home

The Vinyl Press

  • Features
  • Records
  • Cleaning – Care
  • Editorials
  • Compendia
  • Ephemera
  • Phono
  • About
You are here: Home / In Brief / Interview with Richard Carlin, Author of The Godfather of the Music Business: Morris Levy

Interview with Richard Carlin, Author of The Godfather of the Music Business: Morris Levy

April 27, 2016 by Bill Hart

Carlin_cover_02

Interview with Richard Carlin, Author of The Godfather of the Music Business: Morris Levy

  

Why a book about Morris Levy? Was it the dearth of information about him, the shadowy reputation or something else that drove you to research and write this?

 

RC: The project did not start as a Morris Levy biography. I was doing some work on a broader project- about a generation of mostly Jewish men who were the children of first generation immigrants-all from the Bronx, who were successful in the music business. I was familiar with some of the published material on Levy- there was a fascinating interview of Fredric Dannen done in Rolling Stone, which was then enlarged in Dannen’s Hitmen. There was also Stiffed, which recounted the whole debacle with MCA, but it only focused on one aspect of Levy’s business dealings. It turned out that Levy’s career ran the longest, and covered the jazz era as well as the peak years of the industry- in the ‘70s. And yes, I was also fascinated by Levy: He had this reputation as a tough, bad guy in a rough industry. But, I was also surprised to learn some positive things about him, despite his reputation.

 

How long did it take you to research and write, because you not only cover a lot of ground, from the post-war years, and the jazz era, to Levy’s death in 1990, but you obviously dug into a lot of details that were, at least to me, previously unknown.

 

RC: As the book evolved, it took roughly six to seven years. It took shape over time, as I moved away from a broader look at the Jewish music entrepreneurs of the ‘50s into a book exclusively on Levy.

 

You also substantiated the story I heard about the “roast” of Levy at a UJA dinner—we’ll leave that for readers who are unfamiliar with the story, but it always made me laugh.

 

RC: Levy seemed to take pride in his tough guy image and used it to his advantage. It wasn’t a delicate business- the music business—and I certainly don’t excuse or defend much of what he did. He was clearly in the business to make money, not to “develop” artists. But, he also had a close relationship with Count Basie and helped relaunch his career in the later ‘50s. And Birdland was integrated long before that became acceptable even in a place like New York. The 52nd Street clubs weren’t integrated, and if Birdland was not the first it was among the first integrated clubs on Broadway.

 

The book has a very “real” quality in the sense that you are reporting, in a matter of fact way, all the twists and turns in Levy’s life. It makes for fascinating reading and covers a huge time span—perhaps one of the most dynamic in the industry, so the reader gets more than a biography, but a more complete picture of the inner workings of the industry as it developed after WWII.

 

RC: I wanted a balanced view of Morris Levy, and tried to be even handed in how I presented the facts. One “truth” I’ve learned in some of the other work I’ve done that it is often the outliers, the “little guys,” rather than the big companies, who were the real innovators. They were often responsible for changing the shape of the industry. Levy wasn’t known for his devotion to artists, or for breaking any new musical genres, but he was a very clever operator, and took advantage of touring as a way to promote record sales. It was also a fascinating era, so there was a lot of ground to cover.

 

You’ve written several books about music and edited many others- in fact your day job is as a music editor for another major publisher. Are you are frustrated musician? How did you get involved in the field?

 

RC: I did a lot of freelance work writing about the music industry and the figures within it. And yes, I do play, but it’s hardly mainstream—I play the concertina, and am involved in traditional Irish folk music!

♦

Richard Carlin maintains a website/blog at www.richardcarlin.com where he posts extended excerpts of material that either did not fit into the book or where Carlin has found additional information. There are also some interesting photographs on Carlin’s site.

  Photos (including author photo) are courtesy of Richard Carlin and any further reproduction is expressly prohibited.

Filed Under: Ephemera, In Brief

In Brief:

Incoming- Mrs. Henry Keep on Rising

Mrs. Henry Keep on Rising   A 21st century rock opera? Recorded to tape? And mastered at Bernie Grundman’s shop? I’ve started to explore this box (3 LPs, 2 CDs and a substantial book) in more depth and plan on interviewing the producer in an upcoming piece. … [Read More...]

Power to the People-Back Up Generator

    Shortly after the Texas "big freeze" in February 2021, I contacted various vendors of back up generators. Some did not bother to respond, a few came out, ostensibly to give me a quote and I never heard from them again. One vendor did send me a blank form with a very high total price, without completing the cost analysis for running gas lines, electrical wiring and the other things that are "adds" to the cost of the generator itself.  I kicked this around for a while-- given the heat in Central Texas during the summer--110F for days on end, we got constant warnings last summer (2023) to reduce power consumption, lest we suffer rolling blackouts. And then there's the fact that Austin really isn't "built" for freezing temperatures. Black ice with no road crews, downed power lines, and demand that teeters off the edge of power failure catastrophe. I do not want to go into the power grid … [Read More...]

Incoming-Know what I mean?

Cannonball Adderley's "Know what I mean? is a warhorse, to be sure,but one that deserves its reputation. I was prompted to explore a few different pressings as a result of a thread on the Hoffman forum: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/do-you-have-cannonball-adderley-bill-evans-know-what-i-mean-the-best-sounding-vintage-jazz-lp.1175660/  I used to shop these OJCs as bargains back in the day when Tower Records was thriving. They were a solid entry point into some very good sounding jazz--some of it "straight ahead" but well made, taken from analog masters for the most part and did I say cheap? Back in the day, these were bargain records when they were released, and until the more recent surge in prices of older LPs, could be readily found for little money.  The recent Craft reissue cut by Kevin Gray has brought renewed attention to the record. I thought it might be fun to do a … [Read More...]

We’re Back!

We’re Back! Some fresh content for your consideration. Neil Antin did some modest updates to his seminal book on Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records. Neil did not regard these changes as a “new version” so the download is now 3.1 with a “Record of Changes” at the end. I’ve talked to Peter Ulrich, the drummer from Dead Can Dance a few times over the years because I was fascinated by the group. They hit it big in audiophile circles with “Into the Labyrinth” which became a “demo” record with the MoFi release. I got that, but also sought out an original 4AD pressing, and as I delved into their music, bought more original copies- they were not crazy expensive at the time. When Peter told me he was doing a book on the history of his involvement with the band, I was eager to read it. It offers some great insight into a period when this band was inventing new sounds in the post-punk … [Read More...]

Drumming with Dead Can Dance: and Parallel Adventures- Peter Ulrich

  Drumming with Dead Can Dance: and Parallel Adventures Peter Ulrich   I didn’t really get on to Dead Can Dance until “Into the Labyrinth,” their most popular LP that made the audiophile rounds here in the States. 4AD, their label, wasn’t well distributed in the US when the band was first developing, it wasn’t exactly mainstream stuff here, even in the audiophile community. Yet the band had a following, starting in Australia, where Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry had a band and moved to a council flat in London where the two met our narrator, a soon to be jobless publicist for a theatrical/live show venue. Ulrich had the time, interest, musical background, and chops as a drummer to become part of their band. So we get the story of DCD from the outset of their adventures in England, playing local venues and developing a following. The scene was a sort of post-punk, … [Read More...]

Terms of Use ·  Copyright © 2025 The Vinyl Press.com ·  Privacy Policy
A service of Flying Reptile Media Group ·  Contact


Register | Login to Comment | Comments FAQ

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in