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August 14, 2018

To whom it may concern:

I write concerning the fate of the building in Gallatin, Tennessee that used to house Randy’s Record
Shop, one of the most important sites in the musical history of the region. Randy Wood’s store,
which specialized in home appliances when it opened in 1944, soon became the home of a booming
record retail and mail-order business, and important middle Tennessee recording studio, and the
first home of Dot Records. The impact of Mr. Wood’s endeavors and of Dot as a label are almost
immeasurable, helping to establish middle Tennessee as an epicenter of the American popular music
industry in the postwar years and launching the careers of numerous country, bluegrass, rock ‘n’ roll,
gospel, blues, ragtime, and pop artists.

To those of us who study popular music history, it is not surprising that Randy Wood sold records
out of his appliance store. This was common practice in the early and mid-twentieth century, when
phonographs and later stereo systems were marketed as home appliances and furniture. What is
outstanding about Mr. Wood’s activity is that he quickly branched out into other emerging areas of
the music industry, applying his unmatched entrepreneurial spirit to radio, recording, publishing, and
releasing, all starting out of his humble storefront in Gallatin.

When Wood founded Dot Records out of the store, his initial aim was to locate and record regional
talent. One of his first big successes was Sumner County native Johnny Maddox, the wildly
successful ragtime piano player who came to be known as “Crazy Otto.” Dot Records was an
astonishingly diverse and amazingly successful endeavor during its time headquartered in Gallatin,
recording and releasing country, rhythm & blues, rockabilly, pop, gospel and other music. Many of
these 1950s Dot recordings are now considered classics, and helped to fix the Nashville region as a
powerhouse of music production. The list of artists associated with Dot’s early years in Gallatin is
truly remarkable in its depth and breadth: Johnny Maddox, Pat Boone, Billy Vaughan, Anita Kerr,
Tommy Jackson, Mac Wiseman, the Fairfield Four, and many more. When we expand this list to
include artists who recorded for Dot in later years—such as Lawrence Welk, Barbara Mandrell, The
Andrews Sisters, Ray Price, Hank Thompson, Jo Stafford, Harry James, Arthur “Guitar Boogie”
Smith, Tab Hunter, Marian McPartland, Freddie Fender, and Lalo Schifrin—the enormity of what
Randy Wood started in his Gallatin store starts to become apparent.

Even after Wood sold Dot Records to Paramount in 1957 and moved its offices to California,
Randy’s Record Shop continued to be a focal point of the local music scene, an institution in the
region, and major force in the sale of records worldwide. By the end of the 1950s, Randy’s Records
Shop was shipping some half a million records per year, and by some estimates had become the
largest mail-order record retailer in the world.
Although the building has not been used for many years and has fallen into a serious state of
disrepair, it is my hope—a hope shared by many who care deeply about the musical heritage of our
region—that the Gallatin City Council will see the value in this historic site and the long-sighted
wisdom in acting to preserve it. Particularly in an era when Nashville’s musical tourism is booming,
musical sites are receiving historical status and protection, and the Tennessee Tourism Commission
is launching its Tennessee Music Pathways initiative to bring attention, music tourists, and dollars to
every county in the state, the need to save Randy’s Record Shop has never been more urgent, or
more compelling.

Sincerely,

Gregory N. Reish, PhD


Director, Center for Popular Music
Professor of Music History
615.898.2449
gregory.reish@mtsu.edu

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