An Artist that went too soon

It was almost thirty years ago. An attorney friend of mine asked me to take a listen to a singer/songwriter that he was helping out pro bono, that needed a manager. I just came off from a cautionary tale of my own as a manger who worked for two years to get a band a recording contract, only to see them replace me when they signed the agreement. Just another tale in the zillions of stories out there in the music business. Although I felt horrible from this experience, I was young enough to bounce back and still had the energy flowing through my veins to make a mark in the industry. So I said, what the fuck...let me check this guy out. So I head down to this shithole on the west side of NYC called SNAFU. A dive...truly. I met my attorney friend there and we sat down to wait for the artist to get on stage. A few minutes later, this guy walks over to the grand piano on the stage, sits down and starts playing. It was just him, no other players accompanying him. From the first few notes, I had that visceral reaction. I knew something great was happening. I sat through the set mesmerized. After the show I went backstage (if that's what you call it), and was introduced to him by my attorney. I shook his hand and said "I don't want to pressure you, but I would like to take you into the studio tomorrow night or the next night and just do some live demos. Would that be ok?" He said "Wow, yes!". So I did just that. I took him to a studio called Right Track where a young, new engineer was just learning the ropes, and he did our session. We probably laid down around 12 songs or so, and did a rough mix onto a cassette tape. One for the artist, one for me. I listened on my ride home later that night and was blown away. Early the next morning, around 7am, I got a phone call from the artist. He was listening to the cassette on his headphones and he was loving every minute of it. None of you would know this artist. His name is Don Yowell. A few weeks ago marked the 25th anniversary of Don's passing from AIDS complications. I'll get back to that later. Don asked me to manage him that morning when he called and of course I said "I would be honored." This marked a new two year period in my life that would turn out approximately 65 songs. I basically pulled Don away from the shithole he was playing in and I struck a deal with a friend of mine in Rockland County, NY, to record Don's songs. I had no idea of what to expect and neither did Don. My role as his manager called for me to pay his rent and phone bill, while I footed the bill for him to record. We must have spent every week in this studio in Nyack, NY, and Don went on a writing craze that was unbelievable. I felt that with my help Don was able to unleash his inner most feelings as a writer, and he crafted the most gorgeous songs one could imagine. The routine was this. I lived in Fort Lee, NJ at the time. I would drive down to North Moore street in NYC, which was downtown all the way on the west side along the water, pick Don up, drive back over the George Washington Bridge, up to Nyack, record, drive him home and then I went back again to Fort Lee. I was only 24 years old at the time, so it didn't faze me. Now I think back and say "holy shit!" At that time, the music industry was in its New Wave/Punk era, and I was shopping a very sophisticated artist. Don's music was very unique...think Joni Mitchell meets Laura Nyro meets Don Yowell, for he had his own very distinct sound, style and voice. I had a few industry executives who loved him, but were perplexed as to how to market him. The singer/songwriter era would turn around years later, but not then. I struggled demo after demo to get him placed, but to no avail. I became very angry at the industry executives and felt they didn't know what the fuck was good. All I heard was mostly shit coming out of the record companies, and nobody had the balls to sign this artist. It is now, as I mentioned, almost thirty years since I started work with Don. And a few years back I revisited his catalogue, spoke with his family who now own the rights, and told them I was going to finish what I started. I want him heard. I want his songs placed. And eventually, I want him to be released on his own so the world can hear what an amazing talent he was. I was thinking today about the 2000 Volkswagon ad that featured Nick Drake's "Pink Moon." All of a sudden, posthumously, Nick Drake started selling cds like hot cakes. Why? Because in a peculiar way, the world got to hear what a talented artist he was. I was into Nick Drake many years before, as I was into John Martyn and other English folkies of that day. I started thinking that perhaps this might be one way to get Don's songs out there...and who knows? Perhaps in a movie or an ad, someway, somehow, the world needs to hear him. Over the past couple of years, I had sent out some of Don's songs to various artists to take a listen. But again, with egos the size of the Earth, many artists cannot get past their own egos, even if they think the songs are killer. I was always about thinking outside the box, and how cool it would be for an artist to do an album's worth of material of an unkown artist. God knows we have tribute albums up the ass of famous songwriters, bands, solo artists, ad nauseum. How about something a little different? I've wanted to get Don's songs to Elton John, because he would do him justice. So I spoke with someone about 7 months ago who said she could get to Elton John easily. And, she was a Don Yowell fan when she worked in music publishing. So, after I send her five cd's of Don's songs, I have been chasing her for the past 7 months to get off her ass and do something...no return phone calls, no return emails, etc. Really, I fucking hate people!!! You know what, it isn't that I hate people, I hate the indecisiveness in the music business where everyone cannot make a fucking decision to save their lives...so they turn to putting out shitty talent, oh wait, I've said this all before, I don't want to repeat myself. Anyway, if I could hope for one thing in my business life it would be for Don to come back to life through other artists, or even through his won cd's...what a talent...what a guy...what a loss...what a shame.