Image courtesy Post Hill Press
Alan Leeds, who managed tours for James Brown, Chris Rock, Prince and D’Angelo, started his career in the 1960s in Richmond at WANT-AM, a radio station that played African American music during the day and signed off at sunset. But Leeds' love of R&B and soul music extended into the evenings, and he found himself at long-gone local nightclubs such as Gregory’s Ballroom, the Market Inn and Clay Street Coliseum. The recently retired Leeds, who spent years on the road with some of the most influential performers of the last 50 years, has seen it all. He’s put some of his experiences into a book, “There Was a Time: James Brown, the Chitlin' Circuit and Me” (Post Hill Press). Yes, there are stories about groupies, scuffles, outrageous demands, insecure artists and egos run amok, if that’s what you’re looking for. If you’re searching for a way to get into the music business, don’t try to follow Leeds’ path through the wilderness of the chitlin’ circuit — the breadcrumbs are long gone, and times have changed. But there are some life lessons in the book that endure and that might help us manage our own way down the road. From his home in Minnesota, Leeds talks about what it takes to manage an artist, Richmond’s racial climate and what made him retire.
Richmond magazine: Can you tell me a little bit about what it takes to be a road manager in terms of your mental fortitude? What are some of the things you have to be strong in, mentally?
Alan Leeds: The worse things are, if there's some kind of drama or unexpected hitch or anything that could threaten the consistency of a tour, you have to be the one that stays the coolest. I always say that the worse things are, the more relaxed and confident you have to appear. Crew members and band members, and, for that matter, celebrities themselves, they tend to feed off your emotions, and if you freaked out about something, then everybody else gets freaked out. So, you really have to be, you have to be where we wish Trump was right now, a calming factor. And I think it really starts there.
RM: How important was Richmond in your development as a music industry professional?
Leeds: It’s probably 100% responsible for it. It really was, because of the connections I made. I talk about it in the book. [Virginia Communications Hall of Fame member] Tom Mitchell was a total mentor. I became close friends with the late Clayton Brown and [former WANT-AM manager] Ben Miles, who's still alive, retired. [Mitchell was] the one who took a chance and put a white guy on the black radio station, which was, you know, politically risky. [He] also recognized growing interest in the touring industry and supported me by making sure I got backstage to meet managers and agents and artists and just indulge my passion for this stuff. Without his mentorship, I wouldn't have had the exposure to make the contacts that eventually paid off.
I'm not sure where else that could have happened. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, and you know all the ugly history associated with the treatment of black folks in the Jim Crow era. There was a gentility [in Richmond] that seemed to be lacking in other [Southern] cities. And it worked both ways, because the black community wasn't quite as militant as it would have been. For example, if somebody had put me on a black radio station in Baltimore, they’d've got run out of town, and I would’ve, too! [Laughs]
And I get that. I talked about it in the book that, after a year or two, I began to get over feeling proud of myself and recognize the fact that I was holding a position that really should have belonged to a black person who had ambitions in the broadcasting industry because they had no other opportunities at that time. So, you know, there is a guilt. Maybe shame is too strong a word, but the guilt about the fact that I took that position for a couple of years that rightfully should have been in black hands. But you know, undeniably it worked to my advantage, right? I was a kid. So, I wasn't that politically sophisticated. I was just enraptured with the opportunity.
RM: Speaking of people in Richmond, you worked with D’Angelo.
Leeds: Actually, [I worked with] D'Angelo for the better part of, I guess off and on, about 18 years.
RM: How's he doing? Have you talked to him lately?
Leeds: I'm retired from representing him officially since early last year, but we’re in touch, his health is very good. He's doing reasonably well but still trying to figure out what he does and doesn't want to do about a career and slowly working on new music. That’s just D. He’s one of a kind.
RM: Was there a moment when you decided, "It's time for me to retire"?
Leeds: Actually, yes. It wasn’t about [D’Angelo], it was more about the Chris Rock tour. The last Chris Rock tour I did, lasted the better part of the year. I was 73 years old. It was cushy in the sense of using private jets and great hotels with great services, so, there wasn't a lot of physical stress. But it really got to the point we're just climbing up the steps onto the plane, [Laughs] "Can we fly commercial so there’s skyways?" [Laughs] OK, my body is telling me that, as much as I am a road rat, it's really time to be home with my wife. It really got to the point where the idea of being away so much was annoying as hell.
RM: What do you make of the recent speculation about the death of James Brown?
Leeds: It’s nonsense.
RM: Do you think it's unusual that no one seems to know where his body is?
Leeds: Yeah, that’s a little crazy, too.
RM: Do you think you have another book in you?
Leeds: Everybody wants a Prince book. I get that from my publisher [and from] fans all the time because it's Prince! But I haven't really figured out if there's a book I want to write just because there's been so many. It's like everybody who ever worked for him, from hair stylists to photographers to God knows what, seem to have written books. … I don't know, maybe [the next project] is a book about tour managing. I certainly intend to write another book and have kind of started one, but I’m not sure what it is yet.
