John Frank Rieley III (November 24, 1942 – April 17, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and disc jockey who managed the Beach Boys between mid-1970 and late 1973. He is credited with guiding them back to popular acclaim and was described by New Statesman as "a radio DJ turned career mentor." Rieley co-wrote a total of ten songs included on the Beach Boys' albums Surfs Up (1971), Carl and the Passions – "So Tough" (1972), and Holland (1973). He also sang lead on the Surf's Up track "A Day in the Life of a Tree" and narrated Brian Wilson's fairy tale Mount Vernon and Fairway (1972). Following his work with the Beach Boys, Rieley collaborated with artists such as Kool & the Gang, Ride, and Jaye Muller (aka Count Jaye). In 1975, Rieley released a solo album, Western Justice. He died in 2015 at the age of 72. Background Rieley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Beach Boys The Beach Boys met Rieley, while promoting their album Sunflower, and hired him as their manager. He wrote and co-wrote lyrics to several of the Beach Boys songs including "Long Promised Road", "Feel Flows", "Sail On, Sailor", "Funky Pretty" and "The Trader". He sang lead vocal on "A Day in the Life of a Tree". He also narrated the bonus disc for the Holland album: "Mt. Vernon and Fairway (A Fairy Tale)". Rieley falsely claimed to have been a Peabody Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for NBC News. Brian Wilson later wrote a song about Rieley's tendency for falsehoods, titling it "Is Jack Rieley Really Superman?". As of 2014, a recording of the song has not surfaced. Several months after the release of Holland, Rieley disassociated from the Beach Boys. Ricky Fataar stated, "In the middle of all the in fighting that afflicted the group, Jack was the person trying to hold everything together. [...] Eventually, we realised that Rieley was very much into manipulating the arguments, starting stories and telling tales—a divide and conquer mentality. When that came to light, we had to let him go." Alternatively, biographer Mark Holcomb states that Rieley resigned from the position. Rieley gave his side of the story in a 2013 interview, Biographer Steven Gaines offered, "It was reportedly noticed by members of the group that Jack's young male assistant seemed to be living with him. Whether the relationship was sexual or not