Frank Gutch Jr: Thoughts on Big Star, The Little Band That Wasn’t Until One Day, Forty Years Later, It Was; Plus Updates and Voluminous Notes of a Lugubrious Nature

It was a epiphanal moment, one where an aura engulfs something or someone with angelic choir background.  In this case, it engulfed the first two albums released by new and tiny Ardent Records: Cargoe‘s self-titled classic and Big Star‘s #1 Record.  I held them up and asked Gary Haller, co-owner of Eugene’s now famed House of Records if they were any good.  They looked good, the slick glossy covers showing artsy pictures of the bands, the neon Big Star sign classy in an Andy Warhol sort of way.  “Dunno,” Gary replied.  “Nice artwork, though.”  I brooded over them for the next hour or so, pulling other records from the racks to read liner notes I had already read numerous times, hoping that this time I would find inspiration.  To buy.  To listen.  To covet.

Cameron Carpenter – 10 CC – Vinyl Season One

Well I had to wait for the DVD to be released but I have finally seen Season One of Vinyl. I first heard about the HBO series a couple of years ago as Nigel Grainge and I grabbed lunch at the Imperial Pub after his keynote address at Indie Week. We were catching up on each other’s careers as we had not seen each other or worked together for years. At MCA I was the Marketing Manager for Nigel’s label Ensign and looked after everyone from The Waterboys and World Party to Sinead O’Connor, The Blue Aeroplanes and Stump. I immediately liked Nigel on first meeting and he taught me a lot about marketing and the music industry (as well as Arsenal). Before he started Ensign Records he worked at Phonogram in London and signed Thin Lizzy, 10 CC and The Boomtown Rats. He is a true music man.

Frank Gutch Jr: Product Placement and the Things We Sometimes Miss, Plus Notes…..

You’re sitting there watching television and all of a sudden music starts seeping into your subconsciousness and you think what the hell, because some elephant has entered the room but you can’t see it, but it dawns on you that you can hear it.  You think.

Frank Gutch Jr: The Music That Made Me Who I Am…..

It was my birthday last week.  I’m not saying it because it matters much to me— less and less as each year passes.  I mention it because of the things friends tell me, most of which reminds me of who I am and the paths I have taken to get here.  I mean, none of us plan to be who we are— it just evolves.

Frank Gutch Jr: Sometimes the Past Is the Future (and Sometimes the Past Is Just the Past)— Revisiting Items Which Beg Revisiting…..

Lots going on in music these days— Apple announcing their foray into streaming (I love the headlines such as “Apple May Save the Recording Industry”— I mean, what idiot thought that one up?) and the Brian Wilson biopic (My buddy Stan Twist says that if you are either a Brian Wilson or a Beach Boys fan, you won’t want to miss it) and there are lots of new albums to go over.  And, as always, old ones too.  But…

Frank Gutch Jr: Ardent Studios/Records Founder John Fry Passes – A Look Back

Tulsa/Memphis radio disc jockey Robert Walker just a few moments ago posted on Facebook that Memphis legend John Fry passed away of a heart attack today (Thursday, Dec. 18).  His passing is the proverbial ton of bricks people always say they get hit by only the reality is much worse than the saying.  Fry was one of the good guys.

This one is personal.  Fry allowed me an interview years ago in which I asked him about the studio, the record label (which had at that time folded) and his thoughts on the business.  It was an eye-opening talk and provided the basis for what I wrote years later, The Story of Cargoe, an in-depth look at the band and the label, Ardent Records.  (Read the story here)  I will forever be grateful for the interview and the insights he provided, but more importantly, the music, for without Fry, both Cargoe and Big Star very well would have taken very different paths.

You will be hearing a lot about Fry and his accomplishments over the next few days, as well you should.  I only wish he had been able to grab the brass ring he so richly deserved.

The following is a reposting of a column I wrote about Fry many moons ago.  Read and learn.

JAIMIE VERNON – THE POWER OF POP

This week Paul Revere of 1960s pop band Paul Revere & The Raiders passed away at the age of 76. He and his band were one of the second generation of pop stars who took the post-Elvis world by storm on the back of Beatlemania.