Blues Before Sunrise: The Radio Interviews

Ralph Bass

Ralph Bass ralph Bass was a famous record producer and A & r (artists and repertoire) man in the world of blues and rhythm and blues. He’s credited with discovering James Brown and Little esther Phillips. He produced a gigantic hit record by tenor sax man Jack McVea with “Open the Door, richard. ” He worked with etta James and Little Milton, produced the comedy records by Moms Mabley and Pigmeat Markham, and was responsible for a variety of respected jazz sessions, including the classic recording “the Chase” with wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon. Over the years ralph worked at the Black & white label, the Savoy label, the Chess/Checker labels , and the King and Federal labels. In fact, he did so well for Syd Nathan and the King label, it’s rumored that Syd started the Federal label strictly for artists produced by ralph—his own personal vanity label. I actually met ralph Bass several years earlier when he was managing the Chess studio in its final days. He was a short guy with tousled hair in a belted safari jacket and sandals with no socks, ralph Bass with lacey gibson. Photo courtesy of Jim o’neal. middle-aged cool for the era. He seemed distracted in about a half dozen different directions but managed to lay out the conditions and price, took my money, and gave me a receipt—then turned me over to the recording engineer Malcolm Chism. Several years later I found out that ralph was still living in Chicago. He and his wife were operating the Katherine Dunham Dance Studios on South Michigan Avenue. I called him and asked if he would be interested in doing an interview with me for the radio program. He agreed and we set the date. the interview was done at the dance studios. when I arrived ralph was in the studio, wearing a nylon two-piece workout suit and running laps to keep in condition—at seventy-six years old! He was diminutive and hyper, twitchy—constantly shifting the rubik’s cube in his mind, seeking the proper angle in reply—and laughing at his own jokes. ralph Bass is the only white person interviewed in this book, yet he had abandoned life in white society many years earlier. As he immersed himself in black music, he eventually immersed himself in black society. He married a black woman, and worked and raised a family in the black community. this interview took place on June 11, 1987. ralph Bass died on March 5, 1997. ■ ■ ■ Well, I was born in the Bronx in New York. And being a half Jew and a half Dago (chuckles), I had to fight my way out of the school every day! Well, I learned when the non-Jewish boys were going to pick on me, I’d say, “Hey, baby, I’m Italian!” I wasn’t lying. Well, then of course I’ve been a rebel all my life. And I wonder why was I a rebel. In other words, my first wife—I have two white sons by my first wife. I have a black daughter by my second wife. And my parents sent me to a Baptist prep school in Pennsylvania. We had a Baptist church. And I rebelled. At all times I just rebelled against things. And I got it from my parents, because you must remember, an Italian marrying a Jewish woman—way back then! Of course, you know how old I am [he was born on May 1, 1911]. That’s where I got it, subconsciously. And I gave my first concert—don’t call it a concert—World War I, I was only about five years old. And the parents—the PTA, or whatever they wanted to call it in those days—was raising money for war bonds, liberty bonds they called them. And my mother dressed me in a sailor suit and I was playing violin. And I gave my first solo performance (chuckles) then. And from there I played in bands—well, those days the society bands. I didn’t like the idea of playing r alph bass 191 society bands, but it was just doing something. I was fifteen, sixteen years old playing in the roof gardens of all the hotels and whatnot in New York. And of course another buddy of mine, another violin player, and I decided to stop off in Harlem. And there I...