I would never exchange my own life for someone else’s
experiences; I’m fairly satisfied with my own; but I would have loved to have
been along for the ride with Eddie Ray on his journey. In the same bold, yet
somehow humble, fashion which has marked his incredible career in the music
business, noted A & R (artists and repertoire) man Eddie Ray has penned a very
impressive memoir. As he puts it, the book covers his journey from the “stockroom”
at Decca Records; where he began his work as a shipping clerk; and his time at
Aladdin Records, working for Leo and Eddie Messner; to the Boardrooms of
America’s largest record companies; becoming the first African-American hired as a major executive of a major record company; in his case, Capitol Records in the
mid 1960’s. In between those years he was interacting with some of the most
famous of the Rhythm and Blues acts; including Fats Domino and Irma Thomas. It
was while working with Ms. Thomas that the Rolling Stones did a cover version
of her record “Time Is on My Side”, which cemented their place in the “British
Invasion”.
His descriptions of traveling in the Jim Crow south with
Fats Domino will have you scratching your head in disbelief, as they were
relegated to eating bologna and cheese sandwiches behind grocery stores because
no one would serve a “colored” man. The juke box inside might be playing
“Blueberry Hill”, but you couldn’t buy a piece of blueberry pie if you were a
black man. Not even if you had the number 1 record!
Filled with glimpses into the life of an African-American
man in the days before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the author takes the time
to explain the history of the music he promoted. What is rock and roll? Where
did it come from, and how did it evolve? In this slim 200 page book the author
has provided us with some of the answers to those questions.
Mr. Ray also chronicles his service on the President’s
Copyright Tribunal in the early 1980’s under the Reagan Administration. Every
artist today owes Mr. Ray a debt for the fair share they receive from their
work. He redefined what constitutes a “performance”, and
how much a performer got paid for the recordings and films they had made. With
technology changing, this was groundbreaking stuff.
The book begins far away from Franklin, North
Carolina in 1926, where Mr. Ray was born. By cleverly starting in his later
years, Mr. Ray incites the reader’s curiosity about just who he is and where he
came from. His parents were hard working, literate people. There was a radio in
their home on which Mr. Ray and his mother would listen to the Gospel shows on
weekends. Reading was something which was revered. And when it came time to go
to high school; which was not possible in Franklin back then; he went to
Laurinburg Institute in the Eastern part of North Carolina to obtain a high
school diploma. Later, at age 50, after having made a success of himself, he even
went to college and obtained his degree. He describes it as one of the proudest
moments of his life.
In his early years Mr. Ray was always encouraged by his
parents to do his best; and more importantly, to pay no heed to the limitations
placed upon him by the color of his skin. A man will be what he wills himself
to be seems to be the attitude imbued in the author at an early age.From his summer jobs working with tobacco, and also at a ball bearing plant in Connecticut, Mr. Ray got his first look at New York City, and the lighted marquees bearing the names of all the famous acts of the day. He vowed to come back there someday with a creation of his own. From such dreams, reality grows…
After a 120 day stint in the US Army was behind him, he set
off to discover what he was really meant to do. Arriving in Los Angeles on his
19th birthday, working as a dish washer, Mr. Ray seems almost to
have accidentally fallen into his profession. Living in a skid row room while
washing dishes made him hunger for more in life; and the music industry was where
he would find it.
The story of Mr. Ray’s accomplishments; and how they have
even affected you as a listener of music; is one that I highly recommend. It is
at once, a history of the music industry as it pertains to artist’s rights and
royalties; and also the story of a man searching for ways to repay the kindness
which was shown to him by others on his way up the ladder.
His accounts of the artists he has handled are far more than I can name here. So, let’s just say that if you were
listening to just about anything in the 1960’s, Mr. Ray had his hand in it
somewhere. And, he is not shy about his “misses” either. He describes how he lost
Janis Joplin and Michael Jackson to other labels by mere days.
But, more than all of the above; more than all of the awards
and accolades he has received; as if those things wouldn’t be enough to
constitute a book all on their own; Mr. Ray has written a portrait of his own
search for the meaning behind it all. And you know what? I think he has found
it. This is a terrific book.For more about Mr. Ray, or the NC Music Hall of Fame, use the following links;
www.eddieraymusicman.com.
http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/
http://robertwilliamsofbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2012/10/eddie-ray-against-all-odds_1.html
No comments:
Post a Comment