Herb Abramson Departs
Herb Abramson's return from military service in 1955 created problems: Ertegun and Wexler had scored a run of hits, including Big Joe Turner's "Flip Flop and Fly" and Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman", and when Abramson returned, he realized that that he had been effectively replaced by Wexler as Ahmet's partner. There were also personal conflicts: Abramson did not get along well with either Wexler or Nesuhi Ertegun, and he had returned from his military service with a German girlfriend, which precipitated his divorce from Miriam, a minor stockholder and Atlantic's business and publishing manager.
By 1958 relations between Abramson and his partners had broken down completely, so in December 1958 a $300,000 buy-out was arranged; his stock was split between Nesuhi Ertegun and Abramson's ex-wife Miriam, who had in the meantime re-married to music publisher Freddy Bienstock (later the owner of the Carlin Music / Chappell Music publishing empire). Abramson's departure opened the way for Ahmet Ertegun to take over as president of the label.
Read more about this topic: Atlantic Records
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