DEKE RICHARDS R.I.P. ROCK IN PERPETUITY!

i’m still unable to use my hands so i’m turning over my column today to my long time friend patti dahlstrom and the passing of songwriter producer deke richards…

“Deke Richards was one of those wonderfully creative men, who also happened to be a good man, a kind man. I met Deke in 1970 at Motown, in fact Deke Richards was the sole reason I was signed to Jobete as a staff writer. Herb Eiseman, then head of Motown’s publishing division, Jobete, was listening to a tape of my songs when Deke happened to be passing by his open door and heard “What If” wafting into the hallway. He stopped and listened till the end saying, “Who wrote that?” Herb looked at the tape box and said “Patti Dahlstrom.” Deke answered, “Sign her.” 

Several weeks later signed, sealed and delivered I was a Motown writer! Deke very kindly took me under his wing. He gave me tapes of completed tracks for various artists and asked me to write a lyric. Once he was in the hospital and asked me to come up to see him. There in hospital gown attire, headphones connected to a small tape player, he sat in bed bobbing his head to the beat. I felt very uncomfortable, “Shouldn’t you be resting?” He assured me he was fine and began playing the track for me. “The title is open but here’s the first line.. you can change it. It’s about someone who takes and takes and never gives back until there’s nothing left.. until it’s too late.” The metaphor was about a well running dry. We sat listening over and over and no thought came to me except the hospital room and post- operative Deke. I took the tape home and had a lyric by the time he returned to work. 

The great thing about Deke was that he was always thinking, creating, excited about it all, and he had the most beautiful manners, always a gentleman to me.  Nothing ever came of our efforts together, still it was wonderful trying with him. 

In the last 4 years we renewed our friendship when the UK released a compilation CD of my music. I contacted Deke to let him know, and to share memories and update each other on what had happened since. We stayed in touch until recently when his illness took him from us. I will be forever grateful, as it was Deke Richards who gave me the break I needed just in time. I do not believe in death as a final parting, only as a new beginning. When I cross I’ll see you then, Deke, and we’ll write another song, a heavenly one. Until then, dear friend, thank you for everything.”

 

He wrote one of my favorite Motown songs, Love Child. 

For a career profile: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/deke-richards-motown-songsmith-dead-at-68-20130326

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PHOTO AT TOP L-R FONSE MIZEL, DEKE RICHARDS, AND FREDDIE PERREN

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Finally. originally written for our friend, Jim Croce on the night of his plane crash dedicated also to Deke Richards “Sending My Good Thoughts To You”written by Patti Dahlstrom and Artie Wayne, performed by Patti Dahlstrom.

To reach Patti Dahlstrom http://pattidahlstrom.com

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ARTIE WAYNE ON THE WEB STRIKES AGAIN…AGAIN…AND AGAIN!

 

Now that I’m going after the bad guys in the music business, The only thing that can keep me safe now is transparency, so I private messaged 100 of my FACEBOOK friends, and told them who the perpetrators might be in the event something happens to me.

It’s funny how many people have been screwed by the same people I have who like my idea of a CLASS ACTION AUDIT of record and publishing companies, but are afraid of retaliation.

CHECK OUT THESE THREE ARTICLES AND THE COMMENTS…IF SOMETHING SIMILAR HAS HAPPENED TO YOU, PLEASE ADD YOUR STORY TO THE REST OF THE COMMENTS …REMEMBER THERE’S POWER IN NUMBERS.

