Sam Feldman is one of Vancouver's
preeminent record execs, having
managed and represented artists
like James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Sarah
McLachlan and Diana Krall. Last year,
he was given the Order of British
Columbia, and with that
came many folks wishing
him a happy retirement.
But the veteran of more
than 50 years in the busi-
ness is far from finished
with his career.
by Nathan Caddell
You started your
career running the
door at concerts.
When did you know
you were going to
be able to make it
in the business?
It's a funny thing: I'm on a plane coming
back from Europe, age 20, with a friend
of mine. Flat broke. I owed 300 bucks; it
felt like a billion. My buddy says, "We gotta
make some money, go back to Europe." I
looked at him and said, "No, I'm gonna get
into the music business." I was ridiculously
naive. I got a job at a nightclub because I
knew bands would be 10 feet from the door.
After two weeks there, I told my friend who
was in a band, "I know the business, I'll be
your manager." I didn't know what I wasn't
supposed to be able to do.
I started working with an agency, book-
ing some things. I didn't know if I wanted
to be a manager, a promoter, an agent—I
just knew I wanted to be in the business.
I had an affinity for talent. I started man-
aging this band called Uncle Slug. I rented
the Pender Auditorium, which was a 900-
seat venue on Pender Street in Vancouver.
I'm out in Surrey with a staple gun putting
up posters—$6 a ticket. It sold out. At that
moment, I thought, this is for me. Notwith-
standing the fact that some Hells Angels
showed up and one threw a beer into my
doorman's face and we had to catch him at
the bottom of the stairs and do what people
did back then. It was the Wild West.
You say you have an affinity for
talent—do you have a natural ear
for it, too?
I can honestly say that I do have an ear.
I can hear if it's good; I can sense if it's
got a future. I don't get it right all the
time. But if you get it right enough,
you can have a successful career. In
the early days we were booking a
lot of nightclubs, and it was a lot of,
The
CONVERSATION
