Randy McNutt

The book celebrates the days when smaller cities and their independent labels could compete with Los Angeles, New York and Nashville and the majors.

The journey takes him to thirteen former regional music cities, including Memphis, where he visits with former Sun Records sideman Marcus Van Story and Fernwood Records chief Slim Wallace. In Muscle Shoals, Ala., McNutt stops at FAME and other seminal recording studios and meets guitarist Jimmy Johnson and other sidemen. In New Orleans, McNutt visits with the hit recording engineer Cosimo Matassa and "Sea Cruise" singer Frankie Ford. In Bakersfield, Calif., he stops to hear a performance by singer-songwriter Red Simpson and tales of the now-faded west coast country sound.

McNutt, a freelance writer and long-time reporter for The Cincinnati Enquirer, started writing books about American roots music in 1981, with Cal Stewart, Your Uncle Josh, the story of the life and career of pioneer recording artist Cal Stewart. He was among the first wave of artists to sell one million copies of a disc.

In 1989, McNutt's legendary We Wanna Boogie: An Illustrated History of the American Rockabilly Movement became one of the first books on the growing rockabilly trend. It features a large format size and dozens of interviews (and rare photographs) with major and minor rockabilly performers of the 1950s. Like his other books, Boogie is still in print and delighting music fans across the world.

In 1999, McNutt joined author Rick Kennedy in writing Little Labels-Big Sound: Small Record Companies and the Rise of American Music. It tells the stories of ten independent labels, including Sun, Monument, King, Delmark, Paramount, Ace, and others.

In 2001, McNutt's Too Hot to Handle: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Recording Studios of the 20th Century did for historic studios what We Wanna Boogie did for rockabilly. The book includes many photographs and stories about the old studios, major and minor, all across the nation.

Music Books by Randy McNutt

Guitar Towns: A Journey to the Crossroads of Rock 'n' Roll Randy McNutt's journey to find and celebrate America's former hit music capitals, including New Orleans, Cincinnati, Norfolk, Memphis, Muscle Shoals, Bakersfield, and other towns. These are the towns that made the hits of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. On his trips, McNutt finds the studio where "Mustang Sally" was cut and the place where Fats Domino and Little Richard began their recording careers. Along the way the writer meets fascinating music-business characters and artists and rediscovers the roots of our musical heritage. Published by Indiana University Press.

Cal Stewart, Your Uncle Josh Cal Stewart entertained America through the talking machine from the 1890s until his death in 1919. He was America's leading rural humorist, performing as Uncle Josh Weathersby of Way Down East. He recorded for the major labels, including Edison, Columbia and Victor, as well as the smaller labels of the period. He wrote two books of monologues and performed in vaudeville houses and theaters across America with his wife and her brother and sister. "Cal Stewart, Your Uncle Josh" is an entertaining glimpse at rich Americana and the early record industry.

Talking Machine Madness: The Early Talking Machine Shows An essay book with many old pictures of the early talking machine shows from the 1880s to about 1900, when entrepreneurs bought phonographs and traveled from town to town to demonstrate the wonders of the recording cylinder. Written with Cheryl Bauer.

We Wanna Boogie: An Illustrated History of the American Rockabilly Movement The book that helped fuel the rockabilly craze of the early 1990s. It is filled with dozens of historic photos, many never before published, and interviews with the rockabilly artists themselves, from the stars to the cult figures. Where else can you find photos and interviews with acts such as Bill "Big Guitar" Watkins, Dale "She's Neat" Wright, Glen Glenn, Groovy Joe Poovey, and so many others? Published by the Hamilton Hobby Press.

Little Labels, Big Sound: Small Record Companies and the Rise of American Music By Rick Kennedy and Randy McNutt, this book tells the stories of 10 independent labels from the old record industry, 1920-1975, when shellac and plastic discs were king and America's colorful label owners signed talent and created stars. The books features personal interviews with the performers and label owners, including Monument Records chief Fred Foster and Ace Records owner John Vincent. The book also features chapters on Paramount, Gennett, Delmark, Sun, King, and Duke-Peacock, among other labels. Also with rare photos. Published by Indiana University Press.

Too Hot to Handle: An Encyclopedia of American Recording Studios of the 20th Century This is THE studio book, filled with entries on the obscure and famous studios across America from the 1890s to 1999, including such influential independents as Cinderella Sound near Nashville, King Studios in Cincinnati, and Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. Also includes the names of house band members, song publishers, and hit records to come from the studios, as well as other important information and photographs. An essential work for anyone interested in the history of rock and pop music and recording in general. Published by the Hamilton Hobby Press.

Still Too Hot to Handle: More Historic American Recording Studios and Hits of the 20th Century So many historic recording studios operated in the last century that Randy McNutt couldn't fit them all into one book. So in this book he concentrates on old studio photographs, vintage advertisements of gear and recorders and studios, and interesting lists of hits from the funkiest places ever to stash a recording console. The mostly illustrated book is a nice companion to "Too Hot to Handle". If you like old studios and equipment, you'll like "Still Too Hot". Browsing through pages of old advertisements and photographs will provide a lot of enjoyment and give you a good understanding of what recording was like only a few decades ago.

My Pal Randy I met Randy McNutt shortly after opening Counterpart Studios in 1970. He and his song-writing friend, Wayne Perry, came to the studio to record some demos. Randy and I became fast friends and worked together over the years on many recording sessions. Randy is an accomplished record producer and a very good song-writer. During those days, Randy was a fledgling reporter with the Cincinnati Enquirer. He is now one of the their top feature writers. Over the years, we have worked together on interesting projects, and being writers, have helped each other on our many books and articles that have appeared in journals, newspapers and magazines throughout America. I want to personally thank Randy for his creative work in editing and writing this Website. I'm here to tell you that the books he has written are positively the finest in the industry dealing with his particular music genre. Randy has spent years traveling the roads of America to get the information on his many books dealing with early recording studios, early rock-a-billy recording artists, song writers, label owners, producers and engineers. His many books discuss, in detail, the excitement that was the birth and the adolescence of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, rock-a-billy, and country recordings. No one knows more, in my opinion, than Randy, when it comes to digging up the facts and talking the trivia about all of the excitement and explosive history of the early recording industry. I like Randy as a personal friend for many reasons. Occasionally, he buys me lunch, he is always there to help me with editing or writing, and most importantly... he loves animals. You will love Randy McNutt's books. Sincerely, Randy's Pals, Shad and Webster... ARF!