The Tunesmith

 

Who first called Rick Revel, The Tunesmith?

Rick unpacking his new mixing board in his Music Row studio. He not only did the construction work, but he also wired it for sound.

          Being on Music Row on a regular basis had its advantages without a doubt. One day Rick dropped by to visit an ole friend from back home, Byron Galimore, who used to live in Puryear, TN.                                                             He had met Byron years earlier at the Sound Farm Recording Studio in Puryear during a recording session. Rick was laying some vocal tracks for a demo and Byron was called in to play lead guitar.                                                      After moving to Nashville, Byron went to work for Charlie Pride, running his publishing company. He was also producing a new artist by the name of Tim McGraw. While Rick was visiting that day, Byron shared a couple of new songs he had just cut on Tim. The first one played was, "Don't Take The Girl and the second was "Indian Outlaw".          

Gary Gentry is a songwriting machine.

           Within a week Gary loaded Rick into his Ford Ranger pickup truck, and they headed to Memphis, TN to meet with Seymour "Sy" Rosenberg. Sy was a well-known Memphis attorney, who loved to play the trumpet every chance he got down on Beale Street.

           His love of music and his savvy business practice got him involved with Charlie Rich and David Wills, as their manager. Rick and David were labelmates when they both recorded for Gateway Records, so the name Sy Rosenberg was familiar. Upon hearing some of Rick's music, Sy wanted to get involved and before long a management deal was in place.                                                         One night down on Beale Street, at BB Kings Blues Club, Sy began to tell the story of how Charlie Rich got the nickname, "The Silver Fox". Right after he became Charlie's manger, they were riding back from a gig in Arkansas, where the women in the audience kept calling Charlie a fox. As the moonlight glistened through the windshield onto his shiny gray hair, Sy called him The Silver Fox for the first time, and it became his trademark from that night forward.                                                                 Wondering out loud, Rick asked if Sy had ever thought about giving him a nickname as well. Smiling broadly, the Memphis lawyer replied, "Yes sir, I sure have. When you told me you had written over fifteen-hundred songs, I thought to myself, you're a very impressive tunesmith. So, that's why from here on I'm calling you, The Tunesmith."                                                                                       

        During 1993, Rick had the opportunity to build a sixteen-track recording studio on Music Row in Nashville, TN, within a few blocks of where he recorded his gospel song “Lord have Mercy On Me” in 1974. The band Little Texas had an office on the ground floor of the building, and his studio occupied the entire second story.                                                          The studio was affiliated with a publishing company owned by Gerald Roy, who was the tour promoter of Country greats like Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis and Reba McEntire. Rick would not only run the recording studio, but he would also help with the day-to-day operations of a publishing company. Along with writing songs daily, his duties included booking the musicians, engineering and producing recording sessions, as well as pitching the finished demos to the record labels.                                                

Tim McGraw and Byron Galimore at the 38th Annual CMA Awards.

          Before the last song finished playing, the office door opened and in walks Tim McGraw smiling as he heard his song play. After introductions were made, the three songsters began to swap "war' stories and new friendships were soon made. Rick was seeing firsthand how the Music Business game was to be played. "It's not what you know, it's who you know."

         "The who you know" can come from the most unexpected places sometimes also. When Gary Gentry signed on to be a writer with Gerald Roy's publishing company, Rick's life got really interesting really quick.                  Gary had written hit songs for, Johnny Cash, George Jones, David Allen Coe, John Anderson and Ray Charles, so Rick's excitement to write with a seasoned pro was mountain top high. After penning a couple of songs together, Gary was very impressed with Rick's writing skills and vocal abilities. Add that to Rick's musicianship and his way around a mixing board, Gary wanted to introduce him to an old friend.

 

Seymour "Sy" Rosenberg was not only an attorney at law, but he was also an excellent Blues and Jazz trumpet player.