Bill Sheppard (music producer)

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Bill "Bunky" Sheppard (born March 20, 1922 in New Orleans ; actually William Edward Sheppard , † July 2, 1997 in Los Angeles ) was an American music producer , who was mainly due to its activities in the late 1950s and in the 1960s became known as the producer and manager of doo-wop and soul groups in Chicago .

Live and act

Gene Chandler - Duke Of Earl.jpg

Sheppard began his career in the music industry in the late 1950s, managing a vocal group called The Bel Aires , whose song Rollin 'and Strollin' he produced. He had more success with the formation of a vocal group called Sheppards , in which he himself did not appear. Their first single was Island of Love . Carl Davis, a former Columbia Manager, he oversaw the formation The Dukays , mainly by their song Duke of Earl of her singer Gene Dixon aka Gene Chandler became known that in the studio of Universal Recording Corporation of Bill Putnam was created and a It became number one hit in the United States. Sheppard also founded the Apex label in 1959 , then the production company Pam Productions and the smaller labels Nat, Pam and Wes Records, on which vocal groups like The Starlets ( Better Tell Him No ) appeared.

In 1963 he founded Constellation Records with Ewart Abner and Art Sheridan , on which recordings by Gene Chandler, Dee Clark , Holy Maxwell and Nolan Chance appeared. In 1966 he founded Bunky Records , a sub-label of Scepter Records , on which singles from the R&B band The Esquires and Mill Edwards were released. With his productions of this time he helped shape Chicago soul . He became A&R of Scepter Records for the then astonishing sum (according to the Billboard) of $ 100,000 a year after he had hit a big hit in 1967 with Esquires number Get On Up , which Scepter wanted to repeat. Sheppard also works with Jerry Butler , Brenda Lee Eager, and Uvee Hayes ; he also had business relationships with the Chi Sound label and as National Promotion Director for Vee Jay Records . In his later years, Sheppard was head of the Black Music Division for 20th Century Fox .

literature

  • Robert Pruter: Sheppard, Bill “Bunky”. In: Edward M. Komara (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Blues. Volume 2, Routledge, New York 2006, ISBN 0-415-92701-3 , p. 877 ( digitized version )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Robert Pruter: Chicago Soul , pp. 48–50.
  2. ↑ Members were Millard Edwards, Murrie Eskridge, Jimmy Allen and James Dennis Isaac.
  3. ↑ Komara, Edward (ed.) (2006), Encyclopedia of the Blues, Routledge
  4. ^ Billboard, June 12, 1993, p. R 16
  5. ^ Bernie Hayes: The Death of Black Radio: The Story of America's Black Radio Personalities , p. 131
  6. ↑ Mike Callahan: The Vee-Jay International Story
  7. ↑ EUrweb
  8. ^ Billboard July 22, 1978
personal data
SURNAME Sheppard, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sheppard, William Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American music producer
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH New Orleans , Louisiana , USA
DATE OF DEATH July 2, 1997
Place of death Los Angeles , California , USA