SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (PART TWO)

SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN (PART TWO)

By Joe Klein

The Oscar nominated documentary SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN is the work of Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul who first learned of the story of Sixto Rodriguez while traveling the world for a few years in search of a great story for a docupic. In 2007, he made a stop in Cape Town, South Africa and wandered into a record store called Mabu Vinyl, co-owned by Steven “Sugar” Segerman, one of the Rodriguez fans who had spent several years looking to confirm the rumors of the artist’s death or find him if he was still alive and well. Segerman told the Rodriguez story to the filmmaker, who quickly decided that this was to be the story he’d document on film. It took nearly four years to shoot all the footage and complete the film, which debuted at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. Audiences at Sundance raved and the documentary received to awards at the festival. Last November, 60 MINUTES broadcast a segment about the artist and movie, which was rebroadcast a few weeks ago.

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Happily, the rumors of Sixto’s death were greatly exaggerated, and Rodriguez lives on to this day, enjoying the fame that avoided him for so many years. He remains modest and humble about his elusive superstar status, even giving most of his recent earnings away to family, friends and others he feels worthy of the funds. His latest new-found fame resulting from all the acclaim for the Sugar Man movie resulted in several high profile media appearances since last summer. In addition to the 60 Minutes profile, Rodriguez has performed on The Late Show with David Letterman and, just last week, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has made dozens of live concert and club appearances in the US, Canada, England and Ireland in recent months and, next month, makes his latest triumphal appearances in South Africa, with shows in Cape Town and Johannesburg that have been sold out for weeks. Concerts in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia follow in March.

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A jaw dropping moment occurred for me watching the movie, when Dennis Coffey mentioned working on the Cold Facts album at the legendary Detroit recording studio,TERA SHIRMA, owned by Ralph Terrana, the brother of one of my other lifelong close friends, engineer RUSS TERRANA. Russ left Motown Records, where he had become one of the labels top engineers, to work for his brother at Tera Shirma for a couple years in the late sixties before returning to Motown, where he worked for nearly twenty more years as chief engineer until the sale of the label late in 1988. Russ got such a great sound that he was one of the most sought-after engineers of the Detroit music scene when he worked at Tera Shirma, engineering scores of hits to come out of the studio. Surely, I thought, Russ recorded the first Rodriguez album.

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I called my old pal and asked if he had any recollections about the project. Russ told me, “Wow, Joe. I worked on so many albums at Tera Shirma that I just can’t remember if that Rodriguez album was one of them. But I do remember the name. So maybe I did work on it!” I had to laugh, because I’ve talked to Russ countless times about the days spent in Detroit, working at Motown and his brothers studio, and he couldn’t remember many of the number one hits he recorded or mixed (and there were 89 of those)! If that’s not the mark of a successful genius, I don’t know what is…..

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Russ suggested that I call his brother and ask what he remembered, if anything, about the Rodriguez sessions at the studio. I called Ralph Terrana and he was pretty excited that his studio had been mentioned by name in the Oscar-nominated docupic. But, like his brother, he could remember very little about the Rodriguez project. “Hell, Joe, ya’ gotta’ remember that this was over forty years ago,” Ralph told me. “There were so many artists coming in and out of the studio. Producers Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore (“SCORPIO”, “NICE TO BE WITH YOU”) were working at Tera Shirma constantly. I even gave them their own office in our building! But I do remember the name Rodriguez, probably from seeing it on a studio schedule.”

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I asked Ralph if Russ could have been the recording engineer. Ralph said, “You know, probably not. Dennis and Mike would often come in at night and work well past midnight on projects. Russ always preferred the day shift. Mike usually engineered the sessions himself at night.” I wondered if Russ might have mixed the tracks even if he didn’t record them. Ralph told me, “Russ was such a damn good mixer that everyone wanted him to mix their stuff if they could get him. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Russ mixed the album. 

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TO BE CONTINUED……

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/sugar-man-star-rodriguez-booked-for-coachella-glastonbury-20130118#ixzz2IxGlgwZ0 
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

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Rodriguez, the Detroit singer-songwriter at the center of the Oscar-nominated documentary Searching for Sugar Man, will perform at the Coachella, Glastonbury and Primavera festivals this year, Billboard reports.

