APRIL 6 • 2023 | 57
— at the time or future — musicians and
other clients, but being a part of Frey’s
early music career is among the best of his
recurring stories.
“Glenn was friends with a lot of my
friends, and a lot of these guys were in
bands,
” Rubin recalls. “Glenn and I just
became good friends. He’
d come over and
go in the laundry room with my sister and
make out.
”
Others who crossed paths with Rubin
and Pioneer included Ray Goodman,
guitarist with SRC, the Detroit Wheels and
other bands, and a teenage Sixto Rodriguez,
who would go on to fame as a recording
artist under his surname and was the
subject of the documentary Searching for
Sugar Man.
Rubin recounts a great many tales
and details in the sprawling Big Dreams,
a coffee-table style tome that weighs in
at more than 800 pages and combines
commentary and stream-of-consciousness
narration with diary-like entries. In
addition to the studio, Rubin also writes
about his upbringing and family as well
as other pursuits and passions, such as
the Detroit Tigers and screenplay writing
(his older brother Bruce Joel Rubin is an
Academy Award-winning writer whose
credits include Ghost, Jacob’s Ladder and My
Life).
Rubin also delves into his views of the
relationship between organized crime and
the music industry.
“It seems to be that in the story of my life
so many things are interconnected in so
many different ways,
” Rubin says. “I try to
capture that in the book.
”
The project itself was inspired by a
Grandfather’s Journal that one of his four
grandchildren gave him as a present, and
then the pandemic lockdown offered more
time to put his thoughts on paper.
“This isn’t a book I expect to make any
money on. It’s too expensive and a bit too
long,
” Rubin acknowledges, adding that he
went the self-publishing route so he could
have full control over the content. “It’s really
just a keepsake. If you’re really interested
in what this has to say, it’s a really nice
keepsake.
”
Big Dreams is, in fact, just the first part
of Rubin’s story. The second book is already
written, and Rubin is hoping to develop “a
TV series or a movie centering around the
recording industry in Detroit.
”
He’s also working with the London-based
M & D Records label to re-release Pioneer
titles by the Sensations and the Famous
Brothers, among others.
“It’s been fun going down memory lane
doing this,
” Rubin adds. “It reminds you
that everything’s cyclical. Not everything
lasts. So just be grateful for everything you
get out of life.
”
Glenn
Frey
WIKIPEDIA