MARCH 2006/INTERVIEW/MIKE MORDECAI FABLE RECORDS/PART I

A few years back and after a typically mind-numbing and particularly long day at work, I decided to cheer myself up and go down the road, to Putney to browse the new stock in Soul Brother Records. I rushed through the first room and headed straight for the vinyl round the back. As I began glancing at all the different stuff up on the wall, I was suddenly grabbed by the cover of a 12” record up on the top right hand corner that depicted the sky and a massive cloud in the middle. The title read “Forty Seven Times its Own Weight – Cumulo Nimbus”. It was so imposing but so simple, I almost felt like I could smell it just by looking at it (if that makes any sense whatsoever). The price tag read three hundred pounds! Immediately I turned round to the shop assistant: “ So what’s that then?” I cried. “ That’s the Holy Grail, mate” he mumbled in a strong Cockney accent. I was captivated; I had to listen to it.
From the opening “Weedhopper” to the closing number “Cumulo Nimbus” this record feels like the future as this must have been perceived in the mid seventies. Don’t imagine a Moog symphony or anything in that direction. This was a Jazz record at heart with some discreet synth work thrown in for good measure, but overall pretty organic. What made it so futuristic was this feeling that it had been recorded in a vacuum, made on a spaceship. It was precisely this struggle that made it so captivating, so organic but so futuristic.
Therefore, this month Black Athena are proud to present you with an interview with Mike Mordecai, the founder of Fable records, the record label that brought us such astonishing records as: “Forty Seven Times its Own Weight – Cumulo Nimbus”, “Starcrost” and Steam Heat’s “Austin Funk”... Enjoy!


When and where was Fable Records founded?

Fable Records had two beginnings. The first record to appear on Fable was a 45-rpm that came out in 1973 by Zilker Sunday (my rock & roll band which began in 1971 and broke up very shortly after the record came out). One side of that record was a song by Paul Ostermayer called “Goose Creek” and the flip side was “Wrong Time”.

What were the circumstances that led to its creation?

We were young and didn’t know any better! In 1975 I was playing with my new band, Starcrost (a jazz-rock band with vocals), when I read Clive Davis’s book “Inside the Record Business” in which Clive predicted that the next big thing for the 70’s would be a fusion of jazz and rock with vocals. So we rushed to Acme Recording Studio, a small four track studio in Austin, to make our first demo, $100 for two days, recorded four songs the first day and came back to mix them the next. During the mixing session we heard an intermittent buzz. I asked the engineer about it and he said, “That’s ‘poodle buzz’ - you can’t do anything about that.” Being young and not wanting to display my inexperience with such sophisticated recording terminology, I waited until dinner break and then asked my co-producer, “John, I’ve forgotten, what is ‘poodle buzz’?” He replied, “I thought you knew what it was.” As it turned out, Acme Recording was located next to a poodle grooming shop and when they clipped the poodles it interfered with their wiring and it went straight to tape!

Clive Davis had just started Arista Records. We looked up the address and took off to California. Three of us took turns driving only stopping for gas. We got to LA, checked in to a cheap hotel, I took a shower and arrived at Arista Records about 3:30pm. I walked in unannounced-no appointment and said, “I’m here to see Clive Davis.” The receptionist surprised me saying, “Mr. Davis’ office is in New York.” I briefly considered the logistics of my error and decided, “Well, I’ll see whoever’s here.” She explained that the normal procedure would be for me to leave the tape and it would be mailed back to me within six weeks. I explained to her that this was the master copy and that I would just wait in the office until whoever was behind the door had time to listen to it.

I returned the next morning at 10am and sat in the reception area watching people come and go and browsing thru Billboard magazines. Diana Zuniga was the nameplate on her desk as I recall. When Diana went to lunch, I ran to Jack-In-the-Box and
was back in her office sitting there still waiting when she returned. Several times throughout the day she suggested that there was no reason for me to sit there, but I explained I had no where else to go and nothing else to do other than wait for the man behind the door to listen to my tape. Finally, about 2:30pm she got so nervous with me sitting in her office she went in to the man’s office and then returned telling me, “OK, he’s listening to it now.” I took out my seven year old ink fountain pen that I had received for high school graduation making sure I had plenty of ink to sign the record contract.

