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121-455: The NBA label was originally a part of Atlantic Records ' when YoungBoy Never Broke Again signed his 5-year record deal with the label and music had begun being officially licensed to a company titled Never Broke Again, LLC. The label has since grown to be independent of Atlantic and is now signed under Motown Records who distribute their music. However, the label also releases independently from Motown through UnitedMasters . On May 17, 2017,

242-605: A duet with singer Tami Lynn , but this single failed to chart. Pickett's breakthrough came at Stax Records ' studio in Memphis , Tennessee, where he recorded his third Atlantic single, " In the Midnight Hour " (1965). This song was Pickett's first big hit, peaking at No. 1 R&B, No. 21 pop (US), and No. 12 (UK). It sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc . It garnered Pickett his first Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording at

363-463: A German girlfriend, which precipitated his divorce from Miriam, a minor stockholder and Atlantic's business and publishing manager. By 1958, relations between Abramson and his partners had broken down; in December 1958 a $ 300,000 buy-out was arranged; his stock was split between Nesuhi Ertegun and Abramson's ex-wife Miriam, who had in the meantime remarried to music publisher Freddy Bienstock (later

484-402: A Half (Won't Do)" (No. 13 R&B, No. 53 pop). All but "634-5789" were original compositions which Pickett co-wrote with Eddie Floyd or Steve Cropper or both; "634-5789" was credited to Cropper and Floyd alone. For his next sessions, Pickett did not return to Stax, as the label's owner, Jim Stewart, had decided in December 1965 to ban outside productions. Wexler took Pickett to Fame Studios,

605-404: A Love", Pickett cut his first solo recordings, including "I'm Gonna Cry", in collaboration with Don Covay . Pickett also recorded a demo for a song he co-wrote, " If You Need Me ", a slow-burning soul ballad featuring a spoken sermon. Pickett sent the demo to Jerry Wexler , a producer at Atlantic Records . Wexler gave it to the label's recording artist Solomon Burke , Atlantic's biggest star at

726-653: A New Orleans distributor phoned Ertegun to obtain Stick McGhee 's "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee", which was unavailable due to the closing of McGhee's previous label, Harlem Records. Ertegun knew Stick's younger brother Brownie McGhee , with whom Stick happened to be staying, so he contacted the McGhee brothers and re-recorded the song. When released in February 1949, it became Atlantic's first hit, selling 400,000 copies, and reached No. 2 after spending almost six months on

847-426: A No. 4 R&B hit with " Tweedlee Dee ", but a rival version by Georgia Gibbs went to No. 2 on the pop chart. Big Joe Turner's April 1954 song " Shake, Rattle and Roll " was a No. 1 R&B hit, but it only reached No. 22 on the pop chart. Bill Haley & His Comets 's version reached No. 7, selling over one million copies and becoming the bestselling song of the year for Decca. In July 1954, Wexler and Ertegun wrote

968-671: A benefit concert in exchange for having the disorderly conduct and property damage charges dropped. He performed his community service obligation. In 1992, Pickett struck 86-year-old pedestrian Pepe Ruiz with his car in Englewood. Police allegedly found six empty miniature vodka bottles and six empty beer cans in Pickett's car. Ruiz, who had helped organize the New York animation union, died later that year. Pickett pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges. He agreed to rehab and received

1089-512: A close working relationship with Ertegun, who was instrumental in her signing with the label. By 1969, the Atlantic 8000 series (1968–72) consisted of R&B, rock, soul/rock and psychedelic acts. Other releases that year include albums by Aretha Franklin ( Soul '69 ), Led Zeppelin ( Led Zeppelin ), Don Covay ( House of Blue Lights ), Boz Scaggs ( Boz Scaggs ), Roberta Flack ( First Take ), Wilson Pickett ( Hey Jude ), Mott

1210-432: A consistent big seller through the mid-1960s and scored hits on Atlantic into 1968. In 1962 folk music was booming and the label came very close to signing Peter, Paul & Mary ; although Wexler and Ertegun pursued them vigorously the deal fell through at the last minute and they later discovered music publisher Artie Mogull had introduced their manager Albert Grossman to Warner Bros. executive Herman Starr, who had made

1331-503: A different story, so the story played would be determined by the groove in which the stylus happened to land. In late 1947, James Petrillo , head of the American Federation of Musicians , announced an indefinite ban on all recording activities by union musicians, and this came into effect on January 1, 1948. The union action forced Atlantic to use almost all its capital to cut and stockpile enough recordings to last through

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1452-430: A donation of $ 1.5 million from Ertegun. In 1952 Atlantic signed Ray Charles, whose hits included " I Got a Woman ", " What'd I Say ", and " Hallelujah I Love Her So ". Later that year The Clovers' " One Mint Julep " reached No. 2. In 1953, after learning that singer Clyde McPhatter had been fired from Billy Ward and His Dominoes and was forming The Drifters , Ertegun signed the group. Their single " Money Honey " became

1573-457: A freelance basis, but within a few years he had been hired as the label's full-time staff engineer. His recordings for Atlantic and Stax influenced pop music. He had more hits than George Martin and Phil Spector combined. Atlantic was one of the first independent labels to make recordings in stereo: Dowd used a portable stereo recorder which ran simultaneously with the studio's existing mono recorder. In 1953 (according to Billboard ) Atlantic

1694-906: A jazz singer. Jerry Wexler said, "we're gonna put her back in church." She rose to fame quickly and was called the Queen of Soul. Wexler oversaw production himself at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The result was seven consecutive singles that made both the US Pop and Soul Top 10: " I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) " (Soul No. 1, Pop No. 9), " Respect " (Soul and Pop No. 1), " Baby, I Love You " (Soul No. 1, Pop No. 4), " (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman " (Soul No. 2, Pop No. 8), " Chain of Fools " (Soul No. 1, Pop No. 2), " Since You've Been Gone " (Soul No. 1, Pop No. 5), and " Think " (Soul No. 1, Pop No. 7). In late 1961, singer Solomon Burke arrived at Jerry Wexler's office unannounced. Wexler

