DOCSLIB.ORG

Ralph Bass: Reaching Success

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ralph Bass: Reaching Success 09-17-13 Sky Young Groove U Ralph Bass: Reaching Success !You ever wake up in the morning, jump out of bed and say “I feel good I knew that I would” the famous James Brown lyrics. Well, little known fact James Brown was founded by a pioneer of the music business, Ralph Bass. He also, directly contributed to the merge of black music with the American mainstream music. From the Bronx to L.A. Ralph founded some of the most successful record labels such. Along the way breaking the segregation barrier one hit at a time. His success traveled coast to coast starting in New York City. !The Bronx, New York City is where this story all began. Little Ralph just six year of age began his music journey with the violin. As a young man Ralph took frequent trips to go travel the South. He found that what he saw made him feel so emotionally attached to the Southern style of living. He loved the food, the culture, the people, and most of all he loved the music. “Black Music” a term which many of us now know to be rhythm and blues and jazz. Ralph attended Colgate University and New York University. Not long after he left for the west coast chasing the music. ! L.A. is where his story picks up. Ralph was working for a manufacturing company and part time in a liquor store. One day, he got asked to DJ for a company event. It was then he decided that he was tired of seeing the audiences so segregated. Not long after Bass found himself a job with Black and White Records and started making records. While at Black and White he made hits with many names, most notably Storm Monday by T Bone Walker and a comedy act Open the Door Richard. Ralph left Black and White Records and later admitted that he left because he learned what not to do rather then what to do. After leaving Black and White he created Bop Records. With just a couple recordings, one being a two part saxophone battle, he was not getting where he wanted to be. After Bop Records he founded Portrait Records. At Portrait it was much of the same, he recorded an amazing jazz pianist Errol Garner. In 1948 Bass began a new career with Savoy Records. This was fortunate for both Savoy and Ralph Bass, because many say these were Ralph’s golden years. !Savoy is now known as one of the biggest jazz labels with names like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and a Ralph Bass discovery, Johnny Otis. After three years Ralph moved on to King Records. King Records hired Ralph to run a new branch called Federal Records. Bass being the R&B king at this point went straight to work. Syd Nathan was the owner of King Records and was following an artist by the name of James Brown. Little did he know that Ralph also had his eye on James. Syd decided that he did not want to pursue James anymore, and sure enough Ralph swooped in to do the job. This is was huge not only for King Records but for Federal Records as well. It soon made Federal Records a household name. Producing hits such as “Kansas CIty” for seven years at Federal and Ralph switched things up again. This time to Chess Records. Here Ralph spent 18 years producing r&b, soul, blues, rock and roll sensations. Chess and Ralph would produce names like Sonny Boy, Etta James, and Muddy Waters. Ralph had a long a successful run and help integrate music as we know it. !With a passion for music Ralph Bass was unstoppable. He had a dream and he chased it and never looked back. American music today consist of many r&b, Jazz, or Blues tunes, and can be considered a music revolution. Not only did he bring audiences together with a common interest for music; but he founded some of the most successful independent labels. Ralph Bass was inducted into the music Hall of Fame as a non performer in 1991. Ralph passed away March 5th, 1977, he was 66 years of age. “They call it Stormy Monday, But Tuesdays just as bad’!!.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Fingerprints of the “5” Royales Nearly 65 Years After Forming in Winston-Salem, the “5” Royales’ Impact on Popular Music Is Evident Today
    The Fingerprints of the “5” Royales Nearly 65 years after forming in Winston-Salem, the “5” Royales’ impact on popular music is evident today. Start tracing the influences of some of today’s biggest acts, then trace the influence of those acts and, in many cases, the trail winds back to the “5” Royales. — Lisa O’Donnell CLARENCE PAUL SONGS VOCALS LOWMAN “PETE” PAULING An original member of the Royal Sons, the group that became the The Royales made a seamless transition from gospel to R&B, recording The Royales explored new terrain in the 1950s, merging the raw emotion of In the mid-1950s, Pauling took over the band’s guitar duties, adding a new, “5” Royales, Clarence Paul was the younger brother of Lowman Pauling. songs that included elements of doo-wop and pop. The band’s songs, gospel with the smooth R&B harmonies that were popular then. That new explosive dimension to the Royales’ sound. With his guitar slung down to He became an executive in the early days of Motown, serving as a mentor most of which were written by Lowman Pauling, have been recorded by a sound was embraced most prominently within the black community. Some his knees, Pauling electrified crowds with his showmanship and a crackling and friend to some of the top acts in music history. diverse array of artists. Here’s the path a few of their songs took: of those early listeners grew up to put their spin on the Royales’ sound. guitar style that hinted at the instrument’s role in the coming decades.