In a few minutes, the intercom bottom rang and she went into the office. Diana returned, placed her hand on my knee and said, “It’s not quite what we’re looking for.”

“Did you tell him about the ‘poodle buzz’ because we can get rid of that?”, I pleaded.

“It wasn’t the ‘poodle buzz’ - it’s just not quite what we’re looking for.”, she stated again.

Well...I had no plan two. I mean...I read the book...I thought...

I regrouped for my next plan of attack...I’ll go see Herb Alpert! The security guard wouldn’t let me in.

I’ll go to the building that looks like a stack of records! The security guard wouldn’t let me in...but he was nicer than the other security guard and said, “Listen kid, the only way you can get in to a place like this is if you KNOW somebody.” Ah Ha! ...the old “who you know” thing!

I didn’t know anybody, but in browsing thru the Billboard Magazines in Diana’s office I did remember a name that had stuck in my brain...Greelon Landon at RCA Records. I didn’t pay attention to the article but that name stuck.

The next morning I got up and went to the RCA building. I walked up to the security guard and stated with authority, “I was told to personally deliver this package to Greelon Landon.” He replied, “Third floor.” I was IN! Now what? I got a little nervous as I was pacing around the hall on the third floor when a silver haired gentleman walked out of the men’s room, noticed I was a little lost and said, “Can I help you, son?”. I said, “I’m looking for Greelon Landon.” He said, “I’m Greelon Landon.” I said, “I’m Mike Mordecai from Austin, Texas and here’s my demo tape.” He said, “Hold on, son. I’m not in that part of the company. All I do is handle Elvis.”

Greelon was part of a “key man” clause that Elvis and the Colonel had with RCA. If Greelon left RCA, Elvis’ contract would be null & void. Greelon was nearing retirement, so he didn’t have much going on at that time. He said, “So you’re from Austin. Do you know (he said a name of somebody I’d never heard of)?”

“Yes, sir,” I heard myself say.

“Well how’s he doing?”

“Fine”

“Do you know (he named somebody else I’d never heard of)?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Is he still (I don’t even know what he said at this point)?”

“I’m not sure.” I hedged.

“Well, have you been to lunch?” Greelon must really not have had much to do, but he had an expense account.

The highlight of the trip was walking into Marconi’s, a local record biz hangout, with the very well known and respected member of LA record hierarchy Mr. Greelon Landon and who did we happen to run into...”Hello, Diana. Do you know Greelon Landon?” The look of astonishment on her face was priceless.

I didn’t get a record deal. Greelon explained a lot about how the record business operates. He said Austin was a fun and very creative place but there was no business structure there and that I should move to LA with my band. He offered to get me a job in the stock room of RCA and I could learn the record business from the ground floor.

Somewhat dejected, we returned to Austin. The night we got home we were in our apartment watching TV when the Elvis movie “Jailhouse Rock” came on. There’s a part in that movie where Elvis stands up and punches out the record company president and says “We’ll start of own record company!” I took a big hit from the bong and decided....yeah, that’s the ticket! We’ll start our own record company.



What was the atmosphere in Austin at the time (bands, musicians, stories)?

Austin in the 70’s was a creative melting pot where every band that played a gig in this town played original music. The hot thing in Austin in the 70’s was progressive country: Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphy, Asleep At the Wheel AND blues: Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Marcia Ball, W.C. Clark AND rock: Roky Erickson, Doug Sahm, Too Smooth, Gypsee Eyes & the Stahele Bros. AND Tejano: Little Joe, Ruben Ramos AND jazz: Starcrost, Steam Heat, 47 X ITS OWN Weight and the Electromagnets. Musicians “cross-pollinated” - jazzers playing with country, blues & rock bands (I recorded & performed with Jerry Jeff, Marcia Ball, Eric Johnson, Michael Murphy, Little Joe, Asleep at the Wheel, Gypsee Eyes). We were playing softball together, smoking together and you’d see jazzers at country gigs, and tejanos at jazz shows and rockers sitting in with blues guys. (enough stories to run a TV series for years)


How important was the University of Texas in bringing together so many creative and artistic young people in the same town?