1815-843: A long time." The label's office in the Ritz Hotel in Manhattan proved too expensive, so they moved to a room in the Hotel Jefferson. In the early fifties, Atlantic moved from the Hotel Jefferson to offices at 301 West 54th St and then to 356 West 56th St. Atlantic's first recordings were issued in late January 1948 and included "That Old Black Magic" by Tiny Grimes and "The Spider" by Joe Morris. In its early years, Atlantic concentrated on modern jazz although it released some country and western and spoken word recordings. Abramson also produced "Magic Records", children's records with four grooves on each side, each groove containing

1936-535: A long-time friend of Pickett's, delivered the eulogy. Pickett was remembered on March 20, 2006, at New York's B. B. King Blues Club with performances by the Commitments, Ben E. King , his long-term backing band the Midnight Movers, soul singer Bruce "Big Daddy" Wayne, and Southside Johnny in front of an audience that included members of his family, including two brothers. Wilson was inducted into

2057-476: A new arrangement of the traditional blues standard " Stagger Lee " were Top 40 hits Pickett recorded at American. Womack was the guitarist on all recordings. Pickett returned to Fame Studios in late 1968 and early 1969, where he worked with a band that featured guitarist Duane Allman , Hawkins, and bassist Jerry Jemmott . A No. 16 pop hit remake of The Beatles ' " Hey Jude " came out of the Fame sessions, as well as

2178-418: A partnership in Atlantic's rival Imperial Records , he and Wexler convinced Nesuhi to join Atlantic instead. Nesuhi became head of artists and repertoire ( A&R ), led the label's jazz division, and built a roster that included Shorty Rogers , Jimmy Giuffre , Herbie Mann , Les McCann , Charles Mingus , and John Coltrane . By 1958 Atlantic was America's second-largest independent jazz label. Nesuhi

2299-538: A prescient article for Cash Box devoted to what they called "cat music"; the same month, Atlantic had its first major "crossover" hit on the Billboard pop chart when the " Sh-Boom " by The Chords reached No. 5 (although The Crew-Cuts ' version went to No. 1). Atlantic missed an important signing in 1955 when Sun owner Sam Phillips sold Elvis Presley 's recording contract in a bidding war between labels. Atlantic offered $ 25,000 which, Ertegun later noted, "was all

2420-410: A reduced sentence of one year in jail and five years probation. A week after this incident, a judge ordered Pickett to move out of his home after his live-in girlfriend charged him with threatening to have her killed and throwing a vodka bottle at her. In 1996, Pickett was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend Elizabeth Trapp while under the influence of cocaine; she refused to press charges. Pickett

2541-441: A reputation for toughness. Staff engineer Tom Dowd recalled, "Tokyo Rose was the kindest name some people had for her" and Doc Pomus described her as "an extraordinarily vitriolic woman". When interviewed in 2009, she attributed her reputation to the company's chronic cash-flow shortage: "... most of the problems we had with artists were that they wanted advances, and that was very difficult for us ... we were undercapitalized for

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2662-490: A staff producer. Ahmet Ertegun liked him, but Leiber said, "He wasn't likable. He was funny, he was amusing—but he wasn't nice." Wexler disliked him. Miriam Bienstock called him "a pain in the neck". When Spector criticized Bobby Darin's songwriting, Darin had him thrown out of the house. Atlantic tolerated Spector but with diminishing returns. He produced " Twist and Shout " for The Top Notes, and it flopped. Songwriter Bert Berns hated Spector's arrangement and thought it ruined

2783-519: A studio also with a close association with Atlantic Records, located in a converted tobacco warehouse in nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama . Pickett recorded some of his biggest hits there, including the highest-charting version of " Land of 1000 Dances ", which was his third R&B No. 1 and his biggest pop hit, peaking at No. 6. It was a million-selling disc . Other big hits from this era in Pickett's career included his remakes of Mack Rice 's " Mustang Sally " (No. 6 R&B, No. 23 pop), and Dyke &

2904-645: A wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts , now the Warner Music Group , and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young , Led Zeppelin , and Yes . In 2004, Atlantic and its sister label Elektra were merged into the Atlantic Records Group . Craig Kallman is the chairman of Atlantic. Ahmet Ertegun served as founding chairman until his death on December 14, 2006, at age 83. In 1944, brothers Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertegun remained in

3025-535: The Billboard R&;B chart – although McGhee himself earned just $ 10 for the session. Atlantic's fortunes rose rapidly: 187 songs were recorded in 1949, more than three times the amount from the previous two years, and received overtures for a manufacturing and distribution deal with Columbia , which would pay Atlantic a 3% royalty on every copy sold. Ertegun asked about artists' royalties, which he paid, and this surprised Columbia executives, who did not, and

3146-466: The 8th Annual Grammy Awards . The genesis of "In the Midnight Hour" was a recording session on May 12, 1965, at which Wexler worked out a powerful rhythm track with studio musicians Steve Cropper and Al Jackson of the Stax Records house band, including bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn . (Stax keyboard player Booker T. Jones , who usually played with Dunn, Cropper and Jackson as Booker T. &

3267-515: The Big Tree division of Atlantic released his album, Funky Situation , in 1978. In 2010, Rhino Handmade released a comprehensive compilation of these years titled Funky Midnight Mover – The Studio Recordings (1962–1978) . The compilation included all recordings originally issued during Pickett's Atlantic years along with previously unreleased recordings. This collection was sold online only by Rhino.com. Pickett continued to record with success on

3388-467: The "most substantial" in the label's history Zeppelin recorded for Atlantic from 1968 to 1973. After the contract expired, they founded their label Swan Song and signed a distribution deal with Atlantic after being turned down by other labels. Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music , Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made

3509-544: The 1970 album Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia , which featured his next two hit singles, "Engine No. 9" and "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You", the latter selling one million copies. Following these two hits, Pickett returned to Muscle Shoals and the band featuring David Hood, Hawkins and Tippy Armstrong. This lineup recorded Pickett's fifth and last R&B No. 1 hit, "Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1". It

3630-442: The 1970s when it signed Bad Company , Led Zeppelin , and Yes . Despite the huge success Atlantic was enjoying with its own artists and through its deal with Stax, by 1967, Jerry Wexler was seriously concerned about the disintegration of the old order of independent record companies; fearing for the label's future, he began agitating for it to be sold to a larger company. Label President Ahmet Ertegun still had no desire to sell, but

