You are known by the company you keep. When Thomas Gregory Jackson became Tommy James of the Shondells, he was already on a career arc that included the most popular musicians of his (our) generation at that time and also drew him into the circle of Morris Levy’s Roulette Records which was a subset of the Mafia crime families of New York and New Jersey.
Though his own family moved in his early years because his father was a hotel manager, basically, Tommy James came from Niles, Michigan. So, this could be the story of Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band or of Joe Walsh and the James Gang, or a dozen others from the 1960s who lived anywhere between Pittsburgh and Chicago. I did not know all of his gold records. Some I had to listen to on YouTube. His early hits echoed in my memories of times and places over the two weeks in which I was immersed in reading this.
Tommy James’s autobiography is unassuming and revealing.
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| Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James and the Shondells by Tommy James with Martin Fitzpatrick, Scribner; Simon & Schuster, 2011. |
The title comes from a statement by Morris Levy after the first hit song: You’re in for a hell of a ride (pages 62-63). In the wake of that chart topper, Thomas Gregory Jackson became Tommy James. The name “Shondells” had no special meaning except that several pop groups had similar names: Rondels, Del-Tones, Delfonics, etc.
For much of his career, he lived in residence hotels and apartments. And of course, he was often touring, playing in town after town, city after city. I was surprised that even though he grew up in the hotel business, he seemed never to have used any special knowledge to garner a room upgrade, off-hours room service, or anything else.
It took him a long time to come around to being a parent and he did not do very well at it. Abandoning his wife and child, it took about 90 pages before he called home, even though his wife was living with his parents from the very first. (Her family was opposed to the marriage because they were opposed to the pregnancy.)
It was interesting that he absorbed the Mob mentality. After several scenes in which Morris Levy threatened people, Tommy used the same language and tone when he felt that Gene Pitney had taken his music.
Hubert Humphrey wrote the liner notes for the album Crimson and Clover (page 165). This was a time of protest and very few young musicians were aligned with the Establishment, not even with the Democrats and certainly not with the Republicans. On another matter entirely, I once read that Barry Goldwater said that listening to Hubert Humphrey was like trying to read Playboy with your wife turning the pages. So, the story here of Tommy James giving Vice President Humphrey amphetamines struck a responsive chord. Humphrey said that he got a lot of work done that night. I can only imagine.
I have to confess that I did not know until I read it here that Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago arranged for ballot boxes to disappear, thus swinging the electoral college votes from Illinois into the Republican column, contributing to the Nixon victory. Daley was furious because at the convention, in a speech nominating George McGovern, Sen. Abraham Ribicoff denounced Daley's administration for the "Gestapo
Some years after that, eventually, Tommy James found his religion, realized that he was always a Christian, and had himself placed at the Betty Ford Clinic.
Hit Songs I Know
Hanky Panky
I Think We’re Alone Now
Mony Mony
Mirage
Crystal Blue Persuasion
Draggin the Line
Mentioned in the book, these songs I did not know but found on YouTube.
Ball of Fire
Say I Am
She
Sweet Cherry Wine
PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS
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