Herb Abramson

Herb and Miriam Abramson, ca.1947. Photograph by William P. Gottlieb .

Herbert C. Abramson (born November 16, 1916 in Brooklyn , New York City , † November 9, 1999 in Henderson , Nevada ) was an American music producer in the rhythm and blues of the 1940s and 1950s and one of the founders of the independent label Atlantic Records .

First jobs in the music industry

Joe Turner - Watch that jive

Abramson went to school in New York and then began studying dentistry. In addition to his studies, he worked from 1945 as a freelance producer for the recently founded record company National Records . He initially produced SK Blues , Johnson and Turner Blues, and Watch That Jive for Big Joe Turner (recorded in the February 2, 1945 session) and A Cottage For Sale (May 2, 1945, released June 1945; National # 9014 ) and Prisoner Of Love (September 1945 / January 1946; National # 9017) for Billy Eckstine . One of the earliest singles on National Records was Gatemouth Moore's Bum Dee Dah Rah Dee , recorded on November 15, 1945 (# 4004).

Ravens - Ol 'Man River

While Abramson was still working for National Records, he founded his own label in May 1946. Jubilee Records specialized in gospel music, Quality offshoots in jazz . Apart from the Orioles , there were hardly any other artists in the label catalog in the initial phase. Abramson only produced two gospel records for Sister Ernestine Washington on January 2, 1946 , namely Does Jesus Care? / The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow (Jubilee # 2501) and Where Could I Go But to the Lord / God's Amazing Grace (Jubilee # 2502) with the Bunk Johnson's Jazz Band, which were not released at the time. Salesman Jerry Blaine also became a partner shortly after the company was founded. On January 4, 1947 Abramson had his greatest success as a producer for National Records when the absurd record Open The Door Richard (National # 4012) , which he produced with black comedian Dusty Fletcher, reached number 3 on the Billboard charts and over one Million copies, the later Drifters manager George Treadwell played the trumpet in the session. In July 1947, timely intervention by Abramson prevented the National-contracted Ravens from jail; they had thrown some copies of the June 1947 single Ol 'Man River (recorded April 24, 1947) from the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River , which Abramson played down to the police as a publicity stunt. Abramson is considered to be the co-producer of this million seller. In September 1947 Abramson sold - due to irreconcilable differences in production policy - his stake in Jubilee Records to co-partner Blaine and thus had the start-up capital for a new company. It wasn't until Blain that Jubilee Records made its breakthrough.

Atlantic Records

Together with Ahmet Ertegün (with a loan of $ 10,000), Abramson ($ 2,500) founded Atlantic Records ($ 2,500) in September 1947, where he became managing director, while his wife Miriam was in charge of administration and bookkeeping, thus playing a key role. Ertegün had no knowledge of how the music industry worked. Abramson was the only one at Atlantic in the early stages who had previous experience as a producer and label owner. The first recording sessions at Atlantic took place under the supervision of Herb. Abramson traveled extensively with Ertegün to attract talent for her label. In 1947 he found the sound engineer Tom Dowd in a New York recording studio and suggested that Ertegün hire him at Atlantic Records. The following year he and Ertegun discovered the young R&B singer Ruth Brown in Washington DC , who received a recording contract in January 1949. During a trip to the South in 1949, Abramson discovered Professor Longhair , whose first six recordings were for Atlantic Records Hey Now Baby (as Roland "Bald Head" Byrd And His New Orleans Rhythm), She Walks Right In (as Roy "Baldhead" Byrd ; Atlantic # 897, published February 1950, B-side by Mardi Gras in New Orleans ), Hey Little Girl / Willie Mae (Roland Byrd; Atlantic # 947, published October 1951), Walk Your Blues Away / Professor Longhair Blues ( with The Blues Scholars; # 906, May 1950) Abramson produced in New Orleans in December 1949. Herb took over Big Joe Turner, who had landed on Okeh Records after a dozen labels in April 1951 , to Atlantic, in the same month 1951 Herb and Ertegün gave the Clovers a recording contract, Turner recorded The Chill Is On / Bump on April 19, 1951 Miss Suzie recorded his first Atlantic single (Atlantic # 949, November 1951). Abramson produced the September 11, 1952 recording session with Ray Charles that resulted in The Sun's Gonna Shine Again , Roll With Me Baby , The Midnight Hour, and Jumpin 'In The Morning . He also produced the million-seller Chains of Love (April 19, 1951) and Still in Love (With You) (September 23, 1952) for Joe Turner.

In February 1953 Abramson was drafted as a dentist to the military in Germany, Jerry Wexler followed in June 1953 as a replacement and took over a 13% stake in Atlantic Records. When Abramson returned from military service in April 1955, he found a completely different record company. He himself brought a German friend named Brunhilde with him, which led to the divorce from Miriam in 1957. Abramson only produced the Mabel-Mercer LP Sings Cole Porter (Atlantic # 1213, recorded November 7, 1954, published 1955) and four titles for the Al-Hibbler LP After the Lights Go Down Low (# 1251 , 1956). As before he was called up, he only produced a few titles afterwards, while Wexler did most of the creative work alongside Ertegün.