    [Show full text]
  • The Twist”—Chubby Checker (1960) Added to the National Registry: 2012 Essay by Jim Dawson (Guest Post)*
    “The Twist”—Chubby Checker (1960) Added to the National Registry: 2012 Essay by Jim Dawson (guest post)* Chubby Checker Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” has the distinction of being the only non-seasonal American recording that reached the top of “Billboard’s” pop charts twice, separately. (Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” topped the holiday tree in 1942, 1945, and 1947). “The Twist” shot to No. 1 in 1960, fell completely off the charts, then returned over a year later like a brand new single and did it all over again. Even more remarkable was that Checker’s version was a nearly note-for- note, commissioned mimicry of the original “The Twist,” written and recorded in 1958 by R&B artist Hank Ballard and released as the B-side of a love ballad. Most remarkable of all, however, is that Chubby Checker set the whole world Twisting, from Harlem clubs to the White House to Buckingham Palace, and beyond. The Twist’s movements were so rudimentary that almost everyone, regardless of their level of coordination, could maneuver through it, usually without injuring or embarrassing themselves. Like so many rhythm and blues songs, “The Twist” had a busy pedigree going back decades. In 1912, black songwriter Perry Bradford wrote “Messin’ Around,” in which he gave instructions to a new dance called the Mess Around: “Put your hands on your hips and bend your back; stand in one spot nice and tight; and twist around with all your might.” The following year, black tunesmiths Chris Smith and Jim Burris wrote “Ballin’ the Jack” for “The Darktown Follies of 1913” at Harlem’s Lafayette Theatre, in which they elaborated on the Mess Around by telling dancers, “Twist around and twist around with all your might.” The song started a Ballin’ the Jack craze that, like nearly every new Harlem dance, moved downtown to the white ballrooms and then shimmied and shook across the country.
    [Show full text]
  • From King Records Month 2018
    King Records Month 2018 = Unedited Tweets from Zero to 180 Aug. 3, 2018 Zero to 180 is honored to be part of this year's celebration of 75 Years of King Records in Cincinnati and will once again be tweeting fun facts and little known stories about King Records throughout King Records Month in September. Zero to 180 would like to kick off things early with a tribute to King session drummer Philip Paul (who you've heard on Freddy King's "Hideaway") that is PACKED with streaming audio links, images of 45s & LPs from around the world, auction prices, Billboard chart listings and tons of cool history culled from all the important music historians who have written about King Records: “Philip Paul: The Pulse of King” https://www.zeroto180.org/?p=32149 Aug. 22, 2018 King Records Month is just around the corner - get ready! Zero to 180 will be posting a new King history piece every 3 days during September as well as October. There will also be tweeting lots of cool King trivia on behalf of Xavier University's 'King Studios' historic preservation collaborative - a music history explosion that continues with this baseball-themed celebration of a novelty hit that dominated the year 1951: LINK to “Chew Tobacco Rag” Done R&B (by Lucky Millinder Orchestra) https://www.zeroto180.org/?p=27158 Aug. 24, 2018 King Records helped pioneer the practice of producing R&B versions of country hits and vice versa - "Chew Tobacco Rag" (1951) and "Why Don't You Haul Off and Love Me" (1949) being two examples of such 'crossover' marketing.
    [Show full text]
  • 1957 and 1961, Both My Life and Career
    1957 and 1961, both my life and career began to take shape under the tutelage of legendary Billboard music editor Paul Ackerman and then-chart editor Tom Noonan, who first opened the magazine’s doors to a fifteen-year-old kid. At that time, Billboard was certainly the com­ munications center of the music industry, and what I learned and saw and heard there has indeed served me well over the years. Far and away the monumental event - and one of the most important moments in my life - was meeting Syd Nathan at a Billboard record-review session one drizzly Wednesday night in March or April 1958. A lthough i had a french test coming up, Paul urged me to stay by saying, “This guy is one of the great indie record men a real character. He can’t see very well and wears these thick, will be around. We’ll listen to those next week. Syd, let’s have Coca-Cola-bottle glasses, has a big ring on his finger and talks your records.” Syd got up and threw his records - fortunately, with a deep, raspy voice due to previous illnesses, but you just unbreakable 45s - on the floor and said, “Y)u don’t step on a man must meet him. He’ll be overwhelmed by your knowledge of when he’s down. Listen to Jerry Blaine’s records, and you can save C&W and R&B, and you will understand and love him and see mine for next week.” Needless to say, a ll the records were what he is all about.” Paul was right: That meeting changed my reviewed, including ones by Little Willie John on Syd’s label King life and destiny and is probably the reason I am able to write a and the Cadillacs on Josie.
