“I had no interest in the Jewish liturgies,” he says, “although some of it was really quite beautiful. I was moved by the constant sadness, which was a strain through Jewish life. Some of it’s genetic, having been inherited from people who had to escape Russia or live through pogroms in Poland. But coming out of Israel, there was a rich sense of hope and possibility. So I got interested in the middle of 1955 in recording Israeli songs. Actually, Israel was into singer-songwriters much earlier than we were in America, because of the whole kibbutz thing.” Now eighty, Holzman realizes that in escaping religion, music became his own, superior brand of prayer. “I’m an agnostic Jew, but a culturally sympathetic one. Not being a believer in God didn’t mean I didn’t believe in stuff. I believed in the music. And I have always sought to protect it and do it right. I’m a nut on the subject; always the music—it’s all that counts. The rest of it is business, and we figure that out so we can keep doing it.”
Holzman’s story is similar to Geoff Travis’s, another teenager who wandered off to find his own artistic promised land. “When I was very young I went through a phase when I took being Jewish quite seriously,” confesses Travis, whose family observed a traditional interpretation of Judaism. “I spent half my life in evening school, Hebrew classes, and all the rest of it, so they had plenty of chances to get their hooks into me. We used to have our lunches in different places to everyone else, so there was always a bit of separation going on. I just don’t really believe in religion, I have to say. Having been inculcated with it hugely since I was a young boy, I just think it’s a lot of nonsense really.” With age, however, Travis does recognize “you could definitely make an argument for the displacement of religion by music. I’d definitely much rather listen to the Velvet Underground than listen to a rabbi singing tunelessly.”
Another Jewish rebel is Rick Rubin. “I’m not religious, but I am very spiritual. I was lucky to have learned Transcendental Meditation at the age of fourteen,” he explains. “That and my interest in Dao are probably what have kept me grounded throughout this roller-coaster ride.” As someone who has long contemplated the subject of creativity, Rubin instinctively wonders if the puzzle of why so many major players in the record business came from Jewish families should not be widened to that other conspicuously well-represented ethnic group. “In the same way there are a lot of really talented black musicians,” muses Rubin. “Both cultures share a strong past of suffering. And maybe both used music as an escape from that genetic suffering. Maybe there’s a deeper understanding of music, a deeper insight, because of suffering?”
The cornerstone of Jewish culture is the powerful story of the flight from slavery, as told in the Book of Exodus and celebrated by Passover, one of the holiest of Jewish rituals—possibly why so many humanist record men from Jewish backgrounds identify so strongly with the uplifing music passed down from African slaves. “[Chris Blackwell] always told me the Rastas related to Judaism because of the thirteenth tribe that disappeared,” confesses Lionel Conway, a Jewish friend and Island lifer. “He was very proud of that relationship … He always told me they were Jews.”
The founding father of rock ’n’ roll, Sam Phillips, a former cotton picker himself, was another who felt a profound identification with black people. What has perhaps intrigued generations ever since Elvis is that beneath all its carefree energy, rock ’n’ roll was steeped in black evangelism. “Even the most religious [white] Southern people would have an hour or hour-and-fifteen-minute service,” he observed, “but the blacks, their services would go on four hours or even all day. That kind of fascinated me. These people never seemed to be really down in the dumps. And I wondered why. I guess their solace came from their belief in God, and it’s gonna be all right somehow.”
Nearly every new genre of modern music has evolved from these ancient forms of theater and religion, and the men at the top know it. “I’ve always thought what we do is to evangelize, to crusade,” says Beggars boss Martin Mills, citing his favorite quote from black punk Don Letts—“If music is a religion, then Rough Trade has always been my church.” Chasing the muse, the indie hunter, hearing our Top 40 airwaves as an injustice, plays midwife to ignored, downtrodden genius. Since his retirement to northeastern New Mexico, 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell spends one day every week taking impounded dogs from his local animal shelter out for a run in the desert wilderness. “Poor things,” he sighs. “While waiting for a Forever Home, they don’t really see much of their beautiful surroundings unless volunteers go and walk them. I never had kids, but I went from nurturing musicians to rescuing dogs. There are similarities to all three responsibilities, I would imagine.”
As an older man contemplating the historical importance of African American music, Sam Phillips believed “we’ve now learned so much from some of these people we thought were ignorant, who never had any responsibility other than chopping cotton, feeding the mules, or making sorghum molasses. When people come back to this music in a hundred years, they’ll see these were master painters. They may be illiterate. They can’t write a book about it. But they can make a song, and in three verses you’ll hear the greatest damn story you’ll ever hear in your life.”
For centuries, folk and blues was accumulated wisdom passed ever downward. “Think about the complexity, yet simplicity, of music we have gained from hard times,” says Phillips, “from the sky, the wind, and the earth. If you don’t have a foundation, you won’t know what the hell I’m talking about.” His proudest discovery was not Elvis, or even Johnny Cash, but blues shaman Howlin’ Wolf.
Whether it’s in dense cities or across open country plains, the search for the divine comedy is a timeless art that just adapts to different environments. In the big city, cut off from the elements, records have become our folklore, our spiritual medicine, our last sacred connection to the tribal godhead. In a game populated by snake-oil salesmen, the real record man is the one selling the magic potions that actually work.
Music is one of several domains—sports, politics, movies, books, and fashion included—that will always remain governed by tribal genes inherited from the campfire. Thousands of years of technological progress and where are we? Still huddling up at night around the glow, trying to make sense of it all—dreaming our lives into the stars.
