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 ERTEGUNI 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 ERTEGUNMy father was a very religious person. And he prayed five times a day. And he did that throughout his relationship with Ataturk.
AHMET ERTEGUNI became a jazz fan quite early and never went off the path thereafter.
AHMET ERTEGUNA singer’s biographical film should have their music and their voice.
AHMET ERTEGUNIf I’d have continued it might have killed me. My doctor said I should stick to wine.
AHMET ERTEGUNYou know you have a multimillion-seller hit – and what you’re working on suddenly has magic.
AHMET ERTEGUNAnother one is Eric Clapton. Another one is Phil Collins. Eminem, Kanye West I like all those people.
AHMET ERTEGUNI 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.
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.
AHMET ERTEGUNI should have gotten the Beatles. But one of my lawyers kind of messed up.
AHMET ERTEGUNWhenever a songwriter writes a big hit, then the next 20 songs they write – no matter how bad they are – get recorded.
AHMET ERTEGUNThe first time I heard Clyde McPhatter singing with the Dominoes at the Apollo I just fell off my chair
AHMET ERTEGUNI’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 ERTEGUNThe songwriters whom we think of being the greatest songwriters usually write one hit and six or seven flops.
AHMET ERTEGUNThe all-time greatest Atlantic group – The Drifters
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.
AHMET ERTEGUN