3751-493: The 2002 documentary Only the Strong Survive, directed by D. A. Pennebaker , a selection of both the 2002 Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. In 2003, Pickett was a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. Pickett spent the twilight of his career playing dozens of concert dates every year until the end of 2004, when he began suffering from health problems and took what

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3872-525: The Blazers ' " Funky Broadway ", (R&B No. 1, No. 8 pop). Both tracks were million sellers. The band heard on most of Pickett's Fame recordings included keyboardist Spooner Oldham , guitarist Jimmy Johnson , drummer Roger Hawkins , and bassist Tommy Cogbill . 'A Man and a Half' is the quintessential Pickett title from this period—he's always striving to become more than he has any reason to expect to be. – Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of

3993-644: The Blues Foundation in Memphis. It's Harder Now was voted 'Comeback Blues Album of the Year' and 'Soul/Blues Album of the Year.' Pickett appeared in the 1998 film Blues Brothers 2000 , in which he performed "634-5789" with Eddie Floyd and Jonny Lang . He was previously mentioned in the 1980 film Blues Brothers , which features several members of Pickett's backing band, as well as a performance of " Everybody Needs Somebody to Love ." He co-starred in

4114-609: The Coasters and "What'd I Say" by Ray Charles. Although these were primarily 45rpm mono singles for much of the 1950s Dowd stockpiled his "parallel" stereo takes for future release. In 1968 the label issued History of Rhythm and Blues, Volume 4 in stereo. Stereo versions of Ray Charles "What'd I Say" and "Night Time is the Right Time" were included on the Atlantic anthology The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Recordings, 1952–1959 . Atlantic's New York studio

4235-554: The Ertegun brothers held the majority of stock while Wexler controlled about 20 percent. Ertegun started lifelong grudges against Leiber and Stoller, and his relationship with Wexler was damaged. Atlantic was doing so well in early 1959 that some scheduled releases were held back, and the company enjoyed two successive months of gross sales of over $ 1 million that summer, thanks to hits by The Coasters, The Drifters, LaVern Baker, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, and Clyde McPhatter. Months later

4356-481: The Ertegun brothers vice-president of Progressive. Atlantic played a major role in popularizing the genre that Jerry Wexler dubbed rhythm & blues, and it profited handsomely. The market for these records exploded during late 1953 and early 1954 as R&B hits crossed over to the mainstream (i.e. white) audience. In its tenth anniversary feature on Atlantic, Billboard noted, "... a very big R&B record might achieve 250,000 sales, but from this point on (1953–54),

4477-575: The Hoople ( Mott the Hoople ), and Black Pearl ( Black Pearl ). In 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was taken over by the Kinney National Company , and in the early 1970s the group was rebadged as Warner Communications . After buying Elektra Records and its sister label Nonesuch Records in 1970, Kinney combined the operations of all of its record labels under a new holding company, WEA , and also known as Warner Music Group . WEA

4598-694: The Hop " made the Top 10 on both the US pop and R&B charts and charted in the UK. " Dream Lover " reached No. 2 in the US and No. 1 in the UK and became a multi-million seller. " Mack the Knife " (1959) went to No. 1 in both the US and the UK, sold over 2 million copies, and won the 1960 Grammy Award for Record of the Year. " Beyond the Sea " became Darin's fourth consecutive Top 10 hit in

4719-535: The Hot 100. In 1975, with Pickett's once-prominent chart career on the wane, RCA dropped Pickett from the label. After being dropped, he formed the short-lived Wicked label, where he released one LP, Chocolate Mountain . In 1978, he made a disco album with Big Tree Records titled Funky Situation , which is a coincidence as, at that point, Big Tree was distributed by his former label, Atlantic. The following year, he released an album on EMI titled I Want You . Pickett

4840-401: The M.G.'s , did not play on the studio sessions with Pickett.) Wexler said to Cropper and Jackson, "Why don't you pick up on this thing here?" He performed a dance step. Cropper explained in an interview that Wexler told them that "this was the way the kids were dancing; they were putting the accent on two. Basically, we'd been one-beat-accenters with an afterbeat; it was like 'boom dah,' but here

4961-498: The Never Broke Again label and brand to the next level." Following the label's joint venture deal, Never Broke Again released their first project under the label, Never Broke Again: The Compilation, Vol. 1 on November 19, 2021. The eighteen-track project features artists such as Big B, RJae, NoCap, Meechy Baby, P Yungin, RoJay, Herm, Quando Rondo, and NBA YoungBoy, the label's primarily pushed artists. On June 10, 2022,

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5082-506: The Pack " by The Shangri-Las , but Red Bird's finances were precarious. In 1964 they approached Jerry Wexler and proposed a merger with Atlantic. When interviewed in 1990 for Ertegun's biography, Wexler declined to discuss the matter, but Ertegun claimed these negotiations were a plan to buy him out. In September 1964, the Ertegun brothers and Wexler were in the process of buying out the company's other two shareholders, Sabit and Bienstock, and it

5203-490: The R&;B chart. Brown recorded more than eighty songs for Atlantic, becoming its bestselling, most prolific musician of the period. So significant was Brown's success to Atlantic that the label became known colloquially as "The House That Ruth Built". Joe Morris , one of the label's earliest signings, scored a hit with his October 1950 song "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere", the first Atlantic record issued in 45rpm format, which

5324-488: The R&B charts for RCA in 1973 and 1974, scoring four top 30 R&B hits with "Mr. Magic Man", "Take a Closer Look at the Woman You're With", "International Playboy" (a re-recording of a song he had previously recorded for Atlantic on Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia ), and "Soft Soul Boogie Woogie". However, he was failing to cross over to the pop charts with regularity, as none of these songs reached higher than No. 90 on

5445-610: The Seventies (1981) Near the end of 1967, Pickett began recording at American Studios in Memphis with producers Tom Dowd and Tommy Cogbill , and began recording songs by Bobby Womack . The songs "I'm in Love," "Jealous Love," "I've Come a Long Way," "I'm a Midnight Mover," (co-written by Pickett and Womack), and "I Found a True Love" were Womack-penned hits for Pickett in 1967 and 1968. Pickett recorded works by other songwriters in this period; Rodger Collins ' "She's Lookin' Good" and

5566-704: The Stax house band resulted in " Green Onions ". The single was issued in August 1962 and became the biggest instrumental hit of the year, reaching No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 3 on the pop chart, selling over one million copies. Over the next five years Stax and its subsidiary Volt provided Atlantic with many hits, such as " Respect " by Otis Redding, " Knock on Wood " by Eddie Floyd, " Hold On, I'm Comin' " by Sam and Dave, and " Mustang Sally " by Wilson Pickett. Aretha Franklin signed with Atlantic in 1966 after her contract with Columbia expired. Columbia tried to market her as

5687-505: The Stax masters, so the distribution deal ended in May 1968. Atlantic continues to hold the rights to Stax recordings it distributed in the 1960s. In the wake of the takeover, Jerry Wexler's influence in the company rapidly diminished; by his own admission, he and Ertegun had run Atlantic as "utmost despots" but in the new corporate structure, he found himself unwilling to accept the delegation of responsibility that his executive role dictated. He

5808-416: The UK six or seven times every year in search of acts to sign to the label. For much of its early history, Jerry Wexler had been managers of the label, while Ertegun had concentrated on A&R and had less interest in the business side. But that changed after the sale to Warner. Although Ertegun had been forced into accepting the sale, he turned the situation to his advantage. He gained executive control of

5929-609: The US R&;B charts, many of which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100 . Among his best-known hits are " In the Midnight Hour " (which he co-wrote), " Land of 1000 Dances ", " 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) ", " Mustang Sally ", " Funky Broadway ", "Engine No. 9", and " Don't Knock My Love ". Pickett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, in recognition of his impact on songwriting and recording. Pickett

6050-443: The US and UK. He signed with Capitol and moved for Hollywood to attempt a movie career, but hits such as " You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby " and " Things " continued to benefit Atco through 1962. Darin returned to Atlantic in 1965. In 1965, Atlantic formed a budget label called Clarion Records. 21 albums were released simultaneously in 1965, all of them shown on the back cover of their releases. No further albums were issued as

6171-552: The United States when their mother and sister returned to Turkey after the death of their father Munir Ertegun , Turkey's first ambassador to the U.S. The brothers were fans of jazz and rhythm & blues, amassing a collection of over 15,000 78 RPM records. Ahmet ostensibly stayed in Washington to undertake post-graduate music studies at Georgetown University but immersed himself in the Washington music scene and entered

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6292-545: The Warner recording division was booming – by mid-1968 Warner's recording and publishing interests were generating 74% of the group's total profits. The sale of Atlantic Records activated a clause in the distribution agreement with Stax Records calling for renegotiation of the distribution deal and at this point, the Stax partners discovered that the deal gave Atlantic ownership of all the Stax recordings Atlantic distributed. The new Warner owners refused to relinquish ownership of

6413-463: The balance of power had changed since the abortive takeover attempt of 1962; Atlantic's original investor Dr Vahdi Sabit and minority stockholder Miriam Bienstock had both been bought out in September 1964 and the other remaining partner, Nesuhi Ertegun, was eventually convinced to side with Wexler. Since they jointly held more stock, Ahmet was obliged to agree to the sale. In October 1967, Atlantic

6534-1058: The ban, which was expected to continue for at least a year. Ertegun and Abramson spent much of the late 1940s and early 1950s scouring nightclubs in search of talent. Ertegun composed songs under the alias "A. Nugetre", including Big Joe Turner's hit " Chains of Love ", recording them in booths in Times Square, then giving them to an arranger or session musician. Early releases included music by Sidney Bechet , Barney Bigard , The Cardinals , The Clovers , Frank Culley , The Delta Rhythm Boys , Erroll Garner , Dizzy Gillespie , Tiny Grimes , Al Hibbler , Earl Hines , Johnny Hodges , Jackie & Roy , Lead Belly , Meade Lux Lewis , Professor Longhair , Shelly Manne , Howard McGhee , Mabel Mercer , James Moody , Joe Morris , Art Pepper , Django Reinhardt , Pete Rugolo , Pee Wee Russell , Bobby Short , Sylvia Syms , Billy Taylor , Sonny Terry , Big Joe Turner , Jimmy Yancey , Sarah Vaughan , Mal Waldron , and Mary Lou Williams . In early 1949,

6655-521: The biggest R&B hit of the year. Their records created some controversy: the suggestive " Such A Night " was banned by radio station WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan , and "Honey Love" was banned in Memphis, Tennessee but both reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&;B chart. Recording engineer and producer Tom Dowd played a crucial role in Atlantic's success. He initially worked for Atlantic on

6776-494: The co-owner of Satellite, Jim Stewart , who agreed to lease the record to Atlantic for $ 1000 plus a small royalty—the first money the label had ever made. The deal included a $ 5000 payment against a five-year option on all other records. Satellite was renamed Stax after the owners, Stewart and Axton. The deal marked the start of a successful eight-year association between the two labels, giving Stax access to Atlantic's promotions and distribution. Wexler recalled, "We didn't pay for

6897-610: The company began pressing in January 1951. The Clovers' "Don't You Know I Love You" (composed by Ertegun) became the label's first R&B No. 1 in September 1951. A few weeks later, Brown's "Teardrops from My Eyes" became its first million-selling record. She hit No. 1 again in March–April 1952 with " 5-10-15 Hours ". "Daddy Daddy" reached No. 3 in September 1952, and " Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean " with Connie Kay on drums reached No. 1 in February and March 1953. After Brown left

7018-445: The company was reeling from the successive loss of its two biggest artists, Bobby Darin and Ray Charles, who together accounted for one-third of sales. Darin moved to Los Angeles and signed with Capitol. Charles signed a contract with ABC-Paramount that included higher royalties, a production deal, profit-sharing, and eventual ownership of his master tapes. "I thought we were going to die", Wexler recalled. In 1990 he and Ertegun disputed

7139-440: The content of Charles's contract, which caused a rift. Ertegun remained friendly with Bobby Darin, who returned to Atlantic in 1966. Ray Charles returned to Atlantic in 1977. In 1960, Atlantic's Memphis distributor Buster Williams contacted Wexler and told him he was pressing large quantities of "Cause I Love You", a duet between Carla Thomas and her father Rufus which was released by the small label Satellite. Wexler contacted

