WEBVTT - Seymour Stein 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:08.400 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Bob Left Sets podcast, recorded 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:13.040 live here high in the Hollywood Hills. My guest today 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:17.079 is truly a legend, seymour Stein. An amazing thing is 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.200 coming into the house of his daughter is all the photographs. 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.799 If you are a fan of rock history, he's got 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:27.639 a photo collage of the Stones so young. For a 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:31.920 second you're not sure it's them, including another photo with 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:36.800 the Ramons and David Bowie and the Talking Heads. It's 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:39.960 really just incredible now having read your book, not that 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.000 we need to advertise your book, but people should read 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:47.360 your book. Sirens Song. You talk about Thanksgiving where Elton 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.840 John is gonna play Madison Square Garden and John Lennon 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.320 has scenes with him that night. How does everybody end 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.920 up in your apartment? Well, Elton was staying with me. 0:00:56.120 --> 0:01:00.840 I mean Elton got for a period of time, got 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:05.200 disgusted with hotels because people were always you know, you know, 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:07.640 attacking him. I don't mean in a bad way, but 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:11.679 they wouldn't leave him alone. Um. I go way back 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:16.480 with Elton and and and my my wife really went 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.320 out of her way always to accommodate him and everything. 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:22.680 And we had a big apartment right on Central Park West, 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:27.760 and he stayed there several times. Um, and he actually 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:33.720 wrote some of his songs in that apartment. Yeah whatever, Oh, 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:39.520 let me think, Um, I think maybe I'll think of 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:45.280 it later. But and what I do remember is that 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.440 my older daughter, who was about two years old then 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.920 she heard the song, came pounding away at it so 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.800 much that she uh wound up, you know, singing it 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.760 at such a young age. It was. It was incredible. 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.200 But he stayed there many times. And he was staying 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:07.880 there over Thanksgiving and he said, look, the boys, you 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:11.320 know the band so the English you know, Richard Griffith's 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:13.399 manager of One Direction, many other things. What he says 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.119 In England they refer to the band as the Boys. Yeah, 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.799 well he said, he said, the boys are very nervous 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:24.600 about working with John Lennon. Tonight. He said, do you 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.320 think we could come? They could come over to the 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:33.760 house and uh, you know, just maybe have a Thanksgiving dinner. 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:39.200 And my wife's father was a Kosh caterer and uh 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:44.120 he made the most fantastic, you know, turkey dinner for everybody. 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:48.120 They watched the parade, they calmed down and you know 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:54.680 then um Elton and I walked over to the Dakota, 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.560 which was three blocks away on Central Park West, and 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:03.040 John was living at made Panglin and then uh he 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.400 came back to the house, and uh, you know it 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:08.840 was it was a great thrill. I mean I had 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:12.480 met him before. But okay, you meet John John Lennon, 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:16.720 Are you nervous around John Lennon? No? So what I 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:18.680 mean by that is you can act normally, but are 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:21.880 you somewhat star struck? This is this is the pinnacle 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:28.120 of rock stardom. Well, I wouldn't be starved. I mean, look, 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:32.160 they were stars, they were great, you know I I 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:34.680 I was more star struck when I met Fats Domino. 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:36.680 If you want to know the truth, when did you 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:41.320 meet Fats? Uh? Several times in New Orleans? And uh, 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:43.640 I took him to dinner, a lunch, a couple of 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.480 times at the Commander's Palace and things like that. Meeting 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:51.720 little Richard, I mean, you know, little recent You're you're 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:56.440 about at least ten years younger than day. So, um, 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.920 you know you would you would relate more to the 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.360 Beatles and the Rolling Stones and stars. I spent a 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:06.400 lot of time with the Rolling Stones. In fact, I 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.600 was with them the night of the that first big 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:12.880 blackout in New York with Andrew Oldham was still a 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.800 very very dear friend. Did you ever interview him? He yeah, 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.560 I did. Oh he's a good friend. I went to 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.599 fascinating Oh yeah, he's his wife is great, two great people. 