(part 57) FRANK ZAPPA, TOM WILSON, AND "COLOR HIM IN"

© Charles Steiner/Retna Ltd.


Bob Dylan and Tom Wilson Photo by Don Hunstein

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I have already said it was Frank Zappa who asked Tom Wilson at Verve Records to take a personal interest in the album "Color Him In." Tom pressed Verve to lease the master from Our Productions, who had produced the album, and to release it on Verve. In the original deal Tom got Verve to advance $10,000 to me personally in the form of a check. I was not aware of this at the time, because neither Tom or Frank ever told me about it.

When the contracts were sent to Steve Clark at Our Productions the check was in with the rest of the paper work. I never saw what was actually sent by Verve at the time. Steve brought the check to me and said there'd been a mistake and that Verve had accidently put my name on the check. He said it was not mine and told me it was money to pay for session costs. He asked me to endorse it so he could deposit it in the company account for use in paying studio costs.

Now get this. I believed him. I never questioned him for a moment. I trusted him. This is how I was treated from the beginning by Steve Clark. He was like a big brother to me from the first time I met him, and once again, as so many times before, I responded to how he treated me and not to what he was actually doing.

It was not until years later when I ran into Tom Wilson that he made me aware of the facts. "Oh, no, Bobby," he said, "that money was for you. I made sure that Verve sent you the check personally." This was Tom's response after hearing what I have just written here about Steve Clark and his lie to me regarding the check.

As if that were not enough Steve used the money to pay my weekly salary of a $100 a week for 2 years of writing songs for his publishing company Since Music. So, in essence, Steve ripped me off for the $10,000 and then turned around and used it to pay me to write songs for him. He got about 70 songs or so and it didn't cost him a penny to do it.

It's a little hard to get ahead when your friends are doing this sort of thing to you. Like I said, at the time I knew nothing about what had transpired between myself and my good buddy "Steve-o." I was just glad that the album was getting released and concentrated on that aspect of the Verve deal.

The fact was, that I'd brought the label deal to Steve Clark via Frank Zappa, written the songs, recorded them, and paid myself with my own money to do this for Steve Clark's companies Our Productions and Since Music.

In copyright law there is something known as the law of copyright reversion. It would seem apparent to me, in light of what I have told you here, that any publishing deal I signed in 1966 with Since Music and Steve Clark would be null and void on it's face based on these facts.

What Steve did constituted a fraud against me as well as a theft. He stole my money. It would seem that any claim by Since Music and Steve Clark of rights to my songs would be clearly and legally beyond the pale of common sense at this point.

I would be more than pleased to end up in a court of law and make my case for the rights to any and all of my songs that were, and/or are listed as property of Since Music. I, Robert Parker Jameson aka Bobby Jameson, do herein claim any and all rights to each of my works listed with Since Music and/or Our Productions. This would include any and all of "Color Him In."

As you have probably figured out by now, there was little in the way of fair play when it came to Bobby Jameson and the business of music. I was unfortunate to a fault when it came to matching up with unscrupulous persons in the music industry. These constant elements of trust and disappointment over many years were the ground work for a version of Bobby Jameson that was combative, forceful, and destructive, as well as creative. I in no way blame what I eventually did on others, but what I will do, and am doing, is to lay out the impossible nature of the task I had to contend with throughout the 60's.

(part 56) "THE CHRIST COMPLEX"

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The "Christ Complex" came about with the use of LSD. For one to have a "Christ Complex" you don't necessarily have to think you're Jesus, which I didn't, you just have to develop a sense of being something or someone special, which I did. The use of drugs, particularly LSD, has a tendency in some to do this.

If you look closely at my gaze in the original photo for the "Color Him In" cover art you can see that I am very concentrated on something. That something is the "Christ Complex." It seemed to develop out of a sense of frustration and loss.

Coupled with my drug experiences and ability to keep picking up the pieces and become another version of myself, it led me to invent new personalities. This is not an easy subject to broach, but one I feel I must to allow the reader to peer inside the person of Bobby Jameson.

I was now calling myself Jameson. The singular name and dropping Bobby was a very significant feature of the new character I was becoming. My sense, rightly or wrongly, of being connected Spiritually to the Universe, became a powerful new mechanism for me to use in the publicity of "Color Him In" and it's release.

I believed, because I needed to, that all my previous failures and trials were actually part of a bigger picture that I was then beginning to see and understand. It was a way not only to make sense out of what had happened, but to actually give it specific purpose, making it necessary as opposed to accidental in the overall scheme of things.

You can see, I hope, that in doing this I was able to redirect the past into a purposeful focus for the future of Jameson and "Color Him In." I did not have to question what had happened because I had the perfect explanation, manufactured or not. In telling you this I am hoping you will begin to understand how I became the person I became.

There has to be a basis set into this story that allows one to see, not only historical events related to the music business, but the other events more personal in nature, which have to do with emotions and thought processes. It was not just about writing songs and making records. The 60's was a supercharged Spiritual quest for many. It went far beyond the everyday things that most people attend to. I am in no way saying it was right, but conversely, I am in no way saying it was wrong.

