Remembering Brother Gene Dinwiddie

“Take This Winter Out of My Mind” by Full Moon (1972)

September 19, 1936 –  January 11, 2002

I was one of those white suburban kids growing up in a very white suburban neighborhood that I didn’t realize was whites-only because no real estate agencies and owners would rent or sell to non-whites. Segregation northern style. Quiet but omnipresent.

We white suburban kids did not realize we were listening to our own American blues when we heard Eric Burdon sing “House of the Rising Sun” or Mick Jagger sing “You Better Move On.”

British bands like the Animals and Rolling Stones reinterpreted American blues, but bands like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band were revitalizing or simply continuing the blues tradition.

Remembering Brother Gene Dinwiddie

Gene Dinwiddie

Gene Dinwiddie, or Brother Gene Dinwiddie as he was often known, was part of that tradition.

He had already been playing in bands for 10 years when he joined Butterfield which presented him the opportunity to record. The American music scene was typically as segregated as my home town. Whether it be exclusionary tactics by record companies, recording studios, publishers, or venues, black musicians faced barriers at each entry. I certainly cannot speak for Gene Dinwiddie or any black musician, but I could understand the inclination of joining a band led by a white musician with hopes that the white musician would have access that he did not.

Remembering Brother Gene Dinwiddie

Paul Butterfield Blues Band

He joined Paul Butterfield Blues Band in mid-1967 in time for the group’s appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival.

“Love March” became the band’s best known song because of its inclusion on the Woodstock album. It was Dinwiddie and drummer Phillip Wilson who lead on that song.

The longer Dinwiddie was in the band, the more he influenced its sound. The band ended in 1971, but a few of its members including Dinwiddie formed Full Moon.

Brother Gene Dinwiddie also played as a session musician with BB King, Melissa Manchester, Jackie Lomax, and Gregg Allman.

His most visible appearance on record in the 1990s was playing tenor sax on Etta James’ album Stickin’ to My Guns.

Remembering Brother Gene Dinwiddie

• All Music bio

Arthur Lawrence Artie Kornfeld

born September 9, 1942

 Arthur Lawrence Artie Kornfeld

On the move

Arthur Lawrence Kornfeld, or simply Artie Kornfeld, was born in Brooklyn to Irving Kornfeld, a New York City policeman, and his wife, Shirley.

They also lived in Levittown, but moved other times, too. According to Kornfeld’s site, he attended six different schools including high school in North Carolina in the mid-50s.

Back in New York after high school, Kornfeld started to play guitar and work in the Brill Building, the famous songwriting site where hundreds of hit songs came from.

 Arthur Lawrence Artie Kornfeld

Pied Piper

In 1965 he and Steve Duboff recorded the song “Follow Me, I’m the Pied Piper.” It reached #87 on the Billboard charts. With that song and others, Artie and Steve, billed as The Changin’ Times, opened for Sonny & Cher on their first nationwide tour.

In 1966, British singer Crispian St Peters covered the song. He had much luck with it that summer as it reached #1 in Canada, #4 in the US, and #5 in the UK.

Meets Michael Lang

In 1967, Capital Records hired Kornfeld as the Vice President and Director of Rock Music. As the story goes, it was while Kornfeld was in that position that he met Michael Lang. A kid from the old Brooklyn neighborhood.

That friendship developed the idea for a recording studio. The recording studio idea developed into the idea of a music festival to raise the needed capital.

Woodstock Ventures

Though Lang by 1969 was living in Woodstock, NY, the site he and Kornfeld thought would be perfect for a recording studio, he often slept at Kornfeld’s NYC apartment. From there they began their search for backers who turned out to be Joel Rosenman and John Roberts. The four formed Woodstock Ventures, which went into fabulous debt while producing the most famous music festival of all time.

Artie

Kornfeld is no longer a part of Woodstock Ventures. Roberts and Rosenman bought him out shortly after the event ended. He continues to be active in the music field.

 Arthur Lawrence Artie Kornfeld