Tim Schuller
Birth nameFredric Thomas Schuller
Birth placeSalem, Ohio, U.S.
Death dateFebruary 29, 2012 (aged 62)
Death placeDallas, Texas, U.S.
Alma materKent State University at Salem
OccupationColumnist, historian, music critic

Tim "Mit" Schuller (né Fredric Thomas Schuller; Salem, Ohio – 29 February 2012, Dallas, Texas) was an American, Dallas–Fort Worth-based music critic, who, for 37 years – from 1975 until his death – chronicled living blues and jazz musicians, mostly from Texas (particularly from the Dallas–Fort Worth area and the Southwest).

Career

Some of Schullers writings – notably those about Freddie King, Buster Smith, and Lightnin' Hopkins – have been cited in academic and encyclopedic publications. According to a Buddy magazine staff editor, Schuller provided blues pianist Boston Smith (né Boston Beverly Smith; 1907–1989) (Buster Smith's brother) with an epitaph worthy of his achievements.[1]

He also was an update editor of the 2002 revised edition of MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide (Schirmer Trade Books / Omnibus Press). At the time of his death, he had been writing a book, Scorning All Borders, covering 30 years of writing about Texas jazz and blues artists.

Early years

Schuller was born in Salem, Ohio, to Frederick Kane Schuller (1908–1956) and Mary Louise Layden (maiden; 1912–2005).[2] Tim's father, who had been a newspaper journalist, died when he was seven. As a teenager, Tim attended Salem High School, graduating in 1967.[3] During his senior year, he was the feature editor of the Salem Quaker, his high school newspaper.[4] Tim went on to study at Kent State University at Salem, but did not graduate. In Ohio, Schuller had worked as a musician (playing guitar), a factory worker, and a stringer reporter.[5]

Schuller then moved to Chicago with his childhood friend from Salem, Tom "Mot" Dutko (né Thomas Lawrence Dutko; 1949–2017), a blues drummer.[6] Who went on to record with Little Al Thomas and the Crazy Horse Band, Billy Branch, and Eddie Shaw. In Chicago, Schuller played with Robert Lockwood Jr. and John Brim.[7] Dutko also played drums for Big Walter Horton, Sunnyland Slim, Homesick James, Jimmy Walker, Erwin Helfer, and Eddie Taylor.

Schuller moved to Dallas around 1977 and briefly embarked in the record business. In 1977, he was worked at Peaches Records & Tapes at Cole and Fitzhugh Avenues, Dallas. Ken E. Shimamoto (born 1957), a music journalist in Dallas worked there with him.[8] In 1980, Schuller was assistant manager at Sound Town at the Valley View Mall in Dallas.[9][a]

Over the next 35 years, Schuller contributed to the following newspapers, periodicals, and records:

Periodicals and newspapers

  1. Guitar Player, Living Blues, Blues Access
  2. The Met (Dallas' arts & entertainment weekly)
  3. Southwest Blues
  4. DownBeat
  5. Buddy magazine
  6. Texas Jazz
  7. Juke Blues
  8. Coda
  9. Crazy Music (the journal of the Australian Blues Society)
  10. D Magazine
  11. Dallas Morning News,
  12. Dallas Observer
  13. Texas Observer
  14. Contemporary Keyboard
  15. Texas Highways
  16. Akron Beacon Journal

Discography

  1. Lucky Seven Records
  2. Black Top
  3. Trix
  4. Wolf Records (de) (Vienna, Austria)
  5. Bullseye Blues
  6. Fedora Records
  7. Blind Pig
  8. TKO Magnum Music
  9. Blue Moon
  10. Continental Blue Heaven (distributed by Harmonia Mundi)
  11. Cannonball Records (nl) 29110
  12. AudioQuest Music
  13. TopCat Records
  14. Mayhem Records
  15. JSP

Affiliations

  • In 1987, Schuller – with Chuck Nevitt (né Charles Franklin Nevitt; 1956–2015) (record collector), Brian "Hash Brown" Calway (né Brian Everett Calway; born 1955) (blues musician) – founded the Dallas Blues Society.[10]

Tributes

  • Tim Schuller benefit, Poor David's Pub, Dallas, May 27, 2012[11]

