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Joel Newman, Howard Richmond, TRO/The Richmond Org

20 Dec 16 - 02:22 PM (#3827640)
Subject: publishing and promotion
From: keberoxu

There are Mudcatters who know tons more about this subject than I know, so in opening this thread, I defer to the more knowledgeable of us. Would very much like some informed comments and opinions on this part of the history of American popular song.

Howard Richmond passed away, at a ripe old age of natural causes it seems, within the past ten years. TRO stands for The Richmond Organization, I believe it was named for Howard Richmond himself. When the obituary articles came out, the statements in the articles were eye-opening to me.

"Joel Newman," a pseudonym of many years standing, seems to be directly connected to Howard Richmond although I do not know how to prove this; I suspect this only came out, as a statement of so many words, with Richmond's death.

There are many places, over the years, where the "Joel Newman" name pops up. One of these is The Weavers' Song Book, where "Joel Newman" often appears next to "Paul Campbell," itself a collective pseudonym for Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Pete Seeger, if I read correctly.

The Weavers were one of many acts/performers/songwriters-arrangers that were connected to Howard Richmond; in fact it came as a shock to read Richmond's obituary articles and to know that he was mixed up with everything from "Paper Sun," by Traffic, to a David Bowie song the name of which escapes me.

The prudent thing for me to do now, is to let others post and comment. I will keep an eye out for articles to link to.

21 Dec 16 - 12:32 PM (#3827799)
Subject: RE: Joel Newman, Howard Richmond, TRO
From: keberoxu

For a start, "The Richmond Organization," after Howard Richmond's passing, still exists. Here's the "history" page on their website.

The Richmond Organization


Michael Grosvenor Myers, of happy memory, participated vigorously in at least one thread in which the question of publishing and copyright for, say, "Wimoweh" was considered in detail. There is an MGM-Lion post insisting that "Joel Newman" be accounted for, because "Wimoweh" has that name attached to it. M sounds dissatisfied, stating that he has accepted that "Paul Campbell" refers to the collective membership of the Weavers, but he still does not know for whom "Joel Newman" is the pseudonym.

21 Dec 16 - 01:06 PM (#3827810)
Subject: RE: Joel Newman, Howard Richmond, TRO
From: keberoxu

Howard Richmond, my search results read, started out in show business as a press agent. From there, he branched out into music publishing.

In my ignorance I must confess that I don't know who Harold Leventhal is/was, it is safe to presume that these are two different individuals. Both had long associations with the Weavers.

I apologize for my error, by the way: when MGM-Lion expressed his frustration about identifying "Joel Newman," the song under discussion was "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," not "Wimoweh" which is covered on a different Mudcat forum thread.

21 Dec 16 - 01:12 PM (#3827813)
Subject: RE: Joel Newman, Howard Richmond, TRO
From: GUEST,keberoxu

Ouch. I'm sorry. Of course, I meant HAROLD Leventhal. You can see how ignorant I am; I really don't know press agents from managers.

21 Dec 16 - 02:46 PM (#3827825)
Subject: RE: Joel Newman, Howard Richmond, TRO
From: Joe Offer

Another valuable information source for publishers is mpa.org, the Music Publishers Association of the United States.

Here's their listing for TRO:
    TRO Inc. (The Richmond Organization)
    266 West 37th Street, 17th Floor
    New York NY 10018
    Clearance Representative:
    Judy Bell
    Email:
    copyright@songways.com
    Member Affiliation:
    National Music Publishers Association
    Phone:
    212-594-9795
    Fax:
    212-594-9782
    Imprints Held:
    • Words and Music, Inc. *
      Worldwide Music Services, Inc. *
      Total Music Services, Inc. *
      TRO Inc. *
      Musical Comedy Productions, Inc. *
      Melody Trails, Inc. *
      Ludlow Music, Inc. *
      Hollis Music, Inc. *
      Hampshire House Publishing Corp. *
      Folkways Music Publishers, Inc. *
      Essex Music International, Inc. *
      Essex Music, Inc. *
      Devon Music, Inc. *
      Cromwell Music, Inc. *
      Cheshire Music, Inc. *


woodyguthrie.org (click) has a very good page that tells how to contact the publishers of Woody's songs. The list also works for the songs of Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, and many other U.S. songwriters from the Folk Scare.

I had lots of fun contacting these publishers to get permissions for songs we used in the Rise Again Songbook. For print permissions, I had to contact the publishers individually and directly, and each one executed a license with our publisher, Hal Leonard (Hal Leonard already has arrangements with many publishers, so that made things considerably easier). To record a song, U.S. musicians can usually go to the Harry Fox Agency, https://www.harryfox.com/ and buy licenses online.

-Joe-

21 Dec 16 - 03:12 PM (#3827827)
Subject: RE: Joel Newman, Howard Richmond, TRO
From: Joe Offer

It might be a good idea to develop a hagiology of people in the music business from the Folk Scare era:
  • Harold Leventhal, music manager for The Weavers, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Alan Arkin, Judy Collins, Theodore Bikel, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Mary Travers, Tom Paxton, Don McLean and many others.
  • Milt Okun, created arrangements or produced for a large number of popular groups and artists such as Peter Paul and Mary, The Chad Mitchell Trio, The Brothers Four, John Denver, and Miriam Makeba. In 1968 he interviewed many American folksingers and published the songs they chose in Something to Sing About!.
  • Howie Richmond (TRO/The Richmond Organization), owner of many folk music publishing labels:
    Active New York entities (as of January 2015)
    • Cromwell Music, Inc.
    • Cheshire Music, Inc.
    • Connaught Music, Inc.
    • Devon Music, Inc.
    • Essex Music, Inc.
    • Essex Music International, Inc.
    • Folkways Music Publishers, Inc.
    • Hampshire House Publishing Corp.
    • Hollis Music, Inc.
    • Ludlow Music, Inc.
    • Melody Trails, Inc.
    • Samuel Bronston Music Publishing, Inc.
    • Songways Service, Inc.
    • Spencer Music Corporation
    • The Richmond Organization, Inc. (parent)
    • Total Music, Inc.
    • Total Music Services, Inc.
    • T. R. O., Inc.
    • MusCadet Productions, Inc.
    • Musical Comedy Productions, Inc.
    • Workshop Productions, Inc.
    • Worldwide Music Services, Inc.
    Active New York not-for-profit corporation
    • Anita B. and Howard S. Richmond Foundation, Inc. 501(c)3
    Inactive California entity
    • TRO-Palm Valley Music, Inc. (dissolved)
    Status not known
    • Dartmouth Music, Inc.
    • Manchester
    • Riverside Drive Music, Inc.
    • Words and Music, Inc.

  • Paul Campbell, Joel Newman, Jessie Cavanaugh - pseudonyms used by The Richmond Organization/TRO for songwriters of "Folk Scare" songs claimed by TRO.

Any others that should be added to this list?

21 Dec 16 - 04:19 PM (#3827836)
Subject: RE: Joel Newman, Howard Richmond, TRO/The Richmond Org
From: keberoxu

THANK YOU JOE OFFER !

Here is a link -- hope it works -- to an affectionate reminiscence of Howie Richmond.

the Huffington Post on Howie Richmond