To most Canadians, Sam Sniderman is simply known as Sam
the Record Man, after the chain of stores he established in
the 1960s. To many Canadian musicians, though, he is cherished
as a supportive friend, an entrepreneur who used his promotional
skills to help boost the careers of icons such as Anne Murray,
Gordon Lightfoot and The Guess Who.
Now his own career is in the spotlight - along with the ups
and downs of his personal life - thanks to Record Man: The
Life & Times of Sam Sniderman, a moving and insightful
profile.
Sam Sniderman
The biography reveals that the man with the
"million-dollar smile" had a childhood with little
to smile about. Poor and fatherless, Sniderman quit school
at age 16 to work in the family's radio repair shop in Toronto.
From such humble beginnings, Sniderman eventually built a
legendary record-store empire. But his life and career have
been as tumultuous as the music industry he helped pioneer.
He's endured divorce, the death of a son, even bankruptcy.
"Record Man provides a glimpse behind the ruthless businessman
persona that was only too familiar to Sam's competitors,"
says producer Rick LeGuerrier. "We see how his quick
wit, business prowess and aggressive sales tactics kept him
on top of the industry, but we also see a generous, more sensitive
side that endeared him to his friends and to the Canadian
music industry, which he went out of his way to promote. While
his stores became hugely successful, it soon became evident
that there was much more to Sam Sniderman than selling records."
A young Sam Sniderman
Sam's Yonge St. store in Toronto
Sam Sniderman
Narrated by Jackie Burroughs (Road To Avonlea), Record Man
features interviews with Sam's family - including his brother
and business partner, 95-year-old Sid Sniderman - and Canadian
music-industry executives. Musicians Gordon Lightfoot and
Natalie MacMaster also talk about Sniderman's support of Canadian
talent, while filmmaker David Cronenberg fondly recalls the
prestige he enjoyed while working at Sniderman's downtown
Toronto store as a teen.
