Joe Thomas (producer)
| Joe Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1956/1957 (age 59–60) |
| Other names | Buddy Love |
| Occupation | Producer, director, businessman, musician, songwriter, wrestler |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Organization |
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Joe Thomas (born 1956/1957) is an American producer, director, businessman, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter based in Chicago. He is known for musical collaborations and subsequent lawsuits pertaining to musician-songwriter Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys. Thomas was also a wrestler formerly known under the name Buddy Love.
In the mid 1990s, Thomas was enlisted to co-produce the Beach Boys' album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, an album composed of country music stars covering Beach Boys songs. It was Thomas who suggested the idea of a country album, and it was released on River North Records, the label he had been running. According to collaborator Andy Paley, record labels refused to sign Wilson in the aftermath of Stars and Stripes, explaining: "I don't blame anybody for having their doubts about Brian ... you look at what's been out there and it doesn't tell you what he's capable of. The Beach Boys' country album? Come on." Wilson nevertheless continued working with Thomas. Biographer Peter Ames Carlin writes: "[The] slick sound of Joe's work — and the entree it might allow Brian into the adult contemporary market — was a large part of his appeal."The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan believed: "I don't think Brian really wanted to work with him — but he had no choice, he was being pulled in that direction. ... I said [to Joe], 'Don't you realize Brian Wilson is essentially a 20th-century avant-garde pop genius?' And he went, 'Avant-garde? Not the Brian Wilson I know.'"
Wilson commenced recording a new solo album with Thomas, who purposely took it upon himself to ensure that the new work would sound as close to adult contemporary radio as possible. In 1998, the magazine Uncut wrote: "Brian was being coerced away from Andy Paley (by wife Melinda, according to observers), toward Joe Thomas." From the same article, O'Hagan intimated: "Melinda likes [Thomas], and [Brian's] dependent on Melinda. ... He just wants to feel safe and comfortable"Imagination was released on Thomas' Giant Records in June 1998. Thomas also served as musical director, co-producer and promoter of Wilson's first world tour. Wilson stated: "We call it a Brian Wilson album, but it's really a Joe Thomas/Brian Wilson album."
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