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12 chapter A-Hustle and A-Scuffle at Old Town Cast of Characters Hy Weiss, Old Town Records Sam Weiss, Old Town Records and Superior Record Sales Co. Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records Joe Bihari, Modern Records Richard Barrett, Old Town artist (The Valentines) Harold “Mr. Blues” Ladell, Radio WNJR and Essex Record Distributors Ruth McFadden, Old Town artist Milton Love, Old Town artist (The Solitaires) Billy Bland, Old Town artist also featuring Jerry Blaine, Cosnat Distributing Corp. and Jubilee-Josie Records; and George Goldner, Tico-Rama-Gee and End-Gone Records Hy Weiss came into my life by accident. In May 1993, I had arranged to meet Shelley Galehouse to discuss the licensing of her father’s masters of the Wailers on the Golden Crest label on behalf of Ace Records of London. In particular, I was looking to land “Tall Cool One,” a double Top 40 hit (in 1959 and 1964) for Ace’s prestigious Golden Age of American Rock ’n’ Roll series. The meeting was set up at the Country Kitchen restaurant in picture-postcard Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, near Shelley’s family home. I had no idea that Hy Weiss, of Old Town Records, would be present . In fact, I had no idea that Shelley knew him. Damn it! Her adviser was none other than this battle-hardened veteran from the mythical i-xvi_1-592_Brov.indd 208 11/19/09 10:44:31 AM a-hustle and a-scuffle at old town 209 New York street-slugger element of the record business, who just happened to live in the neighboring town of Woodbury. If there was a redeeming factor, Hy had an ongoing licensing deal with Ace Records, so there was a relationship of sorts. Negotiations were not made any easier by the fact that the ownership of the Golden Crest masters had fallen into confusion following the death of founder Clark Galehouse in 1983.1 After discussing the possible whereabouts of the master tapes, which took in all points from Boston to New Jersey and featured a wide spectrum of characters (ranging from hallowed American composer Gunther Schuller and New York music man Mack Wolfson to many others), Hy declared, “Do it!” That was it—no buts, no maybes. The great Hy Weiss had decreed that she should license the masters to Ace. Shelley did not rush to judgment. In fact, she had already told the wily record man, sweetly, “Hy, I love you, but I don’t trust you one iota.” He replied, “That’s all right; your father didn’t either.”2 Here was an original record man making a snap decision, one of the many thousands made in his long, colorful career. At once, he was clinical and breathtakingly quick. Apart from his strength of personality, wit, and street talk, what was most evident was his grasp of music business law (unexpectedly) and “the deal” (expectedly ). He gave the impression that the only worthwhile agreement was the one where all the odds (and benefits) were stacked in his favor; he did not appear to subscribe to the standard business ethic of both parties emerging from negotiations with mutual honor and satisfaction. “I don’t know mathematics, but I know figures pretty good,” he would say. Although never in the same exalted league as his friends Leonard Chess and Jerry Wexler, Hy Weiss was the epitome of the hustling, second-division independent record man. That is, he would start something from nothing, supervise the session, hype the record, and try to collect, all the while “busting his chops” to make a “little dollar” here and there. As an accessory to his armory, all manner of irreverent street banter would cascade from his lips. One of his better one-liners was: “He knows as much about this fucking business as an ant on the wall!” With his natural, rapid-fire humor enhanced by that magnetic smile, pronounced cheek dimples, and wagging cigar, he could have been a borscht belt comedian with a permanent residency in the Catskill Mountains if he had so desired. But the record man in him called. For such an apparently carefree character, Weiss was frugal with the dollar in his pocket to a fault. Such innate monetary caution, which he would never admit to, may partially explain his longevity in the business. What is not in doubt is the support and sage counsel he received from his wife, Roz, throughout their marriage of more than forty years. In his prime...

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