Modern Records

Modern Records
Active years	1945–1969
founder	Saul Bihari, Jules Bihari
Seat	Los Angeles , California
Sub-label	RPM Records Crown Records Riviera Records Custom Records Yuletide Records UnitedSuperior Records Kent Records
Genre (s)	Blues , rhythm and blues jazz , gospel country & western , pop

Modern Records was an independent American record label specializing in blues , jazz and country music , founded by Jules Bihari on April 21, 1945 in Los Angeles.

brothers

Julius Jeremiah Bihari (* September 8, 1913, † November 17, 1984) was the second oldest of four brothers, including Lester Louis (* May 12, 1912, † September 9, 1983), Saul Samuel (* March 8, 1920 , † February 22, 1975) and Josef "Joe" (born May 30, 1925; † November 28, 2013) belonged. All of the brothers were involved in the record business, either in key positions at Modern Records as a family business or they had their own record labels. Jules took over the talent search and production of the music recordings at Modern Records , Saul the record production and Lester the distribution. The sisters Florette, Rosalind and Maxine were also entrusted with administrative tasks. From 1941 Jules operated jukeboxes in Los Angeles . However, when he could not fill them completely with jazz and blues records, he decided to found a record label. Outside the family, other A&R managers Maxwell Davis , Austin McCoy , George Motola , Jake Porter , Lester Sill and Ike Turner could be won.

The label catalog is developing

Hadda Brooks - Just A Little Blusie

The first single on Modern Records was Hadda Brooks with the instrumental recordings Just A Little Blusie ( sic ) / Swingin 'the Boogie (May 1945; Modern 102), which devoured $ 800 studio costs. In addition to Brooks on piano, Jimmie Black (alto saxophone), Basie Day (bass) and Al Wichard (drums) took part. Of the first seven singles in the Modern catalog, 6 came from Brooks, who brought out 25 singles with her trio. With the instrumental titles That's My Desire (May 1947; Rank 4) and What Have I Done? (October 1948; 3rd place) she was able to place herself well in the Rhythm & Blues hit parade . Hadda Brooks was also the first to sue Jules Bihari in September 1949 for unpaid royalties of $ 193,000. The first hit in the Rhythm & Blues chart for Modern, however, was the Three Blazers with So Long (November 1946; 4th place) with sales of at least 50,000 copies. The first number one hit for the label was Pee Wee Crayton's hit Blues After Hours (October 1948). By October 1947, Modern had made 650 recordings, but only 100 of them appeared.

Subsidiary labels and recording studios

The Bihari brothers founded a number of subsidiary labels, in particular Colonial (in January 1949), RPM (October 1950), Meteor Records (November 1952), Flair (January 1953), Crown (December 1953; budget albums) or Kent Records (March 1958 ). Sometimes the same artists brought out their records for two subsidiary labels at the same time, which was not exactly conducive to transparency. Many of these sub-labels were liquidated after a short lifespan. Modern Records did not have their own recording studios like other independent labels despite their rapid growth . Instead, most of the early records were recorded on Radio Recorders in Los Angeles , Houston or Detroit. From July 1950, Modern Records began working with the Memphis Recording Service , the predecessor of Sun Records ; its own press shop went into operation in March 1947. From August 1951, Modern no longer had Sun Records recorded.

Cut-in

Jules Taub, Joe Josea and Sam Ling were some of the pseudonyms of composers behind which the Bihari brothers hid themselves. Since 1949 they practiced the cut-in and were registered as co-composers alongside the real composers, although they had little or no part in the creation of a song. When asked who J. Taub was, the questioned Bihari replied: “You are standing opposite!” Bihari tried to explain the cut-in: “Most of the artists came to the recording studio with their own compositions. The only thing we changed were certain passages of text. She only had some songs in her head and couldn't get them together. In order to register the pieces for copyright protection, we had them checked by an arranger. ”With that, the threshold for the right to be mentioned as a co-composer was not yet reached. With the Modern label alone, the name Taub appeared on 28 music tracks as a composer, while Ling and Josea each appeared 12 times.

