The stage musical "Recorded in Hollywood" (pictured) tells the story of John Dolphin and his landmark record stores in Los Angeles; a song from the solo album by Will Butler (Arcade Fire) is taken apart in a new installment of Song Exploder.
Arcade Fire's Will Butler breaks down his song, 'Anna'
Host/producer of the podcast Song Exploder and regular Frame contributor, Hrishikesh Hirway, met with Will Butler for his latest episode. Butler is a member of the band Arcade Fire and co-writer of the Oscar-nominated score for the film "Her." Butler deconstructs the making of the song "Anna," which is a track from his debut solo album, "Policy," released earlier this year.
"Policy" was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, which Butler says is "like recording a record in your house." In fact, Jimi Hendrix's former apartment is upstairs.
"Anna" began as a "nonsense song" for his son, Alvin, says Butler, and was originally recorded with the voice memo app on his phone. Then after recording the initial songs for the album with Jeremy Gara, drummer for Arcade Fire, Butler decided to make a track out of one of the voice memos during some free time. And "Anna" was chosen.
The tune, Butler's 1970s synthesizer, his sister-in-law, "West Side Story" and religion all played a part in inspiring the final composition.
Hrishikesh Hirway edited down the original segment for The Frame. You can hear the full version at songexploder.net.
Dolphin's of Hollywood: the story of a landmark record store goes to the stage
Dolphin's of Hollywood, founded by John Dolphin in 1948, was one of the first African-American-owned record stores in Los Angeles.
Dolphin's was also one of the first record stores to feature listening stations so customers could listen to new records, many of which had been recorded in a studio that Dolphin had built in his store.
The record store and the man behind it are getting more attention recently thanks to a book written by Jamelle Dolphin, John's grandson, that's also the basis of the stage musical "Recorded in Hollywood." It debuted earlier this year to rave reviews and has been re-mounted at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood.
Jamelle and his uncle, Michael Dolphin, recently came by the Frame to talk about John Dolphin's more innovative practices and how the record store got its name — despite not being in Hollywood.
Interview Highlights:
How did Dolphin's of Hollywood get its name?
Michael: He wanted to open the store in Hollywood — he saw the image that Hollywood put into people's minds. But sometimes people don't often know that Los Angeles was officially segregated, and there were places that you could open business or live and places you couldn't do those things. He ultimately found the opportunity in the Central Avenue area, the Renaissance area of Los Angeles in the '40s and the '50s.
So he ended up in South L.A.?
Michael: And kept the name Dolphin's of Hollywood. One of his friends once told me that someone once asked him about the name since he didn't get to be in Hollywood, and he had two answers — the first was that he hadn't gotten there yet. And because he recognized the value of radio, his other answer was, "What picture do you get when you hear Dolphin's of Hollywood? What's the image in your mind?"
Your father also had these amazing ideas, like keeping the store open 24 hours a day and having DJs from KRKD broadcast from the store when no one else was doing things like that. How long was he able to keep the store open 24/7?
Jamelle: Until he passed. I thought it was incredible that he had it opened on Sundays. Back in the '40s and '50s, a business being open on Sundays was unheard of. He threw a "throw away the key" party as a promotion for when he decided to go with those hours.
Your father was killed by a disgruntled who was unhappy that John Dolphin would cut records with him. Why was it important to tell the Dolphin story?
Michael: My dad was killed when I was 9, and obviously Jamelle wasn't born yet. [Dolphin was killed by a frustrated singer in an argument over payment.] Jamelle has a stack of notes about two feet high from the people that he's talked to, and it's like trying to pull all these things together much later in the process. That's when you finally say, "We need to sit down and tell this story, since we've heard it all our lives."
So much of what we know is what we've learned. We didn't get it from my dad, but he touched so many people and there were so many people involved and who were impacted by what Dolphin's of Hollywood was doing.
For probably 40 years I got to just sit with Buddy Collette, Gerald Wilson and Charles Mingus, and one day Buddy looked at me and said, "You know one thing you should really know about your dad? Were it not for your dad, we would have not been heard." That's probably one of the most impactful things anyone's ever said to me: "We would not have been heard." And he was so grateful for that opportunity.
"Recorded in Hollywood" is at the Hudson Theatre through July 26.