Roulette Records
Roulette Records is an American independent label that had great success with interpreters of rock 'n' roll , jazz , rhythm and blues , rockabilly and even classical music from 1957 .
history
founding
The label was launched in December 1956 by George Goldner and his donors Morris Levy , Joe Kolsky and Phil Kahl. Morris Levy immediately assumed the role of president. The staffing of the label with experienced administrators such as Hugo (Peretti) and Luigi (Creatore) as A&R people, Henry Glover , Richard Barrett, Sammy Lowe , Joe Reisman and Teddy Reig as producers was organized more comprehensively than at many other record companies. Rudy Traylor was the unit manager and arranger for many productions . The label's first release was country and rockabilly musician Jimmie Logsdon under the pseudonym "Jimmy Lloyd" with Where the Rio De Rosa Flows / The Beginning of the End (Roulette # 7001, but only appeared in August 1957).
The 1950s
The label's first acquisition turned out to be a stroke of luck: Buddy Knox with the Rhythm Orchids , to be assigned to rockabilly, landed at number one on the pop charts with his Party Doll , published on Roulette # 4002 in February 1957, and with it sold a million records . The recording had previously appeared with the B-side I'm Sticking with You on the small label Triple-D # 797 in Texas without success. However, Roulette decided to publish I'm Sticking with You as Roulette # 4001 under the name Jimmy Bowen as the A-side and thus reached number 14, another million seller. On April 29, 1957, Rock Your Little Baby to Sleep / Don't Make Me Cry was released as the second single by Buddy Knox. Shortly afterwards, Hugo and Luigi discovered the folk-pop singer Jimmie Rodgers , who received a recording deal on April 23, 1957. His first single, published in July 1957 with catalog # 4015 Honeycomb / Their Hearts Were Full of Spring , also landed at number one and became the young label's third million seller. Rodgers recorded six other top 20 singles for roulette. On August 12, 1957, Buddy Knox's third single, Hula Love / Devil Woman , was released as # 4018 . While Buddy Knox stayed with Roulette until 1960 and brought out a total of nine singles, Jimmy Bowen came up with ten singles by 1960.
Doo Wop was contributed by the Cleftones , who were actually under contract with Goldner's Gee Records. Henry Glover, who had just switched from King Records to Roulette as a producer, brought her to Roulette. Her She's So Fine / Trudy (Roulette # 4094) was released in July 1958, but without reaching the charts. They stayed with Roulette until September 1960 before Glover handed them back over to the reactivated Gee label.
As early as April 1957, Billboard Magazine reported that Goldner had sold its holdings in Roulette, Rama, Gee and Tico to the Morris Levy Group for $ 250,000. However, Goldner remained involved in the administration as an employee and in this way helped to expand the catalog.
In November 1958, the Playmates brought Beep Beep, a record with funny lyrics to number 4 on the pop charts. The million seller was about an actually slow car (Nash Rambler), which, to the astonishment of the driver of a much faster Cadillac, succeeds in overtaking the actually faster vehicle in second gear. The pace of the song apparently accelerates with the increasing speed of both vehicles until they reach 120 mph. This cleverly transported the rabbit and hedgehog story into pop music. This was already the seventh single in the first vowel group of Roulette, so the continuity had paid off. The Playmates belonged to the founding days of the young label, because with # 4003 ( Pretty Woman / Barefoot Girl ) they had released their first single in February 1957. Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks joined the label as one of the last rock & roll pioneers . While Glover's composition Teardrops on Your Letter for Hank Ballard was released on his previous label, King Records, in February 1959, he released the rocking cover Mary Lou with Ronnie Hawkins in May 1959 and reached number 7 in the R&B charts. The song describes the strange experiences with a gold prospector. His Forty Days (# 4154) from June 1959 has an unusual history. It is based on a Chuck Berry composition called Thirty Days . "Glover told me to just add 10 days," said Hawkins. Berry's label Chess wouldn't complain as Berry's composition was based on the melody of When the Saints Go Marchin 'In . The Rock-A-Teens were able to reach 16th place in October 1959 with their wild, now classic instrumental piece Woo-Hoo / Untrue .