Father, family, and death

Schuller's father, Fred Kane Schuller had been a journalist in Pennsylvania and Ohio with over 13 newspapers,[12] He had been in the editorial staff with the Youngstown Telegram (around 1935), staff editor for several years at the Cleveland News, night sports editor at the Pittsburgh Press (around 1940), editorial staff of the Daily News (McKeesport, Pennsylvania), managing editor of the Lorain Journal, and, near his death, worked for a stint at the Saint Petersburg Times. He was also an AP writer and contributor to Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post. He was a personal friend of John Barrymore, and after his death, corresponded with the family, including Lionel Barrymore.[12]

Schuller's mother, Mary Louise Layden (maiden), died in 2005 in New York City.[2] His older sister, Molly Davis (née Molly Lou Schuller)[13] has lived in New York City since the 1950s.[citation needed]

Tim Schuller died February 29, 2012, in Dallas.[14] He is buried in Salem, Ohio, at Grandview Cemetery.

Notes about cited periodicals and labels

Books

  1. MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide (1998)

    Edited by Leland Rucker
    Foreword by Al Kooper
    1st Paper, 1st Printing edition (1997)
    Visible Ink Press
    OCLC 44504664, OCLC 244114213
    ISBN 1-5785-9030-2
    ISBN 978-1-5785-9030-8

    Revised & updated (January 1, 2002)
    Leland Rucker (ed.)
    Al Kooper (forward)
    Tim Schuller (update editor)
    Schirmer Trade Books
    Omnibus Press
    OCLC 49244319
    ISBN 0-8256-7267-8
    ISBN 978-0825-6726-75

Periodicals

Record labels

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Sound-Town-Dallas-info

References

  1. ^ "Not Fade Away: Buddy writers and photographers recorded the 1973 Kerrville Folk Festival, Willie’s first Fourth of July Picnic, the Texas Jam, the rebirth of Deep Ellum and the rise of social media," by Bellicose Bullfeather (pseudonym of Stoney Burnes; né Brent LaSalle Stein; born 1942), Buddy, July 2018, p. 12 ISSN 0192-9097; OCLC 52985380.
  2. ^ "Vital Statistics – Mary Louise Schuller". The Salem News. Salem, Ohio: Michael C. Bird. April 3, 2005. p. 2A. Retrieved March 7, 2022. – via Salem Public Library. LCCN sn83035512; OCLC 9994387.
  3. ^ "Thomas Schuller". Quaker (the yearbook of Salem Senior High School)'. Vol. 44. 1967. pp. 32, 97, 121. OCLC 1333026669 (accessible via Ancestry.com).
  4. ^ Schuller, Tim (June 2, 1967). "How Safe Is Safe? – Bus’s Flat Tire Awakens Concern". Salem Quaker. Vol. 52, no. 13. Salem, Ohio: Salem High School. p. 2. Retrieved June 13, 2019. (note: Schuller's title as "feature editor" is displayed in the masthead, below the article on page 2)
  5. ^ Presenters: Tim Schuller. Texas Music Mini‐Conference. Dallas Public Library. May 30, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "Obituaries: Thomas Dutko". Tribune Chronicle. July 2, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  7. ^ O'Brien, Justin (October 2017). "Tom 'Mot' Dutko". Living Blues. Vol. 48, no. 5. p. 77. Retrieved June 13, 2019. (whole no. issue 251)
  8. ^ Blog of Ken Shimamoto, The Stash Dauber, March 10, 2012
  9. ^ Kirby, Kip (July 12, 1980). "Texas Heat, Winds Give Disk & Tape Sales a Push". Billboard. Vol. 92, no. 28. p. 12. Retrieved June 13, 2019. – via Google Books
  10. ^ McNear, Clay (April 3, 1961). "Blues to the Rescue". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 25. – via Newspapers.com
  11. ^ Pat Boyack/Tim Schuller Benefit. teebeeferris. May 27, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2019. – via YouTube
  12. ^ "Fred Kane Schuller, 45; Veteran Newsman, Writer" (obituary). St. Petersburg Times. Vol. 72, no. 284. May 5, 1956. p. 28. Retrieved March 7, 2022. – via Newspapers.com LCCN sn82015883; ISSN 1563-6291; OCLC 5920090.
  13. ^ "Molly Schuller, 16, Wins Vocal Honors". The Salem News. Vol. 65, no. 109. May 7, 1953. p. 7. Retrieved August 15, 2022. – via Newspapers.com LCCN sn83035512; OCLC 9994387.
  14. ^ Wilonsky, Robert (February 29, 2012). "Dallas Blues and Jazz Historian Tim Schuller, Once an Observer Contributor, Has Died" (Blog). Dallas Observer. Retrieved June 13, 2019.