This is later with Lee Matthews the Lee Matthews Podcast more what You Hear weekday
afternoons on the Drive and looking forward to talking to this guy because I think
I owe a good deal of my career to him and his record company,
Rhino Records. You may not know the name, but it is synonymous for
reissues of many of the oldies that we remember that came back into vogue in
the eighties and nineties. Harold Bronson has written a memoir about his adventures not
only doing that but in rock and roll history. Time has come today and
he's joining us today. I gotta tell you, Harold, if it weren't
for you back when I was playing these reissued oldies, I don't think I
would have had a career. Well, thank you for the compliment. You
know, the music was always really important to us, and this started when
we had our record store. It was just you know, a little record
store. We got a lot of uh collectors, and but we also had
a good relationship with our customers and uh, you know, we're really attuned
to you know, reissuing this great music. But this was you know,
way before we were able to do it. Yeah. Yeah, And so
how did it all start for you? I mean, it just didn't.
You didn't just wake up one day and say, yeah, I think I'm
on to start a record company. You were you initially were writing about all
of these artists. Well, really what happened is I was at U STL.
I was writing for the UCLA paper. I was good enough to actually
make money writing about music for Rolling Stone and some of the rock magazines.
I was a college rep for Columbia Records my last year, and I was
really primed. I wanted to I wanted to work for one of the major
labels. For whatever reason, that didn't happen. Well, even though I
was, you know, working at a Rhino store and became manager. I
said to Richard, who became my partner in the label, I said,
oh, you know, let's start a record label in the back room.
You know, we could have fun with it. But originally we were recording
novelty records because you could make them really cheaply, and this would be like
you know, Alan Sherman and you know, and and you know, much
later we're down yank of it. So for people who have a reference to
what novelty records are, and then local bands which unfortunately radio didn't really support.
So ultimately it evolved over to when we made at least enough money,
we started reissuing this great music that we grew up with, that we loved,
that in many cases wasn't available, No, it was out of print.
And then there was the new technology that had come along, the digital
technology, So reissuing some of this stuff meant you had to do some homework.
I did. Well, this is way before digital. See you have
to remember in the late seventies, the record companies were valivating over multi platinum
martis like Sweetwood Mac and Michael Jackson. So you know, for us to
sell ten thousand of the best of the Spencer Davis group, I mean,
you know, they can get out of bed for it. I mean really
yeah, by the way, I mean you know, it's we just really
loved this music and we just felt it should be available. But for when
labels had some of this out, it was how could we squeeze profits out
of this older music? How can we make a few more dollars? And
for us, it wasn't that at all. It was you know, let's
track down some rare photos for the cover, let's have informative liner notes,
and in some cases we were able to make make the music sound better and
when they originally came out. Let me give you one example. At one
point we made a deal with Barnaby Records for the early Everly Brothers. We
were able to use the first generation tape, and we found out that the
you know, the old releases were maybe second or third generation, so our
Everly Brothers or are Beau Brummels, they actually sounded better than the original reporting
were these four track two track what the masters? We didn't remix the masters,
and these were the I mean, the way it would work as the
first generation masters. Then if they had two or three pressing plants in other
parts of the country, they would make a second generation tape and those other
places. So that's kind of how that's why the first generation tapes weren't used
back. His name is Harold Bronson and he is co founder of Rhino Records.
But he's written all about his adventures in rock and roll history as time.
Time has come today as the name of the Rock and Roll Diaries.
In nineteen sixty seven to two thousand and seven. Along the way, you
established a lot of great relationships. Yeah, well probably, I mean Initially
it was the Turtle because they had gotten their master's back and we did a
whole reissue on the whole catalog. But they were still Mark Howard I shuld
be Howard Kalin and Mark Bohman smart guys, fun guys. I would say
some of the most fun I had was hanging out with them in working on
these projects. Like you know, Howard told me about the Turtles playing the
White House. They were the first rock band and played the White House,
so they were like a Trician Nixon's favorite band. But it wasn't just playing
the White House. It was like, you know, everything that they were
talking about, like snorting cocaine on Abraham Lincoln's desk and Mark getting drunk and
faring off stage four or five times. I mean, it was, you
know, there's really great stories. So but probably the best experience was with
the Monkeys because we were big Monkeys stands and we went through the whole catalog.
But also it related to reissuing and doing the box set of TV show.
It resulted in the H one movie it's called Daydream Believers. So the
idea was our passion as fans propelled us to create more as it relates to
some of these artists where we could along the lines of the monkeys. Did
you cross paths with Don Kirshner, Yes, a character not totally honest in
our brief experience with him. But I'll give you one. I've heard that
before, Harold, and I've heard that before about him. Go ahead,
So here's a Don Kershner story that he told us. We a few of
us went out to took him out to dinner. He was saying, he
was telling us how Bobby Darren grit his name where they were, you know,
walking down the street and there was a Chinese restaurant with the sign that
was half down and it was Mandarin. So the part of the sign that
remained was dar I N. And that's where he got his name from.
Ah, I didn't realize that at all. Excellent, we're talking to Harold
Bronson. His memoir time has come today, Rock and Roll Diaries nineteen sixty
seven to two thousand and seven. And this was also at a time when,
yeah, the record industry of the big old piles of cocaine on desks
was was quite a thing. Yes, well, I think probably fortunately I
didn't see that, but again, there you know this isn't This isn't so
much a book about you know, sex and drugs. It's more rock and
roll and the stories behind the hits and in some cases you know what they
were like as people. But you know there's some drug stuff in there.
Herbie Flowers was a notable session musicians and then he played on a lot of
hit records, a lot of you know, playing Beatles solo records, but
on Diamond Dawg and he was talking about, you know, the mountains of
cocaine that the producer Tony Visconti and David Bowie, you know, which were
part of those the sessions. So you know some of that, you know,
filter's in, but you know, it's more about stories behind the hits
and the music and the creation and in some cases what they were like as
people. Where I had, you know, a longer relationship that has some
insights. So what would it be like to hang out? Was Peter Noon
for Herman's Hermits or one of the special stories is we did a special Platinum
Awards ceremony with the Monkeys and I rode with all four monkeys and the limos
of the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant, you know in Los Angeles. But they
had got together, and the four of them hadn't been together in six years,
So what was it like to be on a fly on the wall in
that limit. And what's interesting about it wasn't like, oh, here's a
business meeting, we have to talk business and it's serious. It wasn't that
at all. It was they were just relaxed and enjoying each other's company.
And it was just really, you know, nice to see that, and
also, you know, to see them you know, they actually liked each
other. Harold Bronson is the author of the book It Is Time Has Come
Today, Rock and Old Diaries nineteen sixty seven to two thousand and seven.
He was co founder of Rhino Records. The book is out everywhere, and
if you love the behind the scenes stuff about this like I do, you'll
love this book. Harold Bronson, thank you for joining us and for bringing
us the story. Thank you, leg Thanks for listening to Later with Lee
Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live
weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia Presentation