Don Was

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Don Was
blues
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • producer
  • record executive
Instrument(s)
  • Bass guitar
  • guitar
  • vocals
  • piano
Years active1971–present
Member ofWolf Bros
Formerly ofWas (Not Was)

Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was (/wʌz/), is an American musician, record producer, music director, film composer, documentary filmmaker and radio host. Since 2011, he has also served as president of the American jazz label Blue Note Records.

For his work as a record producer, he has won six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1989 for

Emmy Award
for Outstanding Music Direction for his work on the CBS TV special The Beatles: The Night That Changed America.

Records that he has produced have sold close to 100 million albums for a wide range of artists including The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, Wayne Shorter, Kris Kristofferson, Iggy Pop, The B-52s, Brian Wilson, Elton John, Garth Brooks and Ryan Adams.

Primarily known as a bassist, he has toured as a member of Bob Weir and The Wolf Bros since 2018.

Life and career

Born in

Detroit blues sound and the jazz music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, amongst many others. As a teenager, Was was influenced by 1960s counterculture, most notably John Sinclair
.

In high school, Was became the lead singer and guitar player in a Detroit rock band called the Saturns.

Using the stage name "Don Was", he formed the group

Forever's A Long, Long Time" was released in 1997, under the name Orquestra Was. In 2008, Was (Not Was) reunited for a new album titled Boo!
and tour.

Was has received six Grammy Awards including the 1994

Blue and Lonesome
, which won the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues album.

He served as music director and/or consultant for several motion pictures such as

Thelma and Louise, The Rainmaker, Hope Floats, Phenomenon, Tin Cup, Honeymoon in Vegas, 8 Seconds, Switch, The Freshman, Days of Thunder, Michael, Prêt-à-Porter, Boys on the Side, Toy Story and The Paper
.

In 1995, he directed and produced a documentary,

BAFTA) for Best Original Score in recognition of his compositions for the film Backbeat
.

Was, a longtime

Exile on Main Street, released in May 2010, and of Some Girls released in October 2011. Was scoured old master recordings of the albums for lost outtakes, remastering some songs while producing entirely new vocals and tracks on others.[4]

Was also produced

the B-52's 1989 album Cosmic Thing, which included their hit "Love Shack
".

Since 2008, Was has hosted the proceedings (and led the house band) at the Detroit All-Star Revue, an annual showcase of local acts from the

Detroit music scene.[5]

From 2009 to 2012, Don hosted a weekly radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio's Outlaw Country channel called The Motor City Hayride.[6] During the 2011 season of American Idol, Was appeared in several episodes producing contestants Haley Reinhart, Scotty McCreery, Paul McDonald, Lauren Alaina and Casey Abrams.

In January 2012, he was appointed president of the jazz record label, Blue Note Records in succession to Bruce Lundvall.[7]

He won the 2014 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction for his work on the CBS TV special The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles.

On November 18, 2015, at

Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.[8]

In 2018, Was joined former Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Jay Lane to form Wolf Bros, a trio which undertook a North American tour in the fall of 2018,[9] and continued with a second tour of twenty more shows in the spring of 2019.[10][11]

On April 16, 2021, Was debuted a new radio show, the Don Was Motor City Playlist on WDET-FM, Detroit's NPR station, with co-host Ann Delisi.[12]

Was played bass on the 2021 Bob Dylan recordings of "

T-Bone Burnett and recorded and mixed by Michael Piersante for a one-time sale as Ionic Originals.[13]

In 2023, it was announced that Was would join former Dead & Company members Weir, Lane, Jeff Chimenti, Oteil Burbridge and Mickey Hart as part of Dead Ahead, a four-day festival in Cancún, Mexico in early 2024.[14]

Personal life

Was is the son of World War II veteran and Bronze Star Medal awardee Bill Fagenson, who served with the 96th Infantry, 381st Regiment. Was's sister is Nancy Potok, former Chief Statistician of the United States.[15][16]

Was is married to former Virgin Records A&R executive and video director Gemma Corfield, and they have three sons who are also musicians—Tony, who played in Eve 6, Henry who plays in Thumpasaurus and Justin Jay's Fantastic Voyage, and Solomon who has played in Leven Kali and Felly.

Selected discography

References

  1. ^ "Don Was – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Grammy Award Past Winners Search – Don Was". Grammy.com. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  3. ^ Harrington, Richard (August 26, 1995). "Brian Wilson's Sensational Safari". The Washington Post. p. D.01. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
  4. ^ "Don Was Revisits 'Exile On Main Street'". Npr.org. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  5. Detroit Metro Times
    . 35 (39). Euclid Media: 58. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  6. ^ "Don Was Joins Sirius XM for Show". AllAccess.com. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  7. ^ Chinen, Nate (May 2, 2012). "Exuberance Is Just One of His Skills". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  8. ^ Thanki, Juli (November 18, 2015). "Willie Nelson saluted by Alison Krauss, Jamey Johnson, more". The Tennessean. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  9. ^ "Bob Weir & Wolf Bros. Announce Fall Tour". jambase.com. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  10. ^ "Bob Weir & Wolf Bros Confirm Spring Tour 2019". Jambase.com. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  11. ^ Paul, Alan. "Bob Weir: For the Veteran Grateful Dead guitarist, retiring is not an option". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  12. ^ "Don Was Motor City Playlist » WDET 101.9 FM". October 14, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Three Bob Dylan Re-Recordings to Go Up for Private Sale Via Christie's: 'Simple Twist of Fate,' 'Gotta Serve Somebody,' 'Masters of War' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  14. ^ "Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi & More To Go Dead Ahead At New Destination Event In Mexico". Jambase.com. September 11, 2023.
  15. ^ Muskovitz, Alan (November 7, 2017). "Three WWII veterans honored for their military efforts — and beyond". The Detroit Jewish News. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  16. ^ Laderman, Linda (August 24, 2015). "Elementary: Attorney helps school build on a storied past". Detroit Legal News. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  17. ISSN 0140-0460
    . Retrieved October 31, 2023.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don_Was&oldid=1210652559"