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.320 So um, I was with them the night of the 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.120 We didn't know it was going to be a blackout, 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:33.040 but it was. And uh, yes, exactly, and it was 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:35.480 their first I think it was their first time over. 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:43.200 So um. And uh, you know, um, Frankly I was 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.560 more a rolling Stone guy than uh. That's how he's 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:50.280 had the battle on w ABC every Saturday night. But 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:55.039 but but you know, I think it's the people that 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:59.440 your star struck with when you're very young. And uh, 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.200 I I wasn't all that I wasn't old, but I 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.200 wasn't all that that young. To me. It was the 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.720 rhythm and blues artists, and you know Hank Williams, who 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.600 of course I never got to me. He was long 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.920 gone before that. But those are those are the people 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.159 studying with your point that I'm a decade younger than you. 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:23.359 It seemed to me that the Beatles were really a 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:27.400 transformation explosion. With your perspective, do you just see them 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:30.080 as another band in the continuum or do you see 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.279 that as a turning point. Of course, there are many 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:36.599 turning points. I mean, and they were. They were a 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.560 big turning point. Okay, So let's go back to me. 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:44.080 You're from Brooklyn, absolutely, Benjamin, and your father does what 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.320 for a living? He works in the garment center. He 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.720 was in charge of the show room, you know, you know, 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:55.040 the buyers would come up and uh look over the 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:59.880 the you know, the items and decide what to order 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.560 and how many and all of that. And so he 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.039 would just show things, he would sell them to No. No, 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:10.000 he I don't think he I don't think he sold. 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:13.040 But no, he just he worked there. He was it 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:15.520 was not okay, and he was not his company. And 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:19.000 he was born where in the United States, on the 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.320 lower reast side. He grew up on a street called 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.520 Sheriff Street. And his parents were from the Old Country, 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.000 as we said, Yes, and my mother's parents were from 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:34.960 the Old Country to um you know, and you know, okay, 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:40.720 so they were first generations Americans. You're growing up. Uh. 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.200 It seems like if you when read your book, that 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:46.680 you're the prince. You're like the you know, the the 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:50.080 star of the family. Hands off, you gotta treat you right. 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:53.680 I see more sisters in the room, and she's a 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:59.000 little older and she's not a yes. Well you know, um, 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:05.000 I my parents were quite strict, but they also, um 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:09.400 you know, I think at a certain point they realized 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:12.560 that was different, and uh they kind of let me 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.520 have my way. I mean I think that's what. Yeah, 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:22.200 So how would you characterize this difference. Well, look, I 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.160 was born with a hole in my heart, and so 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:29.520 I didn't play sports. Um, and I found other ways 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:33.880 to you know, occupy my you know, my time. I 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:40.720 collected stamps, uh, actually collected bottle caps and all different 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:45.160 kinds of things. But um, you know, but when I 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.400 first heard music, and it's thanks to my sister because 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:52.080 we had a two bedrooms small apartment, you know, and 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.400 uh we shared a bedroom, which I'm sure was not 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:59.560 easy for her. And uh but that's the first music 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.680 I really heard was on her radio. Okay, this is 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:06.400 in the fifties, no going back before that. Okay, so 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:09.800 this is before the era of transistor radios. Oh yeah, 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.040 these were no way. Yes, So there's a big console 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.880 radio it's not a big one, but you know, I 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:20.440 would say, Okay, he's demonstrating something about you know, ten 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.840 by five and so and so. What music were you 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.600 hearing on the radio? Well? Uh, pop music for the 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:31.640 most part. Uh. And every Saturday I would rush home 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.480 from the synagogue to listen to Martin Block in the 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:39.120 crystal studio of the Make Believe Ballroom. It's make Believe 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:42.400 Ballroom time, you know. And he would play the top 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:48.880 pop hits and uh, you know I I would write 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.920 them down. I mean, thank god my father didn't walk 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.800 in the room with shabbis, but you know, and keep 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:59.400 track of of of all of what was going on. 