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3 chapter California Booming Cast of Characters Johnny Otis, Excelsior Records artist Rafael “Googie” Rene, Exclusive Records assistant Joe Bihari, jukebox operator’s assistant and Modern Music (Modern) Records Art Rupe, Juke Box and Specialty Records Don Pierce, 4 Star Records Henry Stone, early record distributor also featuring Leon Rene, Exclusive Records; Otis Rene, Excelsior Records; and Jules and Saul Bihari, Modern Music (Modern) Records By 1945, California was booming due to a confluence of factors. The United States was patently winning World War II, and the defense, film, and agricultural industries were prospering in the triumphant economy. To offset the wartime manpower shortages, the state was attracting migrant workers of different races from all over, especially from Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Many of these new arrivals wanted their own music from “down home.” There was a genuine feel-good atmosphere in the Golden State, first under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and then President Harry S. Truman. In this intoxicating environment, California was a critical base for the early independent record companies (or “off brands,” as they were known at the time). The gold rush was on for the gold records. Johnny Otis: Excelsior Records Artist Johnny Otis was caught up in the crusading spirit of those heady, zoot-suited times. In late 1945, he started his career with a regional hit, “Harlem Nocturne,” on Excelsior Records of Los Angeles. Born of Greek heritage and a natural leader of men, Otis had a pronounced African American empathy and great business savvy. By avoiding the i-xvi_1-592_Brov.indd 33 11/19/09 10:44:01 AM 34 the independent revolution many industry pitfalls, he became an enterprising R&B bandleader, songwriter, music publisher, and record man. If that wasn’t enough, he was a club owner, A&R man, disc jockey, broadcaster, author, painter, raconteur, and more recently a marketer of his own organic apple juice. His curriculum vitae could not be more impressive. “I started my own thing after I had formed the Otis-Love Band with Preston Love in Omaha,” Otis said when touring England in 1972.1 I made my first record for Otis Rene, who owned the pioneering Excelsior Records. On that date [September 13, 1945] Count Basie loaned Jimmy Rushing as a singer, also two sidemen. I had a nice big band of my own at the time and we were well rehearsed. We did an instrumental with Preston Love and two sides by Jimmy Rushing. I said “Great! We finished early.” “What do you mean we finished early?” came Rene’s reply . “Three records in four hours” [I said]. Then Rene said, “No, four records in three hours.” “Oh shit!” I said. So we hurriedly looked in my music book and found Ray Noble’s “Harlem Nocturne” [composed by Earle Hagen], which was really Mickey Mouse music. We did our own arrangement, and although it was done as an afterthought [,] that was the one that made it. The main West Coast labels were Modern [the Bihari brothers], Specialty [Art Rupe], Swing Time [Jack Lauderdale], Aladdin [Leo and Eddie Mesner], Imperial [Lew Chudd], Exclusive [Leon Rene], and Excelsior [Otis Rene]. I am sure that people like the Rene brothers or Art Rupe never dreamt their records would smack and crash their way across the country when they first started. “Drifting Blues” by Charles Brown was the black national anthem for two years; it was all you heard.2 Hits lasted longer in those days. Things like “I Wonder” by Private Cecil Gant [Gilt-Edge] and “The Honeydripper ” by Joe Liggins [Exclusive] were on the jukeboxes all over Central Avenue [Los Angeles]. At the time, to hear a record you either had to buy it, listen on a jukebox, or maybe see an artist in person. There was not much air exposure. The pressures and competition which cause a record to die quickly were not the same. The record owners used to work out deals with the jukebox men; the jukebox was a vital outlet. Radio became all important in promoting records, but first it was limited to a few hours a day. The main disc jockeys on the West Coast were Joe Adams and Hunter Hancock. Adams hardly played any blues at first, mainly big band swing. But Hancock was more into “folk,” and his first R&B show was Harlematinee, followed by Huntin’ with Hunter. Al Jarvis, the first big white dee-jay in L.A. who died in 1970, said there was an unwritten law about playing black records...

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