"I miss the passion, the subtlety, the intensity, the grooves, and the musicianship of those old days!"

Bill Dahl: Ultimate Jukebox

Bill Dahl is a freelance music journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Living Blues, Goldmine, and many others. He is a contributor to Motown: The Golden Years, the Blackwell Guide to Soul Recordings, THIHNHA (a biography of Tina Turner), and Rock 'N' Roll Trivia, as well as an author of numerous album and CD liner notes and a former blues and oldies radio DJ.

Interview by Michael Limnios

How has music changed your life & what does the blues mean to you?
I guess you could say that music has been my life, ever since my Uncle Joe started giving me 45s off his jukeboxes when I was three. It's provided me with something of a living and enriched me more than any amount of money could. For me, it's not just blues, but soul, doo-wop, R&B, rockabilly, country, '50s rock and roll, and '60s garage rock too; all of those vintage genres mean a great deal to me.

How has the music business changed over the years since you first started in music?
Not for the better on any level. The thriving music journalism field that I got into in the late '70s is all but gone now, a victim of the Internet and the demise of the printed word (everyone seems to think writers should write for free; I strongly beg to differ). CD liner notes are still happening (contrary to the death notices the mainstream media keeps spewing out), but that's about it for me at this point. It's a lot harder to get to the artists for interviews than it used to be, thanks to the layers of PR people that make you jump through hoops to set up phoners (from what I hear, it's a lot rougher for photographers). And many booj publishers want signed release forms from everyone you quote, which is kind of hard if those artists have since passed away.

What do you think is the main characteristic of you personality that made you a journalist & writer?
Shyness, I suppose. Writing is a very solitary profession, and observing is key. And my love for the music, which forced me to get past my shyness to talk to B.B. King, Fats Domino, and Carl Perkins (those were the days)!

Which memory from Columbia College’s station makes you smile?
Really, that "station" was only a closed-circuit thing that didn't make it outside the building, but we had a lot of camaraderie that made it a blast. We also had a softball team the last year that was a lot of fun; Johnny Mars, who's still a deejay here on WXRT-FM, hit three home runs in one game that looked like they were shot out of a bazooka!

Would you mind telling me your most vivid memory from WVVX-FM?
It was a small suburban station with an oldies format (probably one of the earliest in Chicago, even if few people were aware of it), and we had a lot of fun until my college buddy that hired me got fired from his program director gig. Then it went downhill fast. The first two years were great--I got to slip in a lot of obscure R&B over my six-hour shift on Saturday nights, especially when it got late. Sometimes I'd be simultaneously talking on the request lines to four of my female fans at once (an ego boost, to put it mildly)!

What are some of the most memorable interviews, reviews, liner notes you've had? Of the entire of your projects, what was your favorite?
I'm very fond of Bear Family's boxed sets that I write the liner notes for--the two Freddy Kings and the Hank Ballard & the Midnighters boxes, which come with full-color 12 x 12 hard cover books. Bear Family is state of the art for CD reissues. I always enjoy compiling CD compilations in addition to writing the notes, and I do a lot of that for Fuel Records; we recently did a couple of nice two-CD comps, The Age/Chief Blues Story and The Jewel/Paula Soul Story. And a while back, when EMI was still doing blues reissues, I was hired to produce and annotate their Blues Kingpins series, which looked and sounded great. There were only six discs before they pulled the plug--Fats, Elmore, Lightnin', Hooker, Ike, B.B.--but everyone was terrific. I wrote the track-by-track notes on Rhino Handmade's Wilson Pickett box, on Numero Group's Syl Johnson box, and lengthy notes on on Hip-O Select's Buddy Holly and Etta James boxes. All of those stand out as highlights, along of course with my co-writing the notes for all 12 Complete Motown Singles boxes on Hip-O Select.
 I guess talking to Fats Domino for a few minutes in '79 or thereabouts will always stand out for me. Since he'd been one of my heroes since I was three, I was extremely nervous. He was very shy (turned out he didn't do many interviews), and as I rattled off question after question as fast as possible, he spilled beer all over his red pants! A flunky came over and toweled off his knee, which I thought was pretty impressive. Snagging Lloyd Price for an impromptu interview in '98 at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation event in L.A. was another highlight--we talked over Caesar chicken salad in a deserted restaurant (he was another of my childhood heroes). Carl Perkins was the most polite--he asked me if I minded if he smoked on his own tour bus!

