GREAT UNCLE IRVIN GREEN REMEMBERED

According to Bruce Fressier of the Desert Sun, Irvin Green, the Palm Springs-based co-founder of Mercury Records, age 90, died of natural causes at 5 a.m. Saturday at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.


Green was remembered by friends as a recording pioneer who helped break popular music's color barrier, co-founding Mercury in 1944 - turning it into the first independent record company to become a major label.

Green said growing up among all types of people in the poor west side of Chicago gave him his egalitarian views. "I was brought up in a mixed neighborhood," he said in an interview with The Desert Sun in January, "and that stayed with me forever."

While the four majors - RCA, Columbia, Decca and Capitol - promoted their mainstream music through network radio, Mercury distributed jazz, R&B and country western tunes not licensed for network radio through a jukebox network, allowing him to gain national distribution for music that previously had only regional success.

Mercury pioneered a "black sound" by promoting such black artists as Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and the Platters. It recorded Louis Armstrong's first No. 1 hit in 1964 with "Hello, Dolly!"

It also scored hits by white pop singers such as Vic Damone and the Four Seasons and more folksy artists like Frankie Laine, Patti Page, and Flatt and Scruggs.

Mercury became the first major label to hire a black top executive when Green made Quincy Jones a vice president in charge of artists and repertoire. "Irvin has a broad taste," Jones said in an interview with The Desert Sun in February before Green's 90th birthday. "It was across the board and I think that's what we shared - that diversified taste."

Green attended St. John's University in New York for two years before having to get a job during the Depression. He worked in his father's paint contracting business and went into sheet metal with a partner. They built hydraulic presses and made records.

Jones said one of Green's many accomplishments was buying the Chappell music publishing catalog for $42 million in 1962 and selling it 12 years later for $110 million.

"It's worth about a half-billion dollars now," Jones said.

IRVIN GREEN ARTISTS

Artists who recorded for Mercury Records under Irvin Green and their representative hits:

Frankie Laine, "That's My Desire," "Rawhide"

Patti Page, "Tennessee Waltz," "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window"

Sarah Vaughan, "My Funny Valentine," "Embraceable You"

Dinah Washington, "Harbor Lights," "What A Difference A Day Makes"

Charlie Parker, "Charlie Parker With Strings" CD

Dizzy Gillespie (Phillips Records), "No More Blues," "Desafinado"

Vic Damone, "You're Breaking My Heart," "Again"

Louis Armstrong, "Hello, Dolly!"

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"

The Platters: "Only You," 'The Great Pretender"

Brook Benton, "It's Just A Matter of Time," "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" with Dinah Washington

The Big Bopper, "Shantilly Lace"

Lesley Gore, "It's My Party," "You Don't Own Me"

The Smothers Brothers, "Aesop's Fables," "Mom Always Liked You Best"

The Four Seasons (on Phillips) "Dawn (Go Away)," "Rag Doll"

According to Bruce Fressier of the Desert Sun, Irvin Green, the Palm Springs-based co-founder of Mercury Records, age 90, died of natural causes at 5 a.m. Saturday at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.

Green was remembered by friends as a recording pioneer who helped break popular music's color barrier, co-founding Mercury in 1944 - turning it into the first independent record company to become a major label.

Green said growing up among all types of people in the poor west side of Chicago gave him his egalitarian views. "I was brought up in a mixed neighborhood," he said in an interview with The Desert Sun in January, "and that stayed with me forever."

While the four majors - RCA, Columbia, Decca and Capitol - promoted their mainstream music through network radio, Mercury distributed jazz, R&B and country western tunes not licensed for network radio through a jukebox network, allowing him to gain national distribution for music that previously had only regional success.

Mercury pioneered a "black sound" by promoting such black artists as Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and the Platters. It recorded Louis Armstrong's first No. 1 hit in 1964 with "Hello, Dolly!"

It also scored hits by white pop singers such as Vic Damone and the Four Seasons and more folksy artists like Frankie Laine, Patti Page, and Flatt and Scruggs.

Mercury became the first major label to hire a black top executive when Green made Quincy Jones a vice president in charge of artists and repertoire. "Irvin has a broad taste," Jones said in an interview with The Desert Sun in February before Green's 90th birthday. "It was across the board and I think that's what we shared - that diversified taste."

Green attended St. John's University in New York for two years before having to get a job during the Depression. He worked in his father's paint contracting business and went into sheet metal with a partner. They built hydraulic presses and made records.

