Dave's Top Eight

1. Jerry Reed...Revisited by Darrell Toney (reviewed 6/07) (5 Stars)
2. Sounds Like Sunday by Janet Paschal (reviewed 5/07) (5 Stars)
3. True To The Call by Kingdom Heirs (reviewed 3/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
4. Revival by Gold City (reviewed 10/06) (4 1/2 Stars)
5. Get Away Jordan by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (reviewed 2/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
6. Breakin' Chains by Three Bridges (reviewed 5/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
7. Big Sky by The Isaacs (reviewed 4/07)
8. Skywriting by Mercy's Well (reviewed 7/07)

Click title to purchase at CBD.com...click artist name to read Dave's Review. A CD will automatically fall out of the Top Eight after twelve months if no CD surpasses it before then.

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June 9, 2007

Spring Hill-Oak Ridge Boys

Doug Harrison just mentioned an implosion at Spring Hill Records. Presumably, the label leadership has fired most or all of their staff. Doug was unable to find the details on the Oak Ridge Boys site where this story originally broke. I did a little digging and came up with this post from Duane Allen, dated yesterday at 10:24 AM. (Sorry about the all caps, but that's the way Duane types.)

LAST NIGHT AS I WAS GETTING READY TO GO SEE CHRIS GOLDEN AND ALL OF THE FRIENDS THAT WERE ATTENDING HIS SHOW, I STARTED GETTING E-MAILS AND PHONE CALLS THAT I DID NOT EXPECT......LONG STORY SHORT.......ALL OF THE STAFF AT SPRING HILL HAS BEEN FIRED.......NEEDLESS TO SAY, MY PHONE STARTED RINGING AND DID NOT STOP UNTIL AFTER 10PM.......I DID NOT GET TO GO SEE CHRIS, OR DO MUCH MORE THAN TALK ON THE PHONE.......SO, I'M SORRY TO MISS SEEING SO MANY OF YOU, AND TO SHOW MY SUPPORT FOR CHRIS......I THINK CHRIS' NEW PROJECT IS HIS VERY BEST TO DATE......

NOW, TO SPRING HILL......I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN THERE......I HAVE ALREADY BEEN TALKING TO THEM AND LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE VERY INTERESTED IN THE OAK RIDGE BOYS.......

ONCE AGAIN, WE ARE FACED WITH SOME CHANGES......MY HEART IS HEAVY FOR ALL OF OUR GOOD FRIENDS AT SPRING HILL WHO LOST THEIR JOBS YESTERDAY, HOWEVER, THEY ARE QUALITY PEOPLE, AND, I'M QUITE SURE THAT THEY WILL ALL BE OK.......

THERE IS NO CLEAR PICTURE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR NEW SINGLE, "CLOSER TO HOME", OR, FOR THAT MATTER, ALL OF OUR SEVEN ALBUM CATALOG.......AS THE DAY PROGRESSES, I WILL KNOW MORE, BUT, AS FOR RIGHT NOW, I WILL JUST SAY, HANG ON, EVERYONE, WE ARE IN FOR ANOTHER INTERESTING RIDE.......DUANE

Later in the thread, Joe Bonsall added an upbeat to the news:
I will ad that ALL of the BOYS as well as Michael are very upbeat and optimistic. Lots of DOORS out there right now gang. It will all work out just fine!!!

Blessings,

Ban-Joey

A couple of hours after his initial post, Duane added:
YES, GANG, THIS ALL STARTED COMING DOWN ABOUT 6PM, AND I DID NOT GET OFF THE PHONE UNTIL AFTER 10PM.......I WAS TALKING WITH MICHAEL, JOE, AND I FOUND RICHARD, AS WELL AS CALLING ALL OF THE SPRING HILL STAFF PERSONALLY TO THANK EACH ONE OF THEM.......BEFORE MY CONVERSATIONS ENDED WITH JIM HALSEY, WE COUNTED FIVE COMPANIES WHO WOULD LIKE TO SIGN THE OAK RIDGE BOYS.......SO, WE ARE GONNA BE JUST FINE, GANG.......IT MAY WIND UP BEING A HUGE BLESSING, AND THAT IS EXACTLY THE WAY I LOOK AT IT.......SPRING HILL AND ALL OF THEIR WONDERFUL EMPLOYEES HAVE GIVEN US 110% OF THEIR BEST EFFORTS FOR OVER SIX YEARS, AND SEVEN ALBUMS.......THEY HAVE HELPED US TAKE OUR RECORDING CAREER TO ANOTHER LEVEL OF SUCCESS, AND I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR THEIR DEVOTION TO THE MUSIC OF THE OAKS.......

