Henry Stone

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For other people named Henry Stone, see Henry Stone (disambiguation).
Henry Stone
Birth nameHenry David Epstein
Born(1921-06-03)June 3, 1921
New York City, United States
DiedAugust 7, 2014(2014-08-07) (aged 93)
Miami, Florida, US
Occupation(s)Record producer, record company executive
Years active1943–2014
Websitehttp://www.henrystonemusic.com/

Henry Stone (June 3, 1921 – August 7, 2014), born Henry David Epstein, was an American

record company executive and producer whose career spanned the era from R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the 2010s. He was best known as co-owner and president of TK Records, but reportedly set up more than 100 record labels, and generated more than $100 million in record sales across the world.[1] Stone was described as "an acute businessman who always made sure that contracts and publishing agreements were written in his favor."[1]

Early life

Born in the

race records". After being discharged in 1945, he changed his last name to Stone, moved to Los Angeles, and started working on sales and promotion for Jewel Records and then Modern Records, and traveling around the country.[3]
In 1947, he and his family moved to Miami, Florida.

Record production and distribution in the 1950s and 1960s

In 1947, Stone settled in

King Records, Stone released The Charms’ "Hearts of Stone" on King's De Luxe Records subsidiary, and it became an R&B chart #1 hit in 1954. He was also instrumental in signing James Brown to King, and in recording Brown’s first hit "Please, Please, Please
".

In 1955, he established his own independent

Motown, Stax and many more independent labels. Stone's distribution expertise was instrumental in spreading the music produced by those labels around the world. At its height, Tone occupied a full city block and a large warehouse in Hialeah, Florida, and employed over 100 people.[1]

While he focused on the distribution business during the 1960s, Stone also continued to record R&B artists. These included Betty Wright, whose "Clean Up Woman" was a major hit in 1971 on his and Steve Alaimo's Alston label. Alaimo had previously recorded for Stone and been a Tone employee. Stone also set up the Glades label, recording the million selling hit "Why Can’t We Live Together" by Timmy Thomas. Stone established many different labels on the basis, he said, that it was easier to get records played if the radio stations did not realize they came from the same source.[4]

TK Records and associated activities

In 1972, Stone heard from

Warner Record's Atlantic and Elektra
divisions would merge, handle its own distribution, and no longer use Tone. At that point, he decided to concentrate on recording and manufacturing his own records, forming another new record company, TK Records with Alaimo (named after the studio's recording console designer Terry Kane), based in Hialeah, with which he had his greatest success.

In 1973, Stone’s warehouse worker and occasional front desk receptionist,

Grammys and one American Music Award. Prior to the success of KC and the Sunshine Band, Casey and Finch wrote and produced the number one hit, "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae
, and his follow-ups. "Rock Your Baby" is credited as being the very first disco hit record.

Stone’s companies produced numerous other hits during the 1970s, including The Beginning of the End's "Funky Nassau" (on Alston), Latimore's "Let's Straighten It Out" (on Glades), Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell" (on Juana), Little Beaver's "Party Down" and Gwen McCrae's "Rockin’ Chair" (both on Cat), Peter Brown's "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me" (on Drive), and Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love" (on Clouds).[3]

Later activities

By the late 1970s, the TK Records and its sister labels became pre-eminent in the dance and pop music scene, but suffered badly from the anti-disco movement which followed. TK Records ceased operating by 1981, and Stone went into partnership with Morris Levy of Roulette Records, Joe Robinson of Sugar Hill Records, and Tom Ficara of Combined Artists to form the Sunnyview label, issuing records by funk and rap artists such as Newcleus. Stone later became involved with Hot Productions[5] in the reissue of dance classics on CD. Recently, he continued reissuing R&B and dance tracks on his own label, The Legendary Henry Stone Presents...

Honors

In 2004, Henry Stone was awarded the first ever Pioneer Award for the Dance Music Hall of Fame, which was presented in New York City. When he was invited on stage to receive his award and give a speech he received a lengthy standing ovation.

Death

Stone died of natural causes in Miami on August 7, 2014, at the age of 93.

North Miami Beach
.

Music publishing imprints of Henry Stone

Stone owned a music publishing company bearing the name Sherlyn Music (and Sherlyn-Pent Music). He and his first wife had two daughters, Sheri and Linda. The name Sherlyn was a

portmanteau
of their daughters' given names. He also had 2 additional daughters, Crystal and Kim, as well as a son, David

References

  1. ^ a b c d Katel, Jacob (2014-08-10). "RIP Henry Stone, King of Independent Records, Dead at 93". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  2. ^ "Henry Stone: The 'Godfather of the Miami Sound', known for his work with George McCrae, Timmy Thomas and Anita Ward", The Independent, 30 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2015
  3. ^ a b c d e Hogan, Ed. "Henry Stone Biography". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  4. ^ Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen, Industry Profile: Henry Stone. Retrieved August 8, 2014
  5. ^ "Hot Productions - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org. Retrieved 2018-08-23.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_Stone&oldid=1217573472"