BB King

BB King - Every Day I Have the Blues

In June 1950, Jules and Saul came to Memphis, where they heard about Riley B. King on the local radio station WDIA . He had already released 2 singles for Bullet Records , which were recorded by WDIA in May or June 1949. In July 1950 he was in the newly built Sam Phillips recording studio , where the single BB Boogie / Mistreated Woman (RPM 304) was created (released in September 1950). In addition to King, Jules Taub appeared here for the first time as a co-composer, a pseudonym for Jules Bihari. Other singles were Don't You Want a Man Like Me / My Baby's Gone (RPM 318) and Fine Looking Woman (RPM 348), both recorded on January 8, 1951, She's Dynamite (RPM 232; May 27, 1951) and the Blues classic Three O'Clock Blues / That Ain't the Way to do It (RPM 339; recorded in September 1951 at the YMCA Memphis with a portable Ampex tape recorder and published in December 1951), which sold 100,000 copies in a few weeks. King sang in Melisma form on his first hit . This was followed by You Know I Love You (RPM 363; April 1952). In December 1954, Everyday I Have the Blues / Sneakin 'Around (RPM 421), recorded on August 18 and 19, 1954, was released and reached 8th place on the Rhythm & Blues hit parade . After publication, Billboard reported high record sales initially, which grew to over 4 million copies over the years. This made Everyday I Have the Blues one of the best-selling blues songs of all time and made King the most successful artist on Modern Records. At the same time it was the single with the highest sales for Modern Records. Jules Bihari seems to have intervened heavily in the arrangements, especially with King's compositions, even the selection of studio musicians sometimes went back to Bihari. BB King remained loyal to Modern Records until 1962 and then switched to ABC-Paramount.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker - Boogie Chilling

Musicologically important recordings were also made for John Lee Hooker . He first entered United Sound Studios in Detroit on September 3, 1948 to record his legendary Boogie Chillen for Sensation Records . Boogie Chillen ' (Modern 627) took first place in the Rhythm & Blues charts for a week on February 19, 1949 and was the first million dollar hit for Modern Records with one million records sold. The second session with Hooker took place on 18./19. February 1949 ( Weeping Willow Boogie , Hobo Blues and Crawling King Snake ). Hooker's I'm in the Mood was recorded on August 7th, 1951, was in the top position for 4 weeks and also achieved million seller status.

More blues legends

Little Willie Littlefield recorded his first compositions for Modern Records on October 1, 1949 in Los Angeles. This resulted in the single It's Midnight / Midnight Whistle (Modern 686), which rose to number 3 in the charts. The Farewell , recorded on July 1, 1949, was also able to place itself well (Modern 686; rank 5). After a total of 13 singles, he left Modern in August 1952 and switched to Federal Records, a subsidiary of King Records . After a few label changes, Helen Humes recorded for Modern for the first time in August 1950 and was able to reach sixth place with the single Million Dollar Secret (Modern 779). It was a live recording of the "Blues Jubilee".

The blues-oriented catalog also included blues legends such as Etta James, Jimmy Witherspoon and Elmore James. Etta James recorded her first single Wallflower for Modern on November 24, 1954 (Modern 947), topping the R&B charts for 4 weeks. In February 1955 the demand was so great that Modern could not keep up with the plate press. She made her last recordings for Modern in June 1957. Jimmy Witherspoon sang for Modern from November 1948 ( Slow Lope / So Sad ; Modern 624), in April 1949 she made Jump Children / Take Me Back Baby (Modern 665). His only hit for the label was a live recording from May 9, 1949 from Pasadena ( Big Fine Girl / No Rollin 'Blues ; Modern 721); it reached rank 4. There were then 16 singles until March 1953 with Modern, but none of them could reach the charts. Elmore James has been produced by Joe Bihari since January 1952 and recorded his first tracks, I Believe / I Held My Baby Last Night, on November 22, 1952 for the sub-label Meteor in Chicago. The sublabel's first single (Meteor 5000) reached number 9 in the charts. The single Baby, What's Wrong / Sinful Women (Meteor 5003) came from the same session . Long Tall Woman / Wild About You followed for Modern, recorded January 4, 1956 in Chicago. The not very label-loyal Elmore James went to Chess Records at short notice in January 1953 in the hope of more success through their better developed marketing department. Meanwhile, Modern Records let the record contract running until 1957 rest.

In the 1960s , the success of the Modern label waned, which had pioneered the blues and rhythm & blues sector in its founding phase and made careers possible for many blues interpreters. In addition to the extremely inexpensive production of the Modern catalog on the sublabels, the Bihari brothers also arranged recordings of well-known Broadway hits, big band imitations and popular classical music with studio musicians who remained anonymous . It adapted to changing musical tastes and began releasing soul music in December 1964 (from Modern 1001), ended its active phase in 1969 (Modern 1059) when it almost went bankrupt . The Biharis, however, saved their catalog and their issuing practice in the Kent Records sub-label . The Modern label has produced over 250 singles over the years .