Are there any memories of all these GREAT MUSICIANS which you’d like to share with us?
There are many guitarists who will always be close to my heart that I've talked to over the years--Albert Collins (the most exciting act I've ever seen live, bar none), Arthur Adams, Lonnie Brooks, Eddy Clearwater, and plenty more. Soul singers too--Otis Clay, Eddie Floyd, Bobby Patterson, etc. Lee Allen was one of the first great musicians I ever interviewed; I knocked on his hotel room and he let me in, and there was a half-dressed woman lying in bed waiting for him to answer my questions and shoo me back out the door! Maybe that's why the interview was so brief. Lee, Gene Barge, Jr. Walker, Boots Randolph, and Willis Jackson were some of the great saxists I've had the honor of talking to.

Do you have any amusing tales to tell from your experiences in Living Blues?
That ended so badly I'd sooner forget about it altogether. It was a pleasure writing for Jim O'Neal and David Nelson there; some of the others not so much, and the last one definitely not. Let's leave it at that. I write a reissue column and the occasional feature for Blues Revue now (I have a piece about Otis Clay in the current issue). Goldmine went downhill the same way; when Jeff Tamarkin was the editor, it was terrific. Later on, less so, and the last editor I briefly dealt with there was the most obnoxious individual it's ever been my extreme misfortune to deal with in this business. No wonder the magazine dropped off the face of earth!

How did the idea of the book “Motown: The Golden Years” come about?
Actually, the publisher came to me. They'd already signed a deal with former Motown promo man Weldon A. McDougal III to put together a book around his great candid photos from the late '60s and early '70s, and they needed someone to write text around it. Weldon was a little suspicious of me at first--he wanted to write a few captions and leave it at that--but I wanted to make it more of a history book, and once he saw I was dedicated to making it something hopefully special, we formed a tag team to deal with the publishers, who sometimes had no idea of what they were doing. For example, I had a piece about Ivy Jo Hunter in there; they mistakenly stuck a photo of IVORY Joe Hunter in the proofs instead, and when I went ballistic, they couldn't figure out why they couldn't use it anyway! Happily, I prevailed.

Why did you think that Motown Records continued to generate such a devoted following?
It's great music, accessible to everyone, danceable as hell, the perfect blend of soul and pop. And you hear it constantly on the radio!

Which is the most interesting period in your life and why? Which was the best moment of your career and which was the worst?
The most interesting was probably when I was just getting started, and greats like Professor Longhair, Little Milton, Albert King, and Perkins were available to talk to me (and still alive)! It's like a race now to talk to all my remaining heroes before they leave too, and that's not a good feeling. The worst? Right now. It's getting to be impossible to make a living doing what I do, and it's horrible to worry about paying the rent every month despite working on six projects at once.

If you go back to the past what things you would do better and what things you would a void to do again?
I think I'd make writing a hobby and find a more lucrative vocation instead of trying to make it the only thing I know how to do. It's too scary now. I'd have went out to L.A. and N.Y. earlier in my quest for more liner notes work too--I was 35 before I introduced myself to anyone in person.

How do you describe the music philosophy of Bill Dahl & what characterize the work of Bill Dahl?
Hopefully I get the facts right most of the time--even small typos or tiny mistakes drive me nuts. I always champion the originators of decades past over the watered-down music of today, and try like hell to educate those that are interested in the music that I love so deeply. My writing tends to be very fact-oriented, with hopefully lots of quotes from the artists if at all possible. Very little flowery stuff and I seldom inject myself into the narrative unless it's really an interesting story.

What advice would you give to aspiring music journalist, DJ & musician, thinking of pursuing a career in the craft?
Honestly? Pursue it as a hobby and get a real job so you won't ever be as broke as I am right now!

