James Bracken - Life

Life

Bracken was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Kansas City. He was living in Chicago when he met Vivian Carter in 1944. In 1950 they founded Vivian's Record Shop in Gary, Indiana, and three years later decided to start their own record company, which they named Vee-Jay from their initials. As well as producing and releasing records through his label, Bracken also wrote some of the songs recorded. During the 1950s and early 1960s Vee-Jay became a major independent record label with acts including Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Gene Chandler, Jerry Butler, The Four Seasons and, for a time, The Beatles. The company folded in 1966.

Bracken died in Los Angeles in 1972.

Read more about this topic:  James Bracken

Famous quotes containing the word life:

    As life developed, I faced each problem as it came along. As my activities and work broadened and reached out, I never tried to shirk. I tried never to evade an issue. When I found I had something to do—I just did it.
    Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)

    When they [the American soldiers] came, they found fit comrades for their courage and their devotion.... Joining hands with them, the men of America gave the greatest of all gifts, the gift of life and the gift of spirit.
    Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

    And you tell me, friends, that there is no disputing taste and tasting? But all life is a dispute over taste and tasting!
    Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)