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:03.040 And um, was this a solo pursuit? Were your parents 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:07.560 playing records or in My parents didn't play that. Annie did. 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:12.120 My sister did, but we had a phonograph and uh, 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.720 she had records and uh, I mean and of course 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:21.400 later on I started buying records. This is but since 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:24.200 you're such a passionate fan, do you remember the first 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:31.640 record you bought? I think it might have been Uh, 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.680 I can't say for sure. It might have been Shaboom 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:39.360 by the Chords, you know, Um that I've got fifty 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:45.040 four Um, and um, maybe I think earlier, I mean 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:52.040 even even than that. Um, but I do remember, you know, 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.680 I remember, you know, running to a record store and 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.640 I wasn't supposed to run when I was walked. This 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.920 is my later This is nineteen fifties six. Um. I 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:08.280 was walking down the street and uh dah road where 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:11.840 I lived, and uh, I heard this song coming out 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.760 of the wind window and you know, it sounded like 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:20.959 Elvis Presley, Don't be cruel, you know, and I quoted 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.760 it to the girl who lived up there. You know, 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.599 her name was a Uh. You remember there was the 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:33.200 first house, uh, after the six family houses. I said, 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.520 what is that? What is it? Says that's the new 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:38.680 Elvis Presley record. I said, no, it's not. The new 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.840 record is hound Dog? And he said no, this is 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:47.280 the other side. And I had money in my pocket. 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:51.520 The record store was about nine blocks away. It was 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:55.000 actually a TV repair shop and they stuff sold some 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:59.320 records in their drags TV and uh, I ran there 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:03.880 and I got the last copy. Pretty astounding. I mean, 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:06.520 that was ahm, It's definition of a hit. You're lying 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:10.360 in bed listening to the radio at midnight and you 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:12.320 gotta get up, take off your pajamas and run to 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.319 the all night record store just to buy that record. No, 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:17.280 what's at midnight? I know, but you're living? I mean 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:21.040 that was his you know aphorism. Yea. So at what 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.559 point in your listening career do you say to yourself, 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:27.400 I think this is my passion, this is what I 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.119 want to do for a living, if at all? Well, uh, 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:36.320 I think it happened quite by accident. Um. I I 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:40.080 had the books, you know, starting with about nine fifty 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:43.880 that I kept, and then I wanted to go backwards. 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:47.400 So I went up to Billboard and uh, a little 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.920 bit slower. You just you find Billboard? How from? You 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.520 look it up in the phone book? No, I Billboard. 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.240 Martin Block was always talking about bill Board, he was 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.120 that was where he was playing the music from. So 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.040 I looked it up. They were in the Palace Theater 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:05.959 building and I went up there a seventh floor and 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:09.920 I said, look, is there any way I can get 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:15.320 access to the old charts there? So um, he said, well, 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.640 I'll ask the chart at it to come out, you know. 