UT was the hub of the jazz constituents. We came to college where we met, formed our musical alliance and then integrated from the campus into the community. We were truly inspired by the director of the UT jazz ensemble, Dick Goodwin. The students at UT were a superior audience to ALL the genres of music.


Was there a concept or a sound you had set out to achieve with the label?

The main focus was to get my own record, STARCROST, out. The concept was to start an independent label so that it would be taken more seriously.

Greelon Landon had mentioned in our lunch that band’s that released their own records without a label were looked at as a joke, but that if you could get on a small independent label that might be good. There weren’t any small independent labels in Austin at that time, so I decided to start one. Not having any experience (other than our demo recording at Acme), I decided to start the Fable label with three bands - I chose to begin with 47 X ITS OWN WEIGHT because they were an instrumental band and I would learn to record the instruments without vocal distractions first. I would follow with STEAM HEAT to learn to add in vocals. Both of these bands were made up of musicians who were friends of mine from college. I figured by the time I finished these two projects, I would be an expert and ready to produce STARCROST (without the ‘poodle buzz’ this time!).


How would you describe the Fable sound?

The initial Fable sound was the sound of our youth...learning the studio.


What were the influences?

Weather Report, Flora Purim, Chick Corea, Chuck Mangione, George Benson, Bill Watrous, Tom Scott, the jazz fusion artists of the 70’s.


There seems to be a unique aesthetic running through the releases, is this because some of the players were members of more than one band?

Yeah, the first three albums were all recorded the same month at the same studio with the same engineers and some crossover players. The way it came about was that.I knew I wanted to begin the label with the three bands. Now, how long should it take to record a record? I had no idea other than what we had learned at Acme.
Let’s see...a record has two sides about 23 minutes per side...total of about 45 minutes of music...how long should that take? I decided that three days to record, two days to mix and one day just in case...six days to make a record should do it. For three albums that would be about three weeks...but, I wouldn’t want to rush or be caught short without enough time, SO...I need a month - three albums in a month...that should be PLENTY of time, in fact, I should have time left over to make some demos on some other bands...oh, and while I’m in there I can probably produce some spec jingles as well. Yeah, a month should be fine.

There were three recording studios in Austin in 1975 (Acme was 4 track, McAdams Bros. was an 8 track, and Odyssey was the 16 track). I had made some money booking bands, I had $1,500. I knew I didn’t want to go back to Acme, so I went to Odyssey Sound, the largest studio in town to purchase a month of studio time. I went to Steve Shields at Odyssey and offered him $1,500 for a month of studio time. He countered with $9,000, but quickly lowered it to $6,000. I told him I only had $1,500. He suggested that I try to raise more money. I went to the second largest studio, McAdams brothers and cut the deal for a month for $1,500.
However, Steve Shields called me at the end of the day and said if could have $1,500 cash on his desk the next morning by 10am, I could have the studio for a month contingent on him getting another paying session in which he would bump us and add the time on at the end. I accepted and showed up the next morning to give him every penny I had. We recorded three albums, three demos and 3 spec jingles (two were sold) in month.


Were there any other bands that were part of the scene at the time whose material you never managed to release?

There were many bands that were part of the scene. Many of them were able to get signed. The only band that FABLE intended to record was PASSENGER, Paul Ostermayer’s band after 47X. PASSENGER recorded an album and had a deal with Warner Bros. pending, but the deal fell thru and the record was never released. We considered putting it out on Fable, but the producer wanted it on a major label. It never came out. One other act that came along later was GROUP SESSION, Kirk Whaum’s first band. That was a very similar situation and that record never came out.

To be continued...