Tommy West (producer)
Encyclopedia
Tommy West is an American record producer and singer-songwriter.
group the Criterions with Tim Hauser
, a classmate of his at St. Rose High School
in Belmar, New Jersey
. In 1959, the group hit the pop charts with "I Remain Truly Yours."
West is a 1963 graduate of Villanova University
. While attending Villanova, he became student conductor of the school's glee club, The Villanova Singers. West formed a sub-group of the Singers called The Villanova Spires, a 12-man group who performed folk songs with guitar accompaniment. Tim Hauser, also now a student at Villanova, joined the group. In 1961, West auditioned fellow student Jim Croce
for The Spires and an enduring friendship was formed.
After graduating in 1963, West became a radio announcer and music director of WRLB-FM in Long Branch, New Jersey. In 1966, he left the station and began work for ABC Records
in New York, where he met Terry Cashman
and Gene Pistilli, songwriters at the company. This trio, Cashman, Pistilli and West, began a writing and performing collaboration. In 1967, they recorded an album titled Bound To Happen.
West became a session singer and sang back-up vocals on albums by Frank Sinatra
, Perry Como
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
, Connie Francis
, and Mitch Ryder
. He was a jingle singer for radio and television commercials.
and recorded an album titled Cashman, Pistilli & West, produced by Nik Venet. Simultaneously, they recorded under the pseudonym The Buchanan Brothers. This trio is remembered for the single "Medicine Man." Also that year, they formed the publishing companies Interrobang Productions, Blendingwell Music, and Sister John Music. They signed folk duo Jim and Ingrid Croce
and secured a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1969, turning production duties over to Nik Venet for their album Jim & Ingrid Croce
. The album was released, but was not well received.
In 1969, Cashman, Pistilli and West were introduced to a talented young musician, Maury Muehleisen
. Soon after they signed Muehleisen, Pistilli left the partnership and became a founding member of The Manhattan Transfer
, joining up with West's lifelong hometown friend Tim Hauser
and Hauser's wife Patricia Rosalia.
Cashman and West produced Muehleisen’s album Gingerbread, released by Capitol Records in November 1970. This critically well received album brought together Muehleisen and Jim Croce, who for a short time accompanied Maury on guitar for live performances.
Cashman and West began an association with producer Wes Farrell
and composed eight songs that were recorded by The Partridge Family
: "She'd Rather Have The Rain," "Only A Moment Ago," "Every Song Is You," "One Day At A Time," "Come On Love," "Sunshine Eyes," "It Sounds Like You're Saying Hello," and "It's Time That I Knew You Better."
. Recorded in the fall of 1971 and released in April 1972, this album produced three hit singles. Simultaneously, Cashman and West were on the charts with their first single, their tribute to New York City, the "American City Suite."
In 1973, Cashman and West produced Croce's Life and Times and I Got A Name
albums. They received five gold records for their work on Jim Croce’s hits - #1 singles "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
" and "Time in a Bottle
," and three albums (You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, Life and Times, and I Got A Name), all three now which have reached platinum status. Croce and Muehleisen perished in a small plane crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana
on September 20, 1973.
Cashman and West went on to record two more albums for ABC-Dunhill, Moondog Serenade and Lifesong.
. In 1975, they formed Lifesong Records and recorded singer-songwriter Henry Gross
, who in 1976 had a million-selling single "Shannon". West also recorded "Hometown Frolics," his solo album. In 1978, Cashman and West produced Dion
's "The Return of the Wanderer." West began recording in Nashville in 1978, producing an album by Gail Davies and beginning a five-album collaboration with Ed Bruce.
In 1984, West entered into a partnership with Mary Tyler Moore
's MTM Records
, based in Nashville. Production credits during this time include recordings by Judy Rodman
, Holly Dunn
, and Girls Next Door and The Metros from Minneapolis. West produced three #1 country singles - "You’re The Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had" with Ed Bruce
; "Until I Met You
" with Judy Rodman
; and "Love Someone Like Me" with Holly Dunn
.
In 1992, Tommy West launched High Harmony Records. Its initial release, "Through The Raindrops," by harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio, remained on the Billboard New Age chart for nine months. The album made the Top Twenty New Age year-end chart in Billboard
and launched Bonfiglio's success on the QVC Network, where his appearances generated over 200,000 units. In 1993, West teamed up with Anne Murray
and produced Croonin'
a collection of classic pre-rock songs of the fifties. The album achieved double platinum status in Canada and had a substantial run on the American charts as well. Croonin received a Juno Award
as best engineered pop recording of 1993. In 1994, West produced Kindred Spirits with New Age pianist Andy Wasserman. In 1996, West produced Always On My Mind, a collection of pop standards with Robert Bonfiglio
for Time-Life Records. In 1997, West produced Healing In The Dark with acoustic rock duo Blonde on Blonde
. He produced a Bonfiglio Christmas TV special for PBS called "Home For The Holidays." In 1998, he produced Playing God with singer-songwriter Bob Hillman. A second album, Welcome To My Century, was recorded in 2000. In 1999, West again teamed up with Anne Murray and produced What a Wonderful World
, a two CD collection of inspirational and secular "message songs." This recording reached #1 on the Billboard Magazine Contemporary Christian chart, achieving double platinum status in the United States.