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:21.400 And that was tom Noon in a fabulous person. I 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.560 knew Tommy. I never realized he went back that far 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.640 reading your book it kind of started me. But and 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.480 he made a space for me, gave me a desk, 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.319 and he kept bringing out the bound volumes. There was 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:36.280 you know, I had to write it all down. There 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:38.719 was no way of So your goal in doing this 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:43.160 was what going you know, going back in time, you know, 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.040 so that I'd know more about the past. But what 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.079 if you could write them down, but you couldn't necessarily 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.800 hear them. It's not like but but you know, no, 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.720 I couldn't necessarily hear them. But some of those some 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:58.800 of the songs were familiar to me by then, you know. 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:02.920 And uh, but the main thing that what happened was 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:07.200 it brought me into the heart of the music district. 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:12.120 All the indies were very much around that area. Three 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.559 of the majors were close by. So for those who 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:19.319 were not around then, the legend is the Brill Building. Yes, 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.360 close by, close by, but the Brill Building was more 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.000 for publishers. But there were a few record companies in there. 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.880 It's a misnoma. But sixteen fifty was all a lot 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:35.640 of little record companies and yeah, and uh yeah, sixteen 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:40.360 fifty Broadway and then I mean King Records had a 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.960 place on fifty four Street, and you know, high Wise 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:47.640 with old Town Records and the old old you know, 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:51.320 the smaller labels where their Jubilee was a great little 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:55.479 label and they were all, you know, within that vicinity. 0:13:55.640 --> 0:14:00.680 And I realized, you know what am I gone ackwards for? 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:07.080 I should be going forward? And Billboard Paul Ackerman was 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:10.760 so nice to meet. Paul Ackman was the editor music 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.280 editor for forty years. And you also in your books 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.360 say that he was a mention an educated guy. Oh, 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.520 he was very much an educated guy. But he loved music, 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:26.920 and you know, he's he was the first journalist to 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.240 be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:32.320 There are only two jan when as the other and 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:37.440 you know, but Paul, Paul was very nice to me. 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.960 And he used to say, look, uh, somebody specialist coming 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:47.120 to our review session tonight and now a Billboard review 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.560 back then before you go there. So the first day 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.040 you go and you meet Tommy noon in and usual desk. 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.360 How frequently are you going to Billboard? If this as 0:14:55.400 --> 0:15:00.480 as frequently as he could that twice a week, you know, 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:06.120 and uh, you know, and uh, you know, and one 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.560 time or twice he said, you know, if you're not 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:12.680 doing anything over the weekend, I can get you access 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.880 to it so you can spend the whole day here. 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.320 And uh I did that as well. This was after 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:20.480 I got to know him. I whether I know where 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.440 the bound volumes were, I would pick them out myself, 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.640 you know. I mean, uh, you know, Billboard goes back 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:29.680 to the eighteen hundreds. I mean, but they didn't have Jog. 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:34.880 I didn't go back that fall. But you know, but 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:42.960 a Billboard review, a favorable review, a spotlight, could mean 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:47.640 as many as seventy five thousand records being sold by 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.760 a new artist, you know. I mean if it was 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:54.480 not Cole or Sinatra or Patty Page or you know, 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:58.400 somebody like that, Um, you know they would but they 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:00.640 know what to buy. But if there was a new 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:04.800 record by a new artist, uh, they looked at a 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:09.920 Billboard review. And the you know, the charts was so 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:16.680 slow in those days that you know, the droukebox operators 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:22.440 would buy upwards of seventy five thousand records based on 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:28.000 a Billboard a really strong Billboard review. And that's why 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.720 all the indies went up there, you know, and prayed 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:32.680 they could get, you know, a review. And that's how 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.800 I met, said Nathan, that's how I met Lennon Chess. Uh. 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:40.360 Uh and many many other of the are you telling 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.680 a story? And I was interrupting you and you said, uh, 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.760 either Tommy or Paul invited you to review meeting. Oh 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:50.480 he not to review. No, they invited me to attend 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.800 and give comments, you know as well. And that's where 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.560 and the uh that was done on a Wednesday night. 