7260-426: The course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recordings in January 1948, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz , R&B , and soul by Aretha Franklin , Ray Charles , Wilson Pickett , Sam and Dave , Ruth Brown and Otis Redding . Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax . In 1967, Atlantic became

7381-469: The deal had come into place because he "had a responsibility to [his] artists to make sure to find the right partner for [his] label." Clairborne noted that his decision was influenced by the fact that "Motown has been an inspiration for generations – a place that helps develop artists, songwriters and business executives." Maurice "Kenoe" Jordan, a Grammy Awards winning producer and the vice president of A&R of Motown noted that his decision to proceed with

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7502-408: The deal was influenced by the fact he is also from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and due to that he has "a great understanding of one another and this partnership was always something that I wanted to bring to Motown." He also noted that "YoungBoy is an incredible visionary whose confidence in his artistry is only outdone by his dedication and work ethic. I’m excited to welcome them into Motown and help bring

7623-523: The deal was scuttled. On the recommendation of broadcaster Willis Conover , Ertegun and Abramson visited Ruth Brown at the Crystal Caverns club in Washington and invited her to audition for Atlantic. She was injured in a car accident en route to New York City, but Atlantic supported her for nine months and then signed her. "So Long", her first record for the label, was recorded with Eddie Condon 's band on May 25, 1949. The song reached No. 6 on

7744-454: The deal with the label: "I’m excited to work with Never Broke Again, a homegrown brand that has created an incredibly authentic and credible movement that represents the next generation in Louisiana’s legacy of ground-breaking hip-hop labels. I look forward to working with YoungBoy and Montana to continue to grow their vision and reach their fans around the world." YoungBoy noted that for him,

7865-721: The first being Cat Records . By the mid-1950s Atlantic had an informal agreement with the French label Barclay , and the two companies regularly exchanged titles, usually jazz recordings. Atlantic also began to get recordings distributed in the United Kingdom, first through EMI on a 'one-off' basis. But in September 1955 Miriam Abramson traveled to the UK and signed a distribution deal with Decca. Miriam recalled, "I would deal with people there who were not really comfortable with women in business, so...we would do business very quickly and get it over with." A subsidiary label, Atco ,

7986-461: The following decades (including Motown ), occasionally making the lower to mid-range of the R&B charts, but he had no pop hit after 1974. His career was hindered by his addictions. His alcoholism was exacerbated by heavy cocaine use, and he became increasingly violent towards his family and bandmates. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, despite his personal troubles, Pickett was repeatedly honored for his contributions to music. During this period, he

8107-496: The group, Eddie Floyd and Sir Mack Rice were members. Pickett's biggest success with the Falcons was "I Found a Love", co-written by Pickett and featuring his lead vocals. While only a minor hit for the Falcons, it paved the way for Pickett to embark on a solo career. Pickett later had a solo hit with a re-recorded two-part version of the song, included on his 1967 album The Sound of Wilson Pickett . Soon after recording "I Found

8228-525: The hit " Ruby Baby " for The Drifters . Record producer Phil Spector moved to New York to work with Leiber and Stoller. He learned his trade at Trey Records, a label in California owned by Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood and distributed by Atlantic. Sill recommended Spector to Leiber and Stoller, who assigned him to produce " Corrine, Corrina " by Ray Peterson and " Pretty Little Angel Eyes " by Curtis Lee. Both became hits, and Atlantic hired him as

8349-423: The industry began to see million sellers, one after the other, in the R&B field". Billboard said Atlantic's "fresh sound" and the quality of its recordings, arrangements, and musicians was a great advance from standard R&B records. For five years Atlantic "dominated the rhythm and blues chart with its roster of powerhouse artists". Beginning in 1954, Atlantic created or acquired several subsidiary labels,

8470-437: The label and quickly became a major force in the expanding Warner music group. During 1968, Atlantic established a new subsidiary label, Cotillion Records . The label was originally formed as an outlet for blues and deep Southern soul; its first single, Otis Clay 's version of "She's About A Mover", was an R&B hit. Cotillion's catalog quickly expanded to include progressive rock, folk-rock, gospel, jazz and comedy. In 1976,

8591-408: The label and influenced the Warner group. By contrast, Wexler was disenchanted by Atlantic's move into rock; he left in 1975. Wexler's protégé Jerry L. Greenberg replaced him and played a role in Atlantic's success during the 1970s. In seven years, Greenberg went from personal assistant to president of the label. Wexler had hired Greenberg and acted as his mentor, teaching him the daily operations of

8712-469: The label in 1961, her career declined, and she worked as a cleaner and bus driver to support her children. In the 1980s she sued Atlantic for unpaid royalties; although Atlantic, which prided itself on treating artists fairly, had stopped paying royalties to some musicians. Ertegun denied this was intentional. Brown received a voluntary payment of $ 20,000 and founded the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1988 with

8833-540: The label lasted less than a year. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote "Smokey Joe's Cafe", which became a hit for The Robins. Their label Spark was bought by Atlantic, and they were hired as America's first independent record producers, free to produce for other labels. Two members of The Robins formed The Coasters and recorded hits for Atlantic, such as " Down in Mexico " and " Young Blood ". " Yakety Yak " became Atlantic's first No. 1 pop hit. Leiber and Stoller also wrote

8954-482: The label released its first compilation project, Extortion Season , distributed by Empire . The project sees appearances from Never Broke Again artists such as NBA Big B, NBA KD, and the label's co-founder, OG 3Three. The collective released their second project together, Ain't 2 Long , which was distributed through UnitedMasters. The compilation sees appearances from D-Dawg, Meechy Baby, NBA Ben 10, NBA Big B, NoCap, Phat Black, P Yungin, Quando Rondo, RJAE, Rojay MLP, and

9075-544: The label released its first project of the year, Never Broke Again Presents: Green Flag Activity , the title dedicated to the infamous green flags that they use to represent themselves. The sixteen-track album was preceded by two singles, "Pull Up Actin" by YoungBoy Never Broke Again and P Yungin which was released on April 1, 2022, and "Gang Baby" by YoungBoy Never Broke Again and P Yungin featuring RJAE and Rojay MLP. The collective's second project of

