Rough Mix [Hardcover]

Jimmy Bowen (Author), Jim Jerome (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 1997

A producer who has performed with Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin, and Little Richard and who revitalized the careers of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin shares his story of life in the music industry and includes anecdotes about many of music's other big names. 30,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Bowen?rockabilly musician, producer, and record executive?offers a revealing, entertaining account of his life in the music industry. After uncovering the roots of his restless, independent spirit in his unhappy childhood in the Southwest, he describes his brush with teen stardom as a member of the one-hit Rhythm Orchids and his fall from fame and subsequent struggles as a morning deejay, songwriter, and rock manager. His account of climbing the industry ladder in the Sixties and Seventies as a producer is filled with colorful stories about the fast-paced, competitive music industry told in a clear, personal style. He ends the book with his 1976 move to Nashville, which included production work with many country artists, culminating in the sensational rise of Garth Brooks, which he masterminded. Throughout, Bowen confessionally relates the effects of the demanding music business on his personal relationships with five wives and his periodic bouts with substance abuse. Lively and colorful, Rough Mix offers general readers an inside look at all phases of the music industry.?David Szatmary. Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Bowen's goal was always simple: to produce good records that sell. Working for six companies during his career, he made big changes, frequent hits, and a few enemies. Most associated with country music, he yet presided over hits by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. as well as Garth Brooks and George Strait. (His stories about his stormy relationship with Brooks, with whom he had his greatest commercial success, are a howl--must reading for understanding the modern "recording artist.") The ease with which Bowen crossed stylistic lines bespeaks how pop styles converge in pursuit of the mass market, and Bowen saw in particular that country music could grab an audience much bigger than its traditional base. Through perseverance and his own distinctive management style, he reached that audience. Nowadays, though, pop music suffers, he says, from "disturbing conformity. You listen to country radio for a couple of hours and you can't tell whose records you've heard." One reason for that situation may be the current dearth of kick-ass producers like Bowen. Mike Tribby

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st ed edition (May 5, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684807645
• ISBN-13: 978-0684807645
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,257,140 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not great lit., but a wealth of well-told music biz tales, May 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Rough Mix (Hardcover)

Usually when you read an "autobiography" of a Nashville musician, you just know the co-author really wrote it and let the star put his or her name at the top. This book sounds just like Bowen would sound if he were chatting with you over coffee. It's filled with great insider trivia about everyone from Little Richard to Sinatra to Garth Brooks (and, yes, that's steam coming out from under Garth's big hat). The word "unapologetic" in the title should be taken literally. Bowen gives us the often-outrageous, sometimes-ugly, unvarnished truth about himself and about the star's who've crossed his path

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 -- Fascinating subject in need of a stronger co-writer, February 26, 2003

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rough Mix (Hardcover)

It's difficult to blame Bowen for the hodge-podge nature of this book - after all, he was busy living this life, rather than thinking about and analyzing it. And with a personality as strong as his, it's difficult to lay too much blame at the feet of co-writer Jerome, either. The result of their collaboration is an interesting set of anecdotes that sketch Bowen's character (you get the sense that the writing voice is largely accurate), with occasional flashes of insight, but very little real depth.

Bowen's life in music has been an unusually rich one. Having started out as an early rock 'n' roll musician (with Buddy Knox and the Rhythm Orchids), progressing through a career in the music industry that included reviving the careers of Dean Martin (Bowen produced "Everybody Loves Somebody") and Frank Sinatra (Bowen produced "Strangers in the Night"), and a string of successful engagements as a record company executive in Nashville, Bowen's path crossed that of numerous fascinating characters. There's an interesting story about each, but they often fail to reveal much about the acquaintance, Bowen or their relationship.

Bowen's post-Reprise years led him through early work with soon-to-be luminaries Don Henley and Glen Frey, but the book has surprisingly little to say about their music. His tenure at MGM provides an interesting anecdote about drop-shipping around the label's regular distribution system, but fails to discuss why. Again, interesting stories, but not particularly revealing.

The book really doesn't take off until Bowen arrives in Nashville. Here there are interesting insights on Bowen's studio work, his view on musicians (including an enlightening discussion of stage versus studio players), his effort to drive Nashville to digital recording, and his philosophy about constructing an album as a 40-minute performance.

Bowen concludes with a nicely detailed view of Garth Brooks' rise to 400-pound-gorilla status. While there are certainly other sides to the story, Bowen's rings with a lot of truth - most especially his description of how Brooks' contract demands crippled Capitol/Liberty as a label.

This is a good read, but given Bowen's life, it should have been a great read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but the parts I know about were false., June 6, 2011

By 

Mike Eder (Naperville IL, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rough Mix (Hardcover)

I wanted to like this book, but so much reads in a nasty tone. First he hates vinyl and I love it so that's bad to start for me. Second he hates Jerry Lee but I also love him. The guy dropped The Killer from two labels! So much for knowing talent. Also I happen to know a few people he writes about in this book. They hold no malace, but they literly cracked up when I told them his versions of the story's. Read it if you want some gossip but as for me it's very mediocre. To be fair his own singing career is delt with quite well and the only part that read without venom.