L.A. Magazine Interviews Henry Stone about James Brown,etc.

Sep 272008
 
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Hi, Quick update.  Yesterday RJ Smith, Sr. Editor of L.A. Magazine flew into Miami to interview Henry Stone.  RJ is working on a book about James Brown and he had heard through the grapevine that Henry Stone and James Brown were very close friends from there first meeting, they just clicked.

Henry had driven to Macon, Ga. in his Buick because at that time people didn’t fly very much, the year was 1954.  Henry was partners with Syd Nathan at the time.  Henry owned Deluxe Records and Syd owned King records.  Syd had heard about a young singer in Georgia who was supposed to be great, so he called Henry and said, I think it would be a good idea to get to Georgia and check him out, at the same time there was another record man who worked A&R for King Records.

King  had a few different labels that they used to put there artists on, one of the labels was Federal and that was the one that Ralph Bass did the A&R for.  Syd also called Ralph to go to Georgia and because Ralph at the time was in Birmingham, Alabama, he got to Macon a day before Henry arrived from Miami and he signed James Brown to King’s Federal label.  Henry loved James Brown, he was blown away by his energy and his performance.

The song was “Please, Please, Please” and it became a hugh R&B hit, and James Brown and Henry Stone became lifelong friends. He believed in him and did whatever he could to get him out there for the world to hear and see him.  Henry  got him booked with his first major booking at The Palms of Hallendale in Florida where the owner Ernie Busker paid James Brown $300.00 for him and his band, which included Bobby Byrd and the Famous Flames.  During the show which was kind of an indoor/outdoor big nightclub  the crowd went wild, they loved him, they couldn’t get enough of James Brown’s electric energy, they wanted him back and so did Ernie Busker, Henry told Ernie that he could get James Brown back if he paid him an extra $2000.00 for his record breaking performance that night which Busker agreed to do  Henry handed James the extra $2000.00 and James never forgot him for that.

So, this was just one short story for the Editor to take home with him.  There were 2 1/2 hours more of information that Henry shared with RJ, both about himself and his own history making career in the music business and how and why Henry and James Brown stayed such close friends over the years.  A friendship that is sorely missed. This friendship was both personal and business, James Brown (and he insisted that everyone call him Mr. Brown, except for a very few people and Henry was one that could call him James, the professional part of the business was to the extent that before James would put a record out he would fly to where ever Henry was or Henry would fly to where James was and James insisted that Henry listen to it and tell him what he thought, whether it needed more work or  changes.

Henry was always honest with James.  If he thought it needed something he said so.  Henry was one of the only people that James Brown let in the studio with him when he was recording and Henry was one of the only people to produce James Brown.  Everyone referred to James Brown as the God Father of Soul and James Brown referred to Henry Stone as his God Father.  You can see an interview on Henrystonemusic.com web sit where James Brown is talking about Henry and the BrownStone  label he and Henry had together  it is from a time when James Brown was on the Larry King Show. Henry went to Augusta to say his final farewell to James Brown, but he will always miss him.

Henry Stone Music

Sep 162008
 
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This is the first writing from me as I think about how I want to start this story, one that should be written because it is the beginning of the history of the music business from the point of view of one of the living legends, there are not to many left, most of them are no longer with us, so the importance of getting this down from the man himself and the stories he has to tell is of the utmost importance.  A friend once told me that if you don’t document the history it is lost forever and no truer words were spoken.  I’m going to begin at the beginning, Born in the Bronx, New York raised on the streets of N.Y. until age 7 when he went to an orphanage until he was 15, this part of my story is a short bio of those first 15 years, how music came into his life and the roads and paths it took him down, I hope you find it as interesting as I have.

Press Release: ‘The Twist’, First Produced and Recorded by Henry Stone, Just Named Billboard Hot 100 Era Number 1 Song of all Time

Sep 162008
 
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Press Release: ‘The Twist’, First Produced and Recorded by Henry Stone, Just Named Billboard Hot 100 Era Number 1 Song of all Time

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Inez Stone
305-285-1475
henry@henrystonemusic.com
(high resolution images available upon request)
REVIEW COPIES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

‘The Twist’, First Produced and Recorded by Henry Stone, Just Named Billboard Hot 100 Era Number 1 Song of all Time

SEPTEMBER 12, 2008, MIAMI, FL: From Yahoo News: How is this for a twist? Of all the No.1 songs in the 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” ranks as the most popular single. Henry Stone, producer of 25 Billboard No. 1 Hits, including KC & The Sunshine Band, shares his inside track of the behind the scenes version of what was going on when he was the first to record and produce “The Twist”, which was originally written and recorded by Hank Ballard two years earlier than the re-release made famous by Chubby Checker. The version that Henry Stone paid for and recorded at the North Miami Armory studio was the original master sent to Abner at Vee Jay Records. This was in 1957 and in 1960 it was covered and released by Chubby Checker on the Cameo Parkway label.

According to Stone, the story goes like this: “Ballard came into my office here in Miami one day and said to me, ‘Henry, my contract with King Records is over.’ Ballard implied to me that he was shopping for a new record label. We discussed Chicago’s Chess or Vee Jay Record labels and he decided on Vee Jay Records. I called Ewart Abner at Vee Jay, who was definitely interested and he asked me if Ballard’s contract with King Records was over? I told him I was 100% positive that the contract had expired and he was getting ready to sign a contract with somebody.