What is the strangest desire that someone have requested to give you the interview?
Usually it's pretty cut-and-dried getting the interviews; where it gets strange is when they won't give you the interview. I've gotten turned down a lot because the original label didn't properly pay their royalties 40 years ago, or if someone wants to get paid to talk (can't afford it, and journalistically it's not proper). They'd be a lot better off talking to me and then letting me nose around to see if I can help them get their overdue royalties.

Which of the artists were the most difficult and which was the most gifted front of the journalistic recorder?
Let's not talk about the difficult ones--they're not worth our time. I hate the diva attitude that I've encountered from a handful of former female soul stars; one got mad because I quoted her TOO MUCH (guess she revealed more than she meant to)! A lot of the behind-the-scenes Motown people--Deke Richards, Johnny Bristol, Hank Cosby, Suzee Ikeda--were great. Deke even proofed everything I did involving his productions for the Motown boxes, and eventually we got to the point where he'd send me his reminiscences via e-mail, I'd do a little editing and send it back to him for a last look over, and he'd okay them. Great guy!

Some music styles can be fads but the Blues and Soul is always with us. Why do think that is? Give one wish for the BLUES
I'm not so sure the kind of blues and soul that thrived during the '50s and '60s--the stuff that I love--will be around all that much longer, between attrition of the originators and a lack of worthy successors. For every young Chicago blues musician that plays legitimate traditional stuff and respects it--Rob Stone, Nick Moss--there are too many mediocre rock-oriented guitarists that mistake speed and volume for power. And they don't care about their vocals at all. I wish we could change that, to make blues the primarily vocal medium again that it was in the postwar era, when a song told a story and people could SING.

What excites you about the music today? What is the “think” you miss most from the OLD DAYS OF BLUES AND SOUL?
Very little excites me about today's blues, apart from Rob, Nick, and my San Diego pals Chris James and Patrick Rynn. I don't see many others that get it. Everything has to change, but in many cases it's changed too much for me to call it blues. I miss the passion, the subtlety, the intensity, the grooves, and the musicianship of those old days! Most contemporary blues product is competent but not exciting, and its staying power is going to be zero.

What mistakes of the music business would you want to correct?
Disco, which pretty much killed off soul. And the subsequent hip hop/rap thing, which brought in drum machines and synthesizers at the expense of living, breathing musicians. As for the scratching records thing, that's not what they were made for. Play 'em instead!!

Which of historical personalities would you like to meet?
Elvis, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Magic Sam, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Hank Williams, Ray Charles, James Brown--too many that are gone. Of the living ones, I'd like to snag one of the Isleys (Ronald or Rudolph) and one or two original Spinners for Motown-themed interviews. I'm not sure Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis (my all-time desert island favorite) or Little Richard would have much to add even if I could get them to sit down in front of a tape recorder, which seems very unlikely at this point.

Did you help many artist in the meantime did you found any gratitude from them? What you should keep or forget of your career?
I've helped wherever I could, making connections between artists and record labels or commercial producers where possible, and they've often expressed their gratitude. I'd like to forget how little money this career has made me; it's sure troubling me now!

What are the secrets to a good interview, reviews, and liner notes? What is the word "seal" of your work?
Preparation and having your questions down in a way that promotes a fluid conversation. When you get past the interviewer/interviewee relationship and it becomes an actual conversation between two people, you get better quotes. For reviews, keep it brief and concise, and don't try to get too ambitious. Liner notes are always better if you have access to the artist so you get fresh quotes (then it's a breeze), but if not keep it factual and keep yourself out of the narrative. I hope people think I know what I'm talking about, and that my essays aren't boring, that they walk you through what you're listening to and add to your enjoyment of the music therein!

From whom have you have learned the most secrets about the music? Of all the people you’ve meeting with, who do you admire the most?
Usually the best interviews are with producers, songwriters, and session musicians rather than the actual stars, who have done countless interviews and have their answers down pat. Guys that I've become actual friends with such as Arthur Adams, Cicero Blake, Gene "Daddy G" Barge, James Holvay, and others who are always there for me to answer some arcane question about a record they played on or sang 50 years ago, or someone they worked with!

How you would spend a day with Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye?
Trying to get them to sit down in front of a tape recorder for several hours during the day, and seeing them perform in the evening!

Bill Dahl's website

A website that pays tribute to postwar roots music of all kinds.