Musicians Web pages - Nashville Musicians Association

24 The Nashville Musician October-December 2006
Recording
Musicians
Association
a.k.a. RMA’s
^ . . . Corner Dave Pomeroy, RMA President
By now, almost everyone who is not living
under a rock knows that technology is
changing our world at an ever increasing pace.
The Internet has forever changed the way that
the world gets its news, how it does business
and especially, how it entertains itself. New
business models are being developed every
moment of every day all over the world, and
any one of them could alter the landscape of
the music business forever.
The major record labels are owned by large
corporations who are frantically trying to figure
out how to turn these new technologies
into revenue to help them survive in a market
that has been invaded by TV, movies, DVDs,
videogames and many other forms of entertainment.
Do you think that these companies
care about the artists, musicians and
songwriters who create the music they sell?
They consistently don’t want to pay us
properly or include us in the “found money”
generated by these new technologies. I have
participated in every round of the latest Phono
Agreement negotiations, which have been
prolonged and often contentious, and unfortunately,
the end result is that we STILL do
not have a deal, even though we THOUGHT
we had a tentative agreement last May. Because
of this, the pay raises for Master and
Low Budget Scales that we negotiated for this
year have not taken effect. (Limited Pressing
and Demo Scales are local and set by Local
257.)
Assuming we can finally agree on terms,
the cumulative bump up in pay and pension
next year will be larger, but that won’t bring
back the lost wages and our share of the income
these new technologies are already
bringing in. Many of the issues that are unresolved
relate to the exploitation of “new media”
- Ringtones, ringbacks, and rates for audio
and video downloads. I have been trying
to stay on top of the latest developments, and
I can say cautiously that we ARE moving forward,
but at a much slower pace than I would
like to see.
Hopefully we will have good news to report
in the near future and an Agreement that
incorporates the new technologies in a way
that we can live with. These Agreements are
not perfect by any means, but they are still
the best protection we have against unauthorized
use of our work.
Something else that has come up this year
is a Videogame proposal from another Local
which allows videogame work to be done as
a “buy-out” at a scale that corresponds roughly
to our Demo scale. To make matters even
worse, this proposal would allow music made
for a videogame to be used for ANY other
purpose wihout any additional payments to
musicians who worked on the recording! It’s
not hard to imagine how a major artist could
record a “Soundtrack to a Videogame” and
subsequently decide to release it as an album
and/or license it for film or television work,
ALL WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL NEW
USE PAYMENTS!
This proposal is very short-sighted and
dangerous, and if adopted, could easily and
severely compromise, if not eliminate, New
Use and Re-Use payments and our participation
in the Phono and Film Special Payments
Funds. The RMA has offered our own very
fair and reasonable Videogame proposal that
is very well researched and preserves the New
Use and other payments that we deserve.
Rest assured, the RMA is doing all we can
to convince AFM Leadership to do the right
thing and reject any type of buy-out proposal.
It should be noted Local 257 President and
AFM Vice President Harold Bradley has supported
our “no buy-out” position in AFM
meetings on this issue. Thanks, Harold, and
congratulations from all of us on your selec-
tion as the first session player to enter the
Country Music Hall of Fame!
I wish that there was not a need for the
Recording Musicians Association. Those of us
who are fortunate enough to be in the position
of getting paid to do recording work are typically
too busy to keep an eye on the inner workings
of the AFM and its relationship with its
own members and with Industry. However, if
we don’t pay attention and keep working with
our heads in the sand, the rug can be pulled
out from under us in a heartbeat, and how and
why it happened won’t even matter.
For many years, the RMA has brought its
collective knowledge to the bargaining table
and helped protect our ability to make a living.
The RMA is a watchdog for the concerns
of recording musicians, which at times may
differ greatly from the majority of the AFM,
and even its leadership. While it is understandable
that those who do not “do what we do”
may have a different viewpoint on what our
important issues are, that single fact gives us
all the more reason for to stick together and
get involved. It is a healthy part of any decision
making process to have honest, knowledgeable
feedback and opinions on the issues
that affect us everyday, and that is what the
RMA brings to the AFM’s table.
If you are a recording or touring musician,
you should know that the RMA is working tirelessly
on YOUR behalf and protecting YOUR
rights. It’s easy to do nothing, and think that
as long as you are busy, everything is OK. The
reality is that NOW, more than ever, we have
to stand up for ourselves and speak with a unified
voice. The RMA is that voice and if you
are a member, you can help change OUR
Union for the better. It’s your future - Join the
RMA!
