Mike Curb Congregation

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Biography

Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944, in Savannah, Georgia ) is an United States|American musician , record company executive, NASCAR and Indy Racing League|IRL race car owner. A Republican Party (United States)|Republican , he served as the List of Lieutenant Governors of California|42nd Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 under Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Governor Jerry Brown|Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr. He was acting governor of California while Brown spent time outside of California pursuing presidential ambitions. He is also the founder of Curb Records as well as an inductee of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame .

Curb is of Mexican people|Mexican heritage.

Early music career

As a freshman at San Fernando Valley State College, (now California State University at Northridge ), while working in the practice rooms of the Department of Music, Curb wrote the song "You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda (Go Little Honda)" which the company selected for its ad campaign. Dropping out of college in 1963 at the age of 19, Curb formed first record company, Sidewalk Records (a predecessor of Curb Records) launched the careers of West Coast of the United States|West Coast rock and roll artists such as the Stone Poneys (featuring Linda Ronstadt ), The Arrows (featuring Davie Allan ) and the Electric Flag (featuring Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles ).

Curb scored the music for the short film, Skaterdater (1965); he later film score|scored Peter Fonda 's Wild Angels (1966) and The Born Losers (1967) - the first of the Billy Jack films - among others. In 1969, he merger|merged his company with MGM and became President of MGM Records and Verve Records . Curb composed or supervised over 50 motion picture soundtracks and wrote over 400 songs.

Curb organized his own musical group, The Mike Curb Congregation in the 1960s; they had a Top 40 pop hit in early 1971 with the title cut from their album Burning Bridges (written and composed by Lalo Schifrin and Mike Curb) which was used as the theme of Clint Eastwood's film '' Kelly's Heroes . They also sang the theme from The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart'' and had a hit recording of " It's a Small World ." The group was featured on Sammy Davis, Jr. 's number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit of 1972, " The Candy Man " (the Aubrey Woods version was featured in the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ) and in 1978, the Mike Curb Congregation was featured in the musical The Magic of Lassie , starring James Stewart (actor)|James Stewart . They recorded "Together, a New Beginning" in 1980, the theme song for Ronald Reagan 's successful presidential bid that year. The Mike Curb Congregation were weekly regulars on Glen Campbell's CBS' National Network Television Show.

In 1969, Curb signed Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman to Capitol Records ."Larry (David) Norman", Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism , ed. Randall Herbert Balmer (Westminster John Knox Press, 2002):411.

In the 1970s, Curb wrote for and produced Roy Orbison , the Osmond Family , Lou Rawls , Sammy Davis, Jr. and Solomon Burke ; he also signed artists such as the Sylvers , Eric Burdon , War (band)|War , Richie Havens , the Five Man Electrical Band , Gloria Gaynor , Johnny Bristol , Exile (band)|Exile and The Four Seasons (band)|The Four Seasons . He ran a short-lived country music subsidiary label for Motown called Hitsville Records. Curb composed "It Was a Good Time" for Liza Minnelli's Emmy Award Winning "Liza with a Z". He also received BMI awards for composing "Burning Bridges" for Clint Eastwood's "Kelly's Heroes" and for composing " All for the Love of Sunshine " which was Hank Williams, Jr's. first #1 Record.

MGM anti-drug controversy

In 1970, Billboard reported that "MGM Records president Mike Curb has dropped 18 acts who, in his opinion, promote and exploit hard drugs through music." Among the acts reportedly cut were the Velvet Underground and the Mothers of Invention|Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention , though by 1969, Zappa had fulfilled his MGM/Verve contract and moved to his own Bizarre Records label, distributed by Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros. Billboard reported that Curb was alarmed by the drug-related deaths of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix , and Al Wilson of Canned Heat .

Curb claimed he had industry support, but the only record company official he cited, Bill Gallagher, the president of Paramount Records (1969)|Paramount Records , contradicted him. Columbia Records president Clive Davis said Curb was "grandstanding," and that his anti-drug stance had made him "a minor hero of the Nixon administration." In 1997, Curb said the affair had happened at a time when "you were considered a freak if you spoke out against drugs."

Political career

Encouraged to enter politics in part by Ronald Reagan , Curb was elected lieutenant governor of California in 1978, defeating the incumbent Democrat, Mervyn M. Dymally . Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic candidate Jerry Brown was re-elected governor in the same year. During much of Brown's 1979-1980 bid to become the Democratic presidential candidate, Curb served as acting governor , vetoing legislation, issuing Executive order (United States)|executive orders and making appointments; actions the California's Supreme Court upheld as Curb's constitutional prerogative. In re the Petition of the Commission on the Governorship of California (Brown v. Curb) , 26 Cal. 3d 110. Curb worked with Harvey Milk on the campaign against the Briggs Initiative and persuaded Reagan to oppose it, leading to its defeat. Curb has been a leading conservative advocate of gay rights ever since.

