redbeansandrice… wegen dem Punkt an dem wir jetzt (bald) sind, gab es vor Jahren einen ziemlich interessanten .org Post, Erinnerungen an ein Francis Wolff Interview im englischen Radio
According to a Leonard Woolf interview on BBC radio in ’69 (about the time he recorded „The flip“) Blue Note didn’t pay royalties – they paid cash. They paid more cash than their immediate competitors and also paid for rehearsal time. This was fine for the musicians until they got a hit record. When that happened, the aggrieved musician would turn up at the office and look for royalties. And be told to fuck off.
JOS was the first one this happened to. „Midnight special“ and „Chicken Shack“ were both big hits; no royalties. So Jimmy went to Verve and recorded „Bashin’“, from which „Walk on the wild side“ was a big pop hit. But he still had a contract with Blue Note, under which he owed them 4 more LPs.
So, early in 1963, he did four more sessions.
31 Jan 1963 – I’m movin‘ on (with Grant Green)
1 Feb 1963 – Bucket (Quentin & Donald)
7 Feb 1963 – Rockin the boat (with Lou Donaldson)
8 Feb 1963 – Prayer meetin‘ (with Stanley Turrentine)
This WAS a big deal for Blue Note, because the last 3 were all hits. I love those four sessions – Jimmy was so relaxed and informal about them.
Lou Donaldson and Donald Byrd got the same treatment, when they had hit albums. Lou went to Chess, Byrd to MGM. So did Grant Green, whose records were selling well, though not hits. Woolf implied that, when Lee and Horace had hits, they had to change the BN business plan – and this was a contributory factor in the decision to sell to Liberty.
von hier… das sind Erinnerungen an eine Sendung, die 40 Jahre frueher im Radio gekommen war, mit der entsprechenden Vorsicht zu geniessen… aber es deckt sich eigentlich mit allem, was ich sonst so gehoert hab (bis auf den Namen Leonard Woolf)
Danke! Das habe ich auch so im Kopf, aber keine Ahnung mehr, wo ich das mal aufgeschnappt hatte – vielleicht ja ebenfalls damals auf Org.
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"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #151: Neuheiten aus dem Archiv – 09.04., 22:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba