tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post2456159116449564055..comments2024-03-25T06:33:12.809-07:00Comments on Lost Live Dead: Grateful Dead Solo Album Contracts, 1970-73Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-65299420678064801682011-04-23T18:50:58.093-07:002011-04-23T18:50:58.093-07:00This stuff is way beyond me, so I just look forwar...This stuff is way beyond me, so I just look forward to reading you guys and learning.<br /><br />I would say, though, that I am not sure the Dead "wanted" catchy successful songs except derivatively. That is, I think they mostly "wanted" to buy a piece of land and settle down a little bit for the long haul. And why not? A chance to buy a piece of land in Marin with the chance to live there forever? I think most people would work pretty hard for that. Hell, I suppose lots of people who choose that are "enslaved" in precisely the way Prince might have meant it.Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-67811293056803888512011-04-23T18:20:48.270-07:002011-04-23T18:20:48.270-07:00Though the Dead were on Warners for quite some tim...Though the Dead were on Warners for quite some time (7 years), that length of time seems to have been the exception among Bay Area bands. A brief glance at some other bands' discographies:<br /><br />Beau Brummels - Warners, 3 albums '66-'68<br />Beautiful Day - Columbia, 5 albums '69-'72<br />Big Brother - Columbia, 3 albums '68-'71<br />Blue Cheer - Philips, 6 albums '68-'71 <br />Chocolate Watchband - Tower, 3 albums '67-'69<br />Creedence - Fantasy, 8 albums '68-'73<br />Jefferson Airplane - RCA, 6 albums '66-'70<br />Moby Grape - Columbia, 4 albums '67-'69<br />NRPS - Columbia, 7 albums '71-'75<br />Quicksilver - Capitol, 7 albums '68-'72<br />Sons of Champlin - Capitol, 3 albums '69-'71<br />Youngbloods - RCA, 3 albums '67-69<br />Youngbloods pt 2 - Warners, 4 albums '70-'72<br /><br />Many of these bands' contracts I presume were cut short by breakups. Most bands, of course, dissolved in a just year or two; and others (like Santana, Sly Stone or Steve Miller) just kept going & going... <br /><br />While I don't know what machinations went on between the GD & Warners - whether there was a year-by-year renewal, or whether in '69 they were committed to do 6 or so more albums - I'd guess a couple things doomed the GD to serve out their full time: a) they stayed together, & b) their albums started doing well.<br /><br />If the Dead had chosen not to go the 'commercial' route and just recorded whole albums' worth of What's Become of the Babies, perhaps they could've had an experience like Mickey Hart - a 3-album deal, but 2 albums rejected & unreleased, and then freedom! <br />But ironically, the Dead wanted the same thing the record company wanted...catchy, successful songs.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-65215308031618083812011-04-23T07:22:53.347-07:002011-04-23T07:22:53.347-07:00I don't know the exact parameters of record co...I don't know the exact parameters of record contracts, but I do know that they always favored the record company. In that respect, they made recording artists very much into serfs. While the initial Warners deal may have been something like "5 albums in 3 years," the deal would not have expired if the band did not turn in the final album. "Waiting out" the contract would not have freed the band. Furthermore, while tied to a contract, all recordings belong to the record company, including live recordings. This is why Prince considered himself a slave. Dramatic, but not an unreasonable assessment.<br /><br />Bands have a lot of leverage when they are trying to negotiate the next contract, but none if they aren't. I think the Ace album was part of the Warners Dead contract, since Warners was looking to cury favor with the Dead. Once the Dead refused to re-sign, however, Warners made them stick to the letter of the contract.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-40686305606541983962011-04-22T23:44:57.743-07:002011-04-22T23:44:57.743-07:00I have been pondering the Dead's Warners contr...I have been pondering the Dead's Warners contract. <br />Are you sure the Dead were signed up initially for 5-7 years? Or was it for a number of albums? <br /><br />McNally says their initial contract was for 3 albums, and then Lenny extended it (at the 3-year point). <br />They ended up releasing 9 albums on Warners. Europe '72 was to be the last one. But to repeat, Garcia said about Bear's Choice in '73, "We weren't contracted for it originally, but we had to give it to them in order to make Europe '72 a triple-LP. We could've been cut loose if we'd given them two single albums, rather than one triple-LP."<br /><br />That seems to be a different type of deal than what you mention. Maybe McNally's wrong on the details, but it seems like in both '69 and '72, the band could have walked away after finishing X number of albums.<br /><br />In 1966, Warners couldn't have imagined it would take the Dead 3 years to deliver 3 albums. (They were probably surprised the band even lasted that long.) I wonder what the terms of Lenny's '69 extension were?<br /><br />Warners seems to have been very generous with advances to the Dead; I would guess there were lots of negotiations through the Warners years that we don't know about.<br /><br />Since I'm in the dark about sixties record contracts, I'm wondering about a counterfactual: <br />What if (as happened in the early '80s and '90s) the Dead after finishing their 3rd album Aoxomoxoa had decided not to bother with the studio anymore, and just stuck to the road without recording any albums for Warners after that? How would Warners have responded? <br />(In reality, the Dead did reach that decision after American Beauty, and gave Warners only live albums for the next 3 years, waiting for independence before they hit the studio again.)Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-7720072723866653752011-02-20T07:49:28.036-08:002011-02-20T07:49:28.036-08:00Yes I would guess access is limited. He was part...Yes I would guess access is limited. He was part of a ponzi scam with Reed Slatkin, and convicted of tax evasion. There is lots to read about Ron and Reed.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16928789540373252529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-63443387360964528722011-02-19T16:08:25.119-08:002011-02-19T16:08:25.119-08:00Well, I guess that would explain why he doesn'...Well, I guess that would explain why he doesn't update his website much.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-28144328367584340842011-02-19T15:54:45.861-08:002011-02-19T15:54:45.861-08:00Has anyone tried to contact Ron Rakow? He is still...Has anyone tried to contact Ron Rakow? He is still in prison, and not due for release until December 1, 2011.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13182328287631221485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-38183185413885574082011-01-16T07:09:45.726-08:002011-01-16T07:09:45.726-08:00clap, clap, clap, clap
Splendidly done. Great ana...clap, clap, clap, clap<br /><br />Splendidly done. Great analysis. And, LIA, thank you for adding even more, which rises to smoking gun level in re Corry's main hypothesis, IMO.<br /><br />Rakow was definitely involved in the Garcia-Wales connection. I will do one or a few more Hooteroll? posts ("JGMF: All Hooteroll?, All The Time!"). Off the top of my head, I just noted that the picture of Jerry passing the joint to Howard while sitting on a couch outdoors in a distinctly Marin-like setting is credited to ... Ron Rakow. I assume there's other evidence there, too.<br /><br />Anyway, much to digest. Thank you both for sharing your information and thoughts! I am really, really enjoying the "conversation".Fate Musichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648291938690043423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-79975708475219264662011-01-15T22:10:04.322-08:002011-01-15T22:10:04.322-08:00Thanks for the great comments.
