“patent development”: Ibid.
“sixty odd”: Ibid.
“working very hard”: Ibid.
“getting the patents”: Ibid.
“usually had quite”: Ibid.
“The record company”: Ibid.
“and this figure”: Ibid.
“26 distributors”: Ibid.
“$90.00 to”: Ibid.
“tremendous master”: Ibid.
“elderly couple”: Ibid.
“extremely nice”: Ibid.
“absolutely schmaltz”: Bienstock.
it would “make”: Ibid.
“either Montgomery Clift”: Letter from AE to Selma Goksel, January 28, 1949, AE Archive.
“We made a recording”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, January 23, 2003, AE Archive.
“did not sell”: Bienstock.
“Dear Ahmedakis”: Undated letter to AE from Vernon Duke, AE Archive.
“in Variety, Newsweek”: Ibid.
“a series of”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, January 23, 2003, AE Archive.
“the music of”: Ibid.
“of course a mistake”: Ibid.
“Can’t you push”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
while pushing around: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mcghee_stick.
In a photograph: Photo, Frank Driggs Collection; in AE, “What’d I Say.”
“Drinkin’ wine”: Tosches, Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll.
“The only blues singers”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“That’s my brother’s”: Ibid.
“No man”: Ibid.
Wilbert “Big Chief” Ellis: the houndog.blogspot.com.
“sometimes sing 13 bars”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“gave us confidence”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“a stack of”: Ibid.
“the police couldn’t have”: Ibid.
FOUR: THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT
“Ahmet was eyeing”: Evans, Ray Charles.
“and from then”: Ruth Brown with Yule, Miss Rhythm.
describe the relationship: Trow, “Profiles.”
“I hired a singer”: Deffaa, Blue Rhythms.
“got a job”: Smith, Off the Record: An Oral History of Popular Music.
“Washington’s elite would”: http:culturemob.com.
A curving replica: www.pbs.org/ellingtonsde.
elegantly dressed guests: www.gwu.edu.
“Rendezvous of the”: Ruth Brown with Yule, Miss Rhythm.
“a gorgeous lady”: Ibid.
“high energy performance”: nfo.net/usa.
offered the singer: Deffaa, Blue Rhythms.
sent a telegram: Bienstock.
“There is a girl”: Ibid.
“She was”: Deffaa, Blue Rhythms.
“Ruth Brown was”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, January 23, 2003, AE Archive.
Her biggest number: Trow, “Profiles.”
“Ruth Brown wanted”: Atlantic: Hip to the Tip.
“Capitol also”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
Waxie Maxie Silverman: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“The well-established”: Ruth Brown with Yule, Miss Rhythm.
“ ‘manager’—in quotes”: Deffaa, Blue Rhythms.
Billie Holiday: Ruth Brown with Yule, Miss Rhythm.
“in her powder-blue”: Ibid.
“on which to scribble”: Ibid.
$1,000: Deffaa, Blue Rhythms.
“love of Ahmet”: Ibid.
“already in”: Ibid.
John Hammond: Marsh.
“what I would”: Ruth Brown with Yule, Miss Rhythm.
“Ruth Brown wanted”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“I said, ‘Let’s sing’ ”: “The World of Soul,” Billboard.
“For us”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“He said, ‘Yeah. But’ ”: Ibid.
“went nowhere”: Ruth Brown with Yule, Miss Rhythm.
“I had tasted”: Ibid.
“loved and respected”: Ibid.
“the more forceful”: Ibid.
“made many of the”: Ibid.
composed “especially”: Ibid.
seven-inch 45 RPM: Ibid.
“They were charging”: Ruth Brown with Yule, Miss Rhythm.
“Calloway Assoc. Formed”: The Billboard, July 30, 1949.
“I actually called Ruth”: Marsh.
“What did it mean?”: Ruth Brown with Yule, Miss Rhythm.
“Blanche Calloway diplomatically”: Deffaa, Blue Rhythms.
“I was Ruth’s manager”: Bienstock.
“The whole thing”: Ibid.
315-pound: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lomax.
first field trip down: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“any real funky blues”: Ibid.
“Unfortunately”: AE, Keynote address to Music Row Industry Summit, undated, AE Archive.
“Herb and I”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“the most incredible”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“playing incredible”: Ibid.
“could tell it”: Ibid.
“Have you”: Ibid.
“Man, I am”: Ibid.
Lomax had recorded: en.wikipedia.org/Blind_Willie_McTell.
“No man”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“made himself”: Wilentz, Bob Dylan in America.
“a musical magician”: AE, “What’d I say.”
“I ain’t going”: Ibid.
muddy field: AE, Author Interview, 11/72.
“the rhythm”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“or rather”: Ibid.
“like an animated”: Ibid.
“there had never been”: Trow, “Profiles.”
“We’re from”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“Just put”: Ibid.
“because they figured”: Ibid.
“creating these weird”: Ibid.
