Guthrie Thomas
Autobiography

The Door

I very quickly learned it was not quite as easy to get into the majors as I had thought it would be. The only person that would even see me for the first few weeks was the lawyer at RCA that Ginny worked for, and he knew nothing about the whims and expectations of a young, starving artist, and the only reason he agreed to see me was because Ginny worked for him. But, I did not let it get me down. I went at it with a vengeance. I knocked on every door, every car door, any door that I thought might help me get through the "next" door. I now have come to understand that being in the entertainment business on the level that I find the most rewarding is a never ending series of passing through one door after another until you finally reach that special golden door that someone else opens for you...

It had been several weeks since Jack had left. I had talked to Hoyt on several occasions asking for advice, which was always "Don't be too sensitive GT, your too sensitive kid..." I never have understood what he actually meant by this but, I am sure it was good advice. I did take things a little too personally in those days... None-the-less, I found myself getting a little discouraged and Ginny recommended that I call that fellow, Ray Gideon, the fellow I had met on that commercial filming at the beach. So, I thought, well what the hell... and I gave him a call. Ray invited me over to his place in the San Fernando Valley and we talked for a few hours and I played him some of my songs. There was one thing I liked about Ray Gideon from the very beginning,, and something I appreciate in him to this day, Ray truly believed I was as talented as I believed myself to be. And, this was not that self centered ego belief that we all see within ourselves at times. I deeply believed I had what it took, and Ray believed it also. Ray and I talked for a few hours and, out of the blue, I asked him to finance my first album. After a short discussion concerning the details of such an investment, he agreed and our partnership, and friendship, was sealed... It goes without saying that I was absolutely elated. I went home, kissed Ginny, and proclaimed, "I am on my way... I am finally going to be a recording artist"...Thanks Ray... Yes, the door was open, the first door, and there would be many...

Ray and I spent just a few days in the studio recording "Sitting Crooked." It does not take too terribly long to record a solo record if you know the songs fairly well. It was at this recording session that I met Larry Hirsch. He was a second engineer "in training" for the studio, and the studio felt he could handle a solo record. Larry and myself would record many albums together in the future, but we had a falling out over a twenty dollar debt owed me by a second party. This falling out never has recovered but, I got my twenty dollars. I guess I now know the value of some friendships. After all, I can vividly recall the days when twenty dollars was more than I had. But, this has nothing to do with Larry's ability as an engineer and producer. He is a fine example of perfection when comes to session work. He strives only for the best the artist can deliver, and will stay there all night long to get it if that is what it takes.

When "Sitting Crooked" was finished, I could not wait to get my hands on it. It took several weeks to have it manufactured and I was chomping at the bit. I mean, I couldn't even sleep at night thinking about it. It was the end of all poverty to me. However, as with most first recordings by unknown artists who release their own records, my chances of gaining the stardom I so desperately was seeking, were slim to none. Looking back on it now, It was the most exciting release I believe I ever waited for. Ray had 500 copies of the record made which we eventually couldn't even give away. I still have two copies in their original shrink wrap in my tape vault today. This record today sells in some countries for as much as $500 a copy,
and more if  I have signed it. Although, my two copies are priceless to me and shall be given to my daughter, Sarah, and then she will probably sell them within a week...so, give her a call when I drop dead, but be aware, she'll probably jack up the price a bit more. In any event, I was now staring down the throat of the post production blues. That sinking feeling you get when what you have in your hand is pyrite instead of the gold you've been digging for for years. But, I was proud of "Sitting Crooked" and if you listened to it today and compared it to my last CD, you could not make yourself believe it was the same person. But where to go from here.

Ginny and I were beginning to have a few problems and she was an extremely jealous lady six years my senior. This is an explosive combination, especially with an ego as inflated as mine was in those days. I mean, I was twenty-one years old, and not too bad looking, and I made records for a living, sort of, and the girls were everywhere... Not a good idea to settle in with a "lets get married and settle down forever type girl" when all you want to do is play music and chase girls. Most of the problems we had were really associated with me, and not with Ginny. She was good hearted and worked hard at the relationship, but I just wanted to party. And, really, who even knows what love is at twenty-one. No one I ever met. Never-the-less, things were not going well. I had sold my van for extra cash, and I was driving her little Toyota when she went to work, and things just got progressively worse when I quit my job at the peep show bookstore. I was broke, and trying to write and sell my songs, and Ginny was working eight hours a day and paying for everything. It was at this moment that Marc Edelstein knocked on my door.

I had drifted down to McCabes guitar shop one afternoon in Santa Monica, California. It was the closest thing to a folk music shop in town. (It is now a very famous guitar shop and nightclub for high class talent.) I needed some strings that day for my guitar, so I drove down there. While in McCabes that afternoon, I decided to post an ad for a writing partner. (The one and only advertisement I have ever put on a musicians board anywhere.) It read, "I am going to make records, and I am looking for someone to co-write with!" and at the bottom I had left my address. Marc Edelstein, a brilliant singer and fine acoustic guitarist, was the only individual to answer the advertisement, and here he was, at my door. And, to this very day, Marc and I have worked on, or recorded together on, over thirty-five albums combined. Marc was a real likable guy, and still is, as we are still very very close friends, as friends should be through thick and thin Larry. We were the two Musketeer's of folk land. And together, we wrote a great many fine songs. I have recorded only a few of them, but we may finally do an album as a duo in the near future. Well, here we were. A duo of nobodies. But, we worked hard everyday writing the perfect songs and we
tramped all over town playing here and there as a duo. You see, Marc could sing, and I couldn't, well, I could sing, but not worth a damn as I have already stated so, Marc really made the songs come out sounding good. I wanted to be Bob Dylan, and Marc wanted to be Steven Stills...A perfect folk combination. I soon ended up drifting away from the Dylan emulations and Marc started driving a bus...We were getting nowhere..fast...

After several months of relentless pounding on record company doors in Hollywood, and a few short interviews with A&R executives at various companies, I was becoming a bit discouraged. "What in the world does it take to get through to these people?" I would ask myself at the end of every day. I mean, Marc and I had the talent and the sound..."Can't they hear it?"
I wondered...It would take me two years to realize that having the sound is fine but, having the money and the clout is better...

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