I read the book &q...Thanks for the great comments.<br /><br />I read the book "Inside The Record Business" many years ago and don't recall anything about the Dead.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-10401327369298276392011-01-15T20:31:07.366-08:002011-01-15T20:31:07.366-08:00But early on, the Dead would have been eager to di...But early on, the Dead would have been eager to ditch the traditional record companies, simply feeling that they did such a poor job. By the time Workingman's Dead hit, they were already feeling restless.<br />Garcia said of Warner Bros in summer 1970: "[They're] shitty. They have terrible distribution and they don't sell records. That's the only thing a record company is good for... They like to think they're far out, but they're not... A record company is a vampire. It's really no fucking good. It's an evil trip, it's like bleeding musicians... Warner Bros has got some good people, but I really don't think that they know how to do it." (He admitted, though, "They've been OK to us.") <br />(From Joe Smith's side, Smith said, "At one of our interminable meetings, the Dead convinced me that we didn't know how to promote their records. They hated everybody. They just hated me a little less; I was the guy they would talk to. They said, 'You guys just don't know how to do this. Let us promote the record.'" And then of course, the Dead wouldn't do any promotion anyway!)<br /><br />In 1973 Garcia said of the Bear's Choice album (which the Dead disliked), "We had to give that record to Warner Brothers. We weren't contracted for it originally, but we had to give it to them in order to make Europe '72 a triple-LP. We could've been cut loose if we'd given them two single albums, rather than one triple-LP.... It's something we owe them. I'm not interested in making Warner Brothers any richer. In a way, I'm glad it's a low-profile, non-success record." <br /><br />Garcia concluded in '73, "The whole record company trip was our mistake. It was our blunder and we've been living with our mistake all these years. Now, hopefully, we're free to make our own mistakes."<br /><br />(Clive Davis, by the way, 'wrote' a book called Inside the Record Business in 1974 which may have a lot more details about his negotiations with the Dead, though I haven't seen it.)Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-73394162489271081972011-01-15T20:29:14.975-08:002011-01-15T20:29:14.975-08:00Nicely done! I have a few small things to add...
...Nicely done! I have a few small things to add...<br /><br />From McNally: <br />In the fall of 1969, "What the band did not know was that Lenny had just negotiated an extension on their Warners Bros contract, since their original three-album deal had run its course. The new deal included an advance of $75,000, and Lenny flew to Los Angeles, met Joe Smith at an airline counter, got the check, and returned home. Not only was the band ignorant of the new deal and the money, they did not know about a counteroffer from Clive Davis at Columbia Records." <br />So this would mean the WB contract had to be extended as early as '69, and Davis already wanted the band even then, when they had only three 'underground' albums to their name.<br /><br />By the way, the deal Joe Smith gave Mickey Hart in '71/72 was not a two-record deal, but a THREE-record deal. The second album, Fire on the Mountain, was rejected by Smith; the third album was a martial-arts soundtrack album called The Silent Flute. Hart said of Warners: "They actually walked out on me while I was playing it for them." <br />(As far as I know, Weir's Ace album was not part of a solo deal, but used as part of the Dead's Warners contract.)<br /><br />Blair Jackson's bio, of course has more details on Garcia's solo deal - Garcia got a $20,000 advance for his album. Jackson describes it as "an attempt to keep Garcia and the Dead happy as members of the Warner Bros family." <br />Clive Davis's intentions were known - John Dawson said, "We got the deal with Columbia because Clive wanted Jerry. It's that simple. He wanted Jerry any way he could get him. But that was cool with me; it was a pretty good deal." ("Like Garcia used to say, 'Sell out? Sell out! Where do I sign?'")<br /><br />Clive Davis met with the Dead in late '72, when the WB contract had finally run its course, to discuss signing them to Columbia. He later said, "it was an incredible cross-examination, exhausting and exhilarating" - they asked questions like, "Clive, are you sure that you're going to make sure that our pressings are right?" <br />Of course, they turned him down, for since July '72 Ron Rakow had already been exciting the band with the prospect of starting their own record label. (Rakow tells a colorful story in Greenfield's bio p. 146 about the meeting with Davis - in his telling, it sounds like everyone just made fun of Davis & didn't take him seriously at all.)<br />But, Davis's efforts paid off later in '76, when the Dead signed up with his new company Arista after Grateful Dead Records went kaput. If anything, they were desperate to return to Davis's open arms by then - as Hart said, "it wasn't like a whole lot of people wanted us."<br /><br />continued...Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.com