9196-413: The label started focusing on disco and R&B. Among its acts were the post-Curtis Mayfield Impressions , Slave , Brook Benton , Jean Knight , Mass Production , Sister Sledge , The Velvet Underground , Stacy Lattisaw , Lou Donaldson , Mylon LeFevre , Stevie Woods , Johnny Gill , Emerson, Lake & Palmer , Garland Green , The Dynamics , The Fabulous Counts , and The Fatback Band . Cotillion

9317-401: The label was deteriorating in 1962. The breaking point came when they asked for a producer's royalty. It was granted informally, but their accountant insisted on a written contract and an audit of Atlantic's accounts. The audit revealed Leiber and Stoller had been underpaid by $ 18,000. Although Leiber considered dropping the matter, Stoller pressed Atlantic for payment. Wexler exploded and replied

9438-516: The label's co-founder, YoungBoy Never Broke Again. On September 8, 2021, following the promotion of Ethiopia Habtemariam to the Chairman and CEO of Motown Records in March, it was announced that Never Broke Again and Motown Records would enter a joint venture deal and the label would be led by Youngboy and Kyle "Montana" Clairborne. When asked in an interview, Habtemariam spoke on her decision to ink

9559-420: The label's few R&B albums, reserving the 1200 series for jazz. Joel Dorn became Nesuhi's assistant after his successful production of Hubert Laws ' album The Laws of Jazz . When Abramson returned from military service in 1955, he realized that he had been replaced by Wexler as Ahmet's partner. Abramson did not get along with either Wexler or Nesuhi Ertegun, and he had returned from military service with

9680-588: The masters...Jim paid for the masters and then he would send us a finished tape and we would put it out. Our costs began at the production level—the pressing, and distribution, and promotion, and advertising." The deal to distribute Satellite's " Last Night " by The Mar-Keys on the Satellite label marked the first time Atlantic began marketing outside tracks on a non-Atlantic label. Atlantic began pressing and distributing Stax records. Wexler sent Tom Dowd to upgrade Stax's recording equipment and facilities. Wexler

9801-655: The minor hits "Mini-Skirt Minnie" and " Hey Joe " (a remake of the Jimi Hendrix hit). Late 1969 found Pickett at Criteria Studios in Miami. His remakes of the Supremes ' " You Keep Me Hangin' On " (No. 16 R&B, No. 92 pop) and The Archies ' " Sugar, Sugar " (No. 4 R&B, No. 25 pop), and the Pickett original "She Said Yes" (No. 20 R&B, No. 68 pop) came from these sessions. Pickett then teamed up with established Philadelphia -based hitmakers Gamble and Huff for

9922-592: The money we had then." But they were outbid by RCA 's offer of $ 45,000. In 1990 Ertegun remarked, "The president of RCA at the time had been extensively quoted in Variety damning R&B music as immoral. He soon stopped when RCA signed Elvis Presley." Ahmet's older brother Nesuhi was hired in January 1955. He had been living in Los Angeles for several years and had intermittent contact with his younger brother. But when Ahmet learned that Nesuhi had been offered

10043-623: The owner of the Carlin Music / Chappell Music publishing empire). Abramson's departure opened the way for Ahmet Ertegun to take over as president of the label. The roles of the other executives with Abramson's departure were Wexler as executive vice-president and general manager, Nesuhi Ertegun as executive vice-president in charge of the LP department and Miriam Bienstock as vice-president and also president of Atlantic's music publishing arm Progressive Music with Wexler as executive vice-president and

10164-399: The payment would mean the end of their relationship with the label. Leiber and Stoller backed down, but the relationship ended anyway. Their assignment to work on The Drifter's next recording was given to Phil Spector. Leiber and Stoller worked briefly for United Artists , then started Red Bird with George Goldner . They had hits with " Chapel of Love " by The Dixie Cups and " Leader of

10285-544: The previous year, 78s had outsold 45s by a ratio of two to one. In February 1953, Herb Abramson was drafted into the U.S. Army. He moved to Germany, where he served in the Army Dental Corps, although he retained his post as president of Atlantic on full pay. Ertegun hired Billboard reporter Jerry Wexler in June 1953. Wexler is credited with coining the term " rhythm & blues " to replace " race music ". He

10406-652: The record business, which was enjoying a resurgence after wartime restrictions on the shellac used in manufacture. He convinced the family dentist, Vahdi Sabit, to invest $ 10,000 and hired Herb Abramson , a dentistry student. Abramson had worked as a part-time A&R manager/producer for Al Green at the jazz label National Records , signing Big Joe Turner and Billy Eckstine . He founded Jubilee in 1946 but had no interest in its most successful musicians. In September 1947, he sold his share in Jubilee to his partner, Jerry Blaine , and invested $ 2,500 in Atlantic. Atlantic

10527-440: The record business. From Ertegun he learned how to treat musicians. In 1968, by Peter Grant flew to New York with tapes of the debut album by British rock band Led Zeppelin . Ertegun and Wexler knew of the group's leader, Jimmy Page, through The Yardbirds , and their favorable opinion was reinforced by Dusty Springfield , who recommended Atlantic sign the band. Atlantic signed the band to an exclusive five-year contract, one of

10648-468: The song, so Berns re-recorded it with The Isley Brothers and it became a hit. During his short time at Atlantic, Spector produced music for LaVern Baker, Ruth Brown, Jean DuShon , and Billy Storm. In 1961, he left the label, returned to Los Angeles, and founded Philles Records with Lester Sill. Spector became one of the most successful record producers of the 1960s. Although Leiber and Stoller wrote many popular songs for Atlantic, their relationship with

10769-543: The soundtrack album, Soul To Soul , which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Soul LPs chart . Pickett recorded several tracks in 1972 for a planned new album on Atlantic, but after the single "Funk Factory" reached No. 11 R&B and No. 58 pop in June 1972, he left Atlantic for RCA Records . His final Atlantic single, a recording of Randy Newman 's "Mama Told Me Not to Come," was culled from Pickett's 1971 album Don't Knock My Love . However, six years later,