sale

Cancer-stricken Jules Bihari sold Modern Records in early 1984 for US $ 375,000 ($ 140,000 of which were copyrights) to the newly formed Kent Record Corporation . Minority shareholder Joe Bihari had no influence and saw the sale as a defiant reaction from his brother. The Modern catalog was also acquired by Kamp Associates after a long legal battle over ownership of the John Lee Hooker master tapes. It was followed by the Duck Soup Music Group (owned by Michael Jackson's former manager Frank DiLeo ) before the catalog resold for about $ 1.8 million in 1990. The buyer was a consortium consisting of Ace Records (Europe), Virgin Records (USA / Canada) and Blues Interactions (Asia). The consortium has since published compilations of the entire catalog. In May 2001, the Modern Records Story from Ace Records was released on CD , which had been selling all Modern recordings under license under the Kent label since 1982 .

Artist

The following artists released on Modern Records in the order of their first singles:

Smokey Hogg Pee Wee Crayton John Lee Hooker Floyd Dixon Sylvester Cotton Joe Lutcher Little Willie Littlefield Jesse Thomas Little Esther Johnny Otis Roy Hawkins Jimmy Witherspoon Jimmy McCracklin Charles Brown Gene Phillips Jack McVea Joe Fritz Lil Greenwood Herb Fisher Hadda Brooks Edna Broughton Helen Humes Maxwell Davis

June Barton Joe Hill Louis Mumbles Horton Ira Amos Richard Lewis and the Barons Dick Cole Phinus Newborn Ramp Davis Johnny Ingram Lil 'Son Jackson Rev CC Chapman Faith Temple Joe Driftin 'Slim Boyd Gilmore Little Junior and the Blue Flames Jimmy Lee Ben Burton Jimmy Giuffre Charley Booker Joe Houston Mary Sue Johnny Moore's Three Blazers Baby Face Turner

Ray Agee Jay Franks Mari Jones Clifford Blivens Oscar McLollie Little Ruth Lucky Enois Quintet Lawrence Stone Eddie Townes Young Jesse Sister Christine Sykes Jerry Thomas Dennis Binder Marvin & Johnny Linda Peters Native boys Arthur Lee Maye and the Crowns Poka-dotts Etta James The Cadets The Cobras Dolly Cooper The Sounds

The cliques Shirley Gunter and the Flairs The Hawks Jimmy Beasley The Rockets Long Tall Marvin The Tonettes The Rocketeers Curley Williams Jesse Belvin Mitchell "Tiny" Webb More artists on albums: Red Callender Stan Getz Kay Starr Erroll Garner Wardell Gray Don, Dick & Jimmy Joe Houston Vido Musso Little Richard Ikettes

Issue series

• Modern 10 inch LP 2000 series (MOD. 2001 - MOD. 2012), 1950/51
• Modern 12 inch LP 1200 series (LMP-1201 - LMP-1215), 1956
• Modern 7000/800 series (MLP-7000 - MLP-7023), 1960
• Modern 1000 series (1001-1003), 1965
• Modern 100/1000 series (MM1000 - MM1003), 1966

Web links

• David Edwards and Mike Callahan on Modern Records in BothSidesNow
• 45 Modern Records discography

Individual evidence

1. ^ New Recording Company Starts in Los Angeles , Billboard Magazine, April 28, 1945, p. 65.
2. ↑ Nick Talevski, Rock Orbituaries - Knocking on Heaven's Door , 2010, p. 34.
3. ↑ ^{a b} John Broven, Record Makers and Breakers , 2009, p 43 ff.
4. ↑ Brooks vs. Modern in $ 193,000 Suit , Billboard Magazine September 3, 1949, p. 3.
5. ↑ Sebastion Danchin, Blues-Boy: The Life and Music of BB King , 1998, p. 32.
6. ^ Steve Franz, The Amazing Secret History of Elmore James , 2003, p. 55.
7. ^ Arnold Shaw, Honkers and Shouters , 1978, p. 203.
8. ↑ Timothy E. Scheurer (Ed.), Born in the USA: The Myths of America in Popular Music from Colonial Times to the Present , 2007, p. 52 f.
9. ↑ Richard Kostelanetz / Jesse Reiswig (ed.), The BB King Reader , 2005, p.8.
10. ^ This Week's Best Buys , Billboard Magazine January 1, 1955, p. 31.
11. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 90
12. ↑ Sebastian Danchin, Blues-Boy: The Life and Music of BB King , 1998, p. 35.
13. ^ ^{A b} Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 53.
14. ↑ John Broven, Record Makers and Breakers , 2009 S. 303rd