For the Record

About the Book

"For the Record is a personal, compelling story of the real world of music." – Forward Clarion Reviews "An eloquent story of a music man who faced and overcame the challenges that life threw at him." – Kirkus Reviews A student of records from my earliest days, I studied them in minute detail on the 45 rpm records that were the industry standard of the day. I was curious about anything and everything. They came in sleeves to protect them from scratches, and pictures of the artist, fan club information, plugs for the album, and various other tidbits of information usually adorned the sleeves. I internalized the music first before absorbing all the information contained on the labels: the artist, songwriters, titles, song lengths, publishing companies, producers, copyright information, and so on. Nothing escaped my attention. I don’t know how I deciphered all of this, but I did to a large degree. My record collection, though small, likely never numbering more than twenty at any given time, was my most prized possession, and I pored over the records endlessly for any scrap of information I might have missed previously. An opportunity to view a friend’s collection was always a cause for celebration, and an hour in a record shop was heaven. I had no particular plan in mind, as I didn’t know enough to have a plan. But I knew I wanted to make music, and thus, the seeds of my future were sown in the fertile fields of my imagination at an early age. With a lifelong love of music dating back to his childhood, author Don Tolle dreamed about achieving fame as a recording artist. But it was in 1973, after a tour in Vietnam, that he finally took the leap, picked up the telephone, and called record companies about his songs. It was a fateful day in his career, one that reverberates even today. In For the Record, Tolle shares his career as a music man, beginning in the record business of the wide-open 1970s, when everything seemed possible. The story follows his career from its beginnings in an entry-level position at a record company to his eventual founding of a record company and production of his own hit records, winning multiple awards in the process. Tolle also shares the story of his precipitous fall from the summit of success. For the Record describes his walk through the long shadows of the valley, where he wandered lost and alone before staging a remarkable comeback that ultimately led to his greatest triumph and the realization of the misplaced, but not forgotten, dream of his youth. Filled with the experiences, memories, revelations, and reflections of an amazing career during the golden age of the music business, this memoir offers an insider’s view of the music world filled with unique personalities.

About the Author

Don Tolle is a songwriter, recording artist, music publisher, record producer, and music business entrepreneur. His career in the music industry spans four decades, during which he has had numerous number-one records and millions in sales to his credit. He currently lives in Tennessee.