The Quintessential HIT MAN

by L Russel Brown, Sandy Linzer, Larry E Wacholtz

Overview

He's been slapped by Frank Sinatra, punched by John Lennon and ridiculed by the head of Ringo Starr's record company. And all over one song. Brown claims he took every tear and turned it into a musical note. "I turned every punch and smashed it into a rhythm. So instead of letting it destroy me, I let it help me become who I am." Consider what L. Russell Brown has accomplished, as a broken child, seriously beaten by an abusive father, living in housing project as a kid, Jewish, and how he had to steal food for himself, and his brothers, and sisters. His is the story of a good kid in a terrible childhood who seemed far more likely to end up with a large number printed on the back of his shirt, serving time in a state prison. Instead, he took the narrow path, on a difficult road, and has lived a life of struggle and fame, by following his passion of writing songs that have been recorded by many of the world's greatest superstars. They have made millions of dollars, and at the same time, have touched our hearts, minds, and souls. L. Russell Brown's songs have given our nation courage in times of desperation and helped us to share our sense of forgiveness. His song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Tree" became a symbol for families of hostages, soldiers, and loved ones who were heart fully missed. "Yellow Ribbons" led to the pink ribbons used for cancer awareness, and to other meaningful ways of expressing our shared human grief and sorrows. As Brown says, "He had more turn downs than a cheap motel bed" when it comes to pitching his songs to music publishers. Yet, his is a story of courage, and a life shared with the most famous people in the music and entertainment world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780989895194
Publisher:	Thumbs Up Publishing
Publication date:	08/07/2017
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

He's been slapped by Frank Sinatra, punched by John Lennon and ridiculed by the head of Ringo Starr's record company. L. Russell Brown as a broken child, seriously beaten by an abusive father, living in housing project as a kid, Jewish, who had to steal food for himself, and family. Yet, his "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Tree" became a symbol for families of hostages, soldiers, and loved ones who were heart fully missed. Instead, he took the narrow path, on a difficult road, and has lived a life of struggle and fame, by following his passion of writing songs that have been recorded by many of the world's greatest superstars. They have made millions of dollars, and at the same time, have touched our hearts, minds, and souls. "Yellow Ribbons" led to the pink ribbons used for cancer awareness, and to other meaningful ways of expressing our shared human grief and sorrows. As Brown says, "He had more turn downs than a cheap motel bed" when it comes to pitching his songs to music publishers. Yet, his is a story of courage, and a life shared with the most famous people in the music and entertainment world.

Iconic songwriter Sandy Linzer worked with the famous Bob Crewe in the early years of rock & roll writing songs for recording artists The Four Seasons, Hits included "Dawn", "A Lover's Concerto", "Working My Way Back to You", and "Let's Hang On". His songs and recordings have touched millions of fans over the last 50 years as he continues to write songs for, and sometimes produce, superstars including Kool & the Gang, The Backstreet Boys, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, The Toys, the late Whitney Houston, N'Sync, Barry Manilow, T.S. Monk, Odyssey, The Spinners, Al Hirt, and many others. In addition, Linzer has written soundtracks for movies and network TV shows including Jersey Boys, Ten Things I Hate About You, Donnie Brasco, The Preacher's Wife, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie and (you guessed it), many more.

Dr. Larry Wacholtz is a full professor at the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee. As a consultant to industry professionals, his research company EMR provided psychographic image research for MCA and Word records. He is the former Director of Music Business Entrepreneurship Center at Belmont University, which provided many seminars and workshops for industry wannabes to meet and discuss their business ideas with highly successful industry artists and executives. Larry has several books about how the business operates and has published in journals, and presented esearch papers at many entrepreneurial and entertainment business national conferences.

Table of Contents

PREFACE

MEETING L. RUSSELL BROWN 11

CHAPTER 1

THE PROJECT WAS ME 21

CHAPTER 2

SEEKING MY SALVATION 35

CHAPTER 3

“WOP BOP A LOU BOP

A LOP BAM BOOM” 47

CHAPTER 4

MY FIRST “HIT” 59

CHAPTER 5

“THE WEED” 67

CHAPTER 6

A LEAP OF FAITH 73

CHAPTER 7

ATTENTION! 83

7

CHAPTER 8

PIGALLE 91

CHAPTER 9

CARMEN 101

CHAPTER 10

“STUPIDO” 115

CHAPTER 11

LISA 127

CHAPTER 12

CONNECTING THE DOTS 141

CHAPTER 13

TOUR-DE-FORCE 153

CHAPTER 14

KNOCK THREE TIMES 171

CHAPTER 15

YELLOW RIBBON 185

CHAPTER 16

THE MONEY SHARKS 201

CHAPTER 17

SCHMOOZING WITH

THE LEGENDS 211

8

CHAPTER 18

IT TOOK A LONG TIME 237

EPILOGUE

MEETING THE FUTURE 255

INDEX 259

Editorial Reviews

B

rown's song, "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'round The Old Oak Tree," clearly ignited emotions. It sold millions of records for Tony Orlando. It became a theme song for soldiers returning from Vietnam . . . it inspired a whole series of cultural displays- and to think that it all began with a simple song about a yellow ribbon around an old oak tree.

T

hat Larry Brown made a mark at all is a testament to his will and his survival instincts. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he grew up in a housing project, the oldest of seven kids - five brothers, all of whom slept in a single room. His father, a taxi driver, didn't make a lot of money, and it wasn't steady income, either. As a result, the family battled starvation. Larry learned at an early age how to find food. He was enterprising, and it landed him in jail at the raw age of 11.

From the Publisher