Help My Uncle Irwin Find Info On Producer Tom Wilson

I just got an email from my "Uncle Irwin" - Irwin Chusid, above, a friend and one of the resident genius' over at WFMU - that reads as follows:

Record producer Tom Wilson died of a heart attack 35 years ago on this date. He was 47. Who was Wilson? In 1954 this lanky Texan graduated cum laude from Harvard, where he served as president of the Harvard Republican Club. Over the next 14 years he produced the first two albums by Sun Ra, the Velvet Underground, and the Mothers of Invention. He produced Dylan's second, third, fourth and fifth albums (including Bringing It All Back Home). Although he didn't produce Dylan's sixth, Highway 61 Revisited, he did produce one track: "Like a Rolling Stone." He took an obscure acoustic track from Simon & Garfunkel's commercially failed debut album (which he'd produced) and, without the approval of the artists, overdubbed a rock band. That recording, "The Sounds of Silence," was released as a single in 1965, went to #1 on the charts, and helped launch the "folk-rock" boom. Despite his association with early Dylan, S&G, and Pete Seeger (another artist he produced), Wilson reportedly didn't even like folk music. He produced early albums by saxophonist Eddie Harris, pianist Cecil Taylor, and Soft Machine's debut. His discography veers from John Coltrane to Dion; from the Clancy Brothers to Hugh Masekela; from Donald Byrd to Eric Burdon; from the Blues Project to Nico; and from Gil Scott-Heron to Connie Francis. There were many more.   

In the three and a half decades since his premature passing, no books have been written about Wilson's storied life and career. No biopics have been produced, and no American Masters profile.   

But because we have the www, there's now a website devoted to Producer Tom Wilson. Started four months ago and assembled slowly, today marks its official launch. No bells, no whistles — just Tom Wilson 1.0. Chronicles, photos, links, quotes, interviews, and the most exhaustive discography to date of Wilson's productions. We probably got some stuff wrong. Help us fix it.

You heard the man - This was a Republican. 

Now, let's make ourselves useful, and fix an injustice - GO:

PRODUCER TOM WILSON

"Completely Free, Complete Control, Sell A Lot Of Units"

From Straight To Bizarre: 

The Story Of Frank Zappa's Record Labels

Silibil N’ Brains In The Great Hip Hop Hoax (Not Exactly What You'd Call "The Black Experience" In Business)

 Frank Zappa always said, in the new scheme of things, this was destined to happen - repeatedly:

Silibil N’ Brains were going to be the biggest rap duo since Outkast. They were two kids from California who could spit with an angsty nu-metal flow. Think The Offspring meets Busted - all middle fingers, messy rooms and cargo shorts. After touring the world, they were spotted tearing it up in an East London den and signed to Sony with a £75,000 retainer and all the studio time they needed. They were a priority signing, meaning the label thought their first album was destined for No.1. 

The only problem was that Silibil N’ Brains weren’t who they said they were. Billy Boyd and Gavin Bain had never been to California. They were two lads from Dundee on benefits, in debt and determined to hang the music industry by its own pretence.    

They were bitter from an early brush with fame when, after a 12 hour Megabus down to London for a label audition, they were laughed away as “the rapping Proclaimers.” So, they went home, found a small town on the West Coast and decided to tell the world that they met at a rap-battle in San Francisco. They concocted lies, bought clothes, perfected accents, and became Silibil N’ Brains. They kept up the accents and embroidered the lies for two years. Sony fawned over them; they partied with Madonna, went on Popworld and had AAA passes at the Brits. The more they played up their give-a-fuck jackass personas, the more the executives lapped it up, splashed their cash, and invested their money on two people who were, essentially, duping the recording industry.    

Their acting and commitment was, at times, astonishing. From the moment they woke up, they had to remain in character. To their manager, to their friends, even the people they dated. One part of their elaborate lie is that they were friends with D12 from back in the day. But when they ended up supporting the group at a show in Brixton, they thought they were going to be rumbled. Boyd had to walk over to Proof, give him a hug, and ask how he was doing. Luckily, Proof was to polite to say anything, and gave him a hug back.   

Eventually, the drugs, booze and all the lying caught up with them,...

 But the record companies never did. 

 The so-called experts at discovering talent,...

 

We Make Music For A Living (None Of Your Business)

Dangerous To The Party (The One They Got Anyway)

Frank Zappa, on blogging professors and Right-Wing politics:

“Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mediocre educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom and go to the library and educate yourself if you've got any guts. Some of you like Pep rallies and plastic robots who tell you what to read.”

People Hated Zappa (But Not Because He Was Wrong)

From Wikipedia:

"1971–72: Accident, attack and their aftermath

In December 1971, there were two serious setbacks. While performing at Casino de Montreux in Switzerland, The Mothers' equipment was destroyed when a flare set off by an audience member started a fire that burned down the casino. Immortalized in Deep Purple's song "Smoke on the Water", the event and immediate aftermath can be heard on the bootleg album Swiss Cheese/Fire, released legally as part of Zappa's Beat the Boots II compilation. After a week's break, The Mothers played at the Rainbow Theatre, London, with rented gear. During the encore, an audience member pushed Zappa off the stage and into the concrete-floored orchestra pit. The band thought Zappa had been killed—he had suffered serious fractures, head trauma and injuries to his back, leg, and neck, as well as a crushed larynx, which ultimately caused his voice to drop a third after healing.[109] This accident resulted in him using a wheelchair for an extended period, forcing him off the road for over half a year. Upon his return to the stage in September 1972, he was still wearing a leg brace, had a noticeable limp and could not stand for very long while on stage. Zappa noted that one leg healed "shorter than the other" (a reference later found in the lyrics of songs "Zomby Woof" and "Dancin' Fool"), resulting in chronic back pain,..."

   

Hmph.

Looks like I better get back to work so somebody can try and kill me,...

 

The "N" Word (Is Supposedly Able To Drive Me Crazy)

"What do you make of a society so primitive it clings to the belief certain words are so powerful they corrupt the moment you hear them?"   

- Frank Zappa, still pooting on everybody.

Frank Zappa's Funk & Jazz Master George Duke Is Dead