Ahmet Ertegun

Born July 31, 1923 in Istanbul, Turkey Ahmet Ertegun is not a name that you would think of when it comes to music history. The son of the Turkish Ambassador to the United States he would go on to found, with his brother, Atlantic Records and become one of the most influential figures in music almost sculpting the American musical landscape with his bare hands.

As a young man Ahmet had a passion for music and record collecting. His tastes were varied but also eclectic to the time frame of his youth. To remedy the problem of not being able to find enough "black" music in his local record shop Ahmet and his brother Nesuhi approached producers Tom Dowd and Herb Abramson and formed Atlantic Records in 1947. In its early years Atlantic was nothing more than an independent record label that put out small time artists where it could. Their reputation grew in the music scene due to Ahmet's uncanny talent of predicting what young people in America would and would not like. Atlantic would help create the Rhythm and Blues genre and found moderate success with acts like "Big" Joe Turner, The Drifters and Ruth Brown but it was a young blind piano player named Ray Robinson who would be one of Atlantic's and the world's most popular artists.

Ahmet discovered Ray Robinson around 1952 and immediately signed him. Ahmet is quoted as saying "The first time I saw Ray I told him, 'You are the end, you know.'" Ray Robinson was convinced to drop his last name and just use his first and middle name and went on to become of course Ray Charles. Ray's first big hit with Atlantic was the classic "Mess Around" which was written by A. Nugetre who was actually A. Ertegun, Ahmets name spelled backwards. Ahmet wrote several other hits for various artists such as "Chains of Love" and "Sweet Sixteen" but all of them under the pseudonym of "Nugetre."

Through the 1950's and 60's with the help of Jerry Wexler Atlantic Records went from a small "Independent" record label into a powerhouse of new and fresh music. Cultivating new musical styles, other names began to emerge onto the scene under the watchful eye of Ahmet such as Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett.

In the 1960's after hearing Led Zeppelin's demo Ahmet predicted a huge smash and quickly signed them to Atlantic. Led Zeppelin went on to become arguably the greatest Rock Band of all time. Another British group that owes a great debt to Ahmets knack for hearing talent is the longest touring and most enduring rock band, The Rolling Stones.

Whether it was the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or Sonny and Cher the influence of this little Turkish immigrant can be felt through out the music industry even to this day with Atlantic Records still going strong with artists like Jewel, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, Junior Senior, Kid Rock, Lil Kim and Phish just to name few.

During a Rolling Stones Concert in New York City on October 29 2006 Ahmet was back stage, he slipped and fell hitting his head. He was immediately rushed to the hospital where he slipped into a coma. With his family at his side Ahmet Ertegun died on December 14 2006, he was 83 years old.

"We started Atlantic simply because we wanted to sign a few artists whose music we liked, and make the kind of records we would want to buy. I honestly never imagined I would be able to make a living from doing something that was so much fun. I am very glad I was wrong." -Ahmet Ertegun 1923-2006

Check out the Atlantic Records website for a great tribute to their founder and hear a recording of Ahmet actually teaching Mess Around to Ray Charles in the studio.

http://www.atlanticrecords.com/ahmet/

Thanks for reading.

Greg