Musically Yours,
Dave Pomeroy
President - RMA Nashville
P.S. The long rumored RMA Nashville Directory
will be a reality next year. This will be
made available as an invaluable resource for
producers, publishers, and songwriters who
want to quickly locate the best of Nashville’s
recording musicians. Be sure and renew for
2007 early at so you
will be included!
Writer-musician-promoter
Tillman Franks dead at 86
Bassist-songwriter-manager Tillman
Franks died Oct. 26 in Shreveport, La., following
a long illness. He was in a hospice at
the time of his death.
Franks was well known in Shreveport, especially
during the historic KWKH-Louisiana
Hayride era, and was involved with the careers
of many of its earliest stars, among them Hank
Williams, Johnny Horton, Webb Pierce, Kitty
Wells, Johnnie & Jack, Red Sovine, Faron
Young, Claude King, Goldie Hill, Jim Reeves,
Slim Whitman, Elvis Presley and David Houston.
At one point, he led his own band the Rainbow
Valley Boys, and was with Pierce’s Southern
Valley Boys, where he was referred to by
the nickname “Radar.” He later managed
Pierce, who was soon signed to Decca Records
and onto WSM’s Grand Ole Opry program.
He was born Sept. 29, 1920 in Stamps,
Ark., and he was 2 years old when his family
moved to Shreveport. At 14, he taught himself
to play guitar. While attending suburban Byrd
High School, Tillman formed his first band,
the Rainbow Boys.
During World War II, Franks served with
distinction in the Army Air Corps, including
service on Saipan in the Pacific. While in the
military he also formed a band, this time in-
cluding fellow GI (and future folk star) Pete
Seeger as a key member.
When the Hayride premiered April 3, 1948,
Franks performed, playing bass for the Bailes
Brothers. In time, Tillman co-wrote Webb’s “If
Crying Could Make You Care,” Kitty Wells’
“How Far Is Heaven,” Claude King’s “The
Comancheros” and several for Johnny Hortom,
most notably “Honky Tonk Man,” “I’m a One
Woman Man,” “When It’s Springtime in
Alaska” and “Sink the Bismarck,” the latter
two #1 country singles that crossed over.
Franks served as manager for such key
artists as Claude King, Jimmy C. Newman and
Horton, with whom he was riding when a car
crash claimed Johnny’s life (Nov. 5, 1960).
As an artist himself, Franks charted Billboard
with two Top 30 tunes he co-authored:
“Tadpole” (1963, co-written with Merle
Kilgore) and “When the World’s On Fire”
(1964).
Mr. Franks is survived by his widow Virginia,
two daughters, two sons, eight grandchildren
and a great-grandchild.
Freddy Fender’s
fight finally over
Freddy Fender a.k.a. Baldemar Huerta
Cancer has claimed Tex-Mex icon Freddy
Fender, 69, who waged a courageous battle
against the deadly disease over the past several
years.
Fender, best known for his #1 million-selling
country cross-over singles “Before the
Next Teardrop Falls” and “Wasted Days and
Wasted Nights,” died at his home in Corpus
Christi, Texas, Oct. 14, with his manager-wife
Vangie Huerta by his side.
A veteran of hard knocks, Fender was
grateful on Jan. 24, 2002 that his daughter
Marla Garcia donated a kidney (transplant) for
him, helping to prolong his life. In 2004,
Fender had a successful liver transplant.
“Freddy was an icon for country music and
the American dream. While recording a duet
of ‘Before the Next Teardrop Falls’ with
Freddy this year, it was evident that he still
had the fire that burns in the belly of ‘true’
artists. It was the first time I have ever had
chill bumps in a studio. He was a champion
and a warrior and now he has become my
hero,” says singer Clay Walker in a prepared
statement. “Thank you my friend - save a spot
in heaven for me in your angel band.”
Born Baldemar Huerta, June 4, 1937, in
Benito, Texas, he was the son of immigrant
Mexican parents and grew up in a “Barrio,”
the term for a poor Hispanic neighborhood.
Baldemar worked side by side with his parents
in the fields during picking season in the
Rio Grande Valley, where he heard fellow laborers
entertaining themselves by singing.
Music became his life-long love, and at age
10 he won an amateur talent contest singing
“Paloma Querida” at the Grand Theater in
Harlingen. His prize was a tub-full of food (valued
at $10). He also sang “Paloma Querida”
when in 1947 he made his broadcast bow on
KGBT-Harlingen radio.
A decade later, he recorded in Spanish under
his real name for the Falcon and Mission
labels. Baldemar took time out to join the U.S.
