127. BOSTON RATED BY ROB KASSEES, HOST OF THE 1001 ALBUM COMPLAINTS PODCAST (Discograffiti, the music obsessives’ podcast)

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives. In this episode (Part 4 of a 4-part series edited down from a 5 1/2 hour interview), Lenny Waronker takes a deep-dive stroll along with host Dave Gebroe through his entire career, with priceless commentary and stories peeled off along the way. Legendary producer and Warner Brothers studio head Lenny Waronker is a record producer and music industry executive. As the president of Warner Brothers Records, and later, as the co-founder and co-chair of DreamWorks Records, Waronker was noted for his commitment to artists and his belief that "music, not money, was still number one." In 2025, Waronker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Ahmet Ertegun Award category for non-performing industry professionals.  Part 4 focuses on the first album Lenny ever produced, Side 2 of Van Dyke Parks’ legendary debut LP Song Cycle. Lenny once said: “To be associated with Song Cycle, even now, is more important to me than 99% of the hit records I’ve been involved with.” Parts 2 & 4 are an absolute dream come true for fans of this record. Here are just a few of the many things that Lenny discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast: The track on the LP that Van Dyke referred to as “like stepping from one kind of music into something else”; How Randy Newman feels about Nilsson Sings Newman, according to Lenny; A wildly divergent digression during which I discover the very direct link between The Beau Brummels and Rickie Lee Jones; An overview of Song Cycle’s ad campaign, one of the most memorable and least conventional music industry experiments of all time; An in-depth deep dive on every song off Side Two of Song Cycle; The early days of getting Ry Cooder & Randy Newman’s careers off the ground at Warner Brothers; Whether or not Van Dyke invented MTV a decade before its time; And an in-the-moment eulogy for Brian Wilson, who had died only days before the taping of this episode. The Free Teaser: linktr.ee/discograffiti For the full, ad-free, 84-minute podcast, either subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon at the Private Tier or higher, or just grab the episode as a one-off at the same link. The Full Podcast: Patreon.com/Discograffiti Dave's Show Notes are available at a separate link for Majors & up.

9 Feb 10min

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives. In this episode (Part 3 of a 4-part series edited down from a 5 1/2 hour interview), Lenny Waronker takes a deep-dive stroll along with host Dave Gebroe through his entire career, with priceless commentary and stories peeled off along the way. Legendary producer and Warner Brothers studio head Lenny Waronker is a record producer and music industry executive. As the president of Warner Brothers Records, and later, as the co-founder and co-chair of DreamWorks Records, Waronker was noted for his commitment to artists and his belief that "music, not money, was still number one." In 2025, Waronker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Ahmet Ertegun Award category for non-performing industry professionals.  Part 3 focuses on Lenny’s time breathing rarefied air as a studio head, while he ran Warner Brothers Records and DreamWorks. Here are just a few of the many things that Lenny discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast: The A&R dream team Lenny assembled to sign talent for Warner Brothers in the early 1970s; Grievances about his time at DreamWorks; Thoughts on becoming close to the artists with whom he worked; Tales from the trenches with Elvis Costello and Gordon Lightfoot; Lenny’s love life; The biggest asshole he’s ever worked with; And a lengthy conversational outro that stands alone in the annals of Discograffiti history. The Free Teaser: linktr.ee/discograffiti For the full, ad-free, 62-minute podcast, either subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon at the Private Tier or higher, or just grab the episode as a one-off at the same link. The Full Podcast: Patreon.com/Discograffiti Dave's Show Notes are available at a separate link for Lieutenants & up.

