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July 24, 2005
The Story Of Warner Brothers Records!
Warner Brothers, as a company, goes back to 1918, when four brothers (Jack, Albert, Harry, and Samuel Warner) opened their first Warner Brothers studio. They incorporated as a production and distribution entity five years later under the name Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. In 1944, they purchased Leon Schlesinger's cartoon studio, Looney Tunes, and became the owners of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and the rest. The Warner Brothers animation division then churned out high quality cartoons, comic books, and shorts for decades, until it was closed in 1963. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers continued to be one of the big Hollywood players in the movie industry.
Following the lead of MGM, who started a record label in the late 1940s, and Paramount, who established ABC-Paramount in 1957, Warner Brothers formed its own Warner Brothers Records as a division of Warner Brothers Studios on March 19, 1958. The office was located above the film studio's machine shop at 3701 Warner Blvd. in Burbank, California. The President of the label was James B. Conklin. Directors of A&R were Harris Ashburn, George Avakian and Bob Prince. The Warner Brothers label initially recorded pop, jazz, classical, spoken word, folk and gospel.
Over the years, it had not bothered Warner Brothers too much that they didn't have a record company, but it was in early 1957, when Randy Wood's Dot Records signed Warners' movie star Tab Hunter to a recording contract, that the Warner Brothers brass started seeing red. Wood could sign Hunter because although his Warner Brothers contract was exclusive, Warners had no record label. In fact, the timing of when Warner Brothers started their record label was very much linked to their getting their star's recording contract away from Dot. Hunter, who by his own admission could barely sing at all, was coached by Wood to make a few passable records which were major hits in 1957, while Warners steamed. When Warner Brothers finally got their record label off the ground in 1958, they reclaimed Tab Hunter, who made several albums for the label and had a few singles in the mid-ranges of the charts, although nothing like the success he had had with Dot. In fact, Tab Hunter's "Jealous Heart" [WB 5008], which only made #62 on the charts, was the only chart record Warner Brothers had during its first year, 1958.
On the album side in 1960, comedian Bob Newhart scored a #1 album with The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, the success of which started Warner Brothers to look around for other comedians to sign to record contracts. Eventually, Warner Brothers would become one of the most successful in the comedy album genre, with stars like Allan Sherman and Bill Cosby also becoming household names by 1965.
The early 1970s saw the Warner Brothers label grow to the major label it had always aspired to become. New artists included rockers Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Grateful Dead, Ides of March, Alice Cooper, and the Faces. On the more acoustic side, there was James Taylor, Seals and Crofts, Dion, and America. Also added were soul bands Tower of Power and Malo as well as pop/soul singer Dionne Warwick. By 1973, Warner Brothers was firmly ensconced in a leadership position in the music industry, and that is where they remain today.
As we continue to educate you all on some of the history behind the music biz, we want to thank Mike Callahan who wrote the original WB Records Story. Of course at What's Out Next we say it may all be black water!
Black Water, Produced by Ted Templeman and released on WB Records in 1974 from the album "What Where Once Vices Are Now Habits!"
Posted by mitchsantell at 08:14 PM | TrackBack
July 23, 2005
Missing Luther Vandross!
On July 1st the world lost what J Records Chairman Clive Davis described as "the best male R&B Singer in the world! In the world of contemporary music, there are just a handful of superstars whose first name alone brings instant recognition. Check Aretha, Whitney, Mariah, Diana and Dionne. But when it comes to male vocalists, the list is far shorter. One name towers above the rest in any discussion on black male singers whose impact and influence has been unparalleled. Say the name 'Luther' and record buyers the world over respond immediately. The fact is, Luther Vandross will remain even after his recent passing, the pre-eminent black male vocalist of our time. The five-time Grammy winner, whose cumulative global sales top over 25 million copies continues to set a standard that few can match.
Luther Vandross was one great artist with two personalities. There was the "fat Luther" and the "thin Luther." Throughout his 30 year career his weight moved up and down from 320 pounds to 190 pounds and back again! The Vandross family had been plagued by health problems. In addition to Luther losing his father at an early age, Luther's three other siblings died before he did.
His final album, Dance With My Father, in 2003, was his first to debut at Number One and earned four grammies. According to Smokey Robinson "there are vocalists and there's Luther!"
How did we know that when Luther released "Dance With My Father," it would not be his "next chapter," it would be his "last chapter." We miss you man!
Earlier today I saw the last picture taken of Luther Vandross at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey. Out of heartfelt consideration to his family and because of our respect for him as an artist we decided to not post it on the site. Instead, we decided to leave you with two of my favorite Luther tracks... Stop To Love and the See Me!
Some people make music and it changes people. Luther wrote, produced and sang music that forever changed the music business. The music buyers, the executives and other star talent. God bless you Luther, you are one smooth dude! We won't ever forget you!
Stop to Love and See Me are both from the 1986 release of Give Me a Reason!
Posted by mitchsantell at 12:00 AM | TrackBack
July 22, 2005
Nik Venet and Bobby Darin!
Brian Wilson (left) and Nik Venet (center) at his 60th Birthday at Fairfax Market with over 200 people attending!
The late producer Nik Venet had an impressive list of clients he worked with in his career including the Beach Boys, Tommy Sands, Jim Croce, Lou Rawls,Linda Ronstadt, Glen Campbell, and The Letterman. He had produced over 300 albums in his legendary career which spanned four decades. When asked in a interview who his favorite person to work with was, Mr Venet responded "Bobby Darin".
Nik and Bobby became friends when they were both at the Brill building in New York, sharing cramped office space.They worked together at Capitol records in LA when Nik produced him, the first being the single "If A Man Answers." Venet also produced Bobby Albums "You're The Reason I'm Living" and "Golden Folk Hits".
In an interview with WBAI radio New York in 1995, Nik was quoted as saying that Bobby Darin was "an amazing human being...a man of great talents, many many talents." He also said of Darin: "one of his careers was more than any artist would want today...he had three, four careers going at the same time..he was adventurous...Darin did it when nobody else was doing it, he crossed borders." Speaking of their time working in the studio together he said, "Nothing ever went wrong in the studio,we could do a bad cut and have a great time, we would redo it and have a better time." Of Bobbys multifaceted career,Venet said that Darin "baffled everybody, he always came out on top...he would take failure and study it, found out what went wrong,redo it and turn in into a win..nothing was ever lost on Darin...everything he did he honestly believed in....he did it all and he did it from the heart."
Mr. Venet was often quoted as saying "I think about Bobby once a day every day."As a tribute to Darins legacy, Nik, along with Dodd Darin and Jeff Bleiel were instrumental in bringing the Rhino Bobby Darin Box set "As Long As I'm Singing" to life,and Venet was still actively producing with his own Evening Star Records company.
Mr. Venet died of complications of Burkitts syndrome on January 2, 1998,but had never stopped working up until his last hospital stay. He still maintained a close relationship with Dodd (who spoke at "A Celebration Of Nik Venets Life" a memorial service held at The National Academy of Recordings Arts and Sciences a couple of days after his death.)
At What’s Out Next we tip our hat off to both Nik and Bobby! I should know because prior to hosting What’s Out Next, I partnered with Nik Venet to launch his last label in 1996, Evening Star! All I can say is take a bath!