"Smokin'" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rock band

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, released from the band's debut album ''

'' (1976) as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to the band's first single, "

More Than a Feeling "More Than a Feeling" is a song by the American rock band Boston, released as the lead single from the band's 1976 debut album by Epic Records in September 1976, with " Smokin' as the B-side. Tom Scholz wrote the whole song. The single pea ...

". "Smokin'" was written by the band leader, guitarist and main songwriter

Tom Scholz Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American musician. He is the founder, main songwriter, primary guitarist and only remaining original member of the rock band Boston. He has appeared on every Boston album. Scholz is an MIT-traine ...

and lead vocalist

Brad Delp Bradley Edward Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician who was the original lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Boston. He joined Boston in 1970 and performed on the band's first three albums. Early life ...

. Like many other Boston songs "Smokin'" has become a

rock radio Rock Radio was a brand of radio stations in the United Kingdom owned by GMG Radio. 96.3 Rock Radio was the first station in the network. It operated in West Central Scotland. The station was launched on the frequency which was formerly used b ...

staple.

History

The song was a collaborative effort between Tom Scholz and Brad Delp, who at the time Scholz had recently hired. It was one of the two songs on the first Boston LP not written by Scholz alone. It was one of the songs Scholz started working on in the early 1970s in his basement several years before the band had got a record contract. An early version of the song written and recorded in 1973, titled "Shakin", appears from the Mother's Milk Sessions. This tape reveals that originally, the song had a different meaning.

Reception

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' critic

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wor ...

described "Smokin'" as a "flat, uninspired

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

ish

boogie Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...

." Writing in 2008, Kevin Smith of the ''

Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. History L. C. Hughes was the Arizona Territory governor and founder of the ''Arizona Star'', ...

'' described "Smokin'" as a "radio standard." MusicTap's review of ''Boston'' noted that "Smokin'" as one of the songs from the album to become an

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

staple, helping the album sell 17 million copies. Scott Tady of ''

Beaver County Times ''The Beaver County Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Beaver, Pennsylvania, United States, and serving the north-western Pittsburgh suburbs. The ''Times'' is a direct descendant of many of Beaver County's newspapers, starting with the ' ...

'' described "Smokin'," "

Rock and Roll Band "Rock & Roll Band" is a song by American rock band Boston written by main songwriter and guitarist Tom Scholz and helped out by lead vocalist Brad Delp. The song appears on the band's 1976 self-titled debut. It is one of many songs Scholz worke ...

" and Boston's first four singles as having "helped set the foundation for classic-rock radio." Denise Lavoie of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

singled out "Smokin" and "

" as the hits for which Boston is best known. ''Classic Rock'' critic Paul Elliott rated it as Boston's 4th greatest song, calling it "a flat-out, high-octane blaster." ''Classic Rock History'' critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Boston's 4th best song, particularly praising the organ solo. ''

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' called "Smokin'" a "cleaned-up boogey 'sic''crowd pleaser..." Scholz described the beginning of the song as being a vaguely

-ish

. ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Michael Gallucci praised the song's "boogie groove" that persists throughout the song. Gallucci rated it Boston's 7th greatest song. The lyrics extol music, parties and

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

In popular culture

The song is featured in a 2004 game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and movie ''The Virgin Suicides'' and in the 2016 ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' episodes "

Skank Hunt "Skank Hunt" is the second episode in the twentieth season of the American animated television series '' South Park''. The 269th episode of the series overall, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on September 21, 2016. The episod ...

" and "

The End of Serialization as We Know It "The End of Serialization as We Know It" is the tenth episode and the season finale in the South Park (season 20), twentieth season of the American animated television series ''South Park''. The 277th episode of the series overall, it first aired o ...

". It also appears on the ''

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'' soundtrack and on the 2011 film ''Zookeeper''. It is featured in the 2021 film '' oss Level'. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, Clear Channel included it on a list of songs that were not recommended for broadcasting.

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– guitar, bass guitar,

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

, organ *

Sib Hashian John Thomas "Sib" Hashian (August 17, 1949 – March 22, 2017) was an American musician, best known as a drummer for the rock band Boston. Career Boston Hashian was chosen by Boston founder and band leader Tom Scholz in 1975 to replace origin ...

– drums

Anthrax version

The Anthrax cover of this song was released on their 2013 covers EP '' Anthems''. The song premiered online on March 15, 2013 prior to the album's release on March 19, 2013.

Anthrax personnel

Anthrax

Joey Belladonna Joey Belladonna (born Joseph Bellardini; October 13, 1960) is an American singer, best known as the vocalist for thrash metal band Anthrax. He is also the vocalist and drummer of the cover band Chief Big Way. Belladonna has six Grammy Award no ...

– lead vocals *

Scott Ian Scott Ian (born Scott Ian Rosenfeld, December 31, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax. Ian is the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroo ...

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

Frank Bello Frank Bello (born July 9, 1965) is an American musician who plays bass for the thrash metal band Anthrax. Early life Bello is the nephew of Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. He had a younger brother Anthony, who was murdered in the Bronx, New Yo ...

– bass, backing vocals *

Charlie Benante Charles Lee Benante (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician best known as the drummer for thrash metal band Anthrax, and crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death. Alongside rhythm guitarist and band leader Scott Ian, Benante has co ...

– drums *

Rob Caggiano Robert Caggiano (born November 7, 1976) is an American guitarist and record producer. Since 2013, Caggiano has been the lead guitarist of the rock band Volbeat. He had formerly been guitarist of thrash metal band Anthrax and nu metal band Boile ...

– lead guitar

Additional personnel

Fred Mandel Frederick Lawrence Mandel (born 1953) is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist. Career Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel became involved in music from an early age. He started playing the piano at four and picked up t ...

– keyboards

References

{{Authority control Boston (band) songs 1976 songs Songs written by Tom Scholz Song recordings produced by Tom Scholz Song recordings produced by John Boylan (record producer) Songs written by Brad Delp Songs about cannabis Anthrax (American band) songs Epic Records singles American hard rock songs