Tom Wilson (producer)
| Tom Wilson | |
|---|---|
Tom Wilson (right) with Bob Dylan (left), recording "Like a Rolling Stone", 1965
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Blanchard Wilson Jr. |
| Born | March 25, 1931 |
| Origin | Waco, Texas, USA |
| Died | September 6, 1978 (aged 47) Los Angeles |
| Genres | Rock, folk rock, jazz, experimental |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer |
| Years active | 1956–1978 |
| Labels | Transition Savoy Records Columbia Records Verve Audio Fidelity Records Dauntless International |
| Associated acts |
The Velvet Underground Bob Dylan Sun Ra Cecil Taylor The Mothers of Invention Soft Machine Eric Burdon and the Animals Simon & Garfunkel The Clancy Brothers Elmo Hope |
| Website | ProducerTomWilson.com (unofficial) |
Thomas Blanchard "Tom" Wilson Jr. (March 25, 1931 – September 6, 1978) was an American record producer best known for his work in the 1960s with Bob Dylan, the Mothers of Invention, Simon and Garfunkel, the Velvet Underground, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Eddie Harris, Nico, Eric Burdon & the Animals, the Blues Project, the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, and others.
Wilson was born on March 25, 1931 to Thomas Blanchard and Fannie Odessa (Brown) Wilson. He grew up in Waco, Texas, where he attended A.J. Moore High School, and was a member of New Hope Baptist Church. He was known by his initials, T.B., in his youth. While attending Fisk University, Wilson was invited to Harvard University where he became involved with the Harvard New Jazz Society and radio station WHRB; to the latter he later credited all of his success in the music business.
On graduating from Harvard, he borrowed $900 to set up Transition Records, having a goal in mind of setting up a record label and recording the most advanced jazz musicians of the day. The label released about a dozen albums, including Sun Ra's Jazz By Sun Ra (retitled Sun Song when reissued in 1968), which was Ra's first LP (a second LP of Transition material was unreleased until 1968), and the album Jazz Advance by Cecil Taylor, which was Taylor's debut release. Transition also released the first sessions led by Doug Watkins, Donald Byrd, and Herb Pomeroy. The label went bankrupt in 1957 and the catalog was sold off to the Blue Note and Delmark labels. Wilson's work with Transition Records helped him obtain a job with United Artists Records in 1957. He went on to work as a producer for various jazz labels, including Savoy Records, for whom he again recorded Sun Ra in 1961.
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