Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass | |
---|---|
Birth name | Ralph Basso, Jr. |
Born |
Ralph Basso Jr. (May 1, 1911 – March 5, 1997), known as Ralph Bass,
Personal life
Bass was born in the Bronx to an Italian Catholic father, Ralph Bass, né Basso, and a German-American Jewish mother, Lena, née Brettner, who raised all of their children within a kosher household in the religious faith of Judaism. As a young boy, Ralph displayed a gift for music and his mother enrolled him in lessons, for which he became an accomplished classical violinist. However, raised within a diverse enclave in the Bronx, Ralph was exposed to a number of cultural nuances which influenced his choice of musical genres from classical to Blues and Jazz. From an early age, Bass wanted to not simply perform, but assemble sounds that he enjoyed listening to. After his marriage to his first wife, Alice née Robbins, Bass found opportunities in Los Angeles and relocated. He moved his young family of four with him. During Ralph's venture into the record industry he began to travel to the Mississippi Delta and other southern states where he heard some of the best music was being played. It was there he discovered a source of unrecorded musicians and his niche as a record producer and talent scout. Here-to-fore Jim Crow laws kept African American performers marginalized, with many relegated to one-night stands performing only to all-black audiences in a network of theaters and nightclubs known as the Chitlin' Circuit. After his second marriage to Shirley Hall Bass on December 17, 1960 Bass decided to focus his career on bringing African American music and African American performers into the entertainment mainstream.[2]
Career
Bass became an
At Savoy from 1948 to 1951, he recorded
Ralph Bass knew the repertoire; he'd heard more gravel-voiced shouters, high-pitched keeners, hopped-up rockers, churchy belters,
jukeboxes could contain. But he had never heard a voice that possessed the essence of all these styles while moving beyond them toward a sound at once more feral and more self-assured, until he heard "Please, Please, Please".
In 1959, the Chess brothers hired Bass away from King to serve as A&R director for
-
Chess Records Studio, Chicago
Filmography
In the 2014 film
Audio/visual
"Ralph Bass, First Recording," told by Ralph Bass on
References
Notes
- ^ The birth surname of Ralph Bass's paternal grandfather, who was born in Italy, was DuBasso.
Inline citations
- ^ Watrous, Peter (1991). "Hall of Fame Inducts Its 6th Crop of Legends". The New York Times, January 17.
- ^ "House Resolution 218: Ralph Bass Memorial". Illinois House of Representatives, 90th General Assembly (1997–1998).
- ISBN 978-0-02-061740-2.
- ISBN 0-226-42960-1.
- ^ "James Brown". History of Rock 'n' Roll www
.history-of-rock .com , March 1998. Retrieved November 8, 2006. - ISBN 0-306-80581-2.
- ISBN 0-85112-673-1.
- ^ Gourevitch, Philip (2002). "Mr. Brown, On the Road with His Bad Self". The New Yorker, July 29.
- ^ Callahan, Mike; Edwards, David (2005). The Chess Story. Both Sides Now Publications. www
.bsnpubs .com . Updated November 4, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2006. - Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, 1991. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
- OCLC 49516734. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
External links
- "Ralph Bass," Answers.com (www
.answers .com ) - "Ralph Bass' Junior Jazz", The Classic Jazz Guitar www
.classicjazzguitar .com , Mike Kremer (webmaster) - "House Resolution 218: Ralph Bass Memorial," and "Summary of HR 218", Illinois House of Representatives, 90th General Assembly (1997–1998)
- "Toller Cranston's 'The Ice Show'" Internet Broadway Database
- "Inside Beyonce's Private World" (reference to Ralph Bass's granddaughter, Shauna Bass), OK!, December 5, 2008
- "Ralph Bass". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.