“singing in the”: Ibid.
“My God!”: Ibid.
“I’m terribly”: Ibid.
same studio in Atlanta: www.jazzdisco.org.
Star Records: en.Wikipedia.org/Professor_Longhair.
and His New Orleans Boys: www.jazzdisco.org.
Roy Byrd: encyclopedia.stateuniversity.com.
Selective Service Act: en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Training_and_Service_Act_of_1940.
“male alien who”: Letter from Welsh to AE, November 22, 1948, AE Archive.
three more letters: Letter from Welsh to AE, February 23, 1949, AE Archive.
“not now entitled”: Letter from Welsh to AE, March 29, 1949, AE Archive.
“that is, your”: Ibid.
“draft holiday”: www.history.com—Peacetime Conscription.
“continue my studies”: AE, Undated letter, AE Archive.
his political views: en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Heimann.
“Dr. E. Heimann”: Examination Booklet, January 30, 1951, AE Archive.
“Please explain”: Letter to AE from Nesuhi Ertegun, November 21, 1952, AE Archive.
“preference immigrant”: Undated letter to Sadi Koylan from M. M. Notkins, Levitt, Rosenberg, Stone, and Notkins, AE Archive.
On June 8, 1953: Letter to AE from United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, June 8, 1953, AE Archive.
FIVE: MESS AROUND
“Although Ray”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“I remember when”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, April 22, 2003, AE Archive.
$4,880: AE, Withholding Statement, W-2 Form, 1950, AE Archive.
“one dollar and”: AE, Document, July 10, 1950, AE Archive.
fathered twelve children: en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Charles.
first began using: Charles and Ritz, Brother Ray.
“in a style modeled”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
the Lotus Club: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, January 23, 2003, AE Archive.
“I want a”: Lydon, Ray Charles.
“I guarantee”: Evans, Ray Charles.
“Done deal”: Ibid.
“Ray Charles, Blind Pianist”: Lydon, Ray Charles.
no hurry: Ibid.
“Ray Charles!”: AE, The Charlie Rose Show, 2/21/05, AE Archive.
“produced four jazz-influenced”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
New York musicians: Lydon, Ray Charles.
“very temperamental”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
spent a week: Lydon, Ray Charles.
“such a small”: Kornbluth, “Ahmet Ertegun.”
“I Know”: Standard Uniform Popular Songwriter’s Contract Agreement, December 14, 1950, AE Archive.
capital letters: Document, AE Archive.
“a flimsy vinyl”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“an eccentric”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“Some people”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“had a great”: Poole, “Lush Life.”
“We’d get”: Kornbluth, “Ahmet Ertegun.”
“I wrote teenage”: Poole, “Lush Life.”
setting the tempo: Lydon, Ray Charles.
died three months: en.Wikipeida.org./wiki/Pinetop_Smith.
“Whereas we thought”: AE, Speech for Ray Charles, AE Archive.
Nesuhi called: Gottlieb.
“a very attractive”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003, AE Archive.
Carl Enstam: AE, Marriage License, January 28, 1953, AE Archive.
a minister: Gross, “The Real Sultan of Swing.”
eight different movies: www.imdb.com.
“glamour girls”: cgi.ebay.co.uk/Glamour-cigarette-cards-Actresses-Showgirls.
married once before: AE, Marriage License, January 28, 1953, AE Archive.
After studying drama: http://library.uncg.edu/Women’sVeteransHistoricalCollection, Oral History Interview with Coralee Burson Davis.
mental cruelty: AE, Marriage License, January 28, 1953, AE Archive.
Hodgkin’s disease: http://library.uncg.edu/Women’sVeteransHistoricalCollection, Coralee Burson Davis Collection.
Hartford Agency composite: Document, AE Archive.
in a photograph: Photo, Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“did stage sets”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003, AE Archive.
“a nice apartment”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, April 22, 2003, AE Archive.
“When they”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003, AE Archive.
“artist”: AE, Marriage License, January 28, 1953, AE Archive.
Sadi Koylan: Marriage Certificate, February 6, 1953.
Charles Addams: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003.
“finally found an”: Ibid.
“She then became”: Ibid.
“They got married”: Bienstock.
“getting very tan”: Letter to AE from Jan Holm, July 23, 1954, AE Archive.
“He used to be”: Hughes.
“When I was”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003, AE Archive.
“He told me then”: Goksel.
“It was difficult”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003, AE Archive.
“decided to separate”: Ibid.
“She said”: Ibid.
“a good friend”: Bienstock.
“I was very”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003, AE Archive.
“After Jan and I”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, April 22, 2003, AE Archive.
“who had”: Mica Ertegun.
Ray Charles would: Atlantic: Hip to the Tip.
“Are you coming”: Wade and Picardie, Music Man.
“What are”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, January 23, 2003, AE Archive.
“Tokyo Rose”: Wade and Picardie, Music Man.
“If the distributors”: Bienstock.
