Jon Tiven
Encyclopedia
Jon Tiven is a composer, guitarist and record producer. He has produced albums by Wilson Pickett
, Frank Black
and Don Covay
as well as a series of tribute albums paying tribute to the songwriting of Don Covay, Arthur Alexander, Otis Blackwell, Curtis Mayfield, and Van Morrison.
.
Tiven began his career as a music journalist in the late 1960s, writing for Rolling Stone, Fusion, Melody Maker, and a host of other magazines. Initially an alto saxophonist, he taught himself to play a variety of instruments and became fairly adept at guitar, enough to write songs and accompany himself. After a brief flirtation with higher education at Yale University and Sarah Lawrence College (1972–74), he dropped out to pursue his musical career. In 1975 Tiven went to work for Chess Records in New York, but quickly saw that working inside a record company was not his calling, and travelled to Memphis to produce Alex Chilton
's first solo album Bach's Bottom a.k.a. The Singer Not The Song
.
("I've Got A Right To Cry") and The Rolling Stones
("Jivin Sister Fanny"), Tiven honed his craft as a member of The Jim Carroll Band, as a guitarist/organist and also cowriting with Carroll the title song of the second album ("Dry Dreams"). Befriended by John Belushi
, he formed a The Tom Davis Experience featuring Al Franken with the two comedians, and had a featured acting role as well as writing five songs for their film One More Saturday Night (Columbia Pictures, 1986) produced by Dan Aykroyd
.
, Barrence Whitfield & the Savages
, and The Symptoms started recording his songs, and Tiven dedicated himself to primarily writing songs for other artists. In 1985 he renewed a friendship with his hero Don Covay
, and they wrote, performed, and recorded together through 2001. A label approached him to make his own record, and so was formed The Jon Tiven Group
who recorded two albums, Blue Guru and Yes I Ram in 1996 and 1999 respectively. The band featured Jon Tiven on guitar, Alan Merrill
on lead vocals, Todd Snare
on drums, and Tiven's wife Sally Tiven on bass. Tiven started having some Billboard Hot 100
chart success with covered songs recorded by Huey Lewis and the News
and The Jeff Healey Band, and Tiven then submitted some songs to B.B. King to record. King's manager asked him to produce B.B. The sessions Tiven produced and wrote by B.B. King were parcelled out on several releases, including Here and There
, a European release Lucille & Friends
, and the Grammy-award winning box set King of the Blues. From that time on Tiven would distinguish himself in the Soul/Blues field, writing and producing new albums by Don Covay
, Syl Johnson
, Donnie Fritts, Freddie Scott
, and Sir Mack Rice
, among others. He coaxed Arthur Alexander
out of retirement in 1990 and in 1998 produced and cowrote Wilson Pickett
's first album in seventeen years, It's Harder Now, which won three W.C. Handy Awards and was nominated for a Grammy.
Tiven continued to have his songs recorded by other artists--- Robert Cray
had a top seller with the cover "24-7 Man," Johnny Winter
with "I Smell Smoke," Buddy Guy
with "Midnight Train," Shemekia Copeland
with "Married To The Blues," Irma Thomas
with "Trying To Catch A Cab In The Rain," and Australian Ian Moss
with "Mr. Rain."
, previously best known as lead singer and songwriter with the band Pixies. In 2004 he produced and cowrote what would become Little Milton
's last recorded effort Think Of Me
, which was released in 2005 and received four W.C. Handy Awards in 2006 including Song of the Year and Album of the Year. In 2006, he produced Sailover, a welcome return by legendary singer/songwriter P.F. Sloan for Hightone Records, as well as What I Was Running From, the debut album by Indiana singer/songwriter Don Pedigo. He continued to have his songs recorded by soul and blues artists, including Billy Price
, Ricky Fante, Gigi Dover, Hard Bargain featuring Arthur Canady, Rock Bottom, and Jim Quick & Coastline.
In 2007 Tiven produced and co-wrote Intuition
, the first recordings in thirty-seven years by soul singer Betty Harris
. He continued his work with Ellis Hooks by producing Another Saturday Morning, the sixth album by the Alabama soul/rock hybrid. Tiven also helmed the chart-topping American debut Sofa King Badass by blues/soul singer (and harmonica player) Mason Casey. Touring Europe with a new band Jon Tiven & the Nashville Aces, he introduced his nine-piece outfit backing Ellis, Betty, and Sir Mack Rice. Later in 2007 Tiven produced an album by former Grass Roots member Creed Bratton
(also known as a cast member of the television show The Office).
