{"id":6803,"date":"2025-01-03T14:19:51","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T14:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=6803"},"modified":"2025-01-09T14:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T14:13:05","slug":"issue-159-tom-wilson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=6803","title":{"rendered":"Issue #159 \u2013 Tom Wilson"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unheeded in the archives of \u201960s popular culture, TOM WILSON was the producer behind the era\u2019s most daring artists, and the best-known overdubbing session of all time. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But behind his lightning-in-a-bottle work with Dylan, Zappa, Simon & Garfunkel and The Velvet Underground lies a treasure trove of delights from Burt \u2018Robin\u2019 Ward to Soft Machine. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In this article extract, SE\u00c0N CASEY sets the scene<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

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Credit: Charlie Steiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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A Texas native, Wilson was imposing in stature (<\/span>six-foot four), urbane in character. His career began at Harvard University. \u201cI was president of the jazz society there and began to meet some of the musicians. We sponsored one of Dave Brubeck’s earliest concerts. I did interviews with Charlie Parker and others, and we recorded Herb Pomeroy, Serge Chaloff and some more. We started to can programmes, and that’s where I learned radio and recording technique.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After graduating, he launched Transition Records, a jazz label that became home to artists including Sun Ra and Donald Byrd. When it folded in 1957, he moved to United Artists and then Savoy, before joining Columbia as an in-house producer where he was assigned to folk revival poster boy Bob Dylan. \u201cI’d been recording Sun Ra and Coltrane, and I thought folk music was for the dumb guys,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThis guy played like the dumb guys. But then these words came out. I was flabbergasted. I said to Albert Grossman, who was there in the studio, \u2018If you put some background to this you might have a white Ray Charles with a message.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n