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:05.200 Uh and uh. Billboard had do bills at hotels because 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.479 they put in free advertising and got rooms and so 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:12.440 I actually, you know, I would go to school Thursday 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:16.160 morning from New York. You know, I'm take the West 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:20.640 End to Lafayette, the West End line, so um, it 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:24.520 was fabulous. And my parents, you know, by that time, 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.639 you know, they either they washed their hands with me 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:30.800 or that you know, they saw that there was no 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.920 minimum college for you. Well, no, they they they wanted 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:37.200 me to go to college. And I didn't give up 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.720 on college until the very very end. I mean, I 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:46.600 mean right after I graduated high school. I even investigated 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:51.000 going to school for journalism, and then Billboard offered me 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:53.840 a full time job and I said, look, I can 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.720 learn more here, you know, And I became Tom's assistant 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.040 with the charts and Paul, let me do a few 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:06.040 reviews of shows and uh, you know, but you must 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:13.440 have been thrilled. Thrilled us, Oh, thrilled, isn't the word beyond? Okay? 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:16.840 So then ultimately a turning point your story as you 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:19.359 meet Sid Nathan. Yes, I met him at one of 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:23.919 those billboard review sessions. Okay. So they would let record 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:26.679 owners come in and picture the records. Yes, of course, 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:31.840 you know, and I mean sometimes they were influenced by that. 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:34.080 I think, I don't know. I think in the end 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.080 it was really the record and I mean I think 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:41.879 most of them, you know, uh, you know, brought really 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:45.840 what they really really believed and because they didn't want to, 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:51.119 uh you know, waste billboards time. So how do you 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:56.959 ultimately established relationship with Sid? Well, he invited everyone out 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:02.439 for dinner after the session, and you know, I was 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:07.359 invited along and we started talking and you know, and 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:11.520 he said, look, you know, do you have many of 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:13.560 my records? I said, I have a few of them, 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:17.200 King records. He said, well, you know, come by my 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.720 my office, you know, when you can, and I'll give 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:23.880 you whatever you want, you know, And I did, And 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:27.800 that's how it all started. And then um, I kept 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.080 seeing him when he came to New York and uh, 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:35.280 then he invited me out to stay with his family 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:39.359 in Cincinnati, and he said, you'll really learn the music 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.040 business if you if you come out here, and believe me, 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:45.439 I did. I mean it was okay. So for those 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:46.879 people don't know, give us a little bit of a 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:52.439 make on sid Nathan Well King Records, Uh was based 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:56.680 in Cincinnati. He started it, and uh, it was one 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.440 of the biggest rhythm and blues companies. I would put 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.879 it up there with certainly with Atlanta, you know, Atlantic 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:05.040 and Chess. I would say was one of the three 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:10.400 most important R and B companies. But also they had 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:16.840 a very strong country roster and they were the biggest 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:21.440 indie in country music at the time. Star Day started 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:25.640 a few years later, and uh, you know, but King 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:30.200 was always bigger than So you go to Cincinnati. I mean, 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:32.880 most New Yorkers after they've been in New York really 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.280 can't live anywhere else. So what's it like going to Cincinnati. 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:40.280 It was very interesting, actually, Um, I mean I stayed 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:44.560 in this house and um, you know, I learned so 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:49.480 much those two I did it for two summers, and uh, 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:52.720 I learned so much. They weren't It wasn't a whole summer. 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:57.960 Was about three weeks each time. And I mean he 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:04.160 had me doing everything in the factory, including pressing records, 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:10.919 which scared me to death. Um and uh playing. I 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.359 spent a lot of time in the studio, which I loved. 