“as coldly neutral”: Lydon, Ray Charles.
“Herr Doktor”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003, AE Archive.
“Nein, nein”: Ibid.
“ ‘Oh, this’ ”: Ibid.
opera singer: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dowd.
“He was”: Bienstock.
“In those days”: Kornbluth, “Ahmet Ertegun.”
“What tools”: Tosches, Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll.
“Hell, if you’re”: Ibid.
“began to approach”: Ibid.
“Jesse Stone”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“like people”: Ibid.
“In half an”: Ibid.
“I listened”: Tosches, Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll.
“based on”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“was all wrong”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
SIX: SHAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL
“With Jerry”: Smith, Off the Record.
“When I left”: Wade and Picardie, Music Man.
“Everyone was worried”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, January 30, 2003, AE Archive.
“considered them”: Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“Being your”: Ibid.
“guru”: Ibid.
“Ackerman said”: Stein.
“an ecstatic Marxist”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“always a flaming”: Ibid.
“Gerald is”: Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“I’ve never”: Ibid.
“oedipal implications”: Ibid.
“Freud, shmeud”: Ibid.
“an affinity for”: Ibid.
“I was the only”: Holland, “I Met Everybody in the Business.”
“Rhythm and blues is”: Wexler, Interview by McFarland and Titus, KKSU.
“because she”: Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“fell into”: Ibid.
“about our craft”: Wexler, Speech for Jesse Stone, Urban League Dinner, Orlando, Florida, 1996.
“always looked on”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“If I was”: Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“ravening fear”: Wade and Picardie, Music Man.
“We were very similar”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“little playlets”: Ibid.
“The road trips”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“do you no good”: Cohodas, Spinning Blues into Gold.
“He was like”: Chess.
“the New York Jews”: Ibid.
“poured them out”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“chaya”: Ibid.
“The Chess brothers”: Ibid.
“ ‘Listen, motherfucker’ ”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“Ahmet used to”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“I can’t bother”: Cohodas, Spinning Blues into Gold.
“If his records”: Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“was a good friend”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, January 30, 2003, AE Archive.
“I liked Leonard”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“Get the fuck”: Cohodas, Spinning Blues into Gold.
“a steady”: Ibid.
“Motherfucker”: Ibid.
“It’s fashionable to”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“We weren’t”: Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“The Basie Band”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“the toughest”: Ibid.
“shouldn’t be”: Ibid.
“Okay, if you”: Cornyn with Scanlon, Exploding.
“For four”: Ibid.
“All right, cuz”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“I threw a”: Tosches, Unsung Heroes of Rock
’n’ Roll.
“the perfect record”: Ibid.
“a story of”: Marcus, “Atlantic Records 1947–54,” quoted in “What’d I Say.”
“a great actor”: Ibid.
“their heads off”: Ibid.
“a flashy”: Ibid.
“still sounds”: Ibid.
“These guys”: Paul Wexler.
“very inexpensive motel”: AE, “What’d I Say.”
“I’ve got something”: Ibid.
“stunned”: Lydon, Ray Charles.
“an amazing succession”: Ibid.
“anxious stream”: Ibid.
“had found”: Ibid.
“The record blended”: Ibid.
“a sing-along”: Ibid.
“It was a real”: Ibid.
“quick mimic”: Ibid.
“played a”: Ibid.
“Totally focused”: Ibid.
“followed the news”: Ibid.
SEVEN: BROTHERS IN ARMS
“Ahmet looked upon”: Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“Herb’s Back”: News from Atlantic press release, April 25, 1955.
“the bobby soxers”: Cohen, Machers and Rockers.
“Up-to-date”: Ibid.
“You can’t”: AE, Unidentified video interview, AE Archive.
“So, foolish”: Wade and Picardie, Music Man.
“exasperation and exacerbation”: Wexler and Ritz, Rhythm and the Blues.
“Nesuhi was the”: Hentoff, quoted in AE, “What’d I Say.”
“let us decide”: Ibid.
“they knew Nesuhi”: Ibid.
“There was also”: Ibid.
“moldy fig”: Wade and Picardie, Music Man.
“That was”: Ibid.
“When Herb”: Bienstock.
“Herb came”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“an absolutely”: Wade and Picardie, Music Man.
“He fancied himself”: Ibid.
“Herb lost”: Bienstock.
“I think Herb”: Gottlieb.
“never knew”: Abramson.
“Herb was”: Confidential Author Interview.
“He came back”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“She was very”: Bienstock.
“To this point”: Ibid.
“to prove that”: Gillett, Making Tracks.
“It behooved us”: Jerry Wexler, Author Interview.
“The Ahmet Ertigons”: Louis Sobol, “New York Cavalcade,” New York Journal-American, November 20, 1957.
“the muse for”: Bienstock.
“the cool all-American”: Time, December 22, 1961.
“The girls I was”: AE, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, March 14, 2003, AE Archive.