“Abner said he would sign him up under one condition, that I record him in Miami, while he was down here. There was no recording studio in Miami at the time. The famous Criteria studio had not opened at the time but Mac Emmermen had portable recording equipment, so we decided to take Ballard into the North Miami Armory and we recorded him there for Vee Jay.

“During the recording session at the Armory, while going over some material, Ballard played for me a very slow Bluesy tempo song that he called ‘The Twist’. I remember Ballard’s guitar player, Cal Green, tuning up his guitar for ‘The Twist’ in a much faster danceable tempo then the slower Bluesy version. I turned to Ballard and said, ‘Why don’t we take this Blues version and merge it with Green’s up tempo guitar riff and turn ‘The Twist’ into a dance record?’

“We did just that and sent the tapes to Abner at Vee Jay in Chicago. Syd Nathan called Abner and said, ‘Ballard’s contract is up, but he owes me $300.00. If Ballard don’t pay me the $300.00 I’m going to sue you and Henry Stone and the whole world.’ That was Nathan’s forte.

“Abner called me and said, ‘What do you want to do?” I told Abner that I would send him the $300.00 to give to Nathan to shut him up, Abner agreed and said he would call Nathan with my proposal. Nathan turned the deal down, Abner decided rather than have a lawsuit he gave the tapes to Syd Nathan.

“After Syd Nathan received the more up tempo version of ‘The Twist’ from Abner, the version that I produced, Syd released ‘The Twist’ as the B-side to Ballard’s #4 national hit, ‘Teardrops On Your Letter.’ After lying dormant for nearly two years, Chubby Checker (real name Earnest Evans) covered the song and took it to #1 twice in 1960 – 1962! ‘The Twist’ would in time become the biggest teenage and adult dance craze in all of Rock history.”

‘The Twist’, First Recorded and Produced by Henry Stone, Just Named Billboard Hot 100 Era Number 1 Song Of All Time

Sep 122008
 
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Hank Ballard came into my Tone Distributing office one day and said to me, “Henry, my contract with King Records is over.” I pretty much knew this information because of my involvement with King Records and remembered him signing a three-year contract. Ballard implied to me that he was shopping for a new record label and asked me if I could get him signed with Chicago’s Chess or Vee Jay record labels.

I told him that I did not think that would be a problem and that I would make a couple of phone calls and see what I could do. I called Leonard Chess, who thought he might be interested. I next called Ewart Abner at Vee Jay, who was definitely interested.

As it turned out, Ballard had pretty much made the decision that he would like to go with Abner at Vee-Jay. I called Abner and said, “Would you like to have Hank Ballard on your label?” He said, “Yeah, he’s a great artist and he’s had quite a few hits on the King label. Is his contract over?” I told him I was 100% positive that his contract had expired and that he was getting ready to sign a contract with somebody.

Abner said that he would sign him up under one condition, that I record him in Miami, while he was down here. I told Abner that there was one slight problem, that we did not have a recording studio in Miami at the time. At this stage I was focusing on my distribution company and had shut down my recording studio.

Mack Emerman’s Criteria Recording Studio, located in North Miami, had not yet officially opened its doors. Emerman had quite a bit of portable equipment and he was recording out of his house. He was also recording live at the North Miami Armory, so we decided to take Ballard into the Armory and we recorded him there for Vee Jay.

While recording, I was working with Ballard on material. Ballard had some terrific records on King such as “Work With Me Annie” and “Annie Had A Baby”, considered very risqué for their time. During the recording session at the Armory, Ballard played for me a very slow Bluesy tempo song that he called “The Twist”.

I remember Ballard’s guitar player, Cal Green, tuning up his guitar for “The Twist” in a much faster tempo than the slower Bluesy version. Green’s faster riff while tuning his guitar fit into the chord structure of what Ballard was singing to me. I turned to Ballard

and said, “Why don’t we take this Blues version and merge it with Green’s up tempo guitar riff and turn ‘The Twist’ into a dance record?”

We did just that and sent the tapes to Abner at Vee Jay in Chicago. After Abner received the tapes, he got a call from Syd Nathan, who stated, “That son-of-a-bitch Henry Stone had no right recording Hank Ballard. Ballard’s contract is up, but he owes me $300.00. If Ballard don’t pay me the $300.00, I’m going to sue you and Henry Stone and the whole world.” That was Nathan’s forte.

Abner called me and said, “Henry, I don’t want to get into a lawsuit with Nathan, he’s a pain in the ass! What do you want to do?” I told Abner that I would send him the $300.00 to give to Nathan to shut him up, but he had to send me all the copyrights for the $300.00. Abner agreed and said he would call Nathan with my proposal. A loss I have remembered for years! On an agreement we had made previously, Abner then sent me 10,000 free records as payment for my recording session with Ballard.

After Syd Nathan received the more up tempo version of “The Twist” from Abner, the version that I produced, Syd released “The Twist” as the B-side to Ballard’s #4 national hit, “Teardrops On Your Letter”. Chubby Checker (real name Earnest Evans) covered the song and took it to #1 twice in 1960 – 1962! “The Twist” would in time become the biggest teenage and adult dance craze in all of Rock history.

The version playing is a very rare alternative tke with no official ending that I found in my vaults after 44 years.

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