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16 chapter West Coast Rockin’ and Rollin’ Cast of Characters Joe Bihari, Modern-RPM-Flair and Crown-Kent Records B. B. King, RPM Records artist Roddy Jackson, Specialty Records artist Harold Battiste, Specialty Records branch manager Art Rupe, Specialty Records Rafael “Googie” Rene, Class Records Dave Burgess, Challenge Records Joe Johnson, Challenge Records also featuring Leon Rene, Class Records; and Gene Autry, Challenge Records Out west in California, a handful of the original indie labels from the “78 era” were nicely established by the mid-1950s, namely Aladdin, Imperial, Modern, and Specialty. There had been a few important 1940s casualties along the way, such as Exclusive, Excelsior, ARA, and Black & White, felled by a dearth of hits and changing trends coupled with over-expansionistic ideals. From 1950 on, R&B newcomers popped up, including Swing Time (Jack Lauderdale, Franklin Kort), Recorded in Hollywood (John Dolphin ), Combo (Jake Porter), and Dootone (Dootsie Williams). In the pop field, there was Era (Herb Newman, Lou Bedell) and Liberty (Si Waronker), soon to be joined by Randy Wood’s Dot label relocated from distant Tennessee. In jazz, there was Verve and Clef (Norman Granz) and Pacific Jazz (Dick Bock). Then along came a resuscitated Leon Rene with Class Records and cowboy movie star Gene Autry with Challenge. Several first-class independent recording studios would help to feed the West Coast frenzy. The leaders were Radio Recorders (dating i-xvi_1-592_Brov.indd 297 11/19/09 10:44:47 AM 298 the hustle is on back to 1936), Master Recorders (run by Bunny Robyn, a specialist at the speeded-up rock ’n’ roll record, particularly for Imperial and Specialty), United Western Recorders (Bill Putnam, by way of Universal, Chicago), and Gold Star (Stan Ross). The futuristic $2 million Capitol Tower, opened on April 6, 1956, was a shining symbol of the Golden State and of Capitol Records itself. The glorious thirteen-story building was designed as a “stack o’ records,” a name that stuck, with facilities that included impeccable recording studios. California was more than ready to rock and roll. Joe Bihari: Modern-RPM-Flair Records and Crown-Kent Records Modern Records, in particular, seemed to be well positioned for the rock ’n’ roll era in terms of hit records and business development. In 1953, the Bihari brothers’ combine was basking in a brace of B. B. King R&B chart hits for RPM: “Woke Up This Morning” (No. 3) and “Please Love Me” (No. 1). B. B. went off the boil for a while until coming back strong at the end of 1954 with “You Upset Me Baby,” another No. 1. The interim R&B chart slack was taken up by the pre–rock ’n’ roll teen offerings of the coupling “Tick Tock” (No. 9) and “Cherry Pie” by Marvin & Johnny (Modern), and “Oop Shoop” (No. 8) by Shirley Gunter and the Queens (Flair). There were surprise successes on the national pop charts for the first time, on the subsidiary Crown label, with “Angela Mia” (No. 23) and “That’s What I Like” (No. 14) by Don, Dick & Jimmy (led by future A&R man Don Ralke). Impressed and comforted by this action, the Biharis invested $15,000 in the summer of 1954 for the construction of recording studios and office space adjacent to their Cadet Record Pressing Company building (which housed ten presses) in Culver City. The new studio was equipped with Ampex tape machines, Altec-Lansing sound systems, and an RCA mixing panel. To facilitate management of the expanding organization, Jules Bihari was now president of Crown Records and the Cadet pressing plant, with Saul and Joe presidents of Modern-RPM and Flair, respectively.1 The Bihari brothers kept up the pace by scoring a No. 1 R&B hit with “The Wallflower ,” the auspicious debut by Etta James on Modern in April 1955. Etta, who was just sixteen, was introduced to Modern by bandleader Johnny Otis, who had just come off an eventful stint with Don Robey at Peacock Records. However, her record, based on the tune of “Work with Me Annie” by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, was unable to cross over into the pop charts because of the powerful cover version by Mercury ’s Georgia Gibbs (who duly waltzed to No. 1 with the song retitled “Dance with Me Henry”). The Biharis charted pop again at No. 82 on Billboard’s debut Top 100 chart of November 12, 1955, with “Why Don’t You Write Me?” by the Jacks for RPM, a group that reinvented itself as the Cadets for Modern. The ruse...

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