The Rural We: Tom Werman
A legendary rock producer, Lenox resident Tom Werman has written a book about his experiences during the heyday of classic rock.
Lenox resident and legendary rock producer Tom Werman worked with Mötley Cruë, Jeff Beck, Poison, Twisted Sister and Ted Nugent, to name just a few of the many bands and artists that earned 23 gold and platinum albums. In fact, Werman’s productions from the 1970s and 80s have sold more than 50 million albums. “It was the greatest job in the world,” he says. His recently published memoir of those days, “Turn It Up! My Time Making Hit Records in the Glory Days of Rock Music” has been the subject of intense interest among aficionados of that era of music. Werman will be speaking about the memoir and signing books at the Bushnell Sage Library in Sheffield on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m.
I’m from Boston, where at the time rock and roll was banned. I went to Columbia, and my first real rock concert was the Beatles at Carnegie Hall.
There’s so much interest in this era of classic rock (70s-90s). I wanted to tell readers why the music I love is music they should love, to immortalize the era. My career was interesting, and people are curious about it and the transition I made.
When I was producing, I lived in LA. I had three kids and a patient and caring wife. I had a foot in each world. It was party time in LA for two decades, but most of the insanity that came from the bands and artists happened outside the studio. I did see some drugs, but not for me. My craft was far more important to me than being able to party. I took it seriously; I had to have some measure of authority to do my job well with these bands.
I left the music businesses because I was burnt out. Everything had changed and it was time for me to go. We moved to the Berkshires and ran Stonover Farm in Lenox as a luxury bed-and-breakfast for 20 years. That was much harder than the record business! We sold it to a couple who had been guests several times and they offered to take it over when we were ready to go. But we still live nearby, just down the road.
When I finished writing the book, the agent-publisher search was daunting. It was hard to find agents interested in music memoirs because the genre hadn’t done well. But a publisher in London took me on and it’s selling well in bookstores. I will be doing an audio book, narrating it myself, and I’m going to write another book. I really enjoyed the writing.
I’m in heaven here. I love having all this free time. I still listen to the music I produced. When I go to Lenox Fit, it’s really more about the workout as accompaniment to the music.
