[Editor's Note: Earlier this week, a large chunk of this installment was lost in one of the Internet's many tubes. We've since expanded it to its intended length, and are now re-publishing it here for your enjoyment. Don't miss the exciting conclusion of Chapter Four!]
In the Seventies, New York’s music scene was largely downtown in the Village area. Aside from all the traditional West Village clubs like the Village Vanguard, the Village Gate, Gerde’s Folk City and the Bitter End, two of the mainstays were the Bottom Line and Max’s Kansas City. Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky opened the Bottom Line in 1974, and it quickly became an adjunct to the New York record business – the premier showcase spot for both new and veteran acts. The owners of the club worked closely with the major labels, and if you worked for one of these labels, you could walk into the Bottom Line on any given night, and you’d know enough record executives there to literally work the room for 30 minutes before showtime, meeting and greeting both your competition and your colleagues.
It wasn’t unusual to find yourself at the club as frequently as three times a week, if you had a band in town, or if you simply wanted to see a newer act that was playing there for the first time. The club made it easy and comfortable for the A&R community; I was as familiar with the dressing room as I was with the main entrance. Max’s was a different sort of place – a much smaller venue up a flight of stairs, and catering to far lesser-known acts. Peter Philbin, a friend of mine at the Columbia label, told me he wanted me to see an act with him at Max’s one night, so I met him down there, and I saw a 40-minute set by a still unsigned Bruce Springsteen and band. Peter then took me to the dressing room and introduced me. I know that John Hammond is credited with discovering Bruce, but Peter must have been only minutes behind him, as he was then and ever after Bruce’s number one booster at Columbia Records – and he wasn’t even a member of the A&R staff. He worked in publicity at the time, but he hadn’t a shadow of a doubt about Springsteen. I, on the other hand, wasn’t quite so blinded by the light; I enjoyed the show, and I do remember enjoying my brief chat with Bruce, but I had some difficulty in understanding Peter’s runaway enthusiasm over this artist. I trusted his musical judgment, though, and I knew Columbia would be solidly supportive of Bruce Springsteen. (more…)
