Exclusive: Jack Tempchin Signs Dream Deal with Blue Élan Records

When Bradshaw Lambert, founder of GBL Media Management and co-founder of Bong Load Custom Records (Beck), saw an ad in the music trades from a new record label that promised to honor the integrity of the creative process, his curiosity was piqued. “My manager was so intrigued that they put the word ‘integrity’ in the same phrase as ‘new label’ that he had to call them to learn more. They already knew who I was, so they said, ‘Come on in, we want to talk to you,’” Jack Tempchin told AXS.com in an exclusive interview.

Tempchin is a goldmine of enduring artistry. He is responsible (either in part or in whole) for such hits as “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “Already Gone,” “Smuggler’s Blues,” “Slow Dancin’ (Swayin’ to the Music),” and numerous other classics.

“My manager and I went to the meeting with Kirk Pasich (President of Blue Élan Records). It was on the 30th floor of an office building in Century City,” Jack informed. “He laid out this deal and by the end of the meeting we were arguing with him… we were saying, ‘No, you are giving us too much!’”

The agreement provides such remarkably artist-friendly terms as an extraordinary profit participation, a reversion to Tempchin of rights in the recordings, and financial support for tours and merchandising.

“Tour support?! Really? I thought that phrase disappeared from record contracts many, many years ago! So, when I came home from the meeting, I started thinking, ‘Wait a minute Jack, you’ve been in the business a long time don’t get excited because this can’t possibly be real,’” he recalled. “When I showed the deal to my music attorney, he told me it was the best deal he had seen in his 35 year career!”

“But despite the highly favorable, artist-friendly terms, what meant the most to me was the fact that they didn’t even asked to hear my material because they already knew it, they had already heard my records through the years,” Jack enthused.

“Great songs that stand the test of time are extremely rare, and Jack Tempchin has written more than a few,” Niels Schroeter, Blue Élan’s General Manager stated. “We’re thrilled to be working with a true legend whose music has impacted so many millions of people over multiple generations. The best thing about Jack as a songwriter and artist is that he’s nowhere near done.”

“Once I accepted that this was real, I realized, ‘You’re an artist again, you’re not writing songs for other people, you get to make your own statement and record your own record… and these people are gonna pay for it!’ That just inspired me tremendously,” Tempchin expressed.

For his first record, Jack enlisted the help of a young up-and-coming electronic music producer. “We had been working together and getting to know each other and we thought, ‘What if we could take all his musical experience and match it with my 40 years of songwriting? What if we could bridge that gap and make something special together?’ We didn’t even know if it was possible, but when we started doing it, it just blew my mind! This music is very different from anything I’ve ever done.”

“I just finished the record yesterday,” Jack continued. “Now, I have to sequence it and turn it in. I haven’t been so excited in many, many years. In fact, the last real record deal I had was when Clive Davis signed me in 1978. It’s just amazing!”

For more information on Jack Tempchin, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter. For more information on Blue Élan Records, visit their website.