In 2008 Tiven produced and co-wrote a new album by legendary soul/blues singer Howard Tate
entitled Blue Day
. Tiven also produced a new gospel-tinged album by Garnet Mimms
entitled Is Anybody Out There?. He also coproduced/cowrote a new record with Felix Cavaliere & Steve Cropper for the Stax label called Nudge It Up A Notch, embraced by the critics and public alike and nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Tiven continued songwriting, collaborating with Chuck Mead, Stewart Francke
, Billy Price/Fred Chapellier and Syl Johnson
for their upcoming releases. Tiven is credited as a writer on over 400 recorded songs.
In 2009 Jon Tiven began creating a string of narrative Soul Operas. His first, entitled "I Sold Out" features the voices of James Jackson Toth, Cowboy Jack Clement, Buddy Miller, Chuck Mead, Bekka Bramlett and Felix Cavaliere. He is currently working on the follow-up, "Skin On The Wheel Of Time," sung by Ellis Hooks, Bekka Bramlett, and James Jackson Toth and featuring songs Tiven wrote with the aforementioned three plus Bob Mosley, Billie Ray Martin, Roger Reale, Charlie Feldman, Keith Reid, Joe Bonamassa, Jimmy Vivino, Wayne Carson, Al Franken, and Thomas Cain.
2010 saw Tiven producing a new blues album by Troy Turner, as well as the cowriter of songs recorded by Shaun Murphy, Guitar Shorty, Alabama Mike, Tara Holloway, Erya Lyytinen, Colin Gilmore, Kirsten Thien. He also embarked on producing new cds by Steve Cropper and the duo of Frank Black
and Reid Paley
a.k.a. Paley & Francis.
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
and Don Covay
Don Covay
Don Covay is an American R&B/rock and roll/soul music singer and songwriter most active in the 1950s and 1960s, who received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994...
as well as a series of tribute albums paying tribute to the songwriting of Don Covay, Arthur Alexander, Otis Blackwell, Curtis Mayfield, and Van Morrison.
Early career
He was a founder of the bands The Yankees and The Jon Tiven GroupThe Jon Tiven Group
The Jon Tiven Group made two albums in the 1990s: Blue Guru and Yes I Ram. The members were Jon Tiven , Alan Merrill , Sally Tiven and Todd Snare ....
.
Tiven began his career as a music journalist in the late 1960s, writing for Rolling Stone, Fusion, Melody Maker, and a host of other magazines. Initially an alto saxophonist, he taught himself to play a variety of instruments and became fairly adept at guitar, enough to write songs and accompany himself. After a brief flirtation with higher education at Yale University and Sarah Lawrence College (1972–74), he dropped out to pursue his musical career. In 1975 Tiven went to work for Chess Records in New York, but quickly saw that working inside a record company was not his calling, and travelled to Memphis to produce Alex Chilton
Alex Chilton
William Alexander "Alex" Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star...
's first solo album Bach's Bottom a.k.a. The Singer Not The Song
The Singer Not the Song
The Singer Not the Song is a 1961 British drama film based on the novel by Audrey Erskine Lindop that was directed by Roy Ward Baker and filmed in Spain.-Cast:*Dirk Bogarde as Anacleto Comachi*John Mills as Father Michael Keogh...
.
Productions and projects
Upon returning to New York, Tiven licensed the Chilton masters as well as other Memphis recordings he had made to Ork Records, the first New Wave/punk rock label. He soon split to produce for Big Sound Records, where he produced records by Van Duren and his own band The Yankees, but losing faith in those running the label he became totally independent. In addition to playing on sessions for artists such as Major LanceMajor Lance
Major Lance was an American R&B singer. After a number of US hits in the 1960s, including "The Monkey Time" and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um", he became an iconic figure in Britain in the 1970s among followers of Northern soul.-Life:Major Lance was born in Winterville, Mississippi...
("I've Got A Right To Cry") and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
("Jivin Sister Fanny"), Tiven honed his craft as a member of The Jim Carroll Band, as a guitarist/organist and also cowriting with Carroll the title song of the second album ("Dry Dreams"). Befriended by John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
, he formed a The Tom Davis Experience featuring Al Franken with the two comedians, and had a featured acting role as well as writing five songs for their film One More Saturday Night (Columbia Pictures, 1986) produced by Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
.
Compositions
Other artists such as Rick DerringerRick Derringer
Rick Derringer is an American guitarist, vocalist, and entertainer.-1960s:When he was seventeen years old, his band The McCoys recorded "Hang on Sloopy" in the summer of 1965, which became the number one song in America before "Yesterday" by The Beatles knocked it out of the top spot. The song was...
, Barrence Whitfield & the Savages
Barrence Whitfield
Barrence Whitfield is an American soul and R&B vocalist and best known as the singer of Barrence Whitfield and the Savages in the 1980s.-Life and career:...
, and The Symptoms started recording his songs, and Tiven dedicated himself to primarily writing songs for other artists. In 1985 he renewed a friendship with his hero Don Covay
Don Covay
Don Covay is an American R&B/rock and roll/soul music singer and songwriter most active in the 1950s and 1960s, who received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994...