THE UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/the-first-class-action-audit-against-the-universal-music-group/

NICK ASHFORD AND VALERIE SIMPSON AT MOTOWN https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2006/08/14/breaking-the-motown-sound-barrier-aint-no-mountain-high-enough/

FLORENCE GREENBERG AND SCEPTER RECORDS https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/a-tribute-to-florence-greenberg/

EXTRA! EXTRA!……STOP THE PRESSES!! DAWN LEE WAKEFIELD OF THE NATIONAL EXAMINER.COM HAS JUST RELEASED PART TWO OF HER STORY ON ME AND MY BATTLE WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!  http://www.examiner.com/classic-rock-music-in-national/the-artie-wayne-school-of-music-economics-counting-up-friends-who-count 

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ PART ONE OF DAWN’S STORY “ARTIE WAYNE VS. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY…CAN A NICE GUY FINISH FIRST?” CLICK ON TO http://www.examiner.com/classic-rock-music-in-national/artie-wayne-vs-the-music-industry-can-a-nice-guy-finish-first

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

SPECIAL THANKS TO PHIL X. MILSTEIN FOR CREATING THE TOP PHOTO

WHILE FIGHTING LARGE CORPORATIONS WHO ARE TRYING TO KEEP ROYALTIES AWAY ME AND THOUSANDS OF OTHER ARTISTS, SONGWRITERS AND PUBLISHERS, MY ONLY SOURCE OF INCOME IS FROM THE SALE OF MY BOOK. ” I DID IT FOR A SONG”, WITH OVER 100 STORIES FROM THE MUSIC BUSINESS OF THE ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. I HOPE YOU’LL CONSIDER BUYING ONE DIRECTLY FROM ME THROUGH PAYPAL FOR ONLY $9.99 AT  artiewayne@gmail.com OR BY CHECK TO…ARTIE WAYNE  P.O. BOX 1105, DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA 92240

THANKS AND REGARDS, ARTIE WAYNE https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/celebrating-two-million-views-today-on-artie-wayne-on-the-web/

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NORMAN WHITFIELD R.I.P. ROCK N PERPETUITY

NORMAN WHITFIELD  5/12/40 – 9/16/08

During the early ‘70s, I was the General Professional Manager Of Warner Brothers Music. One day I’m up at Motown Records, sitting in the outer office waiting to see what producer or artist will walk in that I can pitch a song to.  Just when I’m about give up for the day, in walks songwriter/producer Norman Whitfield (”I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, “Cloud 9”).  After briefly, but enthusiastically, discussing his body of work with him, he invites me into his office to listen to a track he’s starting to work on. I sit there and listen to a track for twelve minutes that consists of only of an electric bass with percussion, and I’m a bit confused.  I ask him if there is a song that goes along with it.  He starts the track again, and this time he sings…

“Papa Was A Rolling Stone. Wherever he lay his hat was his home and when he died…All he left us was alone.”

Over the next few months, Norman lets me hear the recording in its various stages of development.  There are layers of vocals put on and taken off, string and horn sections edited or deleted, countless re-mixes. Finally, I get to witness the last step, which is the mysterious mastering process that sets Motown apart from all the rest! This is when I meet Iris Gordy, head of Quality Control, who allows me to watch and listen as she performs her magic, not only bringing out the best of what’s on the tape, but also doing things to it that will make it jump out at you, when it’s played on the radio. The Temptations “soon to be classic” is finally released and zooms up the charts.  I run into Norman Whitfield in the lobby of Motown, the day the song hits #1 on the Billboard charts and congratulate him.

The next time I see him is at the pre-award Grammy TV show, in 1973 where as a member of the board of Governors, I present him with three Grammies. One for the best vocal R&B vocal performance by a group, and its b-side won for Best R&B instrumental (awarded to Whitfield and arranger/conductor Paul Riser), and Whitfield and Barrett Strong won for best R&B song of the year as the song’s composers. Norman was a giant among the greatest talents the world of music has ever known, with a heart to match, and I was privileged to have known him.

Norman Whitfield, R.I.P. Rock In Perpetuity!

Respectfully, Artie Wayne  https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/

From my forthcoming book, “I Did It For A Song”
Copyright 2009 by Artie Wayne
https://artiewayne.wordpress.com

BACK TO THE R.I.P. ROCK N PERPETUITY ARCHIVES https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/rip-rock-in-perpetuity-archives/

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