Jones said one of Green's many accomplishments was buying the Chappell music publishing catalog for $42 million in 1962 and selling it 12 years later for $110 million.

"It's worth about a half-billion dollars now," Jones said.

IRVIN GREEN ARTISTS

Artists who recorded for Mercury Records under Irvin Green and their representative hits:

Frankie Laine, "That's My Desire," "Rawhide"

Patti Page, "Tennessee Waltz," "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window"

Sarah Vaughan, "My Funny Valentine," "Embraceable You"

Dinah Washington, "Harbor Lights," "What A Difference A Day Makes"

Charlie Parker, "Charlie Parker With Strings" CD

Dizzy Gillespie (Phillips Records), "No More Blues," "Desafinado"

Vic Damone, "You're Breaking My Heart," "Again"

Louis Armstrong, "Hello, Dolly!"

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"

The Platters: "Only You," 'The Great Pretender"

Brook Benton, "It's Just A Matter of Time," "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" with Dinah Washington

The Big Bopper, "Shantilly Lace"

Lesley Gore, "It's My Party," "You Don't Own Me"

The Smothers Brothers, "Aesop's Fables," "Mom Always Liked You Best"

The Four Seasons (on Phillips) "Dawn (Go Away)," "Rag Doll"

Co-founder of Mercury Records dies at 90

PALM SPRINGS, Calif., July 3 (UPI) -- Irvin Green, who co-founded Mercury Records and helped launch black recording artists through a jukebox network, has died in Palm Springs, Calif.

He was 90.

Green helped start Mercury in 1944, making it into a major record label by formulating a novel distribution strategy, the Palm Springs Desert Sun said. While the major record companies used network radio, Green promoted jazz, R&B and country western songs through a jukebox network.

He was able to get music played nationally that had previously been known only locally, the Desert Sun reported.

Green built and promoted a "black sound" by backing such greats as Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and the Platters. Mercury helped Louis Armstong get his first No. 1 hit with "Hello Dolly."

Green died of natural causes Saturday morning at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.

He is survived by his wife, Pamela.

Monday, July 3, 2006

Mercury Records Founder Irving Green Dies

Irving Green, who founded Mercury Records in 1944 and helped form the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1952, died Saturday, July 1, in Palm Springs, CA. He was 90.

During his long and illustrious career in both the recording and television industries, Green worked with such legendary artists as Nat King Cole, Vic Damone, Tony Martin, The Platters, Alfred Newman, Patti Page, Leslie Gore and Merv Griffin. The Grammy Hall of Fame contains 14 songs from the Mercury Library.

In 1956, Green also began the successful and lucrative practice of licensing songs to television shows, when a song by one of his Mercury artists, Frankie Laine, became the theme song for the long-running Western series Rawhide! In 1964 Green broke new ground when he hired Quincy Jones as VP/Head of R&B, making Jones the first African-American executive ever hired by a white-owned record label.

Earlier this year, Green was honored by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and inducted into the NARAS Gold Circle, marking 50 years of service to the television industry.

Green is survived by his wife, Pamela, his two daughters, Kelly Ross and Roberta Hunt, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

— Kevin Carter, R&R CHR/Pop Editor



Irvin Green helped break color barriers




Michelle Yee, The Desert SunIrvin Green, founder of Mercury Records, poses at his home in Palm Springs on Jan. 24.

IRVIN GREEN ARTISTS

Artists who recorded for Mercury Records under Irvin Green and their representative hits:

Frankie Laine, "That's My Desire," "Rawhide"

Patti Page, "Tennessee Waltz," "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window"

Sarah Vaughan, "My Funny Valentine," "Embraceable You"

Dinah Washington, "Harbor Lights," "What A Difference A Day Makes"

Charlie Parker, "Charlie Parker With Strings" CD

Dizzy Gillespie (Phillips Records), "No More Blues," "Desafinado"

Vic Damone, "You're Breaking My Heart," "Again"

Louis Armstrong, "Hello, Dolly!"

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"

The Platters: "Only You," 'The Great Pretender"

Brook Benton, "It's Just A Matter of Time," "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" with Dinah Washington

The Big Bopper, "Shantilly Lace"

Lesley Gore, "It's My Party," "You Don't Own Me"

The Smothers Brothers, "Aesop's Fables," "Mom Always Liked You Best"

The Four Seasons (on Phillips) "Dawn (Go Away)," "Rag Doll"

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Bruce Fessier

The Desert Sun

July 2, 2006 July 2, 2006



Irvin Green, the Palm Springs-based co-founder of Mercury Records, was remembered by friends as a recording pioneer who helped break popular music's color barrier.

