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NOW I'M MAKING MUSIC (A Few Thoughts About Larry Jon Wilson)

It seems that everywhere I turn these days folks are eulogizing the music industry and what I think they're doing, me included, is eulogizing their own hopes and dreams....the dream of the big hit, the cash bonanza, the big burrito full of cabbage. I even heard millionaire and legendary songwriting icon, Smokey Robinson, the other day on TV saying that we've gone back to 'the era of the minstrel, where everyone is making music but no one is paying for it.'

So, in minstrel times like these, my thoughts turn to Larry Jon Wilson.

Now, here was guy who could write like an angel and sing like The Lord On High, a vivid and gifted storyteller who could mesmerize a crowd with just a few, simple words and leave you breathless and buzzing on his artistry. He was a salty and masterful guitar player and admired by the top professional musicians in Nashville and across the country. Yet, he never had a hit. Never enjoyed the big burrito.

In fact, after his record deal played out, he returned home to Augusta, worked a job and, for years, rarely performed at all. But even through all of that he still committed himself to excellence in his craft and his work...his gift. When he did return to the stage, we all laid palm fronds at his feet and declared him a legend but he usually only played very small venues and house concerts and waited nearly 30 years before making a modest 'comeback' album.

My new friend, Duke Lang, hung out with Mr. Wilson at The Mickey Newbury Gathering in Austin back in 2008, right before Larry Jon was to take the stage. They started talking about the biz and, I quote Mr. Lang here, "He said he would not have made any different choices if he could do it all again because he was simply incapable of being less than his complete, beyond-category self. And, he was deeply disgusted and saddened by how marginalized genuine artists had become in (American) society, but that it just wasn't in him to stop sharing what gift he had. He went on and gave a remarkable, spontaneous, and spirit-fueled show, one I'll always remember."

So, here we are in 2010, staring at the new frontier of net marketing and sluggish sales and I really do feel hopeful that we can make a nice, boutique industry for ourselves. But right now, I'm not too concerned about that, really. I'm concerned about craft and joy and integrity of purpose...the thrill of moving an audience to tears and laughter.

I think that was Larry Jon's secret. It was the song and the song was king.

One of my favorite Larry Jon Wilson quotes goes like this. He was being asked about his early days, shortly after college when he worked a very lucrative job in the textile business. He shucked all of that security and comfort to come to Nashville and begin his now famous struggle. He said he really enjoyed working for the textile industry and made a lot of great friends there. Wistfully, he looked off into the horizon and said, "Yeah, back then I was making money. Now I'm making music."

I'm making music too. How about you?

Comment by Terry Roland on September 9, 2010 at 12:32pm: Hi Jefferson, Enjoyed you piece.....Below is my favorite.....It hits to the core of the desire to create....I'd only say....like Mary Gauthier said...it won't move anyone else until it moves you..I think she got it from Harlan Howard.....anyway, I've just early retired and am writing about and promoting music full time..and I'd say...yes....music over money any old day!!! tr
But right now, I'm not too concerned about that, really. I'm concerned about craft and joy and integrity of purpose...the thrill of moving an audience to tears and laughter.
I think that was Larry Jon's secret. It was the song and the song was king.

Comment by Jefferson Ross on September 9, 2010 at 3:42pm: Glad you enjoyed it, Terry. There are bunches of real artists out there for you to write about and promote so you'll certainly be busy. Fight the good fight, brother, and thanks for making contact.-JR

Comment by Lucky Mud on September 14, 2010 at 5:59am: I'm sorry to hear he's gone. Maggie and I had been in Nashville less than a year when someone gave us tickets to a CBS (I think) showcase featuring Larry Jon Wilson and Larry Gatlin, both up-and-comers. Larry Jon gave what is still one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen. His voice was big and warm, and his lyrics were amazing. I remember that voice filling the auditorium with songs like Through the Eyes of the Children, and I'm sad that I'll never see him again.

