My Friend Jack

"My Friend Jack" was the only one international hit by The Smoke. The song seems to suggest the use of psychedelic drugs (LSD) in lines such as “My Friend Jack eats sugar lumps” and travels the world inside his mind (such as “Been on a voyage, across an ocean”).

The song was pulled off the U.K. market due to the drug connotations and never succeeded in their own country. The original content of the song was so unacceptable that "My Friend Jack" had to be rewritten before EMI would touch it; finally, it was released in February 1967. The single only made it to number 45 before being banned by the BBC, limiting it to three weeks on the U.K. charts.

The first version (somewhat slower and almost entirely modified except for the chorus) featured a more obvious content related with the hallucinogenic effect and incomprehension of the others. Lines such as "oh what beautiful things he sees" which had to be re-recorded as "Sugarman hasn't got a care". The demo is available on some CD compilations, as Real Life Permanent Dreams. A Cornucopia Of British Psychedelia (1965-1970) (Castle Select, 2007).

In mainland Europe, however, the final version of the record sold well; the group and their song was supported after appearing on an installment of the successful German television show Beat-Club, alongside Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers.

Because of this fortunate circumstance, "My Friend Jack" ended up riding the German pop charts to the #2, and earned the Smoke a place on a tour with the Small Faces and the Beach Boys in 1967. The single charted high in Switzerland, France, and Austria as well, and suddenly there was demand for a Smoke LP in Germany, entitled later It's Smoke Time.

The song is characterized by a march beat and mix of shimmering and crunchy reverb-laden guitar (its most notable sound). It presents an aggressive riff like the most delightfully subversive piece of freakbeat, heavily influenced by The Who's power-chord and the trippy cheerfulness, like some songs with drug references from that era.

According to Matthew Greenwald in Allmusic: “The song opens with a tremolo-laden slide guitar riff from Mal Luker, which creates a trippy, unsettling but wholly interesting hook. The main melody is a bouncy, mid-tempo slice of pop-psychedelia, filled with a buoyancy that equates this to an English version of the Turtles on psychedelic drugs. The effervescent chorus is a fabulous singalong affair, making it instantly accessible”.[2]

" My Friend Jack" was included in the documentary film John Peel's Record Box, made by Elaine Shepherd, released on 14 November 2005 on Channel 4 (British public-service television). The film was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award.[3] In 1987 Dino Music released a cover version of My Friend Jack by German Pop Group Musicbox. Musicbox was successful in the German, Austrian, and Suisse market with cover versions of so-called "One Hit Wonders". Musicbox - The First Project - A Tribute To The 60th (1987, Vinyl LP & CD)[4]

In 1976, The Smoke re-recorded the song with other arrangements and a glam rock style, along with the other songs from It's Smoke Time . The album was released under the British label Gull.[6] The single (released only in France), featured a new song, "Lady".

• 12" LP (Gull, 1976)

1. "My Friend Jack" - 3:04
2. "Waterfall" - 2:37
3. "You Can't Catch Me" - 3:13
4. "High In A Room" - 2:56
5. "Wake Up Cherylina" - 2:15
6. "Don't Lead Me On" - 2:12
7. "We Can Take It" - 2:40
8. "If The Weather Is Sunny" - 2:50
9. "I Wanna Make It With You" - 3:04
10. "It's Getting Closer" - 2:37
11. "It's Just Your Way Of Loving" - 2:23
12. "I Would If I Could But I Can't" - 2:10

"I See a Boat on the River / My Friend Jack"
Single by Boney M.
from the album The Magic of Boney M.
Released	April 1980
Recorded	1980
Genre	Pop, Euro disco
Label	Hansa Records (FRG)
Producer(s)	Frank Farian
Boney M. singles chronology
"I'm Born Again / Bahama Mama" (1979) ""I See a Boat on the River" / "My Friend Jack"" (1980) "Children of Paradise" / "Gadda-Da-Vida" (1980)

German vocal group Boney M., released “My Friend Jack” as a double A-side single (with ”I See a Boat on the River”) in 1980; the song was also included in the compilation album The Magic of Boney M. – 20 Golden Hits.

Original Smoke member Zeke Lund was by now working as a sound engineer for the record producer Frank Farian. Farian's sound engineer R."Tammy" Grohe worked also on the 1987 version of My Frind Jack by German Cover Band Musicbox. The initial single pressings featured a 4:56 single mix, differing with the omission of a guitar solo which was included in the subsequent 4:40 mix which was faded 10 seconds earlier on the LP version. Peaked at #6 in Norway and #57 in U.K.

• My Friend Jack review in Allmusic
• My Friend Jack at Discogs
• My Friend Jack in German TV, 1967
• https://web.archive.org/web/20151022181234/https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/boney_m_
• de:The Smoke