In 2000, West produced Susan Piper's album, The Truth Comes Out. In 2001, West produced eight Christmas songs with Anne Murray as part of a project entitled What a Wonderful Christmas
. In 2002, West produced Country Croonin'
a thirty-song double CD of timeless country classics, which was certified gold in 2004 by the RIAA. In 2004, West produced All of Me
with Anne Murray, a collection of pop standards from The American Songbook.
Tommy West continues to focus on new singer/songwriters and records many of his projects in his state of the art studio, "Somewhere In New Jersey", which was wired by his stepson Blair. Most recently he teamed up with former RCA Recording artist Jim Dawson and former Terry Cashman
Cashman and West Tour Manager, John Battiloro
to produce the Anthem "Back together again" for The Global Medical Relief Fund at his New Jersey Studio. Mr. Battiloro also engineered.
Early career
West's career as a performing artist began in 1958 when he co-founded the doo-wopDoo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
group the Criterions with Tim Hauser
Tim Hauser
Tim Hauser is an accomplished singer who was a member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer.-Early life:He was born in Troy, New York. Hauser, his sister Fayette, and their parents moved to the Jersey Shore when he was seven years old. He lived in Ocean Township, New Jersey and Asbury Park,...
, a classmate of his at St. Rose High School
St. Rose High School
St. Rose High School is a co-educational four-year Catholic high school in Belmar, New Jersey, United States. The school operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton. The school was founded in 1923 by the Parish of St...
in Belmar, New Jersey
Belmar, New Jersey
Belmar is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,794. The Borough of Belmar is governed under the Faulkner Act system of municipal government....
. In 1959, the group hit the pop charts with "I Remain Truly Yours."
West is a 1963 graduate of Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
. While attending Villanova, he became student conductor of the school's glee club, The Villanova Singers. West formed a sub-group of the Singers called The Villanova Spires, a 12-man group who performed folk songs with guitar accompaniment. Tim Hauser, also now a student at Villanova, joined the group. In 1961, West auditioned fellow student Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
for The Spires and an enduring friendship was formed.
After graduating in 1963, West became a radio announcer and music director of WRLB-FM in Long Branch, New Jersey. In 1966, he left the station and began work for ABC Records
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
in New York, where he met Terry Cashman
Terry Cashman
Terry Cashman is a record producer and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 hit, "Talkin' Baseball." While the song is well recognized today, it was all but ignored by typical Top 40 radio during its chart life, making only the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.Cashman was the lead singer...
and Gene Pistilli, songwriters at the company. This trio, Cashman, Pistilli and West, began a writing and performing collaboration. In 1967, they recorded an album titled Bound To Happen.
West became a session singer and sang back-up vocals on albums by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
, Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
, and Mitch Ryder
Mitch Ryder
William S. Levise, Jr , better known by his stage name Mitch Ryder, is an American musician who has recorded over two dozen albums in more than four decades.-Career:...
. He was a jingle singer for radio and television commercials.
Capitol Records
In 1968, Cashman, Pistilli and West signed with Capitol RecordsCapitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
and recorded an album titled Cashman, Pistilli & West, produced by Nik Venet. Simultaneously, they recorded under the pseudonym The Buchanan Brothers. This trio is remembered for the single "Medicine Man." Also that year, they formed the publishing companies Interrobang Productions, Blendingwell Music, and Sister John Music. They signed folk duo Jim and Ingrid Croce
Ingrid Croce
Ingrid Croce is an American author, singer-songwriter and restaurateur. She is the widow of singer-songwriter Jim Croce and the mother of singer-songwriter A.J. Croce. Between 1964 and 1971, Ingrid and Jim Croce performed as a duo and wrote together. In 1969, Capitol Records released their album,...
and secured a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1969, turning production duties over to Nik Venet for their album Jim & Ingrid Croce
Jim & Ingrid Croce
-Personnel:*Jim Croce - guitar, keyboards, vocals, 12 string guitar*Ingrid Croce - vocals*Gary Chester - drums*Harry Katzman - violin*Ann Minogue - triangle*Gene Pistilli - guitar, keyboards*John Stockfish - bass*Eric Weissberg - mandolin...
