A long time ago, I was a singer who thought I had the right stuff to make it big. One of my influences was jazz great Nancy Wilson. I went to see her in concert at William & Mary Hall and managed to get backstage to talk to her afterwards. Not only did I talk to her, I gave her a tape of me singing. Her road manager at the time, Sparky Tavares, grabbed the tape and told me he’d take care of it. He said something about not giving it to her as she would lose it. Honestly, I expected that to be the end of it.
A few months later, I got a phone call about midnight from Sparky. He had listened to the tape. He gave me some criticism (don’t try to be Nancy, develop my own style, record every performance) and then told me he had passed it on to a friend of this that I needed to call. That friend was legendary producer Phil Spector.
I did call Spector the next day. Spector has worked with all the big acts, among them the Beatles and Tina Turner. He thought I had it, too, and wanted me to move to California and work with him. Of course, I’d need a day job while I was “making it.” In those days (the early 1980s), I was working for the IRS and earning about $12,000 a year. I could transfer to California – at the same pay, of course. That would mean living in abject poverty. Plus, it would break my mother’s heart, since my oldest brother had gone to California a few years earlier to pursue his dream of making it and had come home in a box. After giving it serious consideration, I decided not to go.
I’ve never forgotten Sparky or Phil Spector or the opportunity I gave up. As I awoke this morning, the TV was on CourtTV and their coverage of the case in which Spector is accused of murder. The memory of my connection to him came flooding back. I have no idea if Spector is guilty or innocent. All I remember was that here was a guy with tremendous influence in the music business who was willing to work with a young singer with a dream. Regardless of the outcome of the trial, he’ll always be bit of a hero to me.
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 