Chuck Morris: music mogul with 30 years' experience.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Executive Edge

CHUCK MORRIS CALLS HIMSELF "AN OLD HIPPIE WHO IS DESCRIBED AS A BUSINESSMAN."

From the first time he heard The Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary and other folk artists perform during childhood summers at Chautauqua in his native New York, the boy from Brooklyn was hooked on music.

It was an interest that would grow into a career spanning 30 years on Colorado's concert scene, where today Morris is vice president of Clear Channel Entertainment Rocky Mountain Region.

Clear Channel Communications Inc., based in San Antonio, Texas, is the nation's largest owner of radio stations. It also owns entertainment venues and concert-promotions companies.

"My parents, who were teachers, were interested in classical music, but Chautauqua also had a pop series which got me interested in buying records, albums and even Broadway," said Morris, 57. "I used to take the subway to Broadway to see musicals and wanted to act, but my parents did not give me a lot of support on that front."

So at age 16, Morris graduated from high school, earned a college degree in political science, and dropped out of the Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado to manage and book bands for the legendary Sink in Boulder.

"We had a blast, building it into the No. I club ill the area." Morris recalls. "The Sink was the hotbed for music as we started booking national bands and sold out five clays a week."

The lure of entrepreneurship grew as Morris went on to open Tulagi nightclub in Boulder in 1970, launching tours of such notables as the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, the Eagles Linda Ronstadt, ZZ Top and countless others.

By 1974 Denver beckoned, and he opened the renowned Ebetts Field-nightclub -- named for the beloved Brooklyn Dodgers ballpark that was within eight blocks of his childhood home "We brought in early tours from such acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steve Martin Carole King, Richard Pryor and so many others," said Morris. He also caught the eye of music giant Barry Fey, becoming senior vice president of Feyline...