A Conversation with Jim Photoglo (continued)

JP: And then me, you know, I made pop records in the early 80s.

PM: And with some success, as I'm led to believe.

JP: Well, my records were in that day when you could get a lot of radio play and even if the record company never put records in the stores, you could still have a hit. It was a weird thing. And also it was at a time when pop music was changing. What I was doing had sort of a softer pop sound to it. Then there was a combination of things going on. There was new wave and punk happening at the same time, but also video started happening. So everything changed. Suddenly it was like the era of Prince. And there had to be a whole visual affectation to go along with it.

And also at the same time, songs that I had written for my record started showing up in Nashville on people's records. So I came down here to check it out, and the next thing I knew, I had a career as a songwriter.

PM: Wow. So who covered your songs here in Nashville that drew you here?

JP: Kenny Rogers, Gary Morris, Marty Robbins, Brenda Lee, Lacy J. Dalton, Patty Loveless, Terri Gibbs. So I was here a couple years doing that, and things started happening really quick. And shortly thereafter, we started doing the Vinyl Kings--well, actually, the Del Beatles thing in those days. And then, soon after that, Vince and I started a band called Run C&W.

PM: Oh, yeah, yeah. Let's cover Run C&W.

JP: Run C&W was Russell Smith of the Amazing Rhythm Aces and Bernie Leadon from the Eagles, and Vince Melamed and myself. And just as a goof, we got together and worked up a bunch of Motown and Stax classic R&B songs with stone bluegrass arrangements.

PM: Totally funny.

JP: And the next thing we knew, MCA Records called and asked us to make a record for them. Next they asked us to make another record. And the next thing we knew, we were dropped [laughs] from the label. But we made a couple of really cool records.

PM: That was a hilarious band.

JP: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Vince and I have been in a lot of bands together. We ended up being in Dan Fogelberg's road band for a while. I played bass and sang harmony in that. I made a couple other solo records. I've got a solo record that I did two years ago [Fly Straight Home]. And that's pretty much me.

PM: You said "Fishin' in the Dark" was one of your big songs. There were other big songs, too, though.

JP: Well, "Fishin' in the Dark" is one of those that's an all-time recurrent hit. It shows up--

PM: Yeah, hugely recurrent.

JP: Yeah. It gets a lot of airplay every year right around the spring and summertime. And I read somewhere that it was in the top 200 recurring singles of all time.

PM: Wow, amazing!

JP: Yeah. So I'm grateful to the Dirt Band, and I'm grateful to Josh, because together they made an amazing record that still holds up.

PM: Isn't that a Wendy Waldman co-write?

JP: Yes. Wendy and I wrote that. Wendy figures very prominently in this whole thing. Wendy was sort of the catalyst. She's the one who talked Josh into moving to Nashville. She talked Vince into moving to Nashville. She talked Harry into moving back. She introduced me to Larry Lee.

PM: She's a fulcrum.

JP: I used to refer to her as "the Gertrude Stein of Nashville."

PM: [laughs] She just produced John Cowan's record, or his last two records.

JP: Yeah. And I just noticed on the Folk DJ chart, she's got a cut on a western beat record that's getting some air play. Wendy is an amazing talented woman. I mean, I've got to give her her due. I think that the songs I've written with her are among the best songs I've ever written. She really brings something remarkable to the thing, and brings something very powerful out of me. I really have a great vibe with her. She's somebody that I like hanging with--and cooking with, you know.

PM: Oh, she's great at that, too. [Jim Photoglo is a world-class cook. Don't miss the recipes at his website.]

JP: When I first started coming to town, we'd go down to the Farmers Market and buy a bunch of peaches and stuff and make peach pies and then write, you know. It was very cool. We were young. We were broke. We were all single.  continue

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