Tim Harr
From:
Dunlap, Illinois
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Posted 15 Feb 2007 1:18 pm |
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Working for Music & Musicians:
Harold Bradley
"I've been trying to pull my history together," says Country Music Hall of Famer and AFM International Vice President Harold Ray Bradley, speaking from his president's desk at Local 257 (Nashville, TN) headquarters. "There's a wonderful record store in Nashville called The Great Escape. Whenever I'm in there, I end up spending about $100 buying some of my history back. It's nice to uncover a record on which I've played!"
It's difficult, says Bradley, to keep track of all the records his guitar, bass, and banjo have been used on since he started studio work in Chicago just after World War II. In fact, he can't even ballpark the number of songs he's recorded. "But I will say," he adds, "that if anyone thinks they've recorded more than me, I'll go halves on a count-off, and pay the full amount if I lose!"
A list of songs does usually accompany a Bradley biography. It's often a short list, representing a tiny percentage of his discography. The list, however, is impressive, and is used to prove how central Bradley, and the other Nashville session musicians collectively known as the A-Team, are to American popular music.
These records aren't just memorable tunes or big hits, they are iconic and timeless classics. Among them are "King of the Road" by Roger Miller, "Blue Velvet" by Bobby Vinton, "Stand by Your Man" by Tammy Wynette, and "Crazy" by Patsy Cline.
Local Successes
At the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) town hall meeting held in Nashville on December 11, 2006, Bradley and other venerable Nashville musicians explained to the commissioners that if the climate of radio competition had been the way it is today back in the '50s and '60s, some of those songs and artists would never have made it through the station door.
Bradley told the commissioners how Nashville artists and local radio stations once had a symbiotic relationship that helped make the city the capitol of country music that's today home to 80 record labels, 130 music publishers, 180 recording studios, and nearly 5,000 working musicians.
"As the recording industry became successful in Nashville, WSM radio station had an all-night show with DJs Eddie Hill, Ralph Emery, and Tex Ritter," recalled Bradley at the meeting. "Artists could bring in their latest recordings, do an interview, and almost always get their recordings played."
In fact, Loretta Lynn of Local 257 got her start by driving from station to station with her husband, Mooney, trying to convince local DJs to play her records. "They had a lot of hungry days," said Bradley, "but local successes eventually led to country stardom."
In other words, says Bradley, in the early days of Nashville there was a lot of free enterprise, which led to all that made Nashville what it became: musically diverse, culturally vital, and financially successful. By contrast, the deregulation the FCC proposes--even though deregulation is usually proposed in the spirit of free enterprise--would create a monopolistic climate that stifles cultural diversity.
Public Good
At the town hall meeting, Bradley cited the case of a Nashville-based artist whose album of traditional songs sold 80,000 units in several weeks and received ample airplay abroad. However, music directors of two Nashville radio stations owned by conglomerates declined to play his music.
"They told him the recordings on that album were top-notch, but their station owners only allow labels and songs from their national air list to be played," Bradley said. "What does it say about radio when a local musician, who wins artistic praise, can find an audience outside the country but not in his hometown?"
"Porter Wagoner [of Local 257] told the commissioners that under current conditions, Dolly Parton [of Local 257] wouldn't have been discovered," says Bradley, continuing his argument. "The question is always, how many Dolly Partons or Elvis Presleys are there strumming away, frustrated?"
"Indy labels can't compete, either," he adds. "It takes around $1 million to get a song out there now, and even then the radio companies won't guarantee air time. When he was his state's attorney general, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer cracked down on payola and Clear Channel fired its independent promoters, but what scam has replaced them?"
What we need, believes Bradley, is the kind of regulation that breaks up the monopolistic tendencies of radio conglomerates such as Clear Channel and Cumulus. These two companies alone own vast numbers of radio stations across the US and dominate Nashville with five stations.
"A handful of corporate owners have become the gatekeepers of the music industry regarding radio airplay," warns Bradley. "Local radio folks--assuming there are any--have little or no freedom to add new artists, local artists, or artists with recordings that don't fit into dominant formats."
