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Tim Schuller

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Tim Schuller
Born
Fredric Thomas Schuller

Salem, Ohio, U.S.
DiedFebruary 29, 2012(2012-02-29) (aged 62)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Alma materKent State University at Salem
Occupation(s)Columnist, historian, music critic

Tim "Mit" Schuller (né Fredric Thomas Schuller; Salem, Ohio – 29 February 2012, Dallas, Texas) was an American, Dallas–Fort Worth-based music critic, who, for 37 years – from 1975 until his death – chronicled living blues and jazz musicians, mostly from Texas (particularly from the Dallas–Fort Worth area and the Southwest).

Career

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Some of Schullers writings – notably those about Freddie King, Buster Smith, and Lightnin' Hopkins – have been cited in academic and encyclopedic publications. According to a Buddy magazine staff editor, Schuller provided blues pianist Boston Smith (né Boston Beverly Smith; 1907–1989) (Buster Smith's brother) with an epitaph worthy of his achievements.[1]

He also was an update editor of the 2002 revised edition of MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide (Schirmer Trade Books / Omnibus Press). At the time of his death, he had been writing a book, Scorning All Borders, covering 30 years of writing about Texas jazz and blues artists.

Early years

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Schuller was born in Salem, Ohio, to Frederick Kane Schuller (1908–1956) and Mary Louise Layden (maiden; 1912–2005).[2] Tim's father, who had been a newspaper journalist, died when he was seven. As a teenager, Tim attended Salem High School, graduating in 1967.[3] During his senior year, he was the feature editor of the Salem Quaker, his high school newspaper.[4] Tim went on to study at Kent State University at Salem, but did not graduate. In Ohio, Schuller had worked as a musician (playing guitar), a factory worker, and a stringer reporter.[5]

Schuller then moved to Chicago with his childhood friend from Salem, Tom "Mot" Dutko (né Thomas Lawrence Dutko; 1949–2017), a blues drummer.[6] Who went on to record with Little Al Thomas and the Crazy Horse Band, Billy Branch, and Eddie Shaw. In Chicago, Schuller played with Robert Lockwood Jr. and John Brim.[7] Dutko also played drums for Big Walter Horton, Sunnyland Slim, Homesick James, Jimmy Walker, Erwin Helfer, and Eddie Taylor.

Schuller moved to Dallas around 1977 and briefly embarked in the record business. In 1977, he was worked at Peaches Records & Tapes at Cole and Fitzhugh Avenues, Dallas. Ken E. Shimamoto (born 1957), a music journalist in Dallas worked there with him.[8] In 1980, Schuller was assistant manager at Sound Town at the Valley View Mall in Dallas.[9][a]

Over the next 35 years, Schuller contributed to the following newspapers, periodicals, and records:

Periodicals and newspapers

  1. Guitar Player, Living Blues, Blues Access
  2. The Met (Dallas' arts & entertainment weekly)
  3. Southwest Blues
  4. DownBeat
  5. Buddy magazine
  6. Texas Jazz
  7. Juke Blues
  8. Coda
  9. Crazy Music (the journal of the Australian Blues Society)
  10. D Magazine
  11. Dallas Morning News,
  12. Dallas Observer
  13. Texas Observer
  14. Contemporary Keyboard
  15. Texas Highways
  16. Akron Beacon Journal

Discography

  1. Lucky Seven Records
  2. Black Top
  3. Trix
  4. Wolf Records (de) (Vienna, Austria)
  5. Bullseye Blues
  6. Fedora Records
  7. Blind Pig
  8. TKO Magnum Music
  9. Blue Moon
  10. Continental Blue Heaven (distributed by Harmonia Mundi)
  11. Cannonball Records (nl) 29110
  12. AudioQuest Music
  13. TopCat Records
  14. Mayhem Records
  15. JSP

Affiliations

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  • In 1987, Schuller – with Chuck Nevitt (né Charles Franklin Nevitt; 1956–2015) (record collector), Brian "Hash Brown" Calway (né Brian Everett Calway; born 1955) (blues musician) – founded the Dallas Blues Society.[10]

Tributes

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  • Tim Schuller benefit, Poor David's Pub, Dallas, May 27, 2012[11]

Father, family, and death

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Schuller's father, Fred Kane Schuller had been a journalist in Pennsylvania and Ohio with over 13 newspapers,[12] He had been in the editorial staff with the Youngstown Telegram (around 1935), staff editor for several years at the Cleveland News, night sports editor at the Pittsburgh Press (around 1940), editorial staff of the Daily News (McKeesport, Pennsylvania), managing editor of the Lorain Journal, and, near his death, worked for a stint at the Saint Petersburg Times. He was also an AP writer and contributor to Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post. He was a personal friend of John Barrymore, and after his death, corresponded with the family, including Lionel Barrymore.[12]

Schuller's mother, Mary Louise Layden (maiden), died in 2005 in New York City.[2] His older sister, Molly Davis (née Molly Lou Schuller)[13] has lived in New York City since the 1950s.[citation needed]

Tim Schuller died February 29, 2012, in Dallas.[14] He is buried in Salem, Ohio, at Grandview Cemetery.

