"Smokin'" is a rock song by the Americanrock bandBoston, released as the b-side to the band's first single, "More Than a Feeling." Like most of the tracks from the group's debut album, it has become a staple on classic rock radio. It has also been covered by other bands, including Anthrax.
History
The song was a collaborative effort between Tom Scholz, the band's mastermind, and recently hired lead singerBrad Delp, and one of the two songs on the first Boston LP not written by Scholz alone. It was one of the songs Scholz started writing in the early 1970s several years prior to the release of Boston. From early demo tapes made in his basement, some with Delp, an early version of the song written and recorded in 1973, called "Shakin", appears from the Mother's Milk Sessions. This tape reveals that originally, the song had a different meaning.
Reception
Writing in 2008, Kevin Smith of the Arizona Daily 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 staple, helping the album sell 17 million copies. Scott Tady of Beaver County Times described "Smokin'," "Rock and Roll Band" and Boston's first four singles as having "helped set the foundation for classic-rock radio." Denise Lavoie of the Associated Press singled out "Smokin" and "More Than a Feeling" as the hits for which Boston is best known. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide called "Smokin'" a "cleaned-up boogey crowd pleaser..." Scholz described the beginning of the song as being a vaguely ZZ Top-ish boogie. 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. Paul Elliorr of TeamRock.com praised it as Boston's 4th greatest song, noting that it is the one song from the band's debut album that "just rocked out," describing the song as a "high octane blaster." The lyrics extol music, parties and marijuana.
The song is featured in the movie The Virgin Suicides as Trip Fontaine walks down the hallway. It was also featured on the popular 2004 videogame in its classic Rock station K-DST. The song has also been featured in the 2016 South Park episodes "Skank Hunt" and "The End of Serialization as We Know It". It also appears on the WWE 2K18 soundtrack and on the 2011 film Zookeeper. After the September 11 attacks, Clear Channel included it on a list of songs that wasn't recommended for broadcasting.
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.
