Historical Figure
Tom Wilson
d. 1978
American record producer (1931–1978)
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Biography
Thomas Blanchard Wilson Jr. was an American record producer. He is best known for his work in the 1960s with artists such as Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Simon & Garfunkel, the Velvet Underground, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Eddie Harris, Nico, Eric Burdon and the Animals, the Blues Project, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, and others.
Timeline
The story of Tom Wilson, told in moments.
Founded Transition Records with a borrowed $500. Released Sun Ra's first LP and Cecil Taylor's debut album. The label went bankrupt in 1957, but those records became cornerstones of avant-garde jazz.
Produced Bob Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin' and Another Side of Bob Dylan at Columbia Records. Then produced The Velvet Underground's debut album and Frank Zappa's Freak Out!. A rare figure who shaped both folk-rock and the avant-garde.
Overdubbed electric instruments onto Simon & Garfunkel's acoustic "The Sound of Silence" without telling the duo. It went to number one and launched their career. Paul Simon was furious at first, then grateful.
Died at 47. A record producer whose fingerprints are on albums by Dylan, Zappa, the Velvet Underground, Simon & Garfunkel, Sun Ra, Nico, and Eric Burdon. Few people outside the music industry know his name.
Artifacts (15)
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