History will delegate to the 60's, and the phenomenon of socially restructuring everything, what history itself decides over time. My job is to relay to you my story, good and bad, as best I can on these pages. I hope there will be many instances where you have a hard time with some of what I tell you, otherwise I would have failed utterly to convey truthfully what actually transpired.

My personal focus at the time of "Color Him In" was extreme. I had convinced myself to go where I decided I was to go. In an article from KRLA BEAT in 1967 the title is a dead give away, "Prophet In Leather." I leave you to decide what the intention was in calling it that.

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On the back cover of the album there's a picture of me standing on a small rock at the beach. It didn't work out, but the purpose was supposed to be that the tide would come up and cover the rock making it appear as if I was standing on water. The only trouble was the tide was not coming in fast enough so the picture you see is me waiting on the rock for the water.



Every time I got the chance to promote this view of Jameson as more than just a guy who made records I did. I was like a method actor. I was so sold on my character that I was my character. Everything I did and the way I looked was geared to the character I had become and was becoming. My continued use of LSD, downers, and alcohol fueled the motor that drove me on.

Prior to the actual release of "Color Him In" my time was spent convincing myself of my own purpose. In some ways I was a self appointed social critic. In other ways I was a self obsessed ego maniac whose intent was to enrich himself through stardom. What ever I was or wasn't, there is one thing that is clear. The making and promoting of "Color Him In" was the launching pad for the eventual disintegration into alcoholism and drug addiction of Bobby Jameson.

(part 55-b) Technical Schmechnical

I would like to clarify some of the points, for those who are interested, regarding technical problems encountered in the making of "Color Him In." There are specific differences in the Mono and Stereo versions of the album. The mix is better on the stereo version, if for no other reason than separation. The mono mix is somewhat cluttered and crushed. When I say the album did not finish the same way it was started it's things like this that I'm referring to. Rather than a slow deliberative mix the album in some cases suffers from a rush job.

"Right By My Side" "I Love You More Than You Know" and "The New Age" all have this problem. The mix on these three songs is muddier than others especially in the mono mixes. The stereo version is somewhat better, but the mix on these three songs in particular have too much bass, not enough mid-range, and an overall lack of high end, which is a problem for the album in general.

The whole process was done with a lack of regard for the final product. It doesn't much matter what you cut in the studio if you can't hear it clearly, or at all, in the end product. The process of mixing sound is like editing a film properly. You may have it on film, but it may be sitting on the editing floor.

In this case a lot was lost in the mix, making it so muddy that it is hard to make out. Curt Boettcher himself, in an interview I read, stated that the mix was awful. It suffered because of the two things I mentioned in the last post. Rushed, because of money, and a lack of attention due to problems with other groups that Curt and Steve Clark were working with.

The Association, Tommy Roe, and Joe South, who was with Steve Clark's Southern partner Bill Lowery, in Atlanta, were all demanding attention from Steve and Curt Boettcher at the same time "Color Him In" was being completed.

(part 55) COLOR HIM IN: KRLA BEAT 1967

Verve Recods poster of Me, Frank Zappa, and Janice Ian

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Cover of KRLA BEAT for "Color Him In" release in 1967

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KRLA BEAT 1967

(part 54) "COLOR HIM IN" THE FINAL MIX...

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Making "Color Him In" was an act of love as well as being frustrating. All the potential in the world was there, but the frustration of always being dominated by the money clock was a pain in the ass. We couldn't work when we were ready. We had to work when the time was available. I know I have already stated this, but it deserves repeating, because it dominated the way in which "Color Him In" was made.

There were shortcuts where there shouldn't have been, such as in the song "Jenny." It's basically a lounge singers song, granted, but there are parts of the vocal where I and the background singers are out of tune slightly and this weakened the impact of the recording overall. Instead of fixing it, Steve Clark would say, "It's good enough for government work" or something similar and have us move on.

The problem with that, and there were many, was that I started getting the feeling that the whole album was going to end up suffering as a result which it did. Likewise the ending of "Windows And Doors" has a crowd applause that Steve added, because again, a note was missed by me at the end of the song. Rather than get it right dumb fixes were used to offset the mistake. What you end up with by doing that, is the mistake plus another mistake. You can well imagine the frustration over having to work in this manner.

When "Color Him In" was being made we had no record deal. The cost of recording was fronted by Steve Clark's production company "Our Productions." If a label had been involved from the start we possibly could have had more freedom to do what needed to be done. But the way it was Steve was always looking over our shoulders and trying to cut costs which hurt the album overall.

Don't get me wrong, "Color Him In" even with it's mistakes and weaknesses has held it's own over a period of 41 years. Like Chris Lucey's "Songs Of Protest And Anti Protest," both albums have managed, on their own merit, to be regarded as viable period representations of the 60's.

