From Cashville to Never Neverland…
Things changed dramatically for Brian when he signed with Capitol Records. His new job gave him much more creative control, but it also required him to attend meetings, manage schedules, report to executives, and oversee recording sessions. Coupled with moving and finding new digs in Nashville, it took him weeks to get his bearings.
Even though Brian was based out of the Capitol Records Nashville office, he spent the majority of his time around the corner in the RCA building on Music Row. Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville and is widely considered the heart of Nashville’s entertainment industry, according to Wikipedia. For Brian, it just meant everything was within walking distance.
Brian’s very first job at Capitol was to finish the soundtrack for the 1984 comedy Teachers. Apparently, post-production was way over budget, and once Brian got his hands on the tape, he understood why. One of the first skills Brian learned from Phil Ramone was how to splice tape, an exacting, meticulous process that involves making a copy of the master tape and cutting it into sections to fit the final arrangement. In a motion picture, one must also contend with the actors’ dialogue and sound effects, which are then mixed with the edited music to fit the scene. Without going into any more detail, nothing that had been done by his predecessor was usable, and Brian had to start from scratch. That was the outcome his boss on the project, producer Aaron Russo, grudgingly expected. And to add insult to injury, Aaron also wanted Brian to create an album of the original soundtrack for pre-release to help hype the movie. Jeez!
My fingers were so sore from splicing tape that I struggled to pull up my zipper after taking a piss. So I started wearing jogging pants around the studio. – BGW.
United Artists released Teachers in October 1984 to mixed reviews, and the film was largely forgotten. The album soundtrack did marginally better, mainly because of the star power on the album, with a majority of the songs hitting the Billboard Top 100, but it never even came close to the success of Arthur, and Brian was glad to have put that project behind him.
After Teachers, Brian settled into a regular cadence—co-producing singles for artists such as Anne Murray, Diana Ross, and Mel McDaniel. It was rewarding work, but not enough to warrant a full paycheck. So Brian (piano) teamed up with Eddie Bayers (drums), Sonny Garrish (guitars), and Jack Williams (bass) and used leftover studio time to help up-and-coming artists create demos. Most of the artists the boys created demos for never went anywhere, but a few did make it big, including Sylvia, Louise Mandrell, and Terri Gibbs.
Brian also performed regularly at Tootsies Orchid Lounge and Robert’s Western World, backing visiting artists such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Merl Haggard. Tootsies, especially, was a hotbed of the music industry, and Brian generally left each gig with more work, whether in the studio or on the road. By then, he had earned the moniker ‘Piano Kid’ and was building quite a rep among industry professionals. Brian was on his way…
Yeah, Capitol kiboshed that dynamic by sending him to, of all places, Austin, Texas, in early 1984. Willie Nelson’s nephew, Freddy Fletcher, had just founded Arlyn Studios and used his cousin’s influence to lobby for a producer to launch operations. Guess who got asked to volunteer? At first, the work was rewarding, producing the newbies Christine Albert and Lyle Lovett, but it dried up quickly. Brian found himself composing jingles for local TV and radio stations and performing for a pittance at piano bars just to feed his face.
Brian joined the Army Reserves so he could go to school and launch his career, and it gave him the freedom to move around the country. It had been months since Brian had a decent gig, so as the active-duty portion of his obligation approached, he decided to opt in early, bid Arlyn Studios a hasty goodbye, and hop on a plane for adventure and a regular paycheck.
Sure, Austin was a bust, but that didn’t change anything for Brian and Capitol. He couldn’t just pop into the studio on a moment’s notice, but Brian was still on the books as a staff composer, a title he holds to this day. And Capitol had no qualms throwing work his way, no matter where in the world he was.
Courtesy of https://www.discogs.com
In late 1984, Capitol tasked Brian with composing music for the newly acquired Maybelline account. The cosmetics giant had just developed two groundbreaking products and needed to reach yuppies to ensure success. The advertising firm representing Maybelline tried to get Burt Bacharach first, but he turned them down and recommended Brian. See how that works? By then, Brian was off the battlefield and holed up in Darmstadt, Germany, enjoying the beer and bratwurst and, well, the girls, too. The rec room had an old upright piano, so in his off-duty hours, he sat and composed two of the most celebrated jingles in the company’s history. That kicked off a relationship that has lasted over 30 years because Maybelline came back for more…
For the first five years of my career, I was the kid shaking with anticipation, full of awe and wonder. If it had anything to do with music, I begged to do it. From pulling cables to writing songs to cutting tape, I was your man. I was also a sponge. Years later, Phil Ramone joked that he’d transplanted his brain into mine and would therefore live another 50 years. Thankfully, most folks thought the same way, and I learned in that short time almost everything I needed for the rest of my career. – BGW.
Besides working as a producer and session musician, Brian was often performing live during his time at Capitol Records. Most notably, in 1983, as Diana Ross’s keyboardist, he also did short stints with Tesla, Cyndi Lauper, and J.J. Cale. Tootsies in Nashville was his hangout after work, and there he was often invited to join artists like Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings onstage. When he moved to Austin, it was Antone’s Nightclub, The Continental Club, and Austin City Limits with everyone from Christine Albert and Ray Benson to Lyle Lovett and Chris Wall, just to name a few.