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Copyright 2013 by Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/celebrating-two-million-views-today-on-artie-wayne-on-the-web/

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Special thanks to Joe Klein for putting this story together!

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Joe can be reached via email joe@newmediacreative.com

Joe’s production company’s website is www.newmediacreative.com

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For more about “super engineer” Russ Terrana and to see my MOTOWN VIDEO JUKEBOX of the incredible 89 number one hits he engineered and/or mixed, click here: http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/the-motown-video-jukebox/

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CAN YOUTUBE SAVE THE MUSIC BUSINESS?

Every time I see a video by Lady GaGa, Justin Beiber, or Katy Perry and their millions of views on YouTube I wonder how much each of them are getting paid per play. I’m not so naïve that to believe that videos are just for promotion. I know that everybody is treated differently and it’s about time  somebody speaks up about a money making machine that could save the entire music business!

Why can’t YouTube spread the wealth a little and give smaller artists, writers, and publishers a chance to participate in the gold rush?

Ironically, I was prompted to write this article by what happened to me with one of my songs “LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREE” (CLINTON, JR./WAYNE) by one of the biggest artists in the world, Michael Jackson. Last Christmas there were 27 different videos using my song up on YouTube, including Michael’s son Blanket’s version using his private family photos. The total views of all the versions were over a half a million and how much did I make out of it? NOTHING! NOT ONE PENNY!

I believe that videos can be the salvation of the music business, breathing new life into copyrights and perpetuating music that we love for generations to come, but it’s not going to be at my expense!Fortunately, I have quite a few friends who feel like I do and over the next few weeks you’re going hear a lot more about the brewing controversy and what we’re going to do about it!

In the meantime, I asked several friends of mine what they think about the future of music videos.

Russ Terrana, engineer or mixer of 89 #1 records for Motown, says, “it’s amazing the buzz you generated when you put up the MOTOWN VIDEO JUKEBOX. Artists, producers and musicians are reminded of great songs that are seldom played on the radio. What music publisher wouldn’t be thrilled to have a new way to get their their copyrights exposed?”

Russ…You’d be surprised!

My friend, and video director of my recent projects, Wedigo Watson, tells me stories about some of his videos that have been unfairly taken down off of YouTube and how he got them back up! http://restlessheartwanderings.blogspot.com/2011/09/slow-unraveling-of-you-tube.html   

If you want to join the effort to get YouTube to treat everyone fairly…just leave a comment below or contact me privately and tell me your story. artiewayne@gmail.com

2011 by Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/

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SEE AND HEAR RUSS TERRANA’S 89 #1 HITS ON THE MOTOWN VIDEO JUKEBOX http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/the-motown-video-jukebox/

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THE MOTOWN VIDEO JUKEBOX

Here they are…FREE YOUTUBE VIDEOS of 89 #1 hits from MOTOWN Records, Diana, Marvin, Smokey, Michael, The J5, Temptations, Miracles, and Stevie, all engineered or mixed by the amazing Russ Terrana!

In 1971, I was living in Hollywood and working as the General Professional Manager for Warner Brothers Music, plugging songs. One of my objectives was to get more of our songs recorded by Motown Records, one of the most successful independent labels in the business, and one of the most secretive!

It took me months of hanging out in the Motown lobby and reception area, until I met and became friendly with songwriter/producers Norman Whitfield (“Cloud Nine”, “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”), Freddie Perren (“Say Goodbye To Yesterday) and Hal Davis (“I’ll Be There”). As they started to invite me into their sessions, I noticed that they all used the same engineer.

Russ Terrana is a name that you seldom read about, but who played one of the most important parts in the success of what is called “The Motown Sound”. If the Guinness Book of World Records listed recording engineers with the most number one records, Russ would top the list with 89 hits he did for Motown!

When New Media Joe, told me he was doing an on line article  with our mutual friend, I thought this would be a perfect time to post THE MOTOWN VIDEO JUKE BOX with the 89 HITS engineered by RUSS TERRANA! Thanks to New Media Joe and Christie Terrana Hunziker for helping to compile and organize this collection!

HERE IS A COMPLETE LIST OF THE 89 NUMBER ONE MOTOWN RECORDS THAT RUSS TERRANA ENGINEERED! Just click onto the name to see the video.