. The album was released, but was not well received.
In 1969, Cashman, Pistilli and West were introduced to a talented young musician, Maury Muehleisen
Maury Muehleisen
Maury Muehleisen was an American-born musician, songwriter, and artist best known for his studio work, live accompaniment, and impact on the music of Jim Croce. His unassuming style and exquisite guitar skills were a perfect balance to Croce’s seemingly rough-hewn experiences, stage presence, and...
. Soon after they signed Muehleisen, Pistilli left the partnership and became a founding member of The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
, joining up with West's lifelong hometown friend Tim Hauser
Tim Hauser
Tim Hauser is an accomplished singer who was a member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer.-Early life:He was born in Troy, New York. Hauser, his sister Fayette, and their parents moved to the Jersey Shore when he was seven years old. He lived in Ocean Township, New Jersey and Asbury Park,...
and Hauser's wife Patricia Rosalia.
Cashman and West produced Muehleisen’s album Gingerbread, released by Capitol Records in November 1970. This critically well received album brought together Muehleisen and Jim Croce, who for a short time accompanied Maury on guitar for live performances.
Cashman and West began an association with producer Wes Farrell
Wes Farrell
Wes Farrell was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s...
and composed eight songs that were recorded by The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
: "She'd Rather Have The Rain," "Only A Moment Ago," "Every Song Is You," "One Day At A Time," "Come On Love," "Sunshine Eyes," "It Sounds Like You're Saying Hello," and "It's Time That I Knew You Better."
Success with Jim Croce
In 1971, Cashman and West signed as artists with ABC-Dunhill and produced the first of three Jim Croce albums, You Don't Mess Around With JimYou Don't Mess Around with Jim
-Notes:-Notes:-Notes:*A Tracks 1-12 correspond to the original 1972 album-Personnel:*Jim Croce - guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals, background vocals*Maury Muehleisen - guitar, vocals*The Briggs - background vocals...
. Recorded in the fall of 1971 and released in April 1972, this album produced three hit singles. Simultaneously, Cashman and West were on the charts with their first single, their tribute to New York City, the "American City Suite."
In 1973, Cashman and West produced Croce's Life and Times and I Got A Name
I Got a Name
-Songwriting:Croce's wife Ingrid Croce has an autobiographical cookbook, Thyme In A Bottle, in which she writes interesting anecdotes about Jim. What she wrote about "I'll Have To Say 'I Love You' in a Song" is this....
albums. They received five gold records for their work on Jim Croce’s hits - #1 singles "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is the title of a song written by American folk rock singer Jim Croce. Released as part of his 1973 album Life and Times, the song was a Number One pop hit for him, spending two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1973...
" and "Time in a Bottle
Time in a Bottle
"Time in a Bottle" is a posthumous Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart number-one hit for singer-songwriter Jim Croce. The song reached the top spot on the Billboard chart at the end of December 1973, three months after his death in a plane crash. It was the third posthumous number...
," and three albums (You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, Life and Times, and I Got A Name), all three now which have reached platinum status. Croce and Muehleisen perished in a small plane crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
on September 20, 1973.
Cashman and West went on to record two more albums for ABC-Dunhill, Moondog Serenade and Lifesong.
Career as a producer
In 1974, Cashman and West produced records by Jim Dawson and Mary TraversMary Travers (singer)
Mary Allin Travers was an American singer-songwriter and member of the folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary, along with Peter Yarrow and Noel Stookey...
. In 1975, they formed Lifesong Records and recorded singer-songwriter Henry Gross
Henry Gross
Henry Gross , is an American singer-songwriter best known for his association with the group, Sha Na Na, and for his hit song, "Shannon".-Early years:...
, who in 1976 had a million-selling single "Shannon". West also recorded "Hometown Frolics," his solo album. In 1978, Cashman and West produced Dion
Dion DiMucci
Dion Francis DiMucci , better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles....
's "The Return of the Wanderer." West began recording in Nashville in 1978, producing an album by Gail Davies and beginning a five-album collaboration with Ed Bruce.
In 1984, West entered into a partnership with Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as...
's MTM Records
MTM Records
MTM Records was an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was founded in 1984 as a subsidiary of the production company of the same name, a company owned by actress Mary Tyler Moore. After MTM Enterprises was sold in late 1988, the label was absorbed into Capitol Records...
, based in Nashville. Production credits during this time include recordings by Judy Rodman
Judy Rodman
Judy Rodman is an American Country Music Singer. In the mid-80s, she was a successful country music singer, making all the way to number one on the country charts in 1986 with the song "Until I Met You." She also won the Academy of Country Music's "Top New Female Vocalist" award in 1985.Today,...