Notes about cited periodicals and labels

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Books

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  1. MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide (1998)
    Edited by Leland Rucker
    Foreword by Al Kooper
        1st Paper, 1st Printing edition (1997)
        Visible Ink Press
        OCLC 44504664, 244114213
        ISBN 1-5785-9030-2
        ISBN 978-1-5785-9030-8
        ––––––––––––––––––––
        Revised & updated (January 1, 2002)
        Leland Rucker (ed.)
        Al Kooper (forward)
        Tim Schuller (update editor)
        Schirmer Trade Books
        Omnibus Press
        OCLC 49244319
        ISBN 0-8256-7267-8
        ISBN 978-0825-6726-75

Periodicals

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  1. The Met, Dallas-Fort Worth area arts and entertainment weekly, founded in 1994 by Randy Stagen (born 1970), an SMU alumnus. Eric James Celeste (born 1967) was founding editor; ISSN 1075-2501
  2. Texas Jazz, Dale McFarland, publisher (founded as the Dallas Jazz News letter [1 page typed], then the Dallas Jazz News [folded tabloid], then Texas Jazz [tabloid], then Texas Ragg [tabloid]; monthly that ran from May 1977 to November 1983); OCLC 21012332, 5352346, 32376967, 9185327
  3. Living Blues, a partner publication of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi; digital version at digital.livingblues.com; ISSN 0024-5232
  4. Blues Access (suspended publication 2002); Leland Rucker (né Leland Garold Rucker; born 1947) was editor for 5 years; digital access at www.bluesaccess.com/ba_home.html; ISSN 1066-4068
  5. Buddy "The original Texas music magazine;" "Music magazine of Dallas." Named after Buddy Holley, Buddy was founded in 1976 in Houston by Stoney Burns (pseudonym of Brent Lasalle Stein; 1942–2011). ISSN 0192-9097; OCLC 52985380
  6. Southwest Blues, Bluestronomical Publishing Inc. (Dallas), founded in 1997; OCLC 45631095
  7. Starwind (1974–1978), Columbus, Ohio: Starwind Press; OCLC 60692283
    Editors: Warren DiLeo (né Warren Anthony DiLeo; 1941–1992) – Autumn 1974–Spring 1976
    Elbert Lindsey, Jr. – Fall 1976–  
  8. Crazy Music: "the journal of the Australian Blues Society;" ISSN 0313-7015

Record labels

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  1. Lucky Seven Records is a U.S. label founded in 1992 by Terry Manning and was initially distributed by Rounder Records, then of Cambridge, Massachusetts; in 2013 the label partnered with Blake Morgan and ECR Music Group
  2. Wolf Records International is a blues label based in Vienna, Austria. The label was an outgrowth of the Hot Club de Vienne (a blues fan club), founded in 1974 by 20 Austrians. Four of its members (two of which remain, Dr. Herbert Pessiak and Hannes Folterbauer) started the label in 1982. The label was formed with two objectives (1) re-release original country and blues recordings of the 1930s and 1940s, as compiled by Johnny Parth (de), focusing on Chicago blues styles and (2) produce new recordings[15]
  3. Fedora Records was founded in the late 1990s in New York City by Joe Fields; it is a blues label that operates with its sister jazz labels, HighNote and Savant
  4. TKO Magnum Music Limited was a British label, based in High Wycombe; It was founded as Synergie Logistics Limited and TKO Magnum Music Limited in 1980 by Charles Nigel Molden, PhD (born 1948); Molden formerly had been a label manager and general manager for WEA and its successor, Warner Bros. Records; his wife, Hilary Julia Molden (née Hilary Julia Lichfield; born 1950), was the corporate, secretary; they've been married since 1971
  5. Blue Moon, along with Magnum Force, Thunderbolt, Sundown and Meteor, were labels of TKO Magnum Music
  6. Continental Blue Heaven (distributed by Harmonia Mundi)
  7. TopCat Records, LLC, was founded around 1993 in Dallas by Richard Franklin Chalk (born 1961)
  8. Mayhem Records is a defunct label that was founded around 2006 in Dallas by Izanama Shunto Sullivan, Sr. (born 1976)

Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Texas Record Town chain called itself Sound Town in Dallas. Record Town was founded in San Antonio, around 1968, had, in 1980, three Dallas locations: Red Bird Mall in Dallas, Town East Mall in Mesquite, and Valley View Mall in Dallas. On December 18, 1980, Amarillo-based Western Distributors, parent of Hastings Books and Hastings Records, acquired the 26 Record Town, Sound Town, and Sundown stores in Texas. The deal also included the acquisition of the parent, Galaxy Distributing (formerly called Galaxy Sales when it was in San Antonio), a Dallas-based rack jobber that distributed to the Record Town chain. Valley View was torn down in 2016 to make way for a new mall, Dallas Midtown. ("Western Merchandisers Acquires Western Chain," Cash Box, January 12, 1980, pps. 9, 24)

References

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  1. ^ "Not Fade Away: Buddy writers and photographers recorded the 1973 Kerrville Folk Festival, Willie’s first Fourth of July Picnic, the Texas Jam, the rebirth of Deep Ellum and the rise of social media," by Bellicose Bullfeather (pseudonym of Stoney Burnes; né Brent LaSalle Stein; born 1942), Buddy, July 2018, p. 12 ISSN 0192-9097; OCLC 52985380 (all editions).
  2. ^ a b Salem News (The) (April 3, 2005). "Vital Statistics – Mary Louise Schuller". Salem, Ohio: Michael C. Bird (publisher). p. 2A. Retrieved March 7, 2022 – via Salem Public Library. LCCN sn83035512; OCLC 9994387 (all editions).
  3. ^ "Thomas Schuller". Quaker (the yearbook of Salem Senior High School). Vol. 44. 1967. pp. 32 (senior photo), 97, 121. OCLC 1333026669 (accessible via Ancestry.com).
  4. ^ Salem Quaker; Schuller, Tim (June 2, 1967). "How Safe Is Safe? – Bus's Flat Tire Awakens Concern" (PDF). Vol. 52, no. 13. Salem, Ohio: Salem High School (publisher). p. 2. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
    (note: Schuller's title as "feature editor" is displayed in the masthead, below the article on page 2)
  5. ^ Dallas Public Library, Fine Arts Division (May 30, 2009). "Presenters: Tim Schuller" (PDF). Texas Music Mini‐Conference. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  6. ^ Tribune Chronicle (July 2, 2017). "Obituaries: Thomas Dutko". Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  7. ^ Living Blues; O'Brien, Justin (October 2017). "Tom 'Mot' Dutko" (obituary). 48 (5): 77. Retrieved June 13, 2019 (whole no. issue 251). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  8. ^ Blog of Ken Shimamoto, The Stash Dauber, March 10, 2012
  9. ^ Billboard; Kirby, Kip (in Nashville) (July 12, 1980). "Texas Heat, Winds Give Disk & Tape Sales a Push". Free access icon. 92 (28): 12. Retrieved June 13, 2019 – via Google Books. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ Fort Worth Star-Telegram; McNear, Clay (né Clay Medford McNear; born 1961) (April 3, 1961). "Blues to the Rescue" (in Star Time, weekend entertainment guide of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Tim Schuller Benefit". Live at Poor Davids Pub, Dallas. May 27, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2019 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ a b St. Petersburg Times (May 5, 1956). "Fred Kane Schuller, 45; Veteran Newsman, Writer" (obituary). Vol. 72, no. 284. p. 28. Retrieved March 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. LCCN sn82-15883; ISSN 1563-6291; OCLC 5920090 (all editions).
  13. ^ Salem News (The) (May 7, 1953). "Molly Schuller, 16, Wins Vocal Honors". Vol. 65, no. 109. p. 7. Retrieved August 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. LCCN sn83035512; OCLC 9994387 (all editions).
  14. ^ Dallas Observer; Wilonsky, Robert (February 29, 2012). "Dallas Blues and Jazz Historian Tim Schuller, Once an Observer Contributor, Has Died" (blog of the Dallas Observer). Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  15. ^ Rye, Howard (2006). "Wolf/Best of Blues". In Komara, Edward; Lee, Peter (eds.). Encyclopedia of the Blues. Vol. 2 (of 2). Routledge. p. 1095. Retrieved June 13, 2019 – via Google Books (limited preview). (Alternate access. Free access icon – via Internet Archive.) LCCN 2005-44346; ISBN 0-4159-2699-8 (both vols.; paper), ISBN 0-4159-2700-5 (vol. 1; paper); OCLC 836558377 (all editions).
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