Review by Booklist Review
Mo Ostin, Lenny Waronker--the names are not familiar to most people but without them popular music would not have been the same. There would have been no Doors or Led Zeppelin or U2 or Prince. Best-selling Carlin (Homeward Bound, 2016) focuses on Warner Brother Records roughly between 1967 and 1994, when it became "the most successful record company of the rock 'n' roll era.'" According to Carlin, the atmosphere and the egalitarian values it promoted during, as he calls it, "its mossy hippie years" lived up to the utopian ideals of the era when executives and musicians believed in and trusted one another. "It was a business, a revolution, and also a family . . . and they were all in it together," writes Carlin. Madonna, "full of bluster, smiles, and laughs," to cite one delicious anecdote, left a note on an executive's desk that read, "I'm sorry you missed me . . . , I'm going to be a STAR"). Carlin chronicles this unusual bit of popular music history in a breezy and irreverent style, a perfect match for the story, and seems almost to disbelieve that such a record company once existed. An entertainingly informative read.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Music journalist Carlin (Bruce) relays in his characteristic colorful style how music mogul Mo Ostin built Warner Bros. Records into an industry leader. In 1960, Frank Sinatra formed Reprise Records, asking his friend Ostin--who had earned Sinatra's respect at jazz outlet Verve Records--to run the label, which Warner bought in 1963, becoming Warner/Reprise Records. Ostin succeeded at Warner, Carlin writes, because he focused on producing strong albums rather than "surefire" singles: "Something good was always going to happen because you'd just made a great record." Between 1967 and 1970, the label signed 90 new acts--among them Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, and Alice Cooper--most of which eventually, through marketing and artist development, found commercial success. Through the '80s and early '90s, Ostin brought in an eclectic array of artists, including soul singer Chaka Khan and blues guitarist Bonnie Raitt--and notably, Prince and Madonna. Those looking for a gossipy tell-all won't find one here; Ostin stuck with a formula, trusted and invested in his artists, took the music seriously, and honored the intelligence and taste of his customers. This brisk portrait of the man who made Warner Bros. into a powerhouse offers essential reading on the business and history of popular music. (Jan.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Featuring musical superstars ranging from Frank Sinatra to the Grateful Dead and even encompassing comedians such as Bob Newhart, Warner Records and its subsidiaries Reprise and Atlantic showcased a powerful lineup of popular and innovative artists during their glory years between the 1960s and 1990s. Starting with the company's genesis in 1958 and ending with a 2019 reunion, Carlin (Homeward Bound) provides a riveting, behind-the-scenes look at how the executives of the company sought out groundbreaking talent, cultivated established acts, and achieved commercial success. Although noting the behavioral excesses rampant in those decades, Carlin wisely avoids belaboring the point, using it mainly for humorous asides, and focuses more on the struggles to compete with other labels to sign musicians, and on Warner's goal of creating appealing and artistically satisfying discs. The author's research and access to interviews with key figures sustain his argument well. VERDICT Carlin's spring-loaded narrative keeps the reader involved, and characterizing the empathetic side of some of the outsize personalities humanizes the Warner mythos. Record label books abound, but there has been little available about Warner itself or its sister companies since Warren Zanes's Revolutions in Sound; Carlin's title admirably fills that gap.--Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The author of biographies of McCartney, Simon, and Springsteen delivers a fast-paced, overstuffed history of the storied record label. In 1958, Warner Bros. Records began as a kind of joke, with records by pseudonymous artists and titles like But You've Never Heard Gershwin With Bongos. Jack Warner's only rule was that "the company made money--and that nothing they released sounded anything like rock 'n' roll." Never mind that Elvis was the king of the charts. When Frank Sinatra took up with Reprise Records--whose name, writes Carlin hinted not just at the musical reprise but also at reprisal, "which appealed to Sinatra's desire to exact revenge on Capitol Records"--the rule held until Mo Ostin and a handful of A & R men and producers seized the reins. Though Ostin's guiding principle was "Let's stop trying to make hit records," everyone involved was won over by the success of a slate of 1960s acts, including the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Frank Zappa, and Jimi Hendrix, for whom Ostin "offered a fifty-thousand-dollar contract for three albums, a pretty rich deal for an untested artist." Pressing records became like minting money. In February 1973 alone, writes the author, "Of the sixteen albums Warner Bros. Records uncorked that month, ten of them had climbed onto Billboard's best-selling album charts by April." The good times continued long past the hippie heyday up until the era of MTV and video-friendly artists like Madonna. Alas, Ostin's hands-off attitude, willingness to share the spoils, and demand for independence increasingly fell athwart of corporate executives as the record business conglomerated, with one particularly obnoxious corporate exec gloating, "We're coming after all the cowboys." Ostin and his cowboys rode off into a sunset that grows ever darker as the record business declines, but Carlin captures their glory days without sentimentality or untoward nostalgia. Not as much fun as Almost Famous, but fans of LP--era rock will enjoy Carlin's knowledgeable deep dive. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
