To Not Be Obliterated

“Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.”― Guy de Maupassant

Aug 05, 2023

For over a decade now…pretty much since the kids came into my life…I have focused my record producing time on reissues, not on new bands. It was a big switch for me: from when I was fifteen at CD Presents (for those who know, a troubling label), to my time at Warner Bros. Records to my time running my own indie labels, my work was devoted to signing new bands early on and helping them develop. But around the time that Barb was pregnant, one of my bands got signed to a legendary industry figure’s label that went on to screw-up their career, another came home from their first successful tour and broke up the day after I gave them their next LP advance, and a third had a lawyer call to strong-arm me into letting them record an EP for another label…something I would have been happy to grant if the band members had simply asked. My response to the lawyer was: what you are really saying to me is the band wants me to drop them. I hung up. And decided to take a break from focusing on new bands.

I jumped into the world of working with older recordings in a pretty big way, co-producing a 10 CD boxset of Alan Lomax’s recordings in Haiti in 1936-7 and soon after doing a deal with Shout Factory for twenty blues titles from their Biograph and Testament catalogs, while also forming Sepia Tone Records with two friends, doing CD reissues of dozens of WEA titles and simultaneously starting The Idelsohn Society with three other friends, devoted to reissuing Jewish recordings that had been lost in time.

It was my work with the Idelsohn Society where I started understanding the full power associated with reissuing music. The first record we decided to work with was Irving Fields’ Bagels and Bongos, a record that blends Latin and Jewish musical traditions, a record that sold millions in the late 1950s and had been completely forgotten about since (it did so well, Fields later released MORE Bagels and Bongos and of course, Pizzas and Bongos). Soon after beginning work on the reissue, we found Irving…who was 90 years old…playing the piano nightly at a mid-town New York two-bit steakhouse called Ninos. He was tickling the ivories (yes, Dana and Harris) 6 nights a week, almost 52 weeks a year, entertaining the diners with originals, covers….selling homemade bootleg CDs of his past records

Over the next months, we reissued Fields’ record, recorded his oral history, hired a PR company to not only get press for the record, but retell Fields’ story…to celebrate his legacy. The release garnered a buzz, and soon after, Fields was signed to another label (for new recordings) and remixed by the DJs of the moment. And finally, we put him back on the big stage, at Lincoln Center, with musicians that surfed through generations, from Larry Harlow, Fania’s El Judio Maravilloso, to The Antibalas Horn section. Over 5000 people crammed the outdoor area as we celebrated the career of Irving Fields…with thousands doing the Mambo, doing the Hora. Upon finishing his set, Irving left the stage, walking right through the crowd which parted like the red sea in front of him, everyone standing, everyone cheering. It was his Tylor Swift moment 60 years after his hit record the stores.

There is a new film that is hitting the movie theaters this weekend called Dreamin' Wild which tips the hat to all of us who find and bolster-up music that has been long forgotten (or never released). It tells the true story of two brothers, Donnie & Joe Emerson, who had dreams of music stardom when they were kids…recording a record by themselves, which they also self-released…which went nowhere. It is a story that starts with Matt Sullivan, a co-founder of Light In The Attic, one of the great modern reissue companies who made headlines last year with their Lou Reed demo release. The story actually starts with Andy Zax (whose recent interview with Aquarium Drunkard is a must hear). Zax played it for Sullivan during a listening session in Zax’s living room. Matt fell in love with it, searched out the Emersons (now adults) and reissued it to wide acclaim; with the Emerson’s childhood dreams of stardom being realized

I have known Matt for years: he is one of the nicest guys you can meet in this business, and his relentless reissue work with Light In The Attic is awe inspiring. He is played in the film by Chris Messina while the Emersons are played by Casey Affleck and Walton Goggins. I have only seen the trailer (which you can find here) so I cannot comment on the film, but it blew my mind to hear the following lines being highlighted in it, spoken by the Matt Sullivan character:

We find albums that never found an audience, we try to give them a second chance

That is the much of the work that is done by we who choose to do it. Sure, there are times the records we work on had found an audience once back when, but even then, our work is to celebrate such past artistry and bring the music to new audience, telling the stories of the music and the musicians along the way. This is not the first big story to come from Light In The Attic, whose work reissuing Rodriguez’ records prompted a documentary on the artist, Searching For Sugar Man, which won an Academy Award, and jump-started his career. The work of the reissuer is powerful, necessary work.

As we finish up the Specialty Boxset, looking at the early days of a label that helped usher in the era of rock ‘n’ roll, I think of the early heroes like Jimmy Liggins and Wynona Carr, whose stories need to be told (Liggins inspired Ike Turner’s Rocket 88, Carr is the bridge from gospel to Aretha Franklin); hopefully our release will help that happen. As my friend Mike Minky and I dig into the Alabama recordings made by John Lomax in the 1930s, the hope (and excitement) is to find an undiscovered Leadbelly or Blind Willie McTell, whose artistry can finally be brought to the world.

Cover photo of … I Listen To The Wind That Obliterates My Traces

Dust-to-Digital released a book a few years back called … I Listen To The Wind That Obliterates My Traces (a quote taken from a Par Lagerkvist poem). It is a collection of photographs from Steve Roden’s archives that are images of people making music, old photos of unknown musicians. Some seem like professional musicians…although there is no way of knowing for sure…some come off as amateur enthusiasts. It is impossible to flip through the book without imagining what the music they were making sounded like. There is an underlying sadness that the music will never be heard. How many great artists were lost in time? Were never recorded? Destroyed their art or left it to family members who did not care about it, obliterating their traces?

No matter how much amazing music is brought to light, there is still so much more that is waiting…just waiting…to be rediscovered. So many stories that are buried under forgetfulness and neglect, waiting to be told.

TONIGHT AT THE RITE SPOT IN SAN FRANCISCO:

PAULA FRAZER AND SEEDSMEN TO THE WORLD

Start: 8pm

Elsa Hansen Oldham's Whimsical Hand-Embroidered Textiles Take Over Berggruen Gallery

I went to the Berggruen Gallery yesterday to see Elsa Hansen Oldham’s new gallery show. He textiles are so sweet…funny…well done. She creates images of famous people and collects them under different funny themes that offer a joyous viewing experience. It is not lost on my that she pairs her husband, Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billie) with Abraham Lincoln! Thank you Nathan Salsburg for telling me about the show.

Kip Winger on '90s backlash and apologies from Metallica, Mike Judge: 'It was bad. It was really bad.'

Thank you Jonathan Abrams for this fantastic (and kind of hilariously tragic) read… Oh, the hair metal daze….

Help Mdou Moctar While They Cannot Return Home

“On July 26, the band Mdou Moctar 's home country of Niger was thrown into chaos and uncertainty when a right-wing group of militants violently overthrew the democratically elected president of the nation. At the time of this coup, Mahamadou Souleymane, Ahmoudou Madassane, and Souleymane Ibrahim, the three Nigerien members of Mdou Moctar, were on tour in North America. As a result of the dangerous political climate, the three are unable to return to their homes and families.”

Canadian Company Behind Immersive Van Gogh Exhibition Restructures Operations After Filing For Bankruptcy

“In court documents filed in Delaware, Lighthouse Immersive cited increased competition from governments lifting restrictions on cultural institutions and multiple competitors as reasons for lower ticket sales. The company also did not have a ‘solid, long-term chief financial officer or a substantial financial department to keep up with the rapid expansion of the business.’ Partner immersive experience company Impact Museums Inc has alleged that Lighthouse owes it $16.6 million, a figure the company disputes.”