Editor’s Introduction To Pat Quillen
James E. Akenson
Baseball great Yogi Bera once said “I can sum it up in just two words, YOU NEVER KNOW.” A bit of contradiction for sure, but I never have forgotten the humor and the tension in the comment. And… what does it have to do with Country Music, you say. Well, my good friend Pat Quillen shared the quote with me. And Pat Quillen knows a thing or two about Country Music and all genres of music. Come to think of it, you never know with Country Music. Either it’s history or the direction it seems to be taking can be a surprise. You never know.
Pat Quillen and I have shared lots of music thoughts together. We’ve listened to music together. He and Life Partner Donna sat in on a Country Music class for teachers that I taught. I’ve looked at his scrapbooks from his time booking acts from Sammi Jo to Ricky Nelson plus Tina Turner. He and Life Partner Donna also attended the International Country Music Conference www.internationalcountrymusic.org a couple of times. In short, over the years we’ve discussed Country Music and other genres a good bit.
Most significant, Pat Quillen worked in different settings, including Opryland, booking acts. The piece about Tina Turner reveals important things about the music business, about acts Pat Quillen booked, and some events that connected to the nature of race in U.S. culture. Tina Turner appeared at Tennessee Tech in 1974. That’s why the pics of Tina Turner aren’t exactly 21st Century digital. You’ll find Pat Quillen’s discussion to be personal, heartfelt, and engaging. I want Pat Quillen to write some additional pieces about specific Country Music acts. I’m fascinated by his description of working with Country Music act Sammi Jo. I hope we can have Pat Quillen write about Sammi Jo and others in the future. Enjoy Pat Quillen’s discussion!
THEY WEREN’T READY (THOUGH MOST WERE)…FOR TINA TURNER
By Pat Quillen
It was January 10, 1975. I was in my apartment in Birmingham, Alabama. I had been the Vice President of Marketing for the Birmingham Americans of the World Football League. The League was not going to make it for another season for lack of sufficient financial backing. We had led the league in attendance and won the first and last World Bowl Championship-but what now?
The telephone rang. A representative of a fairly new theme park, Carowinds, in Charlotte, North Carolina, owned by Taft Broadcasting, was contacting me regarding a job opportunity to book talent and manage a new 12,500-seat amphitheater, The Palladium.
I hung up the phone, made a flight reservation to meet the person I had spoken with and mentally compartmentalized seeing the park and amphitheater, accepting the job offer, finding a new residence, contacting a mover and not forgetting an April wedding date in Cookeville. My starting date per my telephone conversation…February 1.
From several years of employment at Opryland I was familiar with talent agencies in Nashville and California and immediately began creating a list of desirable acts. The Palladium was set to open Memorial Day weekend. Not much time to book major talent so I was constantly on the phone (what was a computer?) Luck sometimes sits on your shoulder. The lineup for the first weekend in the Palladium included Dottie West (who had attended Tennessee Tech), Bill Anderson, Jerry Reed and Lynn Anderson. Great crowds!
The contracts were going well. Without saying anything, I had been giving attention to Ike and Tina Turner. Being very prominent at that time, they had been appearing on television shows such as Soul Train, Midnight Special, Mike Douglas, Cher, Dick Cavett and Mac Davis. I told the General Manager I was ready to book the Ike and Tina Turner Show, received approval, sent a $30,000 deposit and reserved the dates. Nutbush City Limits, Proud Mary and River Deep, Mountain High were on the charts beginning in February as she and Ike were currently on tour in Canada. From there they toured Australia in March and by June when I had them booked in the Palladium they were playing in major U.S. venues.
For now the first artists I had booked were drawing packed crowds to the Palladium – Rick Nelson, The Righteous Brothers, Chubby Checker, Blood Sweat & Tears, Bobby Goldsboro and Styxx. The very next thing I knew Taft Broadcasting sent word Ike and Tina were too controversial and I should cancel their contract. Of course the deposit was non-refundable. Although Taft was fine with that, I was in a deep funk.
But the acts kept coming and the crowds were right there for them on Fridays and Saturdays. Ray Stevens, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Neil Sedaka (who was making a comeback with his million-seller Laughter in the Rain), Linda Ronstadt, The Association, and Paul Revere and the Raiders. Linda Ronstadt’s manager Peter Asher (of Peter and Gordon) came and we had a protracted conversation of music, the Beatles and more music.
Fate next sent me to Tulsa for an industry event, the Jim Halsey Picnic, where buyers of talent from his agency are invited to this event hosted by him. He has quite a history with performing and managing a stable of well known artists including Roy Clark and the Oak Ridge Boys. My wife Donna and I were staying at a property in Tulsa where, are you ready, Ike and Tina were performing. I ran into a roadie who had worked for other acts performing at Carowinds and recognizing each other he invited us to Ike and Tina’s performance that evening. We had an opportunity to sit down with Ike and Tina and share our thoughts about the prevailing attitude toward race in our society much to our collective disapproval. Karma was in the room! That weekend was the only time I missed the acts I had booked at Carowinds. It was Tanya Tucker, She was 15 years old.
Karma appeared again when The Captain and Tennille were at Carowinds for Friday and Saturday shows. Love Will Keep Us Together went Number One on Billboard’s chart that very weekend. I was able to announce that during their introduction! As Toni Tennille was in my office chatting she asked about family and I told her that today was my daughter Lisa’s birthday. She immediately asked for her phone number and called. When Lisa answered Toni said “Happy Birthday, Lisa, this is Toni Tennille.” I could actually hear Lisa scream. She was 10.
There are many stories from that summer. Not the least is the saga of Ike and Tina Turner. I’ll never forget it and I think about it on many occasions. So far 42 books have been written and released about Tina. According to Rolling Stone she has sold more concert tickets than any other solo music performer in history.
R I P
Anna Mae Bullock
26 Nov 1939 Nutbush TN — 24 May 2023 Kusnacht, Switzerland