6 Feb 18min

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives. In this episode (Part I of a 4-part series edited down from a 5 1/2 hour interview), Lenny Waronker takes a deep-dive stroll along with host Dave Gebroe through his entire career, with priceless commentary and stories peeled off along the way. Legendary producer and Warner Brothers studio head Lenny Waronker is a record producer and music industry executive. As the president of Warner Brothers Records, and later, as the co-founder and co-chair of DreamWorks Records, Waronker was noted for his commitment to artists and his belief that "music, not money, was still number one." In 2025, Waronker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Ahmet Ertegun Award category for non-performing industry professionals.  Part 2 focuses on the first album Lenny ever produced, Van Dyke Parks’ legendary debut LP Song Cycle. Parts 2 & 3 are an absolute dream come true for fans of this record. Here are just a few of the many things that Lenny discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast: The myriad of influences that made up the cultural stew that was Song Cycle; The mind frame of boundless largesse and expense that went into the making of the record; The real reason why Van Dyke covered Donovan’s “Colours”, and the reason he used an alias when it was released as a single; Lenny’s dalliance with speed, and what it did for him at the time that he otherwise had difficulty doing; Van Dyke’s need to obfuscate his own voice on a record so dependent on being able to understand its lyrical virtuosity; The current state of Lenny & Van Dyke’s friendship; And an in-depth deep dive on every song off Side One of Song Cycle. The Free Teaser: linktr.ee/discograffiti For the full, ad-free, 60-minute podcast, either subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon at the Private Tier or higher, or just grab the episode as a one-off at the same link. The Full Podcast: Patreon.com/Discograffiti Dave's Show Notes are available at a separate link for Majors & up.

2 Feb 10min

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives. In this episode (Part I of a 4-part series edited down from a 5 1/2 hour interview), Lenny Waronker takes a deep-dive stroll along with host Dave Gebroe through his entire career, with priceless commentary and stories peeled off along the way. Legendary producer and Warner Brothers studio head Lenny Waronker is a record producer and music industry executive. As the president of Warner Brothers Records, and later, as the co-founder and co-chair of DreamWorks Records, Waronker was noted for his commitment to artists and his belief that "music, not money, was still number one." In 2025, Waronker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Ahmet Ertegun Award category for non-performing industry professionals.  Part 1 focuses on the early years of Lenny’s career, leading up to the first album he ever produced, Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle. Here are just a few of the many things that Lenny discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast: What it was like growing up with his father Simon, as he set up and funded the launch of Liberty Records; Befriending Randy Newman as a small child, and coming to realize how gifted he was; What it’s like for Lenny and Randy to struggle with issues of self-confidence, and how those issues manifest; Meeting Van Dyke Parks for the first time and beginning to work with him; Hearing Brian Wilson’s Smile tapes through Van Dyke; And the contract offered to Van Dyke: possibly the most artistically and financially advantageous agreement ever made with anybody ever.  The Free Teaser: linktr.ee/discograffiti For the full, ad-free, 88-minute podcast, either subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon at the Private Tier or higher, or just grab the episode as a one-off at the same link. The Full Podcast: Patreon.com/Discograffiti Dave's Show Notes are available at a separate link for Lieutenants & up.

30 Jan 21min

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives. Host Dave Gebroe talks with Spirit biographer Ryan Gabrinetti about the classic psych band’s entire recorded output, with commentary, stories, and star ratings for every release. Part 4 covers the period that kicks off the most interesting era of the band, as far as Discograffiti sees it. Here are just a few of the many things that Ryan discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast: The chaotic events that led to the band’s break up; The formation of Spirit side act Jo Jo Gunne, which eventually seceded from Spirit and enjoyed success of their own; A brief rundown of the Jo Jo Gunne discography; The one-off iteration of Spirit without Randy California in it, which thankfully produced only a single record, whose closest comparison point is The Velvet Underground’s Squeeze; The manically inspired beginning of Randy California’s solo career, and the underrated masterwork that came out of it; And an in-depth deep dive on every song off Spirit’s Feedback and Randy California’s Kapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds. The Free Teaser: linktr.ee/discograffiti For the full, ad-free, 35-minute podcast, either subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon at the Major Tier or higher, or just grab the episode as a one-off at the same link. The Full Podcast: Patreon.com/Discograffiti