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:17.000 They had a first class studio with an incredible engineer 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:23.280 and so um and they had great a and Almond, 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:26.480 I mean one of the greatest of all, Henry Glover 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:31.000 and uh, but many other Sonny Thompson and people like that. 0:21:31.080 --> 0:21:35.879 But um, it was it was like being in heaven. 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:39.720 You know, who owns the king Assets today? Oh God, 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:44.240 I'm not sure. It's passed through so many maybe Universal 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.760 I I don't know. I hope they're using them properly 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.520 whoever owns them. But at least they're available for people 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:54.760 to listen to online. Yeah, so okay, So you do 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:57.440 that for a couple of summers, and then what's your 0:21:57.480 --> 0:22:03.679 next thought. Well, then I was graduating, you know, high school, 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:09.520 and decided to get to take a full time position 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:11.879 at Billboard, which I did for about two and a 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:15.760 half years. And Sid said to me, look, he said, 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:19.520 do you want to be on the sidelines and stay 0:22:19.560 --> 0:22:21.919 at Billboard or do you want to be a player. 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:25.080 You should be a player, he said, I'll give you 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:28.680 a job out here in Cincinnati. I'll help you find 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:31.959 an apartment. Until you can find an apartment. You know, 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:36.439 you can stay with with us, and you know, and 0:22:36.520 --> 0:22:40.320 so I came out to Cincinnati, and that, you know, 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:46.760 was great. I mean everything. I mean that I just 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:50.560 lucked out with everything. You know, Well, you know, what's 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:53.160 the cliche. You make your own luck. So they must 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:55.960 have seen something in you, Yes, I guess, And there's 0:22:55.960 --> 0:22:58.840 an opportunity. So you work for sid and how do 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:03.400 you move on from there? Well, her baby, I don't 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:04.960 know if that name is. I know that is one 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:08.119 of the original founders of Atlantic Records. He was the 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:11.119 original founder and uh, you know, I'm it learned a 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:14.920 lot from him. But it was a dentist right, yes, yes, 0:23:15.040 --> 0:23:18.359 And you don't want to go there, but I gotta 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:21.960 go there now, perhaps to cease the long times. What 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:25.320 does that mean? He used to write prescriptions for himself 0:23:25.320 --> 0:23:31.160 for cocaine. We'll take a quick break and come back 0:23:31.200 --> 0:23:39.040 with more of my conversation with Seymour Stein. I love 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:43.439 getting together with music industry legends like seymour and hearing 0:23:43.520 --> 0:23:46.680 the history of their careers in the business. I love 0:23:46.720 --> 0:23:49.680 getting to the heart of someone's story, whether the famous 0:23:49.680 --> 0:23:54.000 performer or manager, or record label executive or you. This week, 0:23:54.400 --> 0:23:57.000 seymour Stein tells us about his journey to the top 0:23:57.000 --> 0:24:00.359 of the record business. Previously, if we talked with artists 0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:04.320 like Cascade Moby and Shirley Manson of Garbage. Whether you 0:24:04.440 --> 0:24:06.480 come for the music, or you come for the business, 0:24:06.560 --> 0:24:08.840 or you come for the personal be the first to 0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:11.960 hear next week's episode by subscribing to the podcast on 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:15.960 tune in Apple wherever you listen to your podcast. While 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:19.439 you're there, Please be sure to rate and review. Okay, 0:24:19.560 --> 0:24:23.480 let's get back to my conversation with seymour Stein. Well, 0:24:23.480 --> 0:24:27.480 the legend is that Herb gave m At the money 0:24:27.520 --> 0:24:30.520 to start Atlantic. Is that true? I don't know. I 0:24:30.560 --> 0:24:35.399 would I wouldn't. I wouldn't think that Ahmed had some money. 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:41.080 Am came from Ahmed and his brother necessary Um had 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:45.439 money because their father was quite wealthy. Their father was 0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:52.080 second to at a turk in Turkey, and he when 0:24:52.200 --> 0:24:56.000 when they dissolved the Ottoman Empire, and you know, he 0:24:56.640 --> 0:25:00.360 sent Ahmed's father first to be the ambassad at all, 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:05.600 the Turkish ambassador in the Netherlands, then France, then England. 0:25:06.160 --> 0:25:08.679 And when it all happened for Amaan Nessuay, he was 0:25:08.680 --> 0:25:12.000 when they sent them to be the American ambassador, and 0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:15.879 they discovered jazz and rhythm and blues and it blew 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:20.280 their minds. And I would imagine there was there was 0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:23.520 money in the Errigan family. I mean, I don't know, 0:25:24.200 --> 0:25:29.920 um and but Herb, to be fair, was a much 0:25:30.000 --> 0:25:34.399 more accomplished, uh in the music business. I mean he 0:25:34.480 --> 0:25:39.160 had had, you know, a success at other labels and uh, 0:25:39.200 --> 0:25:43.800 you know, but I I know nothing about that, but 0:25:43.920 --> 0:25:48.560 I know that, you know, it was in the beginning. 0:25:50.000 --> 0:25:53.240 It was herban on it, you know. And so anyway, 0:25:53.880 --> 0:25:57.040 her now, by the time I met Herb, he was 0:25:57.080 --> 0:25:59.920 way down on his luck. He had a little label 0:26:00.800 --> 0:26:06.919 and you know, SID Distribute was distributing labels at that point. 0:26:06.960 --> 0:26:08.920 He was very early into that. Just to be clear, 0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:12.159