Wood, Len
Woodgate, Crispian
World’s Work magazine
Wright, Chris
Wright, Nicholas
Wyatt, Trevor
Wynshaw, David
XL Recordings
XTC
Yank magazine
Yardbirds
Yarrow, Peter
Yates, Herbert
Yetnikoff, Walter. See also Columbia artists; Columbia/CBS
cocaine addiction
on Davis at Columbia
on Landau as Springsteen’s manager
power and excess
retirement
Young, Lester
Young, Neil
Young Rascals
ZE Records
Zimmerman, David
Zomba Group
Zonophone
Phonograph inventor Thomas Edison, 1895. He gave us the technology, but without musical ears, his world-famous brand would never make an impact. (Library of Congress)
Gramophone inventor Emile Berliner. Musician and idealist, his brief but decisive influence on the fledgling industry would inspire the twentieth century. (Library of Congress)
The first record mogul, Victor Talking Machine founder Eldridge R. Johnson. He effectively inherited Berliner’s patents and built the biggest label in the world. (Library of Congress)
Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, the first international superstar of the record age. Beside him, the machine that transformed the industry, the Victrola. (Library of Congress)
The birth of the modern record man, Ralph Peer. From Okeh field recorder to country mogul, in 1920 he recorded Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues,” then in 1928 recorded the equally seminal Bristol Sessions featuring Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. (Courtesy of peermusic)
Harry Pace, founder of Ethel Waters’s mythical label, Black Swan. Despite its claims as the first authentic African-American record company, Pace may have been Italian. (Courtesy of Peter Pace)
John Lomax, musicologist and field recorder who in 1933 discovered Lead Belly in a state penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana. (Library of Congress)
“It was twenty years ago today.” Beatles producer George Martin, sublieutenant observer in the British Fleet Air Arm, 1947. He had just taught himself music theory and in 1950 would join Parlophone, an EMI label on Abbey Road. (Courtesy of George Martin)
CBS founder William Paley. He bought out Columbia in 1938 and remained its corporate chairman until 1983. (Library of Congress)
Goddard Lieberson, the witty musicianpresident of Columbia in its golden age. (Sony Music Archive)
John Hammond, the A&R legend who discovered Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Bruce Springsteen. (Courtesy of Rosita Sarnoff)
Sun Records founder Sam Phillips at Graceland, 1981. He signed Howlin’ Wolf, Rufus Thomas, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. (Courtesy of Tom Zito)
The record industry’s most lovable rogue, Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic. His starspangled career spanned five decades. (Warner Music Archive)
Jerry Wexler, Billboard writer turned R&B producer who broke Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. In 1968, he also signed Led Zeppelin to Atlantic. (Warner Music Archive)
A man with a plan, Steve Ross, Warner’s corporate boss from 1970 to 1992. (Warner Music Archive)
Highfliers on the Warner jet: (Left to right) Stan Cornyn, Russ Thyret, Joe Smith, Chrysalis founders Terry Ellis and Chris Wright. Mo Ostin is seated on the extreme right. (Courtesy of Stan Cornyn)
(Left to right) Columbia boss Clive Davis with Nina and Jac Holzman, New York, 1968. (Jac Holzman Archive)
Jimi Hendrix watched by his roadie Dave Robinson during the recording of Eire Apparent’s Sunrise album, Los Angeles, 1968. (Courtesy of Dave Robinson)
From Greenwich Village to Sunset Strip—Jac Holzman, the Elektra founder who signed the Doors. (Jac Holzman Archive)
Arguably Britain’s greatest ever record man, Island founder Chris Blackwell. Among many important signatures, his proudest achievement was bringing Bob Marley to the world. (Courtesy of Petersimon.com)
Stiff Records cofounder Dave Robinson with guitarist Martin Belmont, 1979. An Irishman in search of London’s own folk, Robinson discovered and broke Ian Dury, Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, Lene Lovich, Madness, and the Pogues. (Courtesy of Dave Robinson)
Simon Draper, the ears behind Virgin Records. Signing Mike Oldfield, Tangerine Dream, XTC, the Flying Lizards, OMD, the Human League, Simple Minds, Heaven 17, UB40, Culture Club, Phil Collins, and many others, Draper was instrumental in forging the sound of the eighties. (Courtesy of Simon Draper)
Supertramp’s Crime of the Century launch, 1974. (Left to right) Band manager Dave Margereson, A&M London boss Derek Green, a bobby questioning A&M cofounder Jerry Moss about the party serving alcohol after hours. Green and Moss would later break the Police. (Courtesy of Derek Green)
Punk pioneers: The Ramones with Sire cofounder Seymour Stein (third from right) standing beside band manager Danny Fields (far right). In 1968, Fields brought MC5 and protopunks the Stooges onto Elektra. Seymour Stein would soon sign Talking Heads and, in 1982, Madonna. (Warner Music Archive)
Ivo Watts-Russell, cofounder of 4AD, the label behind Bauhaus, Modern English, the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Throwing Muses, and Pixies. (Courtesy of Ivo Watts-Russell)
Mute founder and electro pioneer Daniel Miller. Another key tastemaker of the eighties, he broke Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Yazoo, Erasure, and, later, Moby and Goldfrapp. (Courtesy of Antoine Giacomoni)
Geoff Travis, the young idealist who started the Rough Trade story. As an A&R man, he signed Cabaret Voltaire, Stiff Little Fingers, Virgin Prunes, the Fall, and the Smiths. He managed Pulp and, with partner Jeannette Lee, signed the Strokes, Antony and the Johnsons, Warpaint, the Libertines, Alabama Shakes, and Palma Violets. (Courtesy of Geoff Travis)
Martin Mills, Beggars Group chairman and indie-community chieftain. Forty years in the game, he remains probably the most respected figure in the business. (Courtesy of Martin Mills)
The catalyst in Seattle, Sub Pop founder Bruce Pavitt. Inspired by Rough Trade in England, he began America’s very own indie charts and eventually discovered Nirvana. (Courtesy of Bruce Pavitt)
Hip-hop pioneer and Tommy Boy founder Tom Silverman. Researching break beats as a journalist in 1980, he found Afrika Bambaataa, a path that led him to Queen Latifah, De La Soul, and many others. (Courtesy of Tom Silverman)
Young mogul Craig Kallman, today’s CEO of Atlantic. A former deejay, he has privately built up one of the largest vinyl collections in the world, measuring some 750,000 discs. (Courtesy of Grayson Dantzic)
Rick Rubin, Def Jam and American Recordings founder—arguably the most important producer of his generation. As a young man, he mixed rock with hip-hop, producing Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. As well as the milestone Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers, he produced Johnny Cash’s last albums. (Photograph by Annabel Mehran)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gareth Murphy was raised in Dublin surrounded by music and the musicians with whom his father worked as a concert promoter. A graduate of University College Dublin, Murphy has worked at various record companies and has produced thirty electronic compilations. Composing and producing original music, he is a freelance writer and researcher for journals and think tanks. Murphy lives in Paris with his wife and four-year-old son.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
COWBOYS AND INDIES. Copyright © 2014 by Gareth Murphy. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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Cover design and illustration by Rob Grom
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Murphy, Gareth.
Cowboys and indies: the epic history of the record industry / Gareth Murphy.—First edition.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-250-04337-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-4174-1 (e-book)
1. Sound recording industry—History. I. Title.
ML3790.M665 2014
338.4'778—dc23
2014008591
e-ISBN 9781466841741
First Edition: June 2014
Cowboys and Indies: The Epic History of the Record Industry Page 45