    [Show full text]
  • Updates & Amendments to the Great R&B Files
    Updates & Amendments to the Great R&B Files The R&B Pioneers Series edited by Claus Röhnisch from August 2019 – on with special thanks to Thomas Jarlvik The Great R&B Files - Updates & Amendments (page 1) John Lee Hooker Part II There are 12 books (plus a Part II-book on Hooker) in the R&B Pioneers Series. They are titled The Great R&B Files at http://www.rhythm-and- blues.info/ covering the history of Rhythm & Blues in its classic era (1940s, especially 1950s, and through to the 1960s). I myself have used the ”new covers” shown here for printouts on all volumes. If you prefer prints of the series, you only have to printout once, since the updates, amendments, corrections, and supplementary information, starting from August 2019, are published in this special extra volume, titled ”Updates & Amendments to the Great R&B Files” (book #13). The Great R&B Files - Updates & Amendments (page 2) The R&B Pioneer Series / CONTENTS / Updates & Amendments page 01 Top Rhythm & Blues Records – Hits from 30 Classic Years of R&B 6 02 The John Lee Hooker Session Discography 10 02B The World’s Greatest Blues Singer – John Lee Hooker 13 03 Those Hoodlum Friends – The Coasters 17 04 The Clown Princes of Rock and Roll: The Coasters 18 05 The Blues Giants of the 1950s – Twelve Great Legends 28 06 THE Top Ten Vocal Groups of the Golden ’50s – Rhythm & Blues Harmony 48 07 Ten Sepia Super Stars of Rock ’n’ Roll – Idols Making Music History 62 08 Transitions from Rhythm to Soul – Twelve Original Soul Icons 66 09 The True R&B Pioneers – Twelve Hit-Makers from the
    [Show full text]
  • The Impressions, Circa 1960: Clockwise from Top: Fred Cash, Richard Brooks> Curtis Mayfield, Arthur Brooks, and Sam (Pooden
    The Impressions, circa 1960: Clockwise from top: Fred Cash, Richard Brooks> Curtis Mayfield, Arthur Brooks, and Sam (Pooden. Inset: Original lead singer Jerry Butler. PERFORMERS Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions BY J O E M cE W E N from the union of two friends, Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield of Chicago, Illinois. The two had sung together in church as adolescents, and had traveled with the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers and the Traveling Souls Spiritual Church. It was Butler who con­ vinced his friend Mayfield to leave his own struggling group, the Alfatones, and join him, Sam Gooden, and brothers Richard and Arthur Brooks— the remnants of another strug­ gling vocal group called the Roosters. According to legend, an impressive performance at Major Lance, Walter Jackson, and Jan Bradley; he also a Chicago fashion show brought the quintet to the at­ wrote music that seemed to speak for the entire civil tention of Falcon Records, and their debut single was rights movement. A succession of singles that began in recorded shortly thereafter. “For Your 1964 with “Keep On Pushing” and Precious Love” by “The Impressions SELECTED the moody masterpiece “People Get featuring Jerry Butler” (as the label DISCOGRAPHY Ready” stretched through such exu­ read) was dominated by Butler’s reso­ berant wellsprings of inspiration as nant baritone lead, while Mayfield’s For Your Precious Love.......................... Impressions “We’re A Winner” and Mayfield solo (July 1958, Falcon-Abner) fragile tenor wailed innocently in the recordings like “(Don’t Worry) If background. Several follow-ups He Will Break Your Heart......................Jerry Butler There’s A Hell Below We’re All Going (October 1960, Veejay) failed, Butler left to pursue a solo ca­ To Go” and “Move On Up,” placing reer, and the Impressions floundered.
    [Show full text]
  • Savoy and Regent Label Discography
    Discography of the Savoy/Regent and Associated Labels Savoy was formed in Newark New Jersey in 1942 by Herman Lubinsky and Fred Mendelsohn. Lubinsky acquired Mendelsohn’s interest in June 1949. Mendelsohn continued as producer for years afterward. Savoy recorded jazz, R&B, blues, gospel and classical. The head of sales was Hy Siegel. Production was by Ralph Bass, Ozzie Cadena, Leroy Kirkland, Lee Magid, Fred Mendelsohn, Teddy Reig and Gus Statiras. The subsidiary Regent was extablished in 1948. Regent recorded the same types of music that Savoy did but later in its operation it became Savoy’s budget label. The Gospel label was formed in Newark NJ in 1958 and recorded and released gospel music. The Sharp label was formed in Newark NJ in 1959 and released R&B and gospel music. The Dee Gee label was started in Detroit Michigan in 1951 by Dizzy Gillespie and Divid Usher. Dee Gee recorded jazz, R&B, and popular music. The label was acquired by Savoy records in the late 1950’s and moved to Newark NJ. The Signal label was formed in 1956 by Jules Colomby, Harold Goldberg and Don Schlitten in New York City. The label recorded jazz and was acquired by Savoy in the late 1950’s. There were no releases on Signal after being bought by Savoy. The Savoy and associated label discography was compiled using our record collections, Schwann Catalogs from 1949 to 1982, a Phono-Log from 1963. Some album numbers and all unissued album information is from “The Savoy Label Discography” by Michel Ruppli.
