Gamble:
The difference between the industry then and now has a lot to do with the respective time periods. In terms of the racial issues, I see some of those same problems now. But when we were coming up, there were also many more problems with marketing and distribution. All we had were R&B stations playing our music in the ‘60s, like the Intruders’ “Cowboys to Girls.” But they didn’t have the wattage to create the maximum exposure that led to maximum sales.
We tried to do our own distribution, but it was hard. When we started putting the albums out in the early days, Black artists’ pictures weren’t put on the covers because most retail stores didn’t want those pictures seen in their store windows. White stations versus Black stations; Black artists performing only at Black venues. There’s always been this divide-and-conquer thing.Those were the stresses we encountered in what was then a normal process.
Once we partnered with Columbia in 1971, we were able to get our music on pop radio. Sales tripled or quadrupled because we were dealing with stations that had 50,000 watts of power instead of 500 or 1000. Clive Davis gave us that shot at Columbia and we came through. The first batch of records we gave him included “Me and Mrs. Jones,” “Back Stabbers” and “The Love I Lost.” It was a product deal at first.
Now in music’s digital world, the best advice I have for music’s next generation is to learn as much as you can about the industry and distribution, align yourself with a strong business partner and also learn as much as possible about the past so you can shape the future. Get to the place where you own your own projects so you have something valuable to sell later or pass down to your family.Believe in yourself and your talent. And do a lot of praying.
Happy anniversary and may you all have many multitudes more Thank God for it all
Two of my Heroes!!!🎧🎼🎸🎺🥁🎹✌️
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