27 Jan 9min

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives. In this episode, Mark Linett takes a deep-dive stroll along with host Dave Gebroe through his entire career, with priceless commentary and stories. Legendary producer and audio engineer Mark Linett is best known for his remixing and remastering of The Beach Boys’ catalog. Since 1988, he’s been the engineer of choice for Brian Wilson’s recordings. In 1996, Linett created the first true stereo mix of Pet Sounds. He’s also co-produced nearly all of the band's archival releases, including 1997’s The Pet Sounds Sessions, 1998’s Endless Harmony Soundtrack, 2003’s Hawthorne, CA, and 2011’s The Smile Sessions, as well as the Feel Flows (2021) and Sail On Sailor (2022) box sets.  In addition to earning three Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Engineered Album for his work on 2004’s Brian Wilson Presents Smile. He’s also worked with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Los Lobos, Rickie Lee Jones, and Randy Newman.  Here are just a few of the many things that Mark discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast: Mark’s first few unillustrious gigs on his path to break into the music industry; His early work milking the Jimi Hendrix catalog; Mark’s love of The Beach Boys leading up to his work on Brian’s debut 1988 solo album; Mark’s genius brainstorm of releasing The Beach Boys catalog as those genius celebrate “two-fer” releases; Assembling The Pet Sounds Sessions and The Smile Sessions; And the serendipitous story of how he wound up in this industry in the first place. The Free Teaser: linktr.ee/discograffiti For the full, ad-free, 104-minute podcast, either subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon at the Private Tier or higher, or just grab the episode as a one-off at the same link. The Full Podcast: Patreon.com/Discograffiti

23 Jan 19min

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives. Host Dave Gebroe talks with Spirit biographer Ryan Gabrinetti about the classic psych band’s entire recorded output, with commentary, stories, and star ratings for every release. Part 3 covers Spirit’s most fondly remembered LP, Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus, which also became the commercial high point of the band. An FM underground classic created after the band had parted ways with producer Lou Adler, it has since served as the introductory keyhole for most of the band’s fans. Here are just a few of the many things that Ryan discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast: A discussion about the single that served as the band’s final release of the 1960s; How Neil Young’s producer David Briggs modified Spirit’s sound to showcase the band in a different light; The fights happening in the band at the time, not to mention the massive accident that Randy California incurred during the recording of Sardonicus; Whether Randy’s brain injury contributed to the boundless sense of creativity he experienced for many years to come; And an in-depth deep dive on every song off Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. The Free Teaser: linktr.ee/discograffiti For the full, ad-free, 30-minute podcast, either subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon at the Major Tier or higher, or just grab the episode as a one-off at the same link. The Full Podcast: Patreon.com/Discograffiti

19 Jan 9min

Discograffiti is the deep-dive podcast for music obsessives.  In this episode, Graham Nash comes clean with host Dave Gebroe about his very first solo album, the classic Songs For Beginners, with commentary and stories from that incredibly fraught, chaotic time. Discograffiti’s Wild Tales: The Graham Nash Interview Series tackles every last release the great Graham Nash ever had a hand in creating, including CSN/Y, C&N, and his solo career, detailing a history almost too wild to be believed.  Here are just a few of the many things that Graham discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast: The three albums that Graham was making at the same time during that era; The overly complex relationships which fueled Graham’s songwriting at the time; The track that features The Grateful Dead, David Crosby, & Neil Young as Graham’s backing band; Details on Graham’s friendship with Terry Reid; The very first Crosby & Nash studio session, which wound up devolving into a complete debacle; Graham’s experience working with Judee Sill, as producer of “Jesus Was A Cross Maker”; And an in-depth deep dive on every song off Songs For Beginners. The Free Teaser: linktr.ee/discograffiti For the full, ad-free, 46-minute podcast, either subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon at the Private Tier or higher, or just grab the episode as a one-off at the same link. The Full Podcast: Patreon.com/Discograffiti

16 Jan 17min