Old Town Records founder Hyman Weiss dies

From my friend, Andy S, who periodically sends me interesting items:

A pioneer of the New York indie label scene of the Fifties and an unforgettable character, Hyman "Hy" Weiss has died at age 83. Knowledgeable sources inform me that Hy (whom I never met) had suffered for years from Alzheimer's. I believe that funeral services were held in Manhattan although I did not attend.

(1) Obit from the Hollywood Reporter (courtesy of Monica Lynch)

Old Town Records founder Hyman Weiss dies

March 22, 2007 - Staff Report

Hyman "Hy" Weiss, a throwback to the golden age of the independent record men, died Tuesday. He was 83.

Weiss was born Feb. 12, 1923, in Romania in and grew up in the Bronx. With his bulging Rolodex of industry contacts, he lived the life of a record man into his final days.

Starting out in 1948, he learned the intricacies of the record business as a swashbuckling salesman for three pioneering indie labels: Exclusive (run by Leon Rene), Modern (the Bihari brothers) and Apollo (Bess Berman). During an eventful sojourn with Jerry Blaine's Cosnat Distributors, Weiss formed Old Town Records with his brother Sam in 1953 before going full time alone in 1956.

During the next decade, Old Town was in its prime as Hy Weiss tapped into the rich R&B and doo-wop culture of Harlem and other areas. His biggest hits were "There's a Moon Out Tonight" by the Capris (No. 3, 1961), "Let the Little Girl Dance" by Billy Bland (No. 7, 1960), "So Fine" by the Fiestas (No. 11, 1959), "Dear One" by Larry Finnegan (No. 11, 1962), "Remember Then" by the Earls (No. 24, 1963) and "We Belong Together" by Robert & Johnny (No. 32, 1958).

Other acts on Old Town and subsidiaries -- which included the Barry Records label, named after his son Barry Weiss, now president and CEO of the Zomba Label Group -- included Hector Rivera, the Solitaires, the Harptones, Larry Dale, Bob Gaddy, Rosco Gordon, Titus Turner, Buddy & Ella Johnson and Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry.

[Following my wedding to Leslie Rondin on 8/26/1995, a blues band featuring guitarist Larry Dale and pianist Bob Gaddy performed at a cocktail reception in the Delegates Dining Room of the United Nations. -- A.S.]

With the changing times in the 1960s, Weiss concentrated on pushing heartthrob ballad singer Arthur Prysock in an independent production deal with MGM-Verve that included a well-respected album with the Count Basie Orchestra, among numerous other successful Prysock albums on Old Town proper. Thereafter, Weiss homed in on the reissue market, leading to licensing deals with Atlantic, Rhino, Collectables, Ace (London) and P-Vine (Japan).

His masters were featured in such movies as Pleasantville, La Bamba, A Bronx Tale and many others. He also spent much of 1972-74 actively consulting for and operating Stax Records in Memphis during its heyday. He worked closely with label founders Jim Stewart and Al Bell and such artists as Isaac Hayes, Luther Ingram, the Staple Singers, Johnny
Taylor, Rufus Thomas and Albert King.

Soon after his wife Roz died in 1996, Weiss sold Old Town Records and the affiliated Maureen Music publishing company to Music Sales of New York.

Said Barry Weiss, who is carrying on the Weiss family tradition in the music industry: "Beyond the typical reasons why I am proud to be my father's son, I am proud in a business sense to be the son of one of our industry's great original independent record men and entrepreneurs. Along with peers such as George Goldner, Leonard Chess and Jerry Wexler, he set the pace and helped set the course for today's music industry."

In addition to his son, Weiss is survived by brothers Sam and George, daughters Maureen and Pam, and four grandchildren.

Addendum to the obit:

-- Hy grew up on 169th Street between Third and Fulton Avenues in the Bronx and attended DeWitt Clinton High School.

-- As a staff sergeant in the Army Air Corps in WWII, he was stationed on Iwo Jima.

-- Following his discharge, Hy returned to New York. In a 1996 interview, he told journalist James Spady: "I was a bouncer...in the White Rose Bar, 134th Street and Third Avenue. The owner would pay me with a cross [on the check] where the name is...He owned four square blocks of Manhattan territory but couldn't spell."

-- Hy's first short-lived label venture came in 1949 when Billboard announced the debut of Parody Records, "owned by Sam and Hy Weiss." First release was "Butter Beans and Rice" b/w "Come Back" by Danny Taylor (Parody 1002/3).

-- "Old Town" was the name of a New York manufacturer of duplicating machines and carbon paper. Sam Weiss was a salesman there in 1953. Sam and Hy called their label "Old Town" so that they could use the company's letterhead with its prestigious Madison Avenue address. In fact, their label was run from a small office at the Triboro movie theater (on East 125th Street?).

(2) Anecdote courtesy of Monica Lynch, who writes:

"Someone I know went to the funeral and had this report:

"Lance Freed [son of the late Alan Freed] told a story about going to the Old Town Records office with his dad back in the '50s and being curious about the bare light bulb that was hanging above Hy's desk. He asked Hy about it and was told that they didn't want the office to look too nice lest the artists start thinking the label's making money and coming after them for royalties."

[Over the decades, this anecdote has been told in several different versions. In one, Hy insists on having only three of the four walls of his office repainted; in another, he uses a swivel chair with four legs but only three castors. -- A.S.]

(3) From the liner notes of the definitive 2-CD compilation Hy Weiss Presents Old Town Records (Ace UK, 2003)

(a) From Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records:

"Hymie, my goombah, you are a survivor. A connoisseur of the street, the jobbers, the hustlers, the syndicators and backbiters, the unknown stockroom, the chargeback, the freebie, the cut-rate studio -- Platonic idea of the indomitable underfinanced indie, rising Phoenix-like from the ashes of insolvency time and again. Our friendship is older than Old Town and I can never forget that you saved me from a costly Prysockian mistake. Congratulations on your brilliant offspring -- and prevailing against heavy odds."

(b) From Richard Barrett, songwriter, producer, vocalist (the Valentines) and a key figure in the rise of both Frankie Lyman & the Teenagers and the Three Degrees, among other groups:

"Here's a guy I met in the early Fifties. Under strange circumstances. At the time, Hy wanting a hit record and the Valentines just needing a good record. We almost got what each other wanted. If you know Hy, you know there was turbulence and drama. He being 'bull headed' and then me being 'hard headed.' It was a formula for a perfect marriage. As in life, this was short-lived and ended in divorce....

"Throughout my tenure [in the music business], Hy seemed to always be somewhere in the background. As a thorn in George Goldner's side, because that's whom I went with after the Old Town experience. Then one dark day in the Fifties, Hy and I engaged in some heavy drama. Which secured his respect for me.

"To get money out of Hy Weiss was like pulling teeth out of a chicken. Yet to have him as a friend, he would give you the shirt off his back. Hy was in business, miserable. But you couldn't have a better friend. He's a good man. I will always care for him."

[Richard Barrett died 8/3/2006 of pancreatic cancer. -- A.S.]