“It only takes one song…”
— Lou Levy
Recently, news broke about Bob Dylan selling his music catalog for $300 million. In a few of the reports, Bob Dylan tells the tale of how Lou Levy (Leeds Music) offered Bob his first song-publishing deal in 1960/1961. I’m pretty sure that I was the last musician for whom Lou ever pitched songs. It was quite an honor. I was introduced to Lou at a meeting set up by my attorney Harold Orenstein. Apparently, Harold played some of my stuff for Lou and he was very impressed by my song Fine, performed by Made In America. Unfortunately, Lou passed away not long after that meeting. But, he did give me many valuable insights – as well as feedback on my song – that I still use today. He told me that if I had this song earlier in my career, “you would have been all set. It only takes one song and I believe this one would have done it for you.”