Larry Reymann
Regional Promotion Manager - Columbia Records
Larry Reymann spent three decades as a Regional Promotional Director for Columbia Records, becoming a key figure in the Pacific Northwest radio and retail circuits during the 1980s and 1990s. His work focused on getting singles on the radio, coordinating artist visits, and managing the demands of the major-label system. A 2011 Patch profile notes he was twice named Promotional Manager of the Year and worked with artists including Mick Jagger and Mariah Carey, reflecting the scale of acts he supported.
Within the Northwest radio and record community, Reymann operated in a tight network of label reps and stations across Seattle, Spokane, and Anchorage. A 1990s industry photo lists him as “Larry Reymann, Columbia Records Seattle,” placing him inside the promotional system that shaped regional airplay in the pre-digital era. His role connected national artists to local markets when radio programmers, retail buyers, and label reps controlled what broke through.
Photo by Rachel Crick at May Creek, a salmon stream entering Lake Washington
Transcript
Got into the Tacoma Dome after the usual ticket office mayhem for a sold-out show, and Carlos had already taken the stage. Santana was opening for the Grateful Dead and he was immediately incandescent. The audience was his, all on their feet, dancing in the aisles, wherever they were, reflecting the energy and intensity Santana always brought.
I headed to the dressing room after the dead came on and the crowd settled back into their seats for a thoughtful reverie about where Jerry's next solo might take them. Carlos was exuberant. We shared some herb and I told him how exhausted he had left the audience for the headliner. The conversation drifted to the blues and I told him how I had spent six and a half years in a Catholic seminary where rock and roll was forbidden.
We all had clandestine transistor radios then and I related how hearing John Lee Hooker for the first time on WCFL changed my life and doomed my thoughts of the priesthood. "John Lee?" he said. "Listen to this," and handed me a cassette. It was a duet with John and Carlos called "Blues Healer" and it was exquisite. He had just been in the studio for an album of duets with Mr. Hooker and everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Los Lobos had cut a track.
The music dripped inspiration and reverence for the giant they were playing with and I asked to listen again. "Sure," and I was completely absorbed in the truth of that song. Carlos was watching me and when I looked up and saw him he just said, "One take."
It was time to go and I was blithering about how to get my hands on that album and when it would be released, etc. as I handed the cassette back.
"You can keep it," he said. And I have it.