The 1960s
Joe Jones brought out in September 1960 with his own composition You Talk Too Much / I Love You (# 4104) after a long period for the label again a top hit parade with a number 3 hit. The original version California Sun (# 4344) from March 1961, composed by Glover, also came from Jones . In October 1961, Roulette took part in the twist boom with Joey Dee & the Starliters , whose Peppermint Twist (Part I) / Peppermint Twist (Part II) (# 4401) became a # 1 pop again after some dry spell for the label. The song was written in the car on the way to the studio, Glover was again co-author and producer. The group has performed in New York's Peppermint Lounge (128 W 45th Street) since September 1960. They hastened to put together an LP Doin 'the Twist at the Peppermint Lounge recorded live in the lounge , which was added in November 1961 and reached a # 2 in the LP charts. The legendary reputation of the club, attended by celebrities such as Jackie Kennedy , Audrey Hepburn , Truman Capote , Marilyn Monroe , Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra , was cemented. The group brought in roulette with their twist plates a turnover of 11 million copies, with the Peppermint Twist and the later single Shout each selling over a million times.
In 1962, George Goldner also sold the Gone and End labels to Morris Levy, who continued them as a subsidiary of Roulette. In May 1963 Goldner and Glover brought the group Essex into the studio, with Easier Said Than Done / Are You Going My Way (# 4494) coming out and climbing to the top of the charts on July 6, 1963.
From 1966, Roulette was able to celebrate great success with his only rock band Tommy James & the Shondells , starting with a cover by Hanky Panky / Thunderbolt , the obscure A-side was composed by Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich and became # 1 a million seller. The single, released in May 1966, was produced by Glover at Bell Sound Studios in New York. Their biggest hit and the label's top-selling hit with 5 million records sold was Crimson and Clover , a # 1 hit from December 1968 with distorted sound and voices. 700,000 copies were sold within the first four weeks of its release, until June In 1969 there were already 2.5 million. Overall, the group proved extremely successful, grossing Roulette 23 gold records, 9 gold and platinum albums, and more than 100 million records sold worldwide. The band alone kept Roulette alive, because the catalog from 1966 onwards did not include any other successful artist. The label subsequently brought out oldies and compilations, but could no longer win over successful talents.
Jazz catalog
Roulette was able to build up an extensive jazz catalog because many interpreters performed in the Birdland jazz club , which belonged to the co-owner Morris Levy. These included Stan Getz , Johnny Smith and Sonny Stitt . In August 1958 the Roost label was acquired. At times Joe Williams , Sarah Vaughan , Count Basie , Billy Eckstine and Buddy Johnson were under contract here. For Sarah Vaughan, Henry Glover produced the single "Untouchable" in 1962 and the albums Star Eyes and Slightly Classical , which he rated as the best work of his career. Dinah Washington's last recordings were made here in the same year , starting with the album Dinah , from which the single "Where Are You" was extracted.
Decline
In a dispute over payment with the label owner Morris Levy, Glover received permission from him to set up his own label, but continued to work for Roulette. In November 1959 he created the short-lived Glover Rec ords, for which he produced Titus Turner, Larry Dale , Louisiana Red and the first recordings of Ashford & Simpson (as Valerie and Nick). In 1968, Glover, who had contributed most to the success of roulette, left the label. For Henry Glover 453 titles are copyright registered with BMI .
In 1988, Jimmie Rodgers sued the Roulette label for royalty embezzlement . Roulette was contractually obliged to pay him 3% of the retail price of all records sold, which could be offset against studio production costs. Roulette lost the process. Levy, meanwhile also in financial difficulties due to the lost process, finally sold Roulette in 1989 for over 55 million dollars to a consortium consisting of Rhino-EMI.
swell
- ↑ Levy was the owner of the famous Birdland Jazz Club
- ^ Charlie Gillett, The Sound of the City , 1996, p. 115
- ↑ Bowen was the bass player with the Rhythm Orchids
- ^ Jay Warner, American Singing Groups , 2006, p. 119
- ^ "Billboard-Magazine", April 6, 1957. He used the money to pay off betting debts.
- ↑ Successfully covered by the Rivieras in January 1964 and brought to No. 5 Pop
- ↑ Hanky Panky / Thunderbolt was originally recorded in February 1964 in the radio studios of WNIL, Niles / Michigan, produced by Jack Deafenbaugh, released on Snap Records. When the record sold 80,000 times in Philadelphia, Roulette caught the eye and acquired the rights to it
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1984, p. 264
- ^ Donald E. Biederman, Edward P. Pierson, Martin E. Silfen: Law and business of the entertainment industries . 5th edition. Praeger Publishers, Westport, Conn 2007, ISBN 978-0-275-99205-7 , pp. 392 ff . (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed December 30, 2016]).