Ahmet Ertegun died December 14th, 2006. Ironically, his death was precipitated by a fall he took about six weeks earlier at a rock concert.

“…it was at an October 29 concert by the Rolling Stones at the Beacon Theatre in New York where Ertegun fell, suffered a head injury and was hospitalized. He later slipped into a coma.

‘He was in a coma and expired today with his family at his bedside,’ said Dr. Howard A. Riina, Ertegun’s neurosurgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.'” —CNN

He was 83 years old.

In the age of giant corporations owning the music industry, it is easy to forget that the music business as we know it today was founded by little guys (and girls) with tiny little bankrolls, but BIG BIG DREAMS.

Ahmet Ertegun was such a dreamer. He was also a true pioneer of American popular music.

But it didn’t have to be that way…that’s just the way he wanted it. Born the second son to a career Turkish diplomat, Ertegun surely could have used his charm and charisma as a statesman. He could have used his St. John’s and Georgetown University degrees for a more “respectable” profession.

But he LOVED MUSIC. From the time he arrived in America at the age of 11 (when his father was appointed Turkish Ambassador to the United States), he and his older brother Nesuhi (also an important figure in American music, particularly in jazz, where he was responsible for the success of some of the biggest names), dove into the budding American music scene with undying passion.

“During 1951-54 [Nesuhi] taught at UCLA the first history of jazz course ever given at a college for credit. After working for the Good Time Jazz and Contemporary labels, Ertegun moved to New York to work as A&R chief for Atlantic, a label started by his brother Ahmet. It was largely due to Nesuhi that many rewarding jazz sessions were recorded for Atlantic (by such artists as the Modern Jazz Quartet, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Eddie Harris and Hank Crawford among others) during the next 15 years; he remained involved with the label up until his death [in 1989].” —Allmusic.com

Ahmet and Nesuhi (five years his elder) collected thousands of jazz and blues records, mostly 78s (78 rpm) as the “LP” (long-playing 33 1/3 rpm “albums”) were not yet mass distributed at the time — mid 1940s. When Nesuhi moved to California after their father’s death in 1944, Ahmet stayed in Washington and hung around music stores, determined to somehow get into the record business.

When Nesuhi Ertegun was living in Washington, he (with Ahmet’s help too) promoted jazz concerts. During that time, the Ertegun brothers became associated with another music lover, record collector and concert promoter, Herb Abramson.

When Ahmet finally decided to take the plunge at start a record company, he contacted Abramson and his wife Miriam. With $10,000 in seed money, borrowed from a Turkish dentist, Ahmet, Herb and Miriam founded Atlantic Records in 1947.

“From the beginning, Atlantic was different from other independent record companies. Their financier/dentist did not put pressure on them for immediate return on his investment, so Herb and Ahmet were free to make decisions based on their own good musical judgment. They did not cheat performers, as many of the other independent labels did. They gained a reputation for being honest, and that reputation as much as anything was the foundation for the success of the company. Many talented performers were willing to sign long term contracts with Atlantic because they believed that their royalties would be paid. Atlantic’s business practices allowed them to hire the best musicians in the business. When it was industry practice to pay royalties below 2 percent — or in the case of many black artists, no royalties at all — Atlantic was paying 3 to 5 percent.

“The early Atlantic roster was eclectic, to say the least. It included Stan Kenton band members Art Pepper, Shelly Manne, and Pete Rugolo, guitarist Tiny Grimes, vocal groups such as the Delta Rhythm Boys, the Clovers, and the Cardinals, rhythm and blues singers Ruth Brown, Stick McGhee and Joe Turner, pianists Erroll Garner and Mal Waldron, progressive jazz artists Howard McGhee, James Moody and Dizzy Gillespie, jazz singers Jackie & Roy and Sarah Vaughan, blues singers Leadbelly and Sonny Terry, and café society singers Mabel Mercer, Sylvia Syms and Bobby Short. In spite of this impressive roster, Atlantic was getting most of its revenue from the rhythm and blues recordings by Joe Turner (e.g., ‘Chains of Love,’ ‘Honey Hush,’ ‘TV Mama’) and Ruth Brown (e.g., “So Long,” ‘Teardrops From My Eyes,’ ‘I’ll Wait for You’).

