Ertegun, Ahmet (1923—)

Ahmet Ertegun is the foremost music entrepreneur of the rock 'n' roll age. He and partner Herb Abramson founded Atlantic Records in 1947 on a loan of $10,000. Under Ertegun's guidance, Atlantic Records was a key force in the introduction of rhythm and blues (R&B) and rock 'n' roll into the American mainstream. Atlantic has since become one of the top labels in the world. Ertegun's impact extends well beyond Atlantic Records. His astute guidance helped shape the career of dozens of other top music executives, among them mega-mogul David Geffen. Ertegun is also a founding member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and served as its chairman. He was inducted into the hall in 1987 and the museum's main exhibition hall bears his name. Interestingly, Ertegun was also instrumental in bringing soccer to the United States—he was president of the highly successful New York Cosmos team during the 1970s. Clearly an ingenious mind, Ertegun has also won many prestigious humanitarian awards for his tireless efforts on a number of civil rights and civil liberties fronts.

Ertegun's unique ear for talent and his penetrating insight into the music industry were developed early. A child of the Turkish Ambassador, Ertegun and his older brother Nesuhi spent many of their formative years in Washington D.C. where they became ravenous jazz and blues fans. Their teenage record collection is reported to have numbered in the thousands and long before they were of legal age, the brothers had seen many of the great jazzmen of the era, including Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

While studying philosophy at St. John's College, Ertegun became increasingly frustrated in his search for the recordings of many of the jazz and blues performers he had seen live. In response, he decided to start Atlantic Records in order to record many of these unrecognized talents. Atlantic, however, was never intended to be an archival label. Ertegun envisioned Atlantic as a vehicle for mainstreaming blues and jazz. In order to realize this goal, Ertegun concentrated on finding and recording musicians that did not easily fit the dominant black music styles of the day.

Ertegun's reputation in the industry was built upon his great "ears" for talent. His intimacy with the black musical idiom and his willingness to scour clubs and juke joints in any neighborhood and any region of the country set him apart from other talent scouts of the day. His successes in the field of A&R stand still as the yardstick by which others are measured. Among the more influential artists Ertegun brought to Atlantic during the early years were Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, The Drifters, The Clovers, and The Coasters. Jazz masters John Coltrane and Professor Longhair also recorded for Atlantic during this era. Once artists were contracted with Atlantic, Ertegun continued to work closely with them in the studio. On occasion he also wrote songs for his artists. Under the pseudonym "Nugetre" (Ertegun spelled backwards), he penned several hits, including "Don't Play that Song," "Chains of Love," "Sweet Sixteen," and "Mess Around."

More important, though, was Ertegun's ability to coax from a variety of musicians a sound that found widespread appeal among white audiences. The Atlantic sound evolved into a "danceable" compromise that borrowed from both country blues and big band jazz. It laid critical groundwork for the development of R&B (a genre label coined by Nesuhi Ertegun) and ultimately rock 'n' roll. By successfully bringing R&B to the mainstream market, Atlantic established itself as one of the first and most successful of the emergent "independent" record labels. Along with Chess and Sun Records, Atlantic eroded the corporate oligopoly of the recording industry (e.g., Columbia, RCA, and Decca).

In the early 1960s, when many independent labels faltered, Atlantic's successes mounted. Ertegun's musical instincts kept Atlantic from buying too heavily into the faddish teenybopper rock of that early period. Instead, the label concentrated on popularizing the emergent soul sound. Atlantic signed during this era soul legends Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, and perhaps most importantly Aretha Franklin. In the later 1960s, Ertegun's insight into the nature of the British Invasion prompted him to lead scouting missions to England where Atlantic tapped into London's blues revivalism. Atlantic's discoveries during this era include megastars Cream and Led Zeppelin. Ertegun was also instrumental in bringing art-rock to American shores, signing or helping sign Genesis, Yes, and King Crimson. From the West Coast scene, Atlantic signed Buffalo Spring-field, Crosby Stills and Nash, and Neil Young among others.

Although he sold the label in 1967 to Warner-Seven Arts, Ertegun stayed on as chairman of the Atlantic group and guided the label to greater glories in the 1970s. Atlantic's climb toward preeminence among rock labels was largely a product of Ertegun's personality and professional reputation. By the early 1970s, Ertegun had come to be regarded as one of the most knowledgeable, charismatic, and trustworthy industry executive. His abiding love of the music itself, his street savvy, and his legendary hedonism won him respect and admiration from musicians everywhere. In addition, his long-term friendship with Mick Jagger helped Atlantic steal the Rolling Stones from their long-time affiliation with Decca records, a deal which sealed Atlantic's standing as the preeminent rock label of the era. In 1997, Ertegun was still CEO at Atlantic, was still a vital personality on the New York nightclub circuit, and the label he founded 50 years earlier was the top market share holder.

—Steve Graves

Further Reading:

Ertegun, Ahmet, et al. What'd I Say: The Atlantic History of Music. New York, Welcome Rain, 1998.

Gillett, Charlie. Making Tracks: Atlantic Records and the Growth of a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry. New York, E.P. Dutton, 1974.

Wade, Dorothy, and Justine Picardie. Music Man: Ahmet Ertegun, Atlantic Records, and the Triumph of Rock and Roll. New York, W.W. Norton and Company, 1990.