Seek and ye shall find.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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AUTHOR INTERVIEWS:
Laurence Bell, Derek Birkett, David Betteridge, Harold Childs, Tim Clark, Lionel Conway, Stan Cornyn, Ray Cooper, Simon Draper, Terry Ellis, David Enthoven, Bob Garcia, Derek Green, John P. Hammond, Larry Harris, Tom Hayes, John Heyman, Jac Holzman, Art Jaeger, Craig Kallman, Danny Krivit, Al Kooper, Andrew Lauder, Andrew Loog Oldham, Daniel Miller, Martin Mills, Jerry Moss, Bruce Pavitt, Charly Prevost, Tony Pye, Dave Robinson, Rick Rubin, Tom Silverman, Seymour Stein, Howard Thompson, Geoff Travis, Ivo Watts-Russell, Chris Wright, Trevor Wyatt, Patrick Zelnik.
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING FOR VARIOUS SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Thomas H. White for his invaluable help on radio history, Patrick Feaster for his research on Thomas Edison, Rick Bleiweiss, Steve Knopper, David Ritz, Stephen Lispon, Nigel House.
INDEX
The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
Abramson, Herb
Ace
Ackerman, Paul
Adams, Bryan
Adele
Adler, Lou
AIR
Ales, Barney
Aletti, Vince
Alex, Magic
Alexander, Willard
Almanac Singers
Alpert, Herb. See also A&M
alternative rock
Altshuler, Robert
A&M
British branch
formation of
honesty and integrity
Human League
Island partnership
Jackson, Janet
Mendes, Sergio
New Wave acts
sale to PolyGram
Sex Pistols
Supertramp
American Federation of Musicians
American Graphophone Company
American Recordings
Ammons, Albert
Anderle, David
Andrews Sisters
Angel
Animals
Anna Records
Appel, Mike
Apple Corps
Apple iTunes Store
ARC (American Record Corporation)
Arista
A&R men. See record men; specific individuals
Armstrong, Albert
Armstrong, Louis
Armstrong, Roger
Aronowitz, Al
ASCAP
Asher, Dick
Asia (rock group)
Aspinal, Neil
Asylum and Elektra/Asylum
Atlantic Records
Asylum financing and distribution
Bee Gees
Blind Faith
Buffalo Springfield
Charles, Ray
Cream
Crosby, Stills & Nash
disco
founding of
Franklin, Aretha
Hendrix, Jimi
Hot 100 hits
independent radio promoters
Island distribution
Led Zeppelin
R&B
Rolling Stones
sale to Warner–Seven Arts
Warner Communications merger
Young Rascals
AT&T
Austin, Nick
Avakian, George
Babitz, Mirandi
Backe, John
Backstreet Boys
Badarou, Wally
Baez, Joan
Bahlman, Ed
Baker, Ginger
Ballard, Florence
Bambaataa, Afrika
Banks, Brian
Barraud, Francis
Barsalona, Frank
Basie, Count
BBC
Beach Boys
Beastie Boys
Beatles
albums
American tours and sales
Apple Corps
breakup
British tour
Dylan’s acquaintance and introduction to marijuana
under Epstein’s management
Klein management contract
Melody Maker award
Parlophone deal
rejections
singles
worldwide sales
bebop
Bechet, Sidney
Bee Gees
Beggars Banquet Group
Bell, Alexander Graham
Bell, Laurence
Bell Labs
Benny, Jack
Berliner, Emile
Bernay, Eric
Berry, Ken
Bertelsmann
Best Buy
Beston, Ted
Betteridge, David
on Island’s management and downfall
&nb
sp; on Marley and Wailers
on Oberstein’s reputation at CBS
on sale of Virgin
big bands
Big Brother & the Holding Company
Bihari brothers
Bikel, Theo
Billboard
Bird, Gary
Birkett, Derek
Björk
Black, Bill
black music. See also specific genres
for black ethnic market
Great Migration north
origin in suffering
race records
racism toward black musicians
From Spirituals to Swing concert
vaudeville tradition
white audience for
Black Swan
Blackwell, Chris. See also Island Records
achievements
adaptability
association with Robinson and Stiff Records
charm
Compass Point studio
creative marketing
diverse projects and fiscal irresponsibility
founding of Island and sublabels
import and distribution business
management style
on Rastas and Judaism
Blaine, Hal
Blatch, Harriot Stanton
Blavatnik, Len
Bleiweiss, Rick
Blind Faith
Blockheads
Blondie
Bloomfield, Mike
Blue Horizon
blues
BMG
BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.)
Bob & Earl
Bogart, Neil. See also Casablanca
Bolan, Marc
Bono. See also U2
Boonstra, Cor
Botnick, Bruce
Bowie, David
Boyd, Joe
Bradford, Perry
Branson, Richard. See also Virgin Records
Braun, David
Brenner, Jerry
Britain. See England
British Invasion. See also Beatles
Brockman, Polk
Bronfman, Edgar, Jr.
Broonzy, Big Bill
Brown, James
Browne, Jackson
Bruce, Jack
Brunswick
bubblegum music
Buckley, Tim
Buffalo Springfield
Bullard, William
Bulleit, Jim
Bullock, Bill
Bundrick, John “Rabbit”
Butterfield Blues Band
Buzzcocks
Cowboys and Indies: The Epic History of the Record Industry Page 42