In point of fact it was my relationship with FranK Zappa that led to the album being released on Verve Records which Frank and "The Mothers Of Invention" were on. I have always assumed that Frank felt he owed me something because of my openness with him regarding Gail. I was never a problem for Frank, and his intervention regarding "Color Him In" and Verve, was his way of saying thanks. It was Frank who asked Tom Wilson to take a personal interest in "Color Him In" which Tom did. So you see, even the deal itself with Verve was handed to Steve Clark. He didn't have to go out and shop the record. The label came to him via my friendship with Frank.

The ongoing difficulty between "The Association" and Curt Boettcher was again one of the problems that interfered with our work. Curt would get depressed over it and his creativity would suffer as a result. The way that showed up in his work on "Color Him In" was lack luster ideas instead of his usual genius and creativity.

The clearest example of this would be on "Who's Putting Who On" and the horn parts which at best are annoying. Instead of using Jim Bell's talent to make those parts what they could have been, it was passed over and left as is which was never adequate. These imperfect pieces of "Color Him In" are some of it's weaknesses and have always bothered me personally, but the main criticism of the album was the final mix.

It was always mushy! Too much bass, too little mid range, and almost no high end. This kept the record from ever having the clarity it could have had, and negatively affected the separation that was built into the original recordings. It was a sloppy mistake and I complained about it from the very beginning.

When the album was being mixed it was played back through those Goddamned "Voice Of The Theater" speakers at high volume. When you played it on those, and mixed it, there was no possible way it would sound the same as it would when played on smaller speakers like people had in their homes or cars. It took years to get people to quit using those damn mammoth speakers for mix down. There is pretty much zero clarity of sound when that is done which would explain a lot of the muddiness in recordings from the 60's and 70's.

Because of Curt's personal clash with both "The Association" and Steve Clark, the final stages of production for "Color Him In" suffered. You know how that goes. You work hard on something in the beginning, but as time passes your enthusiasm wears thin. If you add a few other major distractions to the mix it gets worse. "The Association" had a hit and they understandably had to be dealt with, by both Curt and Steve, but as a result "Color Him In" did not finish in the same way it started. It was as if we were just trying to finish it as fast as we could in the end.

I am not just passing judgement on my own creation here. I am attempting, as best I can, to relay to you with some clarity how it was this record was made. The ups and downs, the good and the bad, the successes and failures. I have waited 4 decades to explain some of the inner workings of the process and voice some opinion about what went wrong and what went right with "Color Him In."

In the long run the album is what it is, and some people hate it and others love it. My feeling has always been "Let me back in the studio so I can fix what is wrong. Let me make it sound the way it could have sounded and the way it should have sounded." But alas that was not to be, and I have had to accept "Color Him In" for what it is. "Color Him In" is a part of me. My life was changed because of it. The story about that part of my life is not ending here but only beginning. The release of the album and what transpired over the next couple of years was as important to me, maybe more so, than the making of the record itself.


"The New Age" from the album "Color Him In"

(part 53) "THE PLACES, TIMES, AND THE PEOPLE"

SO MANY THINGS TO REMEMBER
AND SO MANY MORE TO FORGET
AND ALL THAT I REMEMBER
IS ALL THAT I'M TRYING TO FORGET

THE PLACES TIMES AND THE PEOPLE
A TANGLE OF MISFORTUNE I HAVE FOUND
LORD THE EAGLE CRIES HIGH ABOVE THE STEEPLE
TO THE PLACES TIMES AND PEOPLE ON THE GROUND

WHEN WILL THE PEOPLE
GO WHERE THEY'RE GOIN'
WHEN WILL THEY ALL COME BACK
THE PLACES THEY GO TO
THE TIME THAT IT TAKES THEM
MAYBE THEY'LL NEVER COME BACK

STANDIN' LOOKIN' OUT OF MY WINDOW
THE RAIN IS LIKE THE TEARDROPS I HAVE CRIED
LORD THERE'S NOTHIN' BUT A ROOM AND A WINDOW
AND THE TIMES IN THE PAST I HAVE TRIED

THE PLACES TIMES AND THE PEOPLE
A TANGLE OF MISFORTUNE I HAVE FOUND
AND THE EAGLE CRIES HIGH ABOVE THE STEEPLE
TO THE PLACES TIMES AND PEOPLE ON THE GROUND

Robert Parker Jameson 1966-67

This song as much as anything on "Color Him In" clarifies the questions of the times, and the possible futility, felt by many, including myself, who looked out across America and tried to explain the "Vietnam War." Their displeasure with what the "Establishment" was doing personified the times.

It also is one of the pure reflections of myself personally, and my growing distaste with the world I saw before me. Coupled with the song "Jamie," which I wrote about and to my brother Bill, who had gone insane earlier in 1966, these 2 songs exemplified for me a bitterness toward fate and the questions I had regarding the stupidity of the war and my purpose on the planet.

The loss to mental illness of my brother Bill was a cruel reality that still haunts me today and has always been a source of anger for me. "Jamie" was a futile attempt, by me, to call my brother back from insanity and see him whole again. "Jamie" was his nickname, and for me, the song is the most important one on "Color Him In." I tried to believe that if I could just will it hard enough it would bring him back to reality.