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 ERTEGUNEverybody 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.
More Ahmet Ertegun Quotes
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Whenever a songwriter writes a big hit, then the next 20 songs they write – no matter how bad they are – get recorded.
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My first wife was a theater person.
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The all-time greatest Atlantic group – The Drifters
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The main thing is that Ataturk saw the desperate condition of the countries that had not had an industrial revolution.
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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.
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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 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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I consider Laura to be one of my best signings, and I am proud to have had such a great singer in my career in the record business. We miss her dearly.
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Theres two kinds of music: black soul music, and the white imitation thereof.
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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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Laura had an instinctive feel for music and melody, and her delivery was sensational.
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If I’d have continued it might have killed me. My doctor said I should stick to wine.
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At a time when it was very brave to do because Ataturk was cutting off the heads of the imams. And people thought that that was foolhardy of my father.
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There’s been so much bad blood between the Kurds and the Turks.
AHMET ERTEGUN