    [Show full text]
  • John Lee Hooker 1991.Pdf
    PERFORMERS John Lee Hooker BY JOHN M I L W A R D H E BLUES ACCORDING TO John Lee Hooker is a propulsive drone of a guitar tuned to open G, a foot stomping out a beat that wouldn’t know how to quit, and a bear of a voice that knows its way around the woods. He plays big-city, big-beat blues born in the Mississippi Delta. Blame it on the boogie, and you’re blaming it on John Lee Hooker. Without the music of John Lee Hooker, Jim Morrison two dozen labels, creating one of the most confusing wouldn’t have known of crawling kingsnakes, and George discographies in blues history. Hooker employed such Thorogood wouldn’t have ordered up “One Bourbon, One pseudonyms as Texas Slim, Birmingham Sam, Delta John, Scotch, One Beer.” Van Morrison would not have influenced John Lee Booker, and Boogie Man. Most of his rhythm & generations of rock singers by personalizing the idiosyncratic blues hits appeared on Vee jay Records, including “Crawlin’ emotional landscape of Hooker’s fevered blues. Kingsnake,” "No Shoes,” and “Boom Boom”—John Lee’s sole Hooker inspired these and countless other boogie chil­ entry on the pop singles chart, in 1962. dren with blues that don’t In the late ’50s, Hooker adhere to a strict 12-bar T H E BLUES ALONE found a whole new audience structure, but move in re­ Detroit businessman Bernard Besman (in partnership with club owner Lee among the white fans of the sponse to the singer’s singu­ Sensation) issued John Lee Hooker’s first records in 1948 on the Sensation la­ folk revival.
    [Show full text]
  • The Famous Flames 2012.Pdf
    roll abandon in the minds o f awkward teens everywhere. Guitarist Sonny Curtis had recorded with Holly and Allison on the unsuccessful Decca sessions, and after Holly’s death in 1959, Curtis returned to the group as lead singer- guitarist for a time. The ensuing decades would see him become a hugely successful songwriter, penning greats from “I Fought the Taw” (covered by the Bobby Fuller Four and the Clash, among others) to Keith Whitleys smash T m No Stranger to the Rain” (1987’s CM A Single of the Tear) to the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He still gigs on occasion with Mauldin and Allison, as a Cricket. THE FAMOUS FLAMES FROM TOpi||lSly Be$pett, Lloydliisylfewarth, Bp|i§>y Byrd, apd Ja m ^ Brown (from left), on The TA.M.I. 4^ihnny Terry, BennettTfyfiff, and Brown fwomleft), the Ap®fp® James Brown is forever linked with the sound and image Theatre, 1963. -4- of the Famous Flames vocal/dancing group. They backed him on record from 1956 through 1964» and supported him as sanctified during the week as they were on Sundays. Apart onstage and on the King Records label credits (whether they from a sideline venture running bootleg liquor from the sang on the recording or not) through 1968. He worked with a Carolinas into Georgia, they began playing secular gigs under rotating cast of Flames in the 1950s until settling on the most various aliases. famous trio in 1959, as the group became his security blanket, By 1955, the group was calling itself the Flames and sounding board, and launching pad.