10890-598: The success of gospel singers who had moved to the lucrative secular music market, joined the Falcons in 1959. By 1959, Pickett recorded the song "Let Me Be Your Boy" with the Primettes as background singers. The song is the B-side of his 1963 single "My Heart Belongs to You". The Falcons were an early vocal group bringing gospel into a popular context, thus paving the way for soul music. The group featured notable members who became major solo artists; when Pickett joined

11011-449: The time. Burke admired Pickett's performance of the song, but his own recording of "If You Need Me" became one of his biggest hits (No. 2 R&B, No. 37 pop) and is considered a soul standard. Pickett was crushed when he discovered that Atlantic had given away his song. When Pickett—with a demo tape under his arm—returned to Wexler's studio, Wexler asked whether he was angry about this loss. He denied it, saying "It's over". Pickett's version

11132-469: The trio an irresistible offer that gave them complete creative control over the recording and packaging of their music. The mid-1960s British Invasion led Atlantic to change its British distributor. Decca had refused access to its British acts, who usually appeared in the US on the London subsidiary. In 1966, Atlantic signed a licensing deal with Polydor which included the band Cream , whose debut album

11253-551: The year, the Halloween themed Never Broke Again: Nightmare on 38th St was released on October 28, 2022. It was preceded by one single, "Searching" by NBA Ben 10. The project only featured artists from YoungBoy's hometown, Baton Rouge. Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records ) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson . Over

11374-441: Was This Is My Beloved (March 1949), a 10" album of poetry by Walter Benton that was narrated by John Dall with music by Vernon Duke . In 1951, Atlantic was one of the first independent labels to press records in the 45rpm single format. By 1956 the 45 had surpassed the 78 in sales for singles. In April of that year, Miriam (Abramson) Bienstock reported to Billboard that Atlantic was selling 75% of its singles as 45s. During

11495-403: Was a fan of Burke's and had long wanted to sign him so when Burke told Wexler his contract with his former label had expired Wexler replied: "You're home. I'm signing you today". The first song Wexler produced with Burke was "Just Out of Reach", which became a big hit in September 1961. The soul/country & western crossover predated Ray Charles' similar venture by more than 6 months. Burke became

11616-772: Was a popular composer, writing songs that were recorded by many artists, including Van Halen , the Rolling Stones , Aerosmith , the Grateful Dead , Booker T. & the MGs , Genesis , Creedence Clearwater Revival , Hootie & the Blowfish , Echo & the Bunnymen , Roxy Music , Bruce Springsteen , Los Lobos , the Jam and Ani DiFranco , among others. Pickett continued to record sporadically with several labels over

11737-429: Was a thing that went 'um-chaw,' just the reverse as far as the accent goes." Pickett recorded three sessions at Stax in May and October 1965. He was joined by keyboardist Isaac Hayes for the October sessions. In addition to "In the Midnight Hour," Pickett's 1965 recordings included the singles "Don't Fight It," (No. 4 R&B, No. 53 pop) " 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.) " (No. 1 R&B, No. 13 pop) and "Ninety-Nine and

11858-431: Was able to maintain autonomy through the parent company reorganizations and continue to do their own marketing, while WEA handled distribution. Some acts on the Atlantic roster in this period were British (including Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Yes, Bad Company and Phil Collins) and this was largely due to Ertegun. According to Greenberg, Ertegun had long seen the UK as a source of untapped talent. At his urging, Greenberg visited

11979-432: Was also alienated from the "rockoid" white acts that were quickly becoming the label's most profitable commodities and dispirited by the rapidly waning fortunes of the black acts he had championed, such as Ben E. King and Solomon Burke. Wexler ultimately decided to leave New York and move to Florida. Following his departure, Ertegun—who had previously taken little interest in Atlantic's business affairs—took decisive control of

12100-401: Was also in charge of LP production. He was credited with improving the production, packaging, and originality of Atlantic's LPs. He deleted the old '100' and '400' series of 10" albums and the earlier 12" albums in Atlantic's catalog, starting the '1200' series, which sold for $ 4.98, with Shorty Rogers' The Swingin' Mr Rogers . In 1956 he started the '8000' popular series (selling for $ 3.98) for

12221-764: Was also responsible for launching the career of Luther Vandross , who recorded for the label as part of the trio Luther. Cotillion also released the triple-albums soundtrack of the Woodstock festival film in 1970. From 1970 it also distributed Embryo Records , founded by jazz flautist Herbie Mann after his earlier Atlantic contract had expired. In addition to establishing Cotillion, Atlantic began expanding its own roster to include rock, soul/rock, progressive rock, British bands and singer songwriters. Two female artists were personally signed by Wexler, with album releases in 1969, Dusty Springfield ( Dusty in Memphis ) and Lotti Golden ( Motor-Cycle ), although Golden also had

12342-456: Was also used as a label for distributing the company's artists outside North America. In January 1970, Ahmet Ertegun was successful in his executive battle against Warner Bros. Records President Mike Maitland to keep Atlantic Records autonomous and as a result, Maitland was fired by Kinney president Steve Ross . Ertegun recommended Mo Ostin to succeed Maitland as Warner Bros. Records president. With Ertegun's power at Warners now secure, Atlantic

12463-522: Was another Pickett recording that rang up sales in excess of a million copies. Two further hits followed in 1971: "Call My Name, I'll Be There" (No. 10 R&B, No. 52 pop) and "Fire and Water" (No. 2 R&B, No. 24 pop), a cover of a song by the rock group Free . In March 1971, Pickett headlined the Soul To Soul concert in Accra to commemorate Ghana 's 14th Independence Day . He is featured on

12584-536: Was appointed vice-president and purchased 13% of the company's stock. Wexler and Ertegun formed a close partnership which, in collaboration with Tom Dowd, produced thirty R&B hits. Wexler's success for Atlantic was the result of going outside jazz to sign acts who combined jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues, such as Ray Charles, Joe Turner, and Aretha Franklin. Ertegun and Wexler realized many R&B recordings by black musicians were being covered by white performers, often with greater chart success. LaVern Baker had

12705-673: Was born March 18, 1941, in Prattville , Alabama, and sang in Baptist church choirs. He was the fourth of 11 children and called his mother "the baddest woman in my book," telling historian Gerri Hirshey: "I get scared of her now. She used to hit me with anything, skillets, stove wood ... [one time I ran away and] cried for a week. Stayed in the woods, me and my little dog." Pickett eventually left to live with his father in Detroit in 1955. Pickett's forceful, passionate style of singing