Label boss at Atco Records

In August 1955 he became head of the newly founded subsidiary label Atco Records . The label was successful with the Coasters , which were completely musically supplied by Leiber / Stoller , but Abramson was unable to bring out Bobby Darin's talents. The first three singles for Atco I Found a Million Dollar Baby / Talk To Me Something (May 1957, Atco # 6092), Don't Call My Name / Pretty Baby (recorded August 21, 1957, # 6103) and Just in Case You Changed Your Mind (May 1957) / So Mean (August 21, 1957, # 6109) failed to hit the charts. When Abramson planned to fire Darin after his record contract expired on May 1, 1958, he turned to Ertegün and Wexler. The next title, Splish Splash , was not well received by Abramson or Wexler, but Ertegün had outvoted both colleagues. After publication on May 19, 1958, Splish Splash became a million seller and helped the artist to break through. Abramson then produced the LP Bobby Darin (released September 1958), which included the first unsuccessful singles. In December 1958 Abramson left Atco voluntarily and left his stake in Atlantic Records for $ 300,000 to his ex-wife Miriam Bienstock (now married to the music publisher Freddy Bienstock) and Nesuhi Ertegün .

Short-lived own record labels

Bobby Comstock - Tennessee Waltz

He invested this money in December 1958 for his own short-lived record label Triumph Records , together with the subsidiary label Blaze . It was here that the first, musically important Gene Pitney single was created on October 27, 1959 under the pseudonym Billy Bryan and the title Cradle of My Love / Going Back To My Love , released in November 1959 (Blaze # 351). The undervalued blues singer Varetta Dillard with Good Gravy Baby (# 608) appeared on Triumph in June 1959 . This also took over the (Twee-twee-twee) The Lovin 'Bird, written by Abramson in 1959, for the record label Blaze. Bobby Comstock brought out a late rockabilly version of the Tennessee Waltz on Triumph in September 1959 , which made it to number 52 on the pop charts. Abramson founded the Festival label in 1960, which Comstock launched Just A Piece of Paper in September 1961 . Jimmy Ricks & The Ravens, at its core the National Records group, released their version of the Otis Blackwell composition Daddy Rollin 'Stone, composed on November 10, 1961, here in December 1961 . The labels didn't have any big hits and were ultimately liquidated at the end of 1967. Abramson's investments hadn't paid off.

Tommy Tucker high-heel sneakers

In May 1962 he bought the A-1 recording studio , the original Atlantic recording studio on New York's 56th Street, for $ 10,000 and recorded Titus Turner, Tommy Tucker , Otis Blackwell and Louisiana Red here . He probably produced Tommy Tucker's own composition and later mods anthem Hi Heel Sneakers with the striking guitar work by Welton "Dean" Young, which reached 11th place on the pop charts on January 13, 1964 after being published by the Chess Records subsidiary label Checker Records and with around 200 versions it is one of the most covered songs.

Tucker introduced the producer to the blues performer Louisiana Red, whom he immortalized with 78 tracks in eight recording sessions produced by Abramson between 1965 and 1973. A selection of these appeared compiled on the LP Louisiana Red Sings The Blues, released in 1972, with Napoleon “Snags” Allen, Sidney Barnes, Dave “Baby” Cortez, Bill Dicey, Leonard Gaskin and Tommy Tucker. Abramson, who was denied great success both as a producer and as owner of record labels, lived in poverty in Culver City, California, from 1965.

Statistics and awards

In contrast to Ertegün and Wexler, Abramson had hardly emerged as a composer. BMI lists a total of 19 titles, of which Don Cornell's country song I'm Yearning (September 1953), Night Flight (with Jimmy Forrest, May 1959) were the best known. Together with Don Covay , he wrote the follow-up single Long Tall Shorty for Tommy Tucker in 1964 . In February 1998, Abramson received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation.

Web links

• John Broven, Record Makers And Breakers, Voices of the Independent Rock'n Roll Pioneers , 2009, p. 498.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 47.
2. ↑ Marv Goldberg's R&B Articles on the Ravens
3. ^ Phil Hardy and Dave Laing: The Faber Companian to 20th-Century Popular Music. 1998, p. 778
4. ^ Charlie Gillett: Making Tracks: The Story of Atlantic Records. 1988, p. 21ff.
5. ↑ John Broven: Record Makers And Breakers, Voices of the Independent Rock 'n Roll Pioneers. 2009, p. 62.
6. ^ David Simons: Studio Stories: How the Great New York Records Were Made. 2004, p. 49f.
7. ↑ Michael Lydon: Ray Charles: Man and Music. 2004, p. 87.
8. ↑ Al DiOrio: Bobby Darin. 2004, p. 54.
9. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 115.
10. ↑ Billboard Magazine, November 23, 1959, p. 49.
11. ↑ Michael Rauhut: I've had the blues a little longer: traces of music in Germany. 2008, p. 168.
12. ↑ Abramson ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , BMI entry