    [Show full text]
  • Wilson Pickett, New York City, 1981; Swamp Dogg; Aretha Franklin, New York City, 1982; Fred Wesley, 2011; Dr
    HYTHM AND LUES From left top and clockwise: Wilson Pickett, New York City, 1981; Swamp Dogg; Aretha Franklin, New York City, 1982; Fred Wesley, 2011; Dr. Mable John. Photos: © Fredrich Cantor; Courtesy of Swamp Dogg; © Fredrich Cantor; Mark Puryear, Smithsonian Institution; Courtesy of Stax Museum of American Soul Music Right side: The Dixie Cups® began performing rhythm and blues music in 1963; the group now includes original members Barbara A. Hawkins (right) and Rosa L. Hawkins (left), joined by Athelgra Neville. Photo by Richard Strauss, Smithsonian Institution Rhythm and Blues 53 Tell It Like It Is by Mark Puryear In 1964 The Dixie Cups®, a female vocal trio from New Orleans, crooned out a cheerful version of “Chapel of Love” and knocked the Beatles from their number one spot on the pop charts. A year later, the trio released “Iko Iko,” a song first released in 1954 by James “Sugar Boy” Crawford as “Jock-A-Mo,” whose lyrics recount the meeting of two groups of Mardi Gras Indians. Since then, this song has been cov- ered by artists from the Grateful Dead to Cyndi Lauper, and continues to move new generations with its infectious New Orleans rhythms. The career of The Dixie Cups, and their direct and indirect roles in carrying rhythm and blues (R&B) into mainstream consciousness, speaks to the enduring pow- er of this music to transcend region and musical category and become a representative sound of the country. Musical Crossroads by Dwandalyn Reece The National Museum of African American History of musical genres, highlighting musical innovations, and Culture (NMAAHC) was established by an act of significant time periods and events along with Congress in 2003 making it the nineteenth museum historic performances to capture the music’s impact of the Smithsonian Institution.
    [Show full text]
  • Complete John Lee Hooker Session Discography
    The Complete John Lee Hooker Discography –Part II from The Great R&B-files Created by Claus Röhnisch: http://www.rhythm-and-blues.info The Great R&B Files (# 2 of 12) Part II Updated 2017-09-23 MAIN CONTENTS: page Hooker Singles in Disguise 82 Hooker’s First and Last Albums 94 The Body & Soul CD-series 112 Giant of Blues – an Essay by Les Fancourt 114 The Complete EP Collection 118 The Real Best of Selection (with Trivia) 132 The three “whole career” double-CDs 137 JLH Recording Scale 138 Bootlegs and DVDs 142 Nuthin’ but the Best! – Fictional Album 145 The World’s Greatest Blues Singer Supplement to The John Lee Hooker Session Discography http://www.rhythm-and-blues.info/02_HookerSessionDiscography.pdf Part II of the John Lee Hooker Session Discography - compiled by Claus Röhnisch - The R&B Pioneers Series: Volume Two (Part II) of twelve The Great R&B-files Created by Claus Röhnisch: http://www.rhythm-and-blues.info page 81 (of 164) The Complete John Lee Hooker Discography – Part II from The Great R&B-files Created by Claus Röhnisch: http://www.rhythm-and-blues.info The BEST of the CDs featuring Johnnie’s pirate recordings Check Ultimate CD’s entries in the Session Discography, Part One for more details ….. and check Singles discography for pseudonyms. ”Boogie Awhile” – Krazy Kat; ”Early Years: The Classic Savoy Sessions” (1948/49 and 1961) - MetroDoubles; ”Savoy Blues Legends: Detroit 1948-1949” – Savoy; ”Danceland Years” – Pointblank ”I’m A Boogie Man: The Essential Masters 1948-1953” – Varese Sarabande; ”The Boogie Man” – Properbox;
    [Show full text]
  • JAMES BROWN Tennessee (1928) Or Georgia (1933) ¡©Si
    r ; k Jf ||p ji „ > ■ Ip > V - » I ■ JAMES BROWN Tennessee (1928) or Georgia (1933) ¡©Si- James Brown once said of Elvis Presley, “He recorded at Harlem’s Apollo Theater on September taught white America to get down.” Brown himself 24th, 1962, sold a million copies and remained on did Elvis one better in that regard: he encouraged ev­ the Billboard charts for more than a year, an unprec­ eryone to do it. Brown, an indefatigable performer edented achievement for a hard-core R&B album. In who still maintains a grading touring schedule for has 1965, with the success of “Papa’s Got a Brand New fine-tuned funk revue, has earned many tides over the Bag” and “I Got You (I Feel Good),” Brown proceed­ years. ed to break his sound down to a groove as basic and He’s been called “the Hardest-Working Man in bad as you could get. That same year, rock and roll Show Business.” As an impoverished child of the De­ fans were willingly hoodwinked by the slickly re ­ pression, Brown picked cotton, shined shoes and hearsed drama of Brown’s fainting-and-reviving ritual danced for spare change on the streets. He also during “Please Please Please” in The TAJUJ. Show. served time in a reform atory and tried his hand at He’s been called “Soul Brother Number One” for boxing and baseball. When a leg injury put an end to his willingness to “say it loud, I’m black and I’m his big-league pitching aspirations, Brown turned to proud.” In 1968, when he was addressing black so­ music.
    [Show full text]