1966 The Supremes – You Can’t Hurry Love

1966 The Marvelettes – Don’t Mess With Bill

1967 The Supremes – Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone

1967 The Supremes – The Happening

1967 The Supremes -You Keep me Hanging On:

1967 The Supremes – In and Out of Love

1967 The Supremes – Reflections

1967 Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

1967 Stevie Wonder – I Was Made To Love Her

1967 The Four Tops – Standing In The Shadows Of Love

1967 Martha and the Vandellas – Jimmy Mack

1967 Martha and the Vandellas – Love Bug

1967 Four Tops – Seven Rooms of Gloom

1967 Gladys Knight and the Pips – I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Recorded Version)

1967 The Marvelettes – The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

1968 The Supremes – Love Child (Nothing to the video but excellent sound quality)

1968 Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell – Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing

1968 The Temptations – I Wish It Would Rain

1968 The Supremes and The Temptations – I’m Gonna Make You Love Me

1969 Stevie Wonder – My Cherie Amour

1969 The Temptations – Run Away Child Running Wild

1969 Rare Earth – Get Ready (Studio Version)

1969 The Temptations – Can’t Get Next To You

1969 The Temptations – Cloud Nine

1969 Edwin Starr – War (Original video)

1969 The Supremes – Someday We’ll be Together

1969 Stevie Wonder – Yester Me Yester You Yesterday

1970 Jackson 5 – Medley (From Motown 25 Special)

1970 Funkadelic – I Bet You

1970 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – Tears of a Clown

1970 Jackson 5 – I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save (Ed Sullivan Show)

1970 Jackson 5 – ABC (Recorded Version)

1970 The Temptations – Ball of Confusion

1970 The Temptations – Psychedelic Shack

1970 Diana Ross – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Live in Central Park 1983)

1970 Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed Delivered (I’m Yours)

1970 Rare Earth – Born To Wander

1970 The Four Tops – Still Waters

1970 The Supremes and Four Tops – River Deep, Mountain High

1970 The Four Tops – It’s All In The Game

1970 R. Dean Taylor – Indiana Wants Me

1970 Jackson 5 – Mama’s Pearl

1970 Freda Payne – Band of Gold

1970 Gladys Knight and the Pips – If I Were Your Woman

1970 The Supremes – Up The Ladder to the Roof

1970 The Supremes – Stoned Love

1970 Frijid Pink – House of the Rising Sun

1970 Rare Earth – I’m Losing You

1971 Rare Earth – Hey Big Brother

1971 Rare Earth – I Just Want To Celebrate

1971 The Temptations – Just my Imagination

1971 he Supremes – Nathan Jones

1971 Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On?

1971 Marvin Gaye – Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology Song)

1971 Stevie Wonder – We Can Work It Out

1970 The Undisputed Truth – Smiling Faces

1971 The Isley Brothers – Love The One You’re With

1972 Michael Jackson – Ben

1972 Diana Ross – Lady Sings The Blues

1972 The Four Tops – Bernadette

1972 The Temptations – Papa Was A Rolling Stone

1972 Gladys Knight and the Pips – Neither One of Us

1973 Stevie Wonder – You are the Sunshine of my Life (Recorded Version)

1973 Jackson 5- Get It Together

1973 Eddie Kendricks – Boogie Down

1973 Eddie Kendricks – Keep On Trucking Pt I

1973 The Temptations – Masterpiece

1974 Jackson 5 – Dancing Machine (Recorded Version)

1974 Jimmy Ruffin – What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (Original Version

1975 Do You Know Where You’re Going To (Theme from Mahogany)

1975 The Miracles – Love Machine

1975 Smokey Robinson – Quiet Storm

1976 Diana Ross – Love Hangover

1976 Charlene – I’ve Never Been To Me

1977 Thelma Houston – Don’t Leave Me This Way (Extended Version – Recorded)

1979 Billy Preston and Syretta – I’m Born Again

1980 Diana Ross – Upside Down (Recorded Version)

1980 Diana Ross – I’m Coming Out

1980 Diana Ross – It’s My Turn

1980 Diana Ross – To Love Again

1983 DeBarge Family – All This Love

1985 DeBarge Family – Rhythm of the Night

Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne  http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/thank-you-for-one-million-hits/

PHOTO OF RUSS TERRANA
(c) Edward Wolfrum, All Rights Reserved
Used with permission

Copyright 2011 by Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/

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