I did a little bit to raise the dignity and recognition of the greatness of African-American music.
AHMET ERTEGUNPeople like Clyde McPhatter who came out of the black churches – like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin – were all church singers who became great pop singers because gospel singing is very close to the blues.
More Ahmet Ertegun Quotes
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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.
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Another one is Eric Clapton. Another one is Phil Collins. Eminem, Kanye West I like all those people.
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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.
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A singer’s biographical film should have their music and their voice.
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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.
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Everyone felt like they knew Ray Charles and in a way they did, because he was embodied by his music.
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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.
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The songwriters whom we think of being the greatest songwriters usually write one hit and six or seven flops.
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I should have gotten the Beatles. But one of my lawyers kind of messed up.
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There are still many great surviving talents: Stevie Winwood. Another great talent is Stevie Wonder.
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Theres two kinds of music: black soul music, and the white imitation thereof.
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The Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame will provide a center where the lives and the artistry of the greatest jazz musicians will be celebrated, and where people will come to learn about jazz, something to which my brother devoted his lifes work.
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I became a jazz fan quite early and never went off the path thereafter.
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People like Clyde McPhatter who came out of the black churches – like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin – were all church singers who became great pop singers because gospel singing is very close to the blues.
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You know you have a multimillion-seller hit – and what you’re working on suddenly has magic.
AHMET ERTEGUN