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Biography
Ralph Bass, Jr. (born Ralph Basso, Jr. 1 May 1911; died 5 March 1997), born in The Bronx , New York of an Italian-American-Catholic father, and a German-American-Jewish mother, was an influential rhythm and blues (R& B) record producer and talent scout for several independent labels and was responsible for many hit records. He was a pioneer in bringing black music into the American mainstream. During his long career he worked for such labels as Black & White Records , Savoy Records , King Records (USA)|King Records , Federal Records and Chess Records , recording some of the greatest performers in black music, including Etta James , Sam Cooke , James Brown , Earl Bostic and groups such as The Platters and The Dominoes . By doing so, he was instrumental in helping to shape their careers. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a non-performer.cite web |first=Peter |last=Watrous |year=1919 |month=January 17 |url= http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/rock_and_roll_hall_of_fame_and_museum/index.html? field=per& match=exact& adxnnl=1& query=BASS,%20RALPH& adxnnlx=1163021260-QqIfTubUEKYBwJ6Yq7twkA |title=Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Its 6th Crop of Legends |publisher=New York Times |accessdate=2006-11-08
Career
As a young man Bass visited the Southern United States|South and personally experienced the emotional power of black music in dance clubs. When he began his career as a record producer, segregation was in full effect and black performers were marginalized and relegated to one-night stands performing only to all black audiences in a network of theatres and nightclubs known the Chitlin' circuit|Chitlin' Circuit . Bass decided to focus his career on bringing black music and black performers into the entertainment mainstream.cite web |url= http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/legisnet90/hrgroups/hr/900HR0218LV.html |title=Memorial Ralph Bass |publisher=State of Illinois 90th General AssemblyLegislation |accessdate=2006-11-29
In the 1940s at Black and White Records Bass got his start as an A& R man. He produced and recorded, among others, Lena Horne , Roosevelt Sykes , Jack McVea (suggesting he record the huge hit " Open the Door, Richard ") and T-Bone Walker , including T-Bone's landmark " Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)|Call It Stormy Monday ". From there he went on to help build two of the most successful independent labels, Savoy Records of New Jersey and King Records of Cincinnati, Ohio.cite book | first= Arnold | last= Shaw | year= 1978 | title= Honkers and Shouters | edition= | publisher=Macmillan Publishing Company | location= New York | pages= 225, 235–247 | isbn= 978-0-02-061740-2 During this period, Bass toured the South with various blues bands, noted the large size of the audiences still predominantly black with but with an increasing numbers of whites. He sensed that the audience was changingcite book | first= Charles | last= Keil | year=1991 | title= Urban Blues | edition= | publisher= University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago, IL | isbn= 0-226-42960-1 | page= 100
At Savoy Records from 1948-51, he recorded Brownie McGhee and Johnny Otis . At Federal Records , a subsidiary of King run by Bass, he turned out a series of R& B hits, including such classics as The Dominoes ' " Sixty Minute Man ", " Have Mercy Baby " and Hank Ballard 's " Work With Me, Annie ". When Syd Nathan at King Records (USA)|King Records at first refused to sign James Brown to record " Please, Please, Please " because he thought the demo was a piece of trash (later changing his mind) Bass signed Brown to Federal and produced "Please, Please, Please", the first Federal single, which was a regional hit and eventually sold a million copies.cite web |url= http://www.history-of-rock.com/james_brown.htm |title=James Brown |publisher=history-of-rock |accessdate=2006-11-08 cite book | first= Gerri | last= Hirshey | authorlink= | coauthors= | year= 1994 | title= Nowhere to Run: The Sory of Soul Music | edition= | publisher= Da Capo Press | location=New York | pages= 61–62 | isbn= 0-306-80581-2 He produced the original version of the R& B standard " Kansas City (R& B song) |Kansas City " recorded by Little Willie Littlefield .
In 1959, the Chess brothers hired Bass away from King Records (USA)|King Records in Cincinnati to serve as A& R Director at Chess Records .cite web |url= http://www.bsnpubs.com/chess/chesscheck.html |title=The Chess Story |publisher= |accessdate=2006-11-08 He was there until 1976, working with blues , gospel , R& B , and rock and roll artists, including Clara Ward , the Soul Stirrers , Etta James , Howlin' Wolf , Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson II|Sonny Boy Williamson . He would compose the music for Pigmeat Markham 's hit novelty single Here Comes the Judgecite web |url= http://rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp? id=64 |title=Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame |publisher= |accessdate=2006-11-08 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20061017154207/ http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp? id=64 |archivedate = 2006-10-17 Later, for MCA Records he produced John Lee Hooker .cite web |url= http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/2984889/a/Real+Folk+Blues%2FMore+Real+Folk+Blues.htm |title=Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues - Hooker, John Lee |publisher= |accessdate=2006-11-08
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.answers.com/topic/bass-mega-man Ralph Bass
http://www.classicjazzguitar.com/albums/artist_album.jsp? album=1051 Ralph Bass' Junior Jazz on Black and White Records
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/legisnet90/summary/900HR0218.html Death Notice 11-14-1997
Persondata | NAME = Bass, Ralph | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = May& nbsp;1, 1911 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = March& nbsp;5, 1997 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Ralph Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:1911 births Category:1997 deaths Category:people from the Bronx Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:A& R people Category:King Records artists
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