I did a little bit to raise the dignity and recognition of the greatness of African-American music.
AHMET ERTEGUNAtaturk saw where history was going. He really did in Turkey what we are all hoping somebody will do in [Islamic] countries where fundamentalists thrive, that they get somebody today that has the vision that Ataturk had in 1915.
More Ahmet Ertegun Quotes
-
-
I first heard Laura Branigan sing live in my brother Nesuhi’s apartment, where we had gone because he had a very good piano. I immediately realized that she had a great pop voice, in the classical sense.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
Everyone felt like they knew Ray Charles and in a way they did, because he was embodied by his music.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
The first time I heard Clyde McPhatter singing with the Dominoes at the Apollo I just fell off my chair
AHMET ERTEGUN -
I should have gotten the Beatles. But one of my lawyers kind of messed up.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
Theres two kinds of music: black soul music, and the white imitation thereof.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
It is a great life, this life of music.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day, every day, for about 40 years and it never occurred to me it’d kill me.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
My father was a very religious person. And he prayed five times a day. And he did that throughout his relationship with Ataturk.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
The songwriters whom we think of being the greatest songwriters usually write one hit and six or seven flops.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
The all-time greatest Atlantic group – The Drifters
AHMET ERTEGUN -
I came close to signing Elvis Presley. I offered $25,000 for his contract and they asked for $45,000 and I just didn’t have the other $20,000.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
Everybody at Atlantic knew that we had a winner in this young lady, and she came through with great hits that will be remembered for many years to come.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
There are still many great surviving talents: Stevie Winwood. Another great talent is Stevie Wonder.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
I’ve been in the studio when you go through a track and you run down a track and you know even before the singer starts singing, you know the track is swinging.
AHMET ERTEGUN -
You know you have a multimillion-seller hit – and what you’re working on suddenly has magic.
AHMET ERTEGUN