, Holly Dunn
Holly Dunn
Holly Dunn is a country music artist who first found fame with her 1986 Top-10 hit "Daddy's Hands" from her self-titled début album. Dunn has charted more than a dozen country singles, two of which reaching the #1 spot.Dunn is the daughter of a minister father...
, and Girls Next Door and The Metros from Minneapolis. West produced three #1 country singles - "You’re The Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had" with Ed Bruce
Ed Bruce
William Edwin "Ed" Bruce, Jr. is an American country music songwriter and singer. He is known for penning the 1975 song "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" .-Early life & songwriting career:...
; "Until I Met You
Until I Met You
"Until I Met You" is a country music song released as a single in 1986 by American country music artist, Judy Rodman. It was Rodman's fourth-issued single and her only song to reach #1 on the Billboard Country chart .-Song information:...
" with Judy Rodman
Judy Rodman
Judy Rodman is an American Country Music Singer. In the mid-80s, she was a successful country music singer, making all the way to number one on the country charts in 1986 with the song "Until I Met You." She also won the Academy of Country Music's "Top New Female Vocalist" award in 1985.Today,...
; and "Love Someone Like Me" with Holly Dunn
Holly Dunn
Holly Dunn is a country music artist who first found fame with her 1986 Top-10 hit "Daddy's Hands" from her self-titled début album. Dunn has charted more than a dozen country singles, two of which reaching the #1 spot.Dunn is the daughter of a minister father...
.
In 1992, Tommy West launched High Harmony Records. Its initial release, "Through The Raindrops," by harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio, remained on the Billboard New Age chart for nine months. The album made the Top Twenty New Age year-end chart in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
and launched Bonfiglio's success on the QVC Network, where his appearances generated over 200,000 units. In 1993, West teamed up with Anne Murray
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
and produced Croonin'
Croonin'
-Chart performance:...
a collection of classic pre-rock songs of the fifties. The album achieved double platinum status in Canada and had a substantial run on the American charts as well. Croonin received a Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
as best engineered pop recording of 1993. In 1994, West produced Kindred Spirits with New Age pianist Andy Wasserman. In 1996, West produced Always On My Mind, a collection of pop standards with Robert Bonfiglio
Robert Bonfiglio
-Performances:He recorded Live at the Grand Canyon in 1994. The CD was recorded live at the Grand Canyon Music Festival in September 1993 and September 1994...
for Time-Life Records. In 1997, West produced Healing In The Dark with acoustic rock duo Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde
Blonde on Blonde is American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's seventh studio album, released in May or June 1966 on Columbia Records and produced by Bob Johnston. Recording sessions commenced in New York in October 1965, with a plethora of backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing...
. He produced a Bonfiglio Christmas TV special for PBS called "Home For The Holidays." In 1998, he produced Playing God with singer-songwriter Bob Hillman. A second album, Welcome To My Century, was recorded in 2000. In 1999, West again teamed up with Anne Murray and produced What a Wonderful World
What a Wonderful World (Anne Murray album)
-Chart performance:...
, a two CD collection of inspirational and secular "message songs." This recording reached #1 on the Billboard Magazine Contemporary Christian chart, achieving double platinum status in the United States.
In 2000, West produced Susan Piper's album, The Truth Comes Out. In 2001, West produced eight Christmas songs with Anne Murray as part of a project entitled What a Wonderful Christmas
What a Wonderful Christmas
-Chart performance:...
. In 2002, West produced Country Croonin'
Country Croonin'
-Chart performance:...
a thirty-song double CD of timeless country classics, which was certified gold in 2004 by the RIAA. In 2004, West produced All of Me
All of Me (Anne Murray album)
-Chart performance:...
with Anne Murray, a collection of pop standards from The American Songbook.
Tommy West continues to focus on new singer/songwriters and records many of his projects in his state of the art studio, "Somewhere In New Jersey", which was wired by his stepson Blair. Most recently he teamed up with former RCA Recording artist Jim Dawson and former Terry Cashman
Terry Cashman
Terry Cashman is a record producer and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 hit, "Talkin' Baseball." While the song is well recognized today, it was all but ignored by typical Top 40 radio during its chart life, making only the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.Cashman was the lead singer...
Cashman and West Tour Manager, John Battiloro
John Battiloro
John Battiloro, born on March 12, 1952. Battiloro is a former record producer and now a business consultant specializing in the Media, Entertainment and Broadcasting Industries.- Early Career :...
to produce the Anthem "Back together again" for The Global Medical Relief Fund at his New Jersey Studio. Mr. Battiloro also engineered.
External links
- http://www.classicwebs.com/cashwest.htm
- http://www.maurymuehleisen.com/main.html
- http://www.jimcrocefans.com/