Atlantic Records - The Hits Begin

The Hits Begin

In early 1949 a New Orleans distributor phoned Ertegun trying to obtain Stick McGhee's "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee", which was unavailable due to the closure of McGhee's previous label. Ertegun knew Stick's younger brother Brownie McGhee, with whom Stick happened to be staying, so he contacted the McGhee brothers and cut a re-recording; when released in February 1949, became Atlantic's first hit, selling 400,000 copies and reaching #3 in the Billboard R&B chart - although McGhee himself earned just $10 for the session. From this point Atlantic's fortunes rose rapidly: they recorded 187 songs in 1949 (more than three times the output of the previous two years) and received overtures of a manufacturing and distribution deal with CBS Records, who would pay Atlantic a 3% royalty on every copy sold. Ertegun asked about artists' royalties, which he paid, which surprised CBS executives, who did not, which scuttled the deal.

On the recommendation of broadcaster Willis Conover, Ertegun and Abramson went to see Ruth Brown at the Crystal Caverns club in Washington and invited her to audition for Atlantic. She was badly injured in a car accident en route to New York but Atlantic supported her for nine months and then signed her. Her first release for the label "So Long", cut at her second Atlantic session on 25 May 1949 with the Eddie Condon band, was a major hit, reaching #6 on the R&B chart. Brown went on to record more than eighty songs for the label, becoming the most prolific and best-selling Atlantic artist of the period. So significant was Brown's success to Atlantic's fortunes that the label became known colloquially as "The House That Ruth Built".

Joe Morris, one of the label's earliest signings, scored a major hit with his October 1950 release "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere", the first Atlantic record issued in 45rpm format, which the company began pressing in January 1951. The Clovers' "Don't You Know I Love You" (composed by Ertegun) became the label's first R&B #1 in September 1951 and a few weeks later Ruth Brown's "Teardrops from my Eyes" became its first million-selling record. She hit #1 again in March–April 1952 with "5-10-15 Hours". "Daddy Daddy" reached #3 in September 1952, and "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (which featured the MJQ's Connie Kay on drums) reached #1 in February–March 1953, becoming a solid seller for years afterwards, as did the late 1954 "Oh What A Dream", her last hit with Atlantic. She left the label in 1961 and her fortunes declined rapidly - within a few years was reduced to working as a cleaner and bus-driver to support her children. In the 1980s she sued her former label for unpaid royalties; although Atlantic, which had prided itself on treating artists fairly, had stopped paying royalties to some artists, Ahmet Ertegun denied this was intentional. Brown eventually received a voluntary payment of $20,000 and founded a charity, the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, in 1988, established with a donation of $1.5 million from Ertegun.

In 1952 Atlantic signed Ray Charles, who scored a string of hugely influential hits including "I Got A Woman", "What'd I Say" and "Hallelujah I Love Her So". Later that year The Clovers' "One Mint Julep" reached #2. In 1953, after learning that singer Clyde McPhatter had been fired from Billy Ward and His Dominoes and was forming his own group (The Drifters), Ahmet Ertegun tracked McPhetter down and signed the new group immediately. Their single "Money Honey" became the biggest R&B hit of the year. Their subsequent records created some controversy: the suggestive "Such A Night" was banned by radio station WXYZ in Detroit and the follow-up "Honey Love" was banned in Memphis though both records reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Although not a major success in chart terms, female vocal trio The Cookies became an important part of the Atlantic 'family'. The original group, put together by Atlantic producer Jesse Stone in 1954, comprised Darlene (Ethel) McCrea, Dorothy Jones and Dorothy's cousin Beulah Robertson, who was replaced in 1956 by Marjorie "Margie" Hendricks. They recorded "In Paradise", a minor R&B hit in early 1956, but after another unsuccessful release the trio became the regular backing singers for Atlantic recording sessions. They performed on many hits in this period including Joe Turner's "Corinna, Corinna" and "Lipstick, Powder and Paint", Chuck Willis' "It's Too Late (She's Gone)", and Ray Charles' "Lonely Avenue", "Drown In My Own Tears" and "Night Time is the Right Time" (which features Margie Hendricks prominently), before being taken on by Ray Charles and renamed The Raelettes.