Jerry Moss Remembered by Former A&M GM Jim Guerinot – Billboard

Jim Guerinot, former normal supervisor of A&M Information, who later managed 9 Inch Nails, No Doubt, Social Distortion and different bands, labored for A&M co-founder Jerry Moss, who died Wednesday (Aug. 16) at 88, and its president, the late Gil Friesen, for years within the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties. The retired music government saluted his former boss in a cellphone interview.

“We had an artist who was attending to launch an album and had a succesful manger. I put the entire plan collectively. After I ran the numbers, I noticed that we have been going to lose cash. I stated, ‘I’m not going to get hung,’ so I went to Jerry: ‘Right here’s the plan, the supervisor has signed off.’ He goes, ‘Effectively, good, what’s your concern?’ I am going, ‘Effectively, we’re going to lose cash as a result of the artist is not going to promote data to make that occur.’ I stated, ‘Can I ask you a query? Why would we put this file out?’ He goes, ‘Effectively, that’s straightforward. As a result of it’s an A&M artist.’ It was very very similar to, ‘The ‘M’ is me, pal. If I need to, I do it.’

And that’s how he slept at night time and that’s how he and [Herb Alpert, label co-founder] slept at night time.

Once in a while once I arrived at work at A&M, I’d go the principle guys’ doorways: Herb may be portray, and would invite you in to see what he’s as much as to; Gil Friesen, the label president, inevitably would push a guide on me and anticipate a report inside days; and Moss needed to play just a few palms of gin. Usually talking, if you happen to and I play gin, I’m going to beat you. I’ve pals who performed within the World Sequence of Poker and I win at the least half the time. I not solely by no means beat [Moss] at gin, I by no means even received one hand. It was miserable.

This man had a imaginative and prescient for the enterprise that was past what regular individuals would see. He walked right into a room and noticed issues we didn’t see. He walked into conditions and companies and noticed issues we didn’t see.

He knew all people, for starters. Like, actually, all people.

The place someone would possibly see an artist, he would see a community of what that artist represented, and relationships and historical past. It was simply a lot, a lot deeper. What he noticed wasn’t what I noticed. He learn individuals otherwise. He learn individuals very, very nicely. He knew individuals who have been going to be honorable and who wouldn’t be.”