Curb lost the 1982 Republican gubernatorial nomination to California attorney general George Deukmejian . In 1986, Curb ran again for lieutenant governor as the Republican nominee against the incumbent Democrat Leo T. McCarthy in a bitterly contested race that largely centered around punishment for drug trafficking and violent crimes. A vocal opponent of drug use, Curb advocated extension of the death penalty to include drug pushers whose narcotics trafficking resulted in a death.Shuitt, Douglas, California Elections: Curb, McCarthy - Vying to Become the Toughest Cop? , The Los Angeles Times, 10 October 1986 In his speeches and campaign ads, McCarthy sought to denigrate Curb's image with Republican voters as an anti-drug proponent by alleging that Curb made a fortune in making films that glorified drugs, sex, and violence. Curb was so incensed at McCarthy's allegations that he filed a $7-million libel and slander suit against McCarthy, stating that McCarthy "went too far because he lied about a business. There will be many, many years of severe damage to my company and my reputation." In particular, Curb stated that McCarthy's charge that Curb had made a "fortune" on exploitation movies was "false on its face" and had damaged Curb's "campaign for public office, his business and...his standing in the community." Curb Files $7-Million Suit Against McCarthy, Los Angeles Times, 28 October 1986 McCarthy won the election, and no Republican has been elected lieutenant governor of California since Curb left office.

Later career in music

Returning to the music industry, Curb established Curb Records . He moved to Nashville, Tennessee , in 1994, where his company records artists such as Wynonna Judd , LeAnn Rimes , Hank Williams, Jr. , Hank III , Tim McGraw , Kimberley Locke , Sawyer Brown , Rodney Atkins , Steve Holy , Heidi Newfield and others. Curb is an equity partner in the gospel music company Word Records|Word Label Group , in cooperation with Warner Music Group .

Involvement in car racing

A motorsport enthusiast, Curb is a co-owner of the CURB/Agajanian/3G Racing , a team that has since suspended operations in NASCAR 's Nationwide Series . Curb's sponsorship and ownership have included three of NASCAR's most celebrated drivers: he previously owned Richard Petty 's famed #43 in 1984 and 1985, including the 199th and 200th career wins for Petty. Curb was also a sponsor for Dale Earnhardt during his 1980 Winston Cup championship winning season, and sponsored Darrell Waltrip 's #12 Toyota Tundra in the Craftsman Truck Series , driven by Joey Miller in 2006. Curb-Agajanian also ran cars for many years in the Indianapolis 500 with drivers including Billy Boat and Jaques Lazier .

In November 2007, Curb purchased the remaining interest in Brewco Motorsports from Clarence Brewer of Central City, Kentucky , making him co-owner with Gary Baker. Forming Baker-Curb Motorsports competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series from 2008 until 2010 in the #27 and #37 cars until lack of sponsorship forced the team to suspend operations half way through the 2010 season as well as for the whole 2011 racing season. Curb also co-owned a car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for a couple races in 2011 Curb is the co-owner of the car along with Richard Childress of the #98 car driven by driver Austin Dillon , With the possibility of returning to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2012 for a limited schedule. Operations have been moved to Nashville, TN.

Public honors

In Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville , Curb has become a civic leader and benefactor of Belmont University , where his donation toward the construction of a new arena resulted in it being named the Curb Event Center . The University also runs "The Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business." He also endowed the Curb Center and the Curb Creative Campus program at Vanderbilt University and the Mike Curb Institute of Music at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis .

In 2001, Curb was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.

In 2003, Curb was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame.

In August 2006, Curb pledged $10 million to California State University, Northridge (in Los Angeles ) to endow his alma mater's arts college and provide a lead gift for the university's planned regional performing arts center that will serve as a "learning laboratory" for students. Of the $10 million gift, $5 million will support CSUN's College of Arts, Media, and Communication, one of the university's largest colleges that offers degree and certificate programs for more than 4,400 students. Four million of that will go into a general endowment for the college, and $1 million will endow a faculty chair specializing in music industry studies. As a result, the college was named in his honor.

On June 29, 2007, Curb was honored with the 2,341st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

On October 21, 2010, CSU Channel Islands dedicated the in Napa Hall on the Camarillo, CA university campus. The studio provides a new film and video production and post-production facility to the campus.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	US
1970	Come Together	105
1970	Sweet Gingerbread Man	185
1971	Burning Bridges and Other Motion Picture Themes	117
1971	Put Your Hand in the Hand	205
1972	Softly Whispering I Love You	206

Collaboration albums

Year	Album	Top Country Albums>US Country
1971	All for the Love of Sunshine (with Hank Williams, Jr. )	10

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
Year	Single	US AC	US	CAN
1970	"Sweet Gingerbread Man"	16	115	95
1971	"Burning Bridges"	16	34	40
1972	" See You In September "	15	108	—
1973	"It's a Small Small World"	9	108	—

Guest singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions						Album
Year	Single	US Country	US cite book	US AC	CAN Country	CAN	CAN AC	Album
1970	" All for the Love of Sunshine " (with Hank Williams, Jr. )	1	—	—	1	—	—	All for the Love of Sunshine
1970	"Rainin' in My Heart" (with Hank Williams, Jr.)	3	108	—	2	—	—	All for the Love of Sunshine
1971	"Ain't That a Shame" (with Hank Williams, Jr.)	7	—	—	16	—	—	''Hank Williams, Jr.'s Greatest Hits Vol. II
1972	" The Candy Man " (with Sammy Davis, Jr. )	—	1	1	—	2	3	Sammy Davis Jr. Now
	(with Jimmy Osmond>Little Jimmy Osmond )	—	38	—	—	—	—	Killer Joe
	(with Billy Walker (musician)>Billy Walker )	24	—	—	—	—	—	The Billy Walker Show
	"The People Tree" (with Sammy Davis, Jr.)	—	92	16	—	—	—	Portrait of Sammy Davis, Jr.
	"Living Together, Growing Together" (with Tony Bennett )	—	111	—	—	—	—	single only

Copyright Citations

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