12826-786: Was charged with cocaine possession. Pickett died on January 19, 2006, as a result of a heart attack. He had been suffering from health problems for the last year of his life and had spent considerable time in the hospital. He died at a hospital in Reston, Virginia . At the time of his death, Pickett was living in Ashburn, Virginia . He was laid to rest in a mausoleum at Evergreen Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky . Pickett spent many years in Louisville. Pastor Steve Owens of Decatur, Georgia , presided over his funeral, and Little Richard ,

12947-518: Was developed in the church and on the streets of Detroit, under the influence of recording stars such as Little Richard , whom he referred to as "the architect of rock and roll." In 1955, Pickett joined the Violinaires, a gospel group. The Violinaires played with another gospel group on concert tour in America. After singing for four years in the popular gospel-harmony group, Pickett, lured by

13068-399: Was established in 1955 to keep Abramson involved. After a slow start, Atco had considerable success with Bobby Darin . His early releases were unsuccessful, and Abramson planned to drop him. But when Ertegun offered him another chance, the result was " Splish Splash ", which Darin had written in 12 minutes. The song sold 100,000 copies in the first month and became a million-seller. " Queen of

13189-429: Was impressed by the cooperative atmosphere at the Stax studios and by its racially integrated house band, which he called "an unthinkably great band". He brought Atlantic musicians to Memphis to record. Stewart and Wexler hired Al Bell , a disk jockey at a radio station in Washington D.C., to take over promotion of Stax releases. Bell was the first African-American partner in the label. An after-hours jam by members of

13310-400: Was incorporated in October 1947 and was run by Abramson (president) and Ertegun (vice-president in charge of A&R, production, and promotion). Abramson's wife Miriam ran the label's publishing company, Progressive Music, and did most office duties until 1949 when Atlantic hired its first employee, bookkeeper Francine Wakschal, who remained with the label for the next 49 years. Miriam gained

13431-436: Was initially intended to be year-long break from performing. While in the hospital, he returned to his spiritual roots and told his sister that he wanted to record a gospel album, but he never recovered. On September 10, 2014, TVOne's Unsung program aired a documentary that focused on Pickett's life and career. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Pickett at number 76 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. Pickett

13552-410: Was invited to perform at Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary concert in 1988, and his music was prominently featured in the 1991 film The Commitments , with Pickett as an off-screen character. In the late 1990s, Pickett returned to the studio and received a Grammy Award nomination for the 1999 album It's Harder Now . The comeback resulted in his being honored as Soul/Blues Male Artist of the Year by

13673-454: Was not until around 1958 that the single stylus microgroove system (in which the two stereo channels were cut into either side of a single groove) became the industry standard. By the late 1950s stereo LPs and turntables were being introduced. Atlantic's early stereo recordings included "Lover's Question" by Clyde McPhatter, " What Am I Living For " by Chuck Willis , "I Cried a Tear" by LaVern Baker, "Splish Splash" by Bobby Darin, "Yakety Yak" by

13794-485: Was proposed that Leiber and Stoller buy Sabit's shares. Leiber, Stoller, Goldner, and Wexler suggested their plan to Ertegun at a lunch meeting at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Leiber and Stoller told Ertegun they had no intention of buying him out, but Ertegun was aggravated by Goldner's attitude and was convinced Wexler was conspiring with them. Wexler told Ertegun if he refused, the deal would be done without him. But

13915-538: Was released by Atco in 1966. In 1967, the group traveled to Atlantic's studio in New York City to record Disraeli Gears with Tom Dowd; it became a Top 5 LP in both the US and the UK, with the single " Sunshine of Your Love " reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wexler dismissed developments in pop music, dubbing the musicians "the rockoids". However, Atlantic profited from moving into rock music in

14036-468: Was released on Double L Records as his debut solo single and was a moderate hit, peaking at No. 30 R&B and No. 64 pop. Pickett's first significant success as a solo artist came with "It's Too Late", an original composition (not to be confused with the Chuck Willis standard of the same name). Entering the charts on July 27, 1963, it peaked at No. 7 on the R&B chart (No. 49 pop); the same title

14157-418: Was sold to Warner Bros.-Seven Arts for US$ 17.5 million, although all the partners later agreed that it was a poor deal that greatly undervalued Atlantic's true worth. Initially, Atlantic and Atco operated entirely separately from the group's other labels, Warner Bros. Records and Reprise Records , and management did not interfere with the music division, since the ailing movie division was losing money, while

14278-441: Was the father of four children. At the time of his death, he was engaged. Pickett's struggle with alcoholism and cocaine addiction led to run-ins with the law. In 1991, Pickett was arrested for yelling threats while drunkenly driving his car over the front lawn of Donald Aronson, the mayor of Englewood, New Jersey . He faced charges of drunk driving, refusing to take a breath test, and resisting arrest. Pickett agreed to perform

14399-518: Was the first in America to install multitrack recording machines, developed by the Ampex company. Bobby Darin's "Splish, Splash" was the first song to be recorded on an 8-track recorder. It was not until the mid-1960s that multitrack recorders became the norm in English studios and EMI's Abbey Road Studios did not install 8-track facilities until 1968. Atlantic entered the LP market early: its first

14520-410: Was the first label to issue commercial LPs recorded in the experimental stereo system called binaural recording . In this system, recordings were made using two microphones, spaced at approximately the distance between the human ears, and the left and right channels were recorded as two separate, parallel grooves. Playing them back required a turntable with a special tone-arm fitted with dual needles; it

14641-694: Was used for Pickett's debut album, released in the same year. Compiling several of Pickett's single releases for Double L, It's Too Late showcased a raw soulful sound that foreshadowed the singer's performances throughout the coming decade. The single's success persuaded Wexler and Atlantic to buy Pickett's recording contract from Double L in 1964. Pickett's Atlantic career began with the self-produced single, "I'm Gonna Cry". Looking to boost Pickett's chart chances, Atlantic paired him with record producer Bert Berns and established songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil . With this team, along with arranger, conductor Teacho Wiltshire Pickett recorded "Come Home Baby,"

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