Green, 90, died of natural causes at 5 a.m. Saturday at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs said his wife, Pamela, who was by his side.

Green co-founded Mercury in 1944 and turned it into the first independent record company to become a major label by using alternative distribution sources.

While the four majors - RCA, Columbia, Decca and Capitol - promoted their mainstream music through network radio, Mercury distributed jazz, R&B and country western tunes not licensed for network radio through a jukebox network, allowing him to gain national distribution for music that previously had only regional success.

Mercury pioneered a "black sound" by promoting such black artists as Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and the Platters. It recorded Louis Armstrong's first No. 1 hit in 1964 with "Hello, Dolly!"

It also scored hits by white pop singers such as Vic Damone and the Four Seasons and more folksy artists like Frankie Laine, Patti Page, and Flatt and Scruggs.

Mercury became the first major label to hire a black top executive when Green made Quincy Jones a vice president in charge of artists and repertoire. "Irvin has a broad taste," Jones said in an interview with The Desert Sun in February before Green's 90th birthday. "It was across the board and I think that's what we shared - that diversified taste."

Green became one of the first inductees in the Gold Circle of the Pacific Southwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in April with other local residents such as Merv Griffin and Paul Burke.

Attracting success

Green was honored for his 1948 aid to Ed Sullivan in booking Mercury artists who were the first blacks to appear on a popular regional telecast.

http://teetimes.thedesertsun.com/beattheheat.asp?CID=BHBA01TDSHe also arranged for Laine to sing on Nat "King" Cole's TV show in 1957, marking the first duet by a white and black man on national TV.

Rancho Mirage resident Jack Rael, who managed Patti Page when she became the first singer to overdub her voice on a national hit on "Tennessee Waltz" for Mercury, said Mercury's Chicago base helped Green attract artists who weren't accepted by major labels on the coasts.

"I went to Mercury because that was the only successful record company where I could drive my small car," said Rael, who was a Milwaukee-based musician before discovering Page in Tulsa, Ok.

Green said growing up among all types of people in the poor west side of Chicago gave him his egalitarian views.

"I was brought up in a mixed neighborhood," he said in an interview with The Desert Sun in January, "and that stayed with me forever."

Green attended St. John's University in New York for two years before having to get a job during the Depression. He worked in his father's paint contracting business and went into sheet metal with a partner. They built hydraulic presses and made records.

When the U.S. entered World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt restricted shellac for use by the military, so Green's firm invented plastic records. They turned out to be sturdier than shellac and business boomed.

Green gave his first releases to jukebox operators and that got his recordings played in cities before they got on the radio.

With A&R man Mitch Miller finding hit songs for the likes of Laine and Page, Mercury soon opened an office in New York.

A true visionary

"Needless to say, he created what started out as a small independent label and blossomed into one of the major labels in the industry," said Len Levy, a Rancho Mirage resident who headed Epic Records from 1961 until just before Green merged Mercury with Polygram in 1969.

"As the head of that label, he had a major impact as pop music is concerned. He was involved in so many different facets, it's really hard to pinpoint or marginalize the things he did."

Jones said one of Green's many accomplishments was buying the Chappell music publishing catalog for $42 million in 1962 and selling it 12 years later for $110 million.

"It's worth about a half-billion dollars now," Jones said.

Green bought a 1936 multi-level home in Palm Springs in the early 1970s and began a new career as a builder. He teamed with Bill Levitt, who invented tract homes in Levittown, Penn., to build 18,000 homes in Iran with a new irrigation design.

The project collapsed when the Shah of Iran was deposed and Green had to flee Iran hiding in the back of a car. But he built a development company in Palm Springs, started Landau Development and finished 52 homes in Rancho Mirage last year alone.

He was still making weekly site inspections at his Landau homes in Cathedral City last spring.

Jones called him a visionary.

"It didn't matter what it was," Jones said. "He understood it."

Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Temple Isaiah in Palm Springs followed by a public reception at his daughter Kelli Ross' Palm Springs home.

Besides Kelli and his wife, Pamela, Green is survived by his daughter Roberta Hunt from Wisconsin, three grandchildren and six great-granchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to Pets on Parade at 927 Village Square South, Palm Springs, 92-262. Pets on Parade is a July 16 benefit for Animal Samaritans and The Pegasus Riding Academy for the Handicapped.