, and they wrote, performed, and recorded together through 2001. A label approached him to make his own record, and so was formed The Jon Tiven Group
The Jon Tiven Group
The Jon Tiven Group made two albums in the 1990s: Blue Guru and Yes I Ram. The members were Jon Tiven , Alan Merrill , Sally Tiven and Todd Snare ....
who recorded two albums, Blue Guru and Yes I Ram in 1996 and 1999 respectively. The band featured Jon Tiven on guitar, Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. In the early 1970s Merrill was the first westerner to achieve pop star status in Japan...
on lead vocals, Todd Snare
Todd Snare
Todd Snare born Todd Lowther is a drummer who has played in the bands PM Dawn, Groove Theory, and The Jon Tiven Group and is currently the resident drummer for Muslim rap group Native Deen. He currently goes by the stage name of Tariq Snare, after converting to Islam in August 2003...
on drums, and Tiven's wife Sally Tiven on bass. Tiven started having some Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart success with covered songs recorded by Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually scoring a total of 19 top-ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock charts...
and The Jeff Healey Band, and Tiven then submitted some songs to B.B. King to record. King's manager asked him to produce B.B. The sessions Tiven produced and wrote by B.B. King were parcelled out on several releases, including Here and There
Here and There
Here and There is a live album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1976 . The title refers to the two concerts represented on the album: "Here" is a concert recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London during the summer of 1974; "There" is a concert recorded at New York City's...
, a European release Lucille & Friends
Lucille & Friends
Lucille & Friends is a 1995 album by B.B. King accompanied by major jazz, rock, and blues artists.- Track listings :#"When Love Comes to Town" - with U2#"Playin' with My Friends" - with Robert Cray#"To Know You Is to Love You" - with Stevie Wonder...
, and the Grammy-award winning box set King of the Blues. From that time on Tiven would distinguish himself in the Soul/Blues field, writing and producing new albums by Don Covay
Don Covay
Don Covay is an American R&B/rock and roll/soul music singer and songwriter most active in the 1950s and 1960s, who received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994...
, Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson is an American blues and soul singer and record producer.-Biography:Born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States, Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording with Jimmy Reed...
, Donnie Fritts, Freddie Scott
Freddie Scott
Freddie Scott was an American soul singer and songwriter. His biggest hits were "Hey, Girl", a top ten US pop hit in 1963, and "Are You Lonely For Me", a no.1 hit on the R&B chart in early 1967.-Life and career:...
, and Sir Mack Rice
Mack Rice
Mack Rice , is a American songwriter, whose compositions have been performed by many well-known artists, including The Staple Singers, Ike and Tina Turner, Albert King, Johnnie Taylor, Shirley Brown, Rufus Thomas, Etta James, Billy Eckstine, Eddie Floyd, Buddy Guy, The Rascals, Wilson Pickett,...
, among others. He coaxed Arthur Alexander
Arthur Alexander
Arthur Alexander was an American country soul singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for Allmusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff of genius, a poignant and deeply intimate body of work on par with the best of his...
out of retirement in 1990 and in 1998 produced and cowrote Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
's first album in seventeen years, It's Harder Now, which won three W.C. Handy Awards and was nominated for a Grammy.
Tiven continued to have his songs recorded by other artists--- Robert Cray
Robert Cray
Robert Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has led his own band, as well as an acclaimed solo career.-Career:...
had a top seller with the cover "24-7 Man," Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
with "I Smell Smoke," Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
with "Midnight Train," Shemekia Copeland
Shemekia Copeland
Shemekia Copeland is an American electric blues vocalist.-Career:Copeland was born in Harlem, New York City, United States. She is the daughter of Texas blues guitarist and singer Johnny Copeland...
with "Married To The Blues," Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas is an American Grammy Award-winning soul and rhythm and blues singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans"....
with "Trying To Catch A Cab In The Rain," and Australian Ian Moss
Ian Moss
Ian Moss is an Australian rock musician, best known as the guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial ten year career, Moss recorded eight albums, three of which were No. 1 national hits. His solo career began with a No. 1 album and single and five ARIA Awards...
with "Mr. Rain."
Current
After the Jon Tiven Group disbanded, Tiven produced and cowrote a series of albums with soul/blues singer Ellis Hooks who was heralded as following in the tradition of Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and James Brown. Moving from New York to Nashville in 2002, he produced a series of albums by Frank BlackFrank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
, previously best known as lead singer and songwriter with the band Pixies. In 2004 he produced and cowrote what would become Little Milton
Little Milton
James Milton Campbell, Jr. , better known as Little Milton, was an American electric blues, rhythm and blues, and soul singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."-Biography:Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi...
