD might be out of print, but should still be available in some CD-stores. And well worth getting btw. I play it regularly. No Carl involvement as far as I know.