Marine Corps in 1954, serving for three years.
As an artist, Huerta actually tried various
music styles, including country, conjunto,
rockabilly, R&B, playing under different stage
names, among them El Be-Bop Kid (1957),
Eddie Medina (1961) and Scotty Wayne
(1962). Then in the mid-1970s he returned to
the Anglicized Freddy Fender, a nom de plume
he utilized briefly in 1958, taking the surname
from the guitar he played, and “Freddy” be-
cause it flowed well with Fender.
It was in 1959, for Duncan Records in San
Antonio, that he first recorded his then-poporiented
cut “Wasted Days and Wasted
Nights” (which he co-wrote with label owner
Wayne Duncan). Early the following year, it
registered nationally after being picked up by
Imperial Records (home to such legends as
Fats Domino).
Arrested on a marijuana possession
charge, however, Huerta's career was sidelined
as he spent nearly three years of a five-year
sentence in Angola State Prison (1960-’63).
Country Music Hall of Famer Jimmie Davis,
then Louisiana Governor, helped Fender obtain
an early release. After being paroled,
Freddy did session recordings in New Orleans,
and also performed regularly at Papa Joe’s on
Bourbon Street.
From 1969 on, except for weekend gigs,
he dropped out of music professionally while
furthering his education at Del Mar College,
thanks to earned military benefits. During this
period, Freddy also became friends with Houston-based
producer Huey P. Meaux.
In 1974, he returned to the recording scene
to cut the Ben Peters-Vivian Keith ballad “Before
the Next Teardrop Falls,” on Meaux’s
Crazy Cajun label. Picked up by ABC/Dot,
the single charted country Jan. 11, 1975, and
shot to the top of the country chart March 15
(for two weeks), then also went #1 pop on May
31. It won the CMA Single of the Year award.
In turn, Fender was voted the Academy of
Country Music’s Best New Male Singer
(1975).
His signature was singing portions of the
lyrics in English and Spanish, which made
them seem all the more romantic to female
fans. As a result, Fender enjoyed a diverse fan
base, ranging from country to pop to Tejano.
Freddy’s follow-up single “Wasted Days
and Wasted Nights” also went #1 country on
Aug. 9, 1975, and peaked at #8 pop. Those
two country-pop hits earned Fender the trade
weekly Billboard’s Artist of the Year award, a
well-deserved honor because before the year
was out Fender hit #1 country again (Dec. 6)
with “Secret Love,” via his cover of the 1954
#1 Doris Day disc (his also hit Top 20 pop).
Indeed from 1975 thru ’79, Freddy’s
chartings were impressive, including another
#1: “You’ll Lose a Good Thing,” which
peaked pop at #32 in 1976.
Covers were his refuge as he scored with
his Top 10 version of “Since I Met You Baby,”
an Ivory Joe Hunter classic; followed by successes
on “The Wild Side of Life,” Hank
Thompson’s top seller; and “Vaya Con Dios,”
a #1 pop recording by Les Paul & Mary Ford.
Writer Ben Peters had furnished “Living
It Down,” yet another near-charttopper for
Fender in 1976; and producer Meaux encouraged
Freddy to cut Meaux’s “The Rains
Came” (#4, 1977), an earlier hit for Sir Douglas
Quintet.
On May 17, 1977, Freddy sang with Hank
Thompson, Roy Clark and Don Williams in a
performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall, recorded
live for ABC/Dot as “Country Comes
to Carnegie Hall.” His own solo #1 albums
were “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and
“Are You Ready For Freddy” in ’75. That
same year he had a Top 10 LP “Since I Met
You Baby.” Other Top Five albums: “Rock
’n’ Country,” “If You’re Ever in Texas” and
“The Best of Freddy Fender.”
Fender is heard on the 1982 soundtrack for
the Jack Nicholson film “The Border,” and
appeared in the Robert Redford 1988 movie
“The Milagro Beanfield War.”
Freddy and friends Flaco Jimenez, Doug
Sahm, and Augie Meyers became The Texas
Tornados in ’90, earning a best performance
Grammy for their Latino recording, “Soy de
San Luis.” In 1998, he, Sahm and Jimenez
joined Joe Ely, Cesar Rosas, Ruben Ramos
and David Hidalgo as the Los Super Seven,
and another Grammy was awarded for the new
group’s self-titled album debut (1999).
Climaxing an amazing comeback era,
Fender was honored with yet a third Grammy
in ’02, for a solo effort “La Musica de
Baldemar Huerta,” featuring him paying homage
to the songs he heard while growing up.
(Continued on page 35)