Eggers, Harold 2009-04-15

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The right hand man of famous song writer Towns, goes into detail about the years leading up to his death in 1997. Then Mr. Eggers talks a little bit about the law suit mess that he is involved with due to Towns Ex wife and her children.


General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Harold Eggers

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: April 15, 2009

Location: Austin, Texas

Interviewer: Andy Wilkinson

Length: 01:27:00


Abstract

Affidavit; 1996 Towns wanted to split recordings; 1997- Towns died; Live Recordings; 1976-81; He recorded all of his gigs; 1981- Towns moved back to Austin; Harold went to Belmont University; 1984- Ed Bruce; Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys; Met Whitie Shafer; Suzie Nelson; Willie Nelson’s daughter; Literary consultant; She was writing a book about her dad; Very successful book; Harold moved to Austin in 1987; Late 86 Towns came to play in Nashville; Put posters up; Bob Oman- The Tennessean; Neil Young was there to see him; A lot of other big wigs; They said it was like Hank Williams came back; The recording of the concert was released on an album; Heartland Records; Sold his brother a label that went under; 1988; Fire Station Recordings; Kevin – Harold’s Brother; 60 songs; Shelved after everything was in the bag; 1989-90; Carrie Lee; Wanted him to do a Stevie Ray Vaughn book; 50,000 copies; Another book deal with Simon Shuster; 1991; A spoken word; Larry Monroe; KUT; Two record labels; 1992; Road songs; Cover songs; Recordings were made in the 70’s; $1 record – Harold and Towns split it; 1993; Blue Onion Club; Oklahoma; Bass player- Jimmy Gray (original Wailer); Acoustic – Rooster – Danny Rolland; Fiddle- Owen Cody (Billy Jo Shaffer); 1994; Ireland; Last studio album; Phillip Donnelly produced it; Verbosity and Sugar Hill – Split cost; Towns had ownership; 1995; Biography of Towns; Go to the places he grew up; 1996; Europe; Abnormal- Maid order; Music Express; 1996; Equivalent to Rolling Stone magazine; The Music Express; Made a deal with Sugar; Back to Europe; Bond, Germany; Towns had a German girlfriend; December- Back to Austin; Recorded at Flash Point Studio; Signed off of final contract; Towns gave him half ownership of everything he had done; Nashville, Towns was on a binge; Jeanine- 1994 divorced; In Ireland Towns was in the hospital; Jeanine was the one who arranged the deal; Towns was broken hearted; Had “Texas humor”; Guy Clark; New Year’s Eve the deal was cancelled; After hours clinic; Blood clot; Jeannine somehow got all of his rights to his songs; After that his spirit was dead; Poncho Lefty; On the drive back; Refused to go to the E.R; Mount Julian; Harold left; Jeannine took him home after leaving the hospital; Heart failure; His system was full of antihistamines (Tylenol PM); The weather was raining and cold; “The veil of tears”; The reminiscing of his life was a premonition with death; He thought he was the ghost of Hank Williams and Van Gogh; Towns Van am died on the 1st of January 1997; “We all live the same lives, just at different times” – quote from Harold; Reaction; Law suit – 2005; Said Harold was taking advantage of Towns; And selling bad products; Guy and Susanna Clark don’t know anything; 2nd law suit- they wanted to extend the lease; Jeannine and J. T- the main ones giving Harold a hard time; Barbara K. was a witness for Harold; Harold ended up loosing; “When you sue the children, you lose”; $100,000 fee; Another lawsuit against the Towns for copyright infringement; Thread Gills; Barbara; KUT; She got Harold’s dad to talk after his mom passed; “Cry and get the poison out of your system”; Easter Day 3:00 am; He was being reborn; Ever since then he feels happy, excited, blessed; They are in a business where rumors and reputation is everything; Prayer from his mom; St. Jude; His lawyer’s grandson had a failing immune system; St. Jude’s Hospital in Tennessee; They flew him out, he died on the table; Flew him back, and he lived.


Access Information

Original Recording Format:

Recording Format Notes:

Transcript: No transcript available



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