“Atlantic was the first to record Professor Longhair, the legendary piano player from New Orleans. One of the songs ‘Fess’ recorded at his first Atlantic session was ‘Mardi Gras in New Orleans’ which has since become the theme song for the Mardi Gras. On February 17, 1949, Atlantic released ‘Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee’ by Stick McGhee, a blues novelty number that became a big hit. This was followed in October, 1950, by Laurie Tate and Joe Morris’ # 1 R&B record of ‘Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere.’ In 1951, Ahmet wrote ‘Don’t You Know I Love You’ for the Clovers and it also was a #1 R&B hit. Ruth Brown notched their third #1 R&B hit with ‘5-10-15 Hours’ in 1952.” —Both Sides Now

Many otherwise informed admirers of Ahmet Ertegun don’t realize that he also wrote some of the hits that came out of Atlantic, including ‘Don’t You Know I Love You,’ and the famous ‘Mess Around’ which he co-wrote with Atlantic R&B singer Jesse Stone. ‘Mess Around’ was a staple for Ray Charles throughout his career as it was also for Professor Longhair. Interestingly, some Ertegun-penned songs are credited to a songwrtier named “Nugetre” — that’s “Ertegun” spelled backwards. By all accounts, the man had a sense of humor!

Volumes could be, have been and likely will be written about the legacy of Ahmet Ertegun and the team he assembled, including legends in their own rights producer/engineer Tom Dowd (who invented the mixing board fader for cripes sake!) and Jerry Wexler who, in tandem with Stax studio in Memphis and Rick Hall at Fame in Muscle Shoals, guided chart-toppers for Aretha, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Booker T and the MG’s, and more.

While pioneering American jazz and R&B recordings (including of course Ray Charles and “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin), Ahmet Ertegun and Atlantic painted the American musical landscape with an increasingly broad stroke, creating pop stars Bobby Darin and Sonny and Cher.

“Ertegun also saw the significance of the British invasion and signed Cream, King Crimson, Yes and the Bee Gees. (Later, Ahmet signed the British band Led Zeppelin and had great success in the album market with them. He also developed an arrangement with the Rolling Stones, giving them their own label which was distributed by Atlantic.) In 1966, Nesuhi and Wexler went out to Long Island to see a performance by a new band called the Young Rascals. Both of them were impressed with the band, but by this time many labels were trying to sign them. Ahmet invited them out to his summer place in Southampton and told them ‘war stories’ of the early days of R&B, charming them into signing a contract with Atlantic. The Young Rascals (later, just the Rascals) recorded the classic ‘Groovin’,’ ‘Good Lovin’,’and many more hits for the label.

“Atlantic also signed Buffalo Springfield in 1966, and they had several albums on Atco and a big hit with “For What It’s Worth”. The group, made up of Stephen Stills, Dewey Martin, Richie Furay, Neil Young and Bruce Palmer, self-destructed in 1968, but Atlantic kept Stephen Stills as a solo artist.

“In 1967, the three owners of Atlantic; Ahmet, Jerry and Nesuhi [initial co-founder Herb Abramson had been bought out by the others in 1958] were approached by Warner Seven Arts Corporation about selling Atlantic. Warner Seven Arts offered $17,000,000 in Warner stock plus high paying jobs at the new company for each of the senior Atlantic executives. They agreed to the sale. Atlantic/Atco Records, along with Warner Brothers/Reprise Records, were to be operated as separate record companies under the ownership umbrella of the Warner-Seven Arts Corporation.” — Both Sides Now

About his career in music, Ertegun once said, “We started Atlantic simply because we wanted to sign a few artists whose music we liked, and make the kind of records that we would want to buy…I honestly never imagined I would be able to make a living from doing something that was so much fun. I am very glad I was wrong.” —Ahmet Ertegun, Atlantic Records Co-Founder

So are WE, Ahmet…so are we.

Ertegun was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.