Remembering producer Tom Wilson on his birthday

Remembering important but unjustly overlooked producer Tom Wilson with a discussion of his work, some Sun Ra outtakes from 1956 and more. 

Writes Irwin Chusid...

Tom Wilson was a legendary record producer in the '50s and '60s. He produced four Dylan albums, and the first Simon & Garfunkel, which was a commercial failure. So Wilson added a rock backing track to the duo's acoustic recording "Sounds of Silence," and helped invent folk-rock. 

He signed and produced the first two albums by the Mothers of Invention and the Velvet Underground. A decade earlier, after graduating  Harvard in 1955, he founded Transition Records and produced the first albums by Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, and Donald Byrd. He later produced Nico's first, and co-produced the Soft Machine's debut. In 1978, at age 47, he died of a heart attack. 

In 1967 and '68 the charismatic Wilson hosted a free-form radio program called "The Music Factory," sponsored by MGM-Verve. The debut episode of that series, gone from radio since 1967, will be aired on my WFMU program... listen here: http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/68065 

More info about Wilson at ProducerTomWilson.com. 

Listen to a Tom Wilson Jazz Sampler put together by Marshall Crenshaw who, despite setbacks due to the pandemic of 2020 and the passing of director Sacha Jenkins last May, is continuing work on his Tom Wilson documentary – right here. Watch a discussion of Tom Wilson's work with Richie Unterberger, an Rock's Back Pages interview with Marshall Crenshaw talking about his Tom Wilson research, followed by some Transition-era Sun Ra studio outtakes and a couple of 1967 clips from Tom Wilson's short-lived radio show The Music Factory. Read the Tom Wilson feature "The Man Who Put Electricity Into Dylan" by Michael Watts (Melody Maker, January 31, 1976) right here. 

Timothée Chalamet vs. Nardwuar

Timothée Chalamet, star of the new Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown" got some gifts with a grilling from Nardwuar. 

Marshall Crenshaw is working on a film about producer Tom Wilson

Marshall Crenshaw is doing a documentary about Tom Wilson who produced recordings by Bob Dylan, Sun Ra, The Velvet Underground and others

 

Writes Marshall Crenshaw...

Producer Tom Wilson, whose name is on lots of records by Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Simon & Garfunkel,  The Mothers Of Invention, Eric Burdon and The Animals, et. al., was also an important producer of Modern Jazz, and an important discoverer of jazz talent, starting with the establishment of his own Transition Records label in 1955. Here are a few examples thereof!...

I put this list together for private consumption, but have been encouraged to take it public, so here goes!.. Hopefully you can listen to these great sounds on some decent speakers or headphones.

Cheers,

MC

Check out Marshall Crenshaw's Tom Wilson jazz recordings playlist right here (track list below). 

Read a New York Times Magazine interview with Tom Wilson from Sept. 29, 1968 over here. And a brief profile on Tom Wilson by Michael Cocoran from 2015 right here.  

TRACKS:

Perry Robinson- Farmer Alfalfa - (Perry Robinson; clarinet, Kenny Barron; piano,  Henry Grimes; bass, Paul Motian; drums) from “Funk Dumpling”- Savoy LP (1962)

Herbie Mann- African Suite, Bedouin Pt. 1 (Herbie Mann; flute,  Johnny Rae; vibraphone, Bob Corwin; piano, Jack Six; bass, Carlos “Patata” Valdes; congas, Jose Mangual; bongos) from “Herbie Mann’s African Suite”- United Artists LP (1959)

Walt Dickerson- Bacon and Eggs - (Walt Dickerson; vibraphone, Sun Ra; piano, Bob Cunningham; bass, Roger Blank; drums) from “Impressions of ’A Patch Of Blue’”- MGM LP (1965)

Bill Hardman- Capers - (Bill Hardman; trumpet, Sonny Red; alto saxophone, Ronnie Matthews; piano, Bob Cunningham; bass, Jimmy Cobb; drums) from “Saying Something”- Savoy LP (1962) 

Sun Ra- Where Is Tomorrow? - (Sun Ra; piano, Bernard McKinney; trombone, euphonium, Marshall Allen; alto sax, flute, John Gilmore; tenor sax, bass clarinet, Pat Patrick; bass saxophone, Willie Jones; drums, Leah Ananda; conga) from “The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra”- Savoy LP (1961)

Cecil Taylor/John Coltrane- Just Friends - (Cecil Taylor; piano, Kenny Dorham; trumpet, John Coltrane; tenor saxophone, Chuck Israels; bass, Louis Hayes; drums) from “Hard Driving Jazz”- United Artists LP (1959), reissued in 1963 as “Coltrane Time”  

Hugh Masekela- Unhlanhia - (Hugh Masekela; cornet, Hal Dotson; bass, Larry Willis; piano, Henry Jenkins; drums) from “The Americanization of Ooga Booga”- MGM LP (1966)

Donald Byrd- El Sino - (Donald Byrd; trumpet, Joe Gordon; trumpet, Horace Silver; piano, Doug Watkins; bass, Art Blakey; drums) from “Byrd’s Eye View”- Transition LP (1956)

Curtis Fuller- I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone - (Curtis Fuller; trombone, Lee Morgan; trumpet, Hank Mobley; tenor saxophone, Tommy Flanagan; piano, Paul Chambers; bass, Elvin Jones; drums, Benny Golson; arranger) from “Sliding Easy”- United Artists LP (1959)

Cecil Taylor- Little Lees - (Cecil Taylor; piano, Buell Neidlinger; bass, Denis Charles; drums, Bill Barron; tenor saxophone, Ted Curson; trumpet) from “Love For Sale”- United Artists LP (1959)

Art Farmer- Stella By Starlight - (Art Farmer; trumpet, Lee Morgan; trumpet, Ernie Royal; trumpet, Julius Watkins; French horn, Jimmy Cleveland; trombone, Curtis Fuller; trombone, James Haughton; baritone horn, Don Butterfield; tuba, Percy Heath; bass, Philly Joe Jones; drums, Benny Golson; arranger and conductor)

from “Brass Shout”- United Artists LP (1959)

Eddie Harris- Hip Hoppin’ - (Eddie Harris; tenor saxophone, Warren Stephens; guitar, Melvin Jackson; bass, Bucky Taylor; drums, unidentified organist) from “Cool Sax, Warm Heart”- Columbia LP (1964) 

Cecil Taylor- Aure - (Cecil Taylor; piano, Buell Neidlinger; bass, Denis Charles; drums) from “Jazz Advance”- Transition LP (1956)

Sun Ra and His Arkestra- Future - (Sun Ra; piano, Art Hoyle; trumpet, percussion, Dave Young; trumpet, percussion, Julian Priester; trombone, percussion, James Scales; alto saxophone, John Gilmore; tenor saxophone, percussion, Pat Patrick; baritone saxophone, percussion, Richard Evans; bass, Wilbur Green; Fender bass, percussion, Robert Barry; drums, Jim Herndon; tympani) from “Jazz by Sun Ra”- Transition LP (1957)

Tom Wilson shares his story in 'Beautiful Scars' documentary

Check out Shane Belcourt's film Beautiful Scars based on the memoir of Hamilton singer/songwriter Tom Wilson of Junkhouse. 

You can get a copy of the paperback edition (right) of Tom Wilson's memoir Beautiful Scars via Penguin Random House right here.