The literary historian joins us to discuss 'Everything Is Everything,' his book on the Waco-born producer who took Bob Dylan electric, signed Frank Zappa, and stood by Nico while the Velvet Underground pushed her out.
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This week we’re putting The Tonearm’s needle on author Steven E. Jones. His new book, Everything Is Everything: Tom Wilson and Pop Music in 1966, is out now. It follows the Waco-born producer through sessions with Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, the Velvet Underground, Sun Ra and many others.
We talk about the Batman record Steven bought at age seven, why some of Dylan’s booing was Tom Wilson’s fault, and why Wilson stood by Nico while the band pushed her out.
(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are "Batman Theme" from Batman and Robin by the Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale, featuring Sun Ra; the Mothers of Invention's "Help, I'm a Rock" and "Hungry Freaks, Daddy"; Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone"; Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence"; and Nico's "Chelsea Girls")
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00:00 Introduction
00:57 The Book Launch in Waco
04:43 Tom Wilson's Miraculous Year
07:19 Sun Ra and the Batman Record
09:37 How a Batman Record Became a Book
11:04 Pushing or Pulling Pop's Eclecticism
13:01 Transition Records and an R&B Opera
14:41 Folk and Roll and New Radio Formats
15:32 The Music Factory Radio Show
19:22 Three Factories and the Record Plant
21:17 A Shelley Scholar Hears the Session Tapes
25:16 Why Some of Dylan's Booing Was Wilson's Fault
27:37 Al Kooper and "Like a Rolling Stone"
29:06 Whose Record Is "The Sound of Silence"?
34:05 Zappa, Freak Out!, and the Mothers
37:54 Why Wilson Stood by Nico
40:33 A Black Producer in White Studios
42:27 Nico and Emmaretta Marks
43:48 Why Wilson and Not the Monkees
45:33 Byron, Mixed Media, and the LP as Opera
49:20 What's Left to Learn About Tom Wilson
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Visit Steven E. Jones at → https://stevenejones.org/
Purchase 'Everything Is Everything' from Stanford University Press → https://www.sup.org/books/literary-studies-and-literature/everything-everything
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