Bradley concluded his address at the town hall meeting by reminding the commissioners of who actually owns the invisible infrastructure of radio waves: "It belongs to the public. We need ownership rules that promote localism, diversity, and the interest of our communities, not those designed to enhance the profits of corporations."
Ideas & Intros
If radio airplay consisted of national play lists and rigid formats in the heyday of Music Row (the Nashville recording neighborhood that began with Harold and his brother Owen Bradley's recording studios in 1955), Bradley's guitar work--much of it innovative and experimental--would have stood out like a sore thumb.
After all, some of the legends Bradley worked for were exactly the kind of crossover artists he says have difficulty breaking through today, such as Gene Vincent, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, or Willie Nelson of Local 433 (Austin, TX).
As the Federation's international vice president and president of Local 257, Bradley is concerned with the working conditions for professional musicians and especially conditions that have a chilling effect on their artistic and financial possibilities. The decline of radio localism has a chilling effect, but Bradley also cites the legal issue of copyright as another example.
"Another line of attack on the way music is produced comes from a recent UK copyright decision to do with the Procul Harem song 'Whiter Shade of Pale,'" explains Bradley. "The ruling gives substantial credit to a musician who had an idea to change the organ introduction. That is significant as it gives copyright control to musicians who contribute parts of a song, or a riff, or an idea." (See "Small Contribution, Big Settlement," page 4).
Of course, that's exactly what a session musician of Bradley's caliber is hired to do. Countless times, Bradley added an intro, a solo, a bass line, a bridge, or a middle eight that provided the spark that ignited a hit, turning a good song into a great song. One example often cited is his bass work on Pasty Cline's "Crazy."
"I've contributed ideas to thousands of songs," continues Bradley, and under the British ruling, he could possibly make a part claim to the copyright of all those songs. "But I'm not interested in this. Session musicians are hired to provide ideas and intros. We should be paid for radio airplay, special payments, neighboring rights, and New Use, which are contracts the Federation already takes care of."
Any Style
The British copyright ruling could have a chilling effect on studio musicians, believes Bradley, because they might not want to play anything outstanding for fear of causing trouble.
It's just another reason why a young session player should join the Federation, notes Bradley. Inside the union, they'll get the protection of professional contracts, the pension, and an advocate, such as the vastly experienced Bradley, to fight in their corner, both at home and on the national stage.
"Join the union" is just one piece of advice Bradley gives young musicians. "Another important skill is the ability to network, so they can keep finding work with the guys who have the accounts," he says.
Yet another skill is to have is the kind of versatility that saw Bradley, sometimes in one day, work with a country folk band, followed by a big band, followed by a rock 'n' roller, and then a country crooner.
"Whenever I went to a session, I'd have to take all this musical experience," remembers Bradley. "I'd also take along a car full of instruments--a bass, gut string guitar, three or four electrics, a banjo, some effects, so when I walked in I could play any style. Young session musicians should be able to play any style, keep an open mind, and try to learn from others."
Serious Fame
In a career that has many highlights, 2006 was something of a stand-out for Bradley. In August, he was celebrated as a "Nashville Cat" by the Country Music Hall of Fame. The same evening as this honor was given, the AFM presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Finally, in November he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Characteristically humble about all his honors, Bradley was particularly careful when receiving the Hall of Fame award to mention his colleagues in the A-Team whom he believes should all be elected to the Hall, such as Grady Martin and Hank Garland.
"I'm flattered to get into the Country Music Hall of Fame," says Bradley, "but I think that the whole of the A-Team--the 12 musicians who really carried Nashville for so many years--should be elected as one group. When I gave my speech at the award, I added other session players whom I think should be part of the A-Team. If they elected us a few at a time, it'd be 33 years to get us all in--they should do it all at once."
The awards have given Bradley a lot of press, and recognition that he is a "living legend." He hopes going forward this fame will enable him to do good for his Nashville local, and musicians in general.
"I think that I can continue to make a difference to musicians' lives," says Bradley, who shows no signs of retiring from his work as a union officer or a session musician. "I realize at the FCC hearings or whenever I talk to Congress that my résumé gets people's attention. I think of it as a prosaic document, and I never took my fame all that seriously, but now I feel I can use it to help others." |
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