In this episode, Veronica and I discuss how I eventually signed with Warner Bros. Records and began my long (24 year) career with the label. The Art of Tea was the first record I made for them and our conversation includes a lot of the project’s backstory. It was the first time I worked with the rhythm section that consisted mostly of the Crusaders with the addition of drummer John Guerin. And this combination of players would become the usual suspects for a few later records too. Hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

My career as a songwriter enjoyed a great leap forward when I was lucky enough to work on the “Sonny and Brownie” album. In addition to “White Boy Lost in the Blues,” I wrote two other songs for the project and played on several cuts. Needless to say, working in the studio with them was quite a thrill, especially for an absolute greenhorn like myself. The entire experience made me feel hopeful that I might be able to have a future in music. And to this day when I think about Sonny and Brownie and replay those memories, I still feel so grateful that they liked my tunes and recorded them. And I’d also like to express my thanks to Lyle Lovett who recorded the song more recently and whose terrific version breathed new life into it. These photos, taken by the great Norman Seef, are from the album artwork.

Sonny Terry - photographer Norman Seeff

In this intro, Veronica and I describe some of the subjects we’ve already discussed or plan to discuss in the forthcoming episodes. We’ve recorded nearly a year’s worth of episodes so far and plan to release them once a month. The title of the podcast is borrowed from a book of memoirs I’ve been writing about my career and all the great musicians with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work.