Comment by Edd Hurt on September 14, 2010 at 9:27am: I heard one of the young DJs at Nashville's Vanderbilt station WRVU play one of the tracks from Wilson's most notable album, 1975's New Beginnings. So that's interesting. I picked up that album 10 or 12 years ago for a dollar in Memphis and have never seen another copy. Do I think it's a great record? Well, not exactly, but it's certainly good--a fascinating example of idiosyncratic songwriting meeting the usual genius backing, from Reggie Young and other Nashville session players. I guess I'd have to caution myself whenever I start to use terms like "unheralded genius" or "fought against the record biz" or "was always himself." What those terms mean remains a bit muddy to me--let's just say Wilson was talented, idiosyncratic and got about what he deserved from the record biz. His last record was on Drag City and it's good, idiosyncratic...and certainly that '75 album is proto-Americana in its combination of well-worn musical ideas and...idiosyncratic lyrics, plus the whole I'm-gonna-see-the-big-wide-world-including-New-York-City, New South flavor the whole thing. Someone should really reissue it, but meanwhile, he's on a couple of those country-soul compilations, far as I can tell, and there are several other albums out there I've never heard and never laid eyes on.

Comment by sluggo on September 14, 2010 at 10:23am: so nice to see something written about Larry..
Fist time i ever saw him he was with Tony Joe white and you just know that was a helluva show..r.i.p. mr.wilson..

Comment by Jefferson Ross on September 14, 2010 at 1:06pm: Hmm, well, I would never have said that he 'fought against the record biz'. I'm sure his feelings were hurt like thousands of others who came before and after him. All I mentioned was that after the record deal was over he just went home and kept making music on a small, boutique level. There are a lot of songwriters who admire his work, including myself. That's all.

Comment by Lucky Mud on September 14, 2010 at 1:25pm: Idiosyncratic...what an interesting word to sprinkle here and there in a single paragraph. Maybe explaining Larry Jon Wilson to Modern Nashville would be like trying to explain busking to Taylor Swift. Trying to explain a time before pitch-correction and singing live over recorded tracks. When idiosyncratic meant 'unique.'
Now? I honestly have no idea who is 'good.' Everybody sounds good. I don't have a clue how Faith Hill or Toby Keith would sound in a little club with a six hundred dollar Peavy Passport and a two hundred dollar guitar. I've heard folks who are awesome even like that, crowd noise and everything else thrown in. But everything from the Industry, including Nashville's new step-child, Americana, sounds perfect. Not a missed note, not a disturbing word.
So - what's good?. Today, a writer like Larry Jon, or Kristofferson, or Tony Joe White would be paired with an 'experienced' writer from one of the Nashville houses and in a short time they would no longer be unusual. Idiosyncratic. They would learn that seamless mix of writing 'like the pros,' using the best computer programs money can buy so they'd know exactly where to put the hook, where to use the money chord.
I don't prefer the 'old days.' When I lived and worked in Nashville in the 70s, people like Porter Waggoner and Milsap were cranking out disco albums. The Industry isn't new, or about to change, no matter how many old rockers are coming to Nashville to put out exciting new Americana CDs recorded in mono. All the gimmicks. I don't prefer the old days, but it's the excitement of hearing something that might take my breath away that keeps me going to the little clubs, to hear the lyrics that haven't yet been scrubbed behind the ears. To hear singer/songwriters who don't know the ropes, who don't care if the Industry would approve. It's enough of a struggle for little joints like I've always played in to come up with the protection money demanded by thugs from BMI and ASCAP (money that never trickles down to the working songwriter), keep the food fresh and the crowd happy.
I understand the power of the Music Industry. I might even admire it, just a little. But if it weren't for people like Larry Jon Wilson I would've stopped listening, and maybe playing, a long time ago.

Comment by Bertrand Tyler Wilson on December 29, 2011 at 8:03pm: I was also going to suggest that Mr.Hurt try smoking something other than that idiosyncratic dust. That stuff is creating some repetative I say I say some repetative flub. Ed your writing is not GOOD. It's very poor as is your musical taste. That's why it's perfect that folks like you are not in the room. God bless you. Cause you sho need Wilsoniz'n.Hey!!!! Can I by that albumin for 5?

Comment by Independent Music Promotions on January 18, 2012 at 3:59pm: 100 percent agree. Many seem to be lamenting the loss of something that only propped up an extremely low number of people in the first place...if the "industry" dies, we will continue creating and sharing music as we always have, and we'll do it in new and exciting ways.

Comment by Lucky Mud on January 18, 2012 at 6:10pm: Hey, IMP....

ain't life funny? Read Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano. Once we tear it down, we'll begin rebuilding it. Why? Hell if I know. Mike

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