's last recorded effort Think Of Me
Think of Me
"Think of Me" is a song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber from his stage musical The Phantom of the Opera.It is sung by Elissa in the fictional Hannibal opera. At first, Carlotta Giudicelli is cast in the part, but during rehearsal a backdrop falls dangerously close to her. She quits, having had many...
, which was released in 2005 and received four W.C. Handy Awards in 2006 including Song of the Year and Album of the Year. In 2006, he produced Sailover, a welcome return by legendary singer/songwriter P.F. Sloan for Hightone Records, as well as What I Was Running From, the debut album by Indiana singer/songwriter Don Pedigo. He continued to have his songs recorded by soul and blues artists, including Billy Price
Billy Price
Billy Price is the stage name of soul singer William Pollak. Born in Fair Lawn, New Jersey in 1949, he has lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA since the mid 1970s.-Career:...
, Ricky Fante, Gigi Dover, Hard Bargain featuring Arthur Canady, Rock Bottom, and Jim Quick & Coastline.
In 2007 Tiven produced and co-wrote Intuition
Intuition
Intuition may refer to:*Intuition , immediate a priori knowledge or experiential belief*Intuition , acquiring beliefs in ways that bypass ordinary justificationIn music:*Intuition...
, the first recordings in thirty-seven years by soul singer Betty Harris
Betty Harris
Betty Harridick is an American Soul Singer. Her recording career in the 1960s produced three hit records that made the Billboard R&B and pop charts: "Cry to Me" , "His Kiss" and "Nearer to You"...
. He continued his work with Ellis Hooks by producing Another Saturday Morning, the sixth album by the Alabama soul/rock hybrid. Tiven also helmed the chart-topping American debut Sofa King Badass by blues/soul singer (and harmonica player) Mason Casey. Touring Europe with a new band Jon Tiven & the Nashville Aces, he introduced his nine-piece outfit backing Ellis, Betty, and Sir Mack Rice. Later in 2007 Tiven produced an album by former Grass Roots member Creed Bratton
Creed Bratton
Creed Bratton is an American actor and musician, a former member of The Grass Roots...
(also known as a cast member of the television show The Office).
In 2008 Tiven produced and co-wrote a new album by legendary soul/blues singer Howard Tate
Howard Tate
Howard Tate is an American soul music singer and songwriter.-Early life:He moved with his family to Philadelphia in the early 1940s. In his teens, he joined a gospel music group that included Garnet Mimms and, as the Gainors, recorded rhythm and blues sides for Mercury Records and Cameo Records in...
entitled Blue Day
Blue Day
Blue Day is a compilation album by English shoegazing band Slowdive. It was released in 1992 on Creation Records and compiles the first three Slowdive EPs, "Slowdive" , Morningrise , and Holding Our Breath...
. Tiven also produced a new gospel-tinged album by Garnet Mimms
Garnet Mimms
Garnet Mimms is an American singer, influential in soul music and rhythm and blues...
entitled Is Anybody Out There?. He also coproduced/cowrote a new record with Felix Cavaliere & Steve Cropper for the Stax label called Nudge It Up A Notch, embraced by the critics and public alike and nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
Tiven continued songwriting, collaborating with Chuck Mead, Stewart Francke
Stewart Francke
Stewart Francke is a singer/musician/songwriter in Detroit.His most recent CD, Heartless World features a guest appearance by Bruce Springsteen...
, Billy Price/Fred Chapellier and Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson is an American blues and soul singer and record producer.-Biography:Born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States, Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording with Jimmy Reed...
for their upcoming releases. Tiven is credited as a writer on over 400 recorded songs.
In 2009 Jon Tiven began creating a string of narrative Soul Operas. His first, entitled "I Sold Out" features the voices of James Jackson Toth, Cowboy Jack Clement, Buddy Miller, Chuck Mead, Bekka Bramlett and Felix Cavaliere. He is currently working on the follow-up, "Skin On The Wheel Of Time," sung by Ellis Hooks, Bekka Bramlett, and James Jackson Toth and featuring songs Tiven wrote with the aforementioned three plus Bob Mosley, Billie Ray Martin, Roger Reale, Charlie Feldman, Keith Reid, Joe Bonamassa, Jimmy Vivino, Wayne Carson, Al Franken, and Thomas Cain.
2010 saw Tiven producing a new blues album by Troy Turner, as well as the cowriter of songs recorded by Shaun Murphy, Guitar Shorty, Alabama Mike, Tara Holloway, Erya Lyytinen, Colin Gilmore, Kirsten Thien. He also embarked on producing new cds by Steve Cropper and the duo of Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
and Reid Paley
Reid Paley
Reid Paley is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been performing and recording both solo and with his trio since the mid 1990s.-Early career:...
a.k.a. Paley & Francis.