Inmon, John 2012-11-30
John Inmon discusses his life with Andy Wilkinson in an interview involving his music career. Inmon describes his relationship with different band members, the ending and beginning of several different outfits, and where he is today
General Interview Information
Interviewee Name: John Inmon
Additional Parties Recorded:
Date: November 30, 2012
Location: Zucker Park, Texas
Interviewer: Andy Wilkinson
Length: 02:07:02
Abstract
Music Industry, Idea of competition, It’s always driven every economy, They would pick an artist that they felt was on fire and promote him, No one person could own more than 7 radio stations, Now you can own as many as you want, It was more personal, Disk Jockeys would have direct interaction with people, Life, Grew up in Lubbock, Was in an Army family, Didn’t have a favorite radio station but had a favorite disk jockey, The radio provided a filter that the internet doesn’t provide, There were only about 2-3 radio stations, Everyone listened to the same things, The internet separates us in a lot of ways, Everyone in their own separate digital bubble, There was much more us but now there is more me, Fox was invented during the Nixon era, Was going to be called the Republican Network, NSNBC was a reaction to it, Most conservatives want to protect their money, The way you get your information is through their filter, Some people only stay on because of the human element, All great things made have been brought about by competition, Allowing corporations to monopolize takes away freedom, Music from the 60’s had a great impact on culture and politics today, Everyone back then was more scared of dying, They were also scared of the draft back then, Making a record with a older gentleman, A lot of younger people harder to find things they like, Times are about the same as they were then in terms of war, It was a good time to go to the war to get a good job and money, There for 2 years, The National Guard is the modern day version of the draft, His father could sing and his mother could play piano, They loved swing music, His father was also an army brat, His mother was from Denver, Colorado, They met at the University of Colorado, Some of the music in the 50’s got away from swing, Rock n’ Roll was in the headlights, He was living in San Francisco at the time, Didn’t realize a lot of things going on because he grew up on base, National fear over Rock N’ Roll, Everyone chose sides which made it even more popular, Family Stationed at Walter Reed Base, Father was a doctor in the military, Went to Washington for a couple of years, Started buying his own records, Moved to Germany in the 6th grade, Lived in Hidelberg, Learned how to play guitar from his sister’s boyfriend, He was in a band called the Furies, He was from Mississippi, Showed him how to play an E note, Never regretted choosing music as a career, Musicians can’t just do music, Most have more than just one talent, Terry Allen, A curled tail can be straightened out but once you let go it curls up again, Kept making excuses to avoid the draft, Part of the cresting wave of Baby Boomers, Went to Junior college in Temple, Transferred to UT Austin, He graduated from high school in 1968, Moved from San Francisco to Texas, He went to a college preparatory school, He went to school an extra year and got out early, He played music the entire time, When he was in Germany he was in a little band, In San Francisco he was stationed at Letterman, He made a little band there too, A lot of big time bands were coming out at the same time, His father retired around the time he moved, Started playing at frat parties and such when he was in high school, He started playing in Austin in 1966, Frat parties kept a lot of the bands alive, Charlie Hatchet, Mike Lucas, Both of them booked bands, Most of their gigs were cover bands, Played Friday and Saturday nights, To fill up a car cost a dollar back then and to rent a house was $45, In Austin the kids outnumbered the adults, He was English major, Was drafted in 1970, Did a lot of drugs to fail the physical, They wouldn’t take him even if he wanted to, Richard Dean, Formed their own band in Austin, Played with Chuck Rogers, Played lead guitar with someone else, They have some recordings online, Set up as a loud Rock N’ Roll band, All three of them were song writers, They broke up, Gary has a pattern were he tries to change environments to feel better, Rusty learned how to play guitar so he could play in front, Out fit called concerts west in Dallas that promoted them a lot, They played lots of good gigs, In 1970 they started to rent a house on City Park Road, This was during the Genesee period, Everyone jammed at that house, Murphy, He lived out at Lake Travis, They decided they needed more vocals and Guitar playing, Gary was very stand offish about it, Jerry like him enough to put him in their band, This was about 1973, Craig, John came in during September to take Craig’s place in the band, They made a great record, This band didn’t really like studios, Disk Jockeys really loved their new album, Viva Torlingua, He was sick and taking lots of drugs during this time, It really affected his music, There was a lot of back stabbing going on, His most successful time was also one of his most unhappy, He had a really big drug problem at the time, The success contributed to his inability to cope with his environment, Lots of people were really greedy, The leader was psychotically messed up on drugs, There were a lot of fun and great experiences but a lot of horrible one too, He couldn’t really deal with it because of the drugs, They were making really good music at the time, The music was his comfort zone, He made a fool of himself enough times to finally get himself to stop, It was not a family type band, They didn’t handle it all very well, They didn’t fade away they burned out, Jerry was a lone wolf kind of guy that used people, He was always trying to get ahead by any means possible, They finally decided to split, He went off on his own and became the gonzo band, Had good reviews in the rolling stone, They were making really good money, They were working really well together, They played on both coast, Bob had personal issues that made it difficult for him to stay, Larry Lang played with them too, It was better working with Jerry Jeff the second time through, He over did everything he did, John still runs now, After a while Jerry was going back to being how he used to be, In spring and summer of 1987 they had a new record, Producer was Kelly Edgars, Jerry was back on drugs again, They started doing blues music, Some of the musicians hated it but some loved it, They did a gig and the president of the record label was there, Jerry didn’t even make it through one song, There was a meet and greet and Jerry did heroine while he was already drunk, They did this right before they had to do a gig, The drummer based out and had to go to the hospital, One of the players baby was dying, They blamed it all on Jerry, They had to find a drummer and a piano player, The drummer had amnesia and didn’t remember anything from the past 6 weeks, Towns would always come around with a red head and drugs, Only one record actually ever came out, They other ones were just there, Started playing again with Jerry from 1989 until 2001, It was only a 4 piece band, Some of the best years they had, He was more comfortable in his skin, He was free to play the way he wanted to play, First he would try his own way but if it didn’t work he would change it, He really wanted to be good, He left Jerry Jeff and worked with Larry Joe Taylor, He started producing back in the 1990’s, He helped produce Caroline Heron’s first record, A lot of people started asking him to produce them, First recordings session was in 1966, He’s recorded on every track type you can think of, He is pretty much working from home, He is self conscious about his voice, He has a different voice now then he did back then, He can sing blues or R&B now
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