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"Smokin'" is a song by American rock band Boston, released from the band's epponymous debut album as the B-side to the band's first single, "More Than a Feeling". "Smokin'" was written by the band leader, guitarist and main songwriter Tom Scholz and lead vocalist Brad Delp. Like many other Boston songs "Smokin'" has become a rock radio staple.
The song was a collaborative effort between Tom Scholz, and Brad Delp whom at the time he 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 gotten 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.
Writing in 2008, Kevin Smith of the Arizona Daily Star described "Smokin'" as a "radio standard." MusicTap's review of Boston noted "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. Classic Rock critic Paul Elliott rated it as Boston's 4th greatest song, calling it "a flat-out, high-octane blaster."
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 2004 game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and movie The Virgin Suicides and 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. It is featured in the 2021 film .
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