African-American Ownership of Record Labels in the Twentieth Century Stuart Lucas Tully Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2016 Buying In and Selling Out: African-American Ownership of Record Labels in the Twentieth Century Stuart Lucas Tully Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Tully, Stuart Lucas, "Buying In and Selling Out: African-American Ownership of Record Labels in the Twentieth Century" (2016). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3246. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3246 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. BUYING IN AND SELLING OUT: AFRICAN-AMERICAN OWNERSHIP OF RECORD LABELS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy n i The Department of History y Stuart Tully B.S., Mississippib College, 2002 M.A., Louisiana State University, 2009 Ma 2016 y To Warren, This one is for you ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Charles Shindo guided this project from inception to completion and his direction has been immensely impactful. He has been gracious, insightful, and above all encouraging of this project. I must thank him for humoring me during all the seemingly endless visits to his office that somehow always turned out productive thanks to his advice. I would also like to thank my other committee members for their support in creating this work. Louisiana State University has been a wonderful environment and I am grateful for my time here. On a personal note, I have to thank my family and friends who have passed and exceeded any possible expectations. To my parents, who gave support in all definitions of the word throughout my graduate school career. To my colleagues and fellow Americanists, who have provided camaraderie beyond my imagination. But above all, I have to thank my wonderful wife Carole, who has encouraged more than any other individual, as well as tolerated my at times single-mindedness during the beginning of our life together. I love you, more than words can say. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………..iii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….v Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………...1 Chapter One: Harry Pace and Black Swan Records: 1921-1923…...……………………….18 Chapter Two: The Economic and Cultural Decisions of Harry Pace……………………….40 Chapter Three: Berry Gordy’s Motown: 1959-1988……………………………………………..79 Chapter Four: The Economic and Cultural Decisions of Berry Gordy…………………..109 Chapter Five: Def Jam, Russell Simmons, and Hip Hop: 1984-1999……………………..165 Chapter Six: The Economic and Cultural Decisions of Russell Simmons………………230 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………….281 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………………….289 Vita………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….305 iv ABSTRACT Throughout the twentieth century, African-American owned record labels seemingly served as embodiments of entrepreneurialism’s capacity to generate social uplift for the race as well as wealth. However, an examination of Black Swan Records, Motown, and Def Jam Records, demonstrates how this assertion is undermined by the actions of their owners. Harry Pace founded Black Swan Records in 1921 not only to showcase black artists, but also prove the African-American audience was capable of appreciating classical music and other high culture. However, faced with financial pressures, Pace expanded the genres recorded on Black Swan to include jazz and other genres deemed “low” culture, as well as released records by white artists under black names. Berry Gordy’s refusal to allow his Motown artists to take a public stance on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s came from his belief that their participation would be detrimental to the company’s profitability. Gordy’s belief in selling black respectability to the commercial mainstream formed the basis of much of his decisions in running Motown, and became its ultimate legacy. Although Russell Simmons sought to market black rebellion under the assumption white consumers would find it more authentic, his decisions made as owner of Def Jam was demonstrated how entrenched black music had become within mainstream culture. When artists went too far in their persona of rebellion, such as members of Public Enemy, Simmons was quick to cast them aside in order to preserve the label’s viability. v The three owner’s actions to remain commercially successful despite seemingly in opposition to their stated cultural and racial goals demonstrate the priority of economic realities inherent in consumer culture taking precedence over idealistic efforts. In commodifying race, the resulting music was foremost a commercial product, and diminished its cultural value. This work challenges earlier studies of African-American popular music by arguing that the positive attributes of presenting black artists to a mainstream audience were weakened by the economic considerations of running a business and the demands of a consumer culture. vi INTRODUCTION On August 23, 1900, a group of African-American professionals from across the country met in Boston, Massachusetts for the first annual meeting of the National Negro Business League. Over the course of two days, exhibitors gave presentations on black-owned businesses in coal mining, potato farming, undertaking, floristry, and a host of other diverse industries.1 In addition, presenters forecasted the business outlook for black enterprise across the nation. The attendees of the annual meeting came at the bequest of Booker T. Washington, who had organized the league. Washington had achieved national notoriety for his “Atlanta Compromise” speech delivered at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition, five years before, in which he advocated for mechanical and agricultural work as the method by which African-Americans could ultimately achieve social equality with white people. Washington also recognized that black owned businesses served as an important means through which African-Americans could demonstrate their value to the rest of America. Washington invited all black businessmen to join the league, whose ranks included lawyers, doctors, and small business owners as well as farmers and craftsmen. The League formally incorporated in New York City the following year and eventually grew to include hundreds of individual chapters throughout the nation. Washington was not alone among African-American thinkers at the turn of the century emphasizing the necessity of black-owned businesses to gain equality. Even W.E.B. Dubois, who typically opposed Washington, agreed that black-owned 1 Records of the National Negro Business League. Black Studies Research Sources. Microfilm. Bracey, John and Meier, August eds. University Publications of America. 5. 1 businesses should be a major hallmark of any plan to achieve civil rights. The Declaration of Principles, drafted by Dubois and William Monroe Trotter after the inaugural 1905 meeting of the Niagara Movement, decried the South’s prejudice in oppressing small business enterprise and impeding advancement. This rhetoric was continued in the platform adopted by the National Negro Committee in 1909. The Committee, which would change its name to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People the following year, similarly stated that the transition of a primarily unskilled black labor force into skilled labor was a key focus. The stress on black enterprise was felt throughout the African-American community with later organizations, such as Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association, continuing this emphasis on black ownership of businesses throughout the early part of the twentieth century. Encouraging black entrepreneurialism as a tent pole for a larger push for greater Civil Rights continued throughout the twentieth century. As black entrepreneurs gained more financial success and notoriety, it was believed that their individual achievements would translate into increased equality for the rest of the race. Organizations such as the National Negro Business League perpetuated this idea. The League, which changed its name to the National Business League in 1967, still exists, with goals virtually identical to those set down by Washington in 1900. Its website states its vision is to “Empower and Uplift the Black Community through Business and Economic Development” and its mission is “to Create Wealth in and for the Black community”2 The continued existence of the League demonstrates the 2 “National Business League Vision”. Retrieved 11/12/16. http://nblgw.org/the-nbl-s-vision 2 pervasiveness of this idea through the years. This belief that the economic growth of black entrepreneurialism would correlate with an increased social elevation for the whole of the race became prevalent in African-American society throughout the twentieth century, and impact the development of several businesses. The burgeoning recording industry seemed an ideal laboratory to test the potency of black entrepreneurialism for four main reasons. First, the medium as a whole was still