TODAY IS A DAY OF LETTING THE DUST SETTLE......MEETINGS ARE GOING ON AS I TYPE, AND I'M SURE I WILL KNOW MORE ANY TIME......I'M GETTING READY TO GO ROCK RIVERSTAGES.......DUANE

And then a few hours later, it may not be so serious as it first seemed to be...at least as far as the Oaks are concerned:
THINGS ARE CHANGING VERY QUICKLY TODAY......LOTS OF CALLS, E-MAILS, AND PERSONAL VISITS.......SO, THE BEST I CAN SAY IS THIS......LOOKS LIKE SPRING HILL WILL BE UP AND RUNNING MONDAY MORNING, AND THE OAK RIDGE BOYS ARE THEIR MAIN CONCERN......SO, ALL OF THIS IS GOOD.......WHEN THE ACTUAL FACTS ARE KNOWN TO ME, THEN I WILL SHARE AS I KNOW THEM......THE CHANGES MAY BE VERY GOOD FOR US.....DUANE

Analysis: The main issue for the Oaks is whether or not they'll be able to continue working with Michael Sykes as their producer. The Oaks obviously sell enough product to demand what they want. If they're as smart as I think they are, they'll demand Michael Sykes, since they owe much of their success in the past several years to his touch in the studio.

It's the rest of the Spring Hill roster that's going to suffer from an upheaval like this. I feel sorry for guys like Carl Cartee and others on the worship label. Any transition like this is going to be tough, even if it's better for the company and their artists in the long run.

UPDATE: On June 11, Duane put a comma in the Spring Hill sentence. Regardless of whether the Oaks stay with Spring Hill or move to another label, he's giving this situation a positive spin. It seems it came at a time when the Oaks had no further obligations to Spring Hill, so the ball is in Spring Hill's court right now. In the coming months, they can either prove to the Oaks that they want to keep them by pushing their material, or the Oaks can go to one of the five labels currently vying for them.

Posted June 11, 2007 09:11 PM Hide Post
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONCERN......BUT, MOST OF ALL, I THANK YOU FOR YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS FOR THOSE WHO LOST THEIR JOBS......THEY WERE ALL GOOD FRIENDS OF THE OAKS......

NOW, THE COMPANY IS ALREADY ON TRACK AGAIN, AND, WE SHOULD ONLY SEE A LITTLE GLITCH IN THE ROAD.......THE BOYS WILL BE FINE, EITHER WAY.......OUR DATES ARE WHERE WE MAKE A LIVING.......OUR RECORDS, OR CD'S, ARE JUST A WAY TO GROW WITH OUR MUSIC, AND CREATE NEW SONGS FOR OUR SHOWS AND TELEVISION SHOWS......OUR PRODUCTS HAVE ALL SOLD REALLY WELL ON SPRING HILL.......I LOOK FOR POSITIVE THINGS TO HAPPEN.......AND, IF PLANS SHOULD GO IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION, WE HAVE ALREADY FULFILLED OUR CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS......SO, IN REALITY, WE ARE OUT OF CONTRACT.......JUST THINK FOR ONE MOMENT.......WE ARE IN A GREAT POSITION!!!!!! IF THE RECORD LABEL WANTS TO KEEP US, THEN, THEY WILL MAKE A STRONG EFFORT TO PROMOTE OUR RECORDS, ESPECIALLY "FRONT ROW SEATS"........THAT IS WHAT WE REALLY WANT FROM A RECORD LABEL.......IF THE NEW ADMINISTRATION THAT COMES INTO SPRING HILL REALLY "KICKS IT INTO GEAR" THEN, WE ARE ALREADY WITH THEM......IF THEY DON'T, WE HAVE FIVE RECORD LABELS THAT ARE INTERESTED IN SIGNING US RIGHT NOW.......WE ARE GONNA BE JUST FINE, GANG.......SO, THIS WEEK, I AM JUST PRACTICING AS MUCH PATIENCE AS I HAVE, WAITING FOR THE NEW THINGS TO TAKE SHAPE.......I AM SMILING AS I TYPE......DUANE

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posted by David Bruce Murray @ 12:25:00 PM


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