I’m sure most of you have heard the news, godfather of producers, Ahmet Ertegun has passed away recently. He was one of the most influential producers & talent seekers in the music biz, and also a visionary and a benovelent figure who constantly helped young musicians and indie labels. Truly an inspirational figure and an American success story, just like his brother and partner in crime Nesuhi Ertegun. Also he’s probably one of the most successful & influential Turks ever to mark his place in the international society and I thought a small tribute is due.

I’m not gonna write a detailed bio, you can read the one on the Rock’n'Roll hall of fame, or the NY Times Obituary. I just gathered some interesting trivia about him and his brother Nesuhi’s career and included 6 hits from their early period, like Atlantic’s first hit, by Stick Mc Ghee. Obvious megahits like Ben E. King’s Stand by Me and Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools are not included!.

Rest in Peace.

1. Wrote a number of classic blues songs, including Chains of Love and Sweet Sixteen, under the pseudonym A. Nugetre (Ertegün backwards).
2. Atlantic Records under Ahmet Ertegun’s direction, produced an extremely high number of well-known musicians, including Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Sonny & Cher, Yes, The Bee Gees, AC/DC, Chic, ABBA, Bette Midler, Rush, King Crimson, Otis Redding, Genesis, INXS and some recent successes like Norah Jones, Gnarls Barkley, The Darkness, Chromeo, Porcupine Tree.
3. Nesuhi produced the following jazz artists at Atlantic: John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Les McCann and Hank Crawford. Later he would become became involved with the label’s rhythm & blues and rock and roll roster as well, producing several hit records for Ray Charles, the Drifters, Bobby Darin and Roberta Flack.
4. When Les Koenig was approached by Lawrence Morton of the UCLA music department to teach a course in jazz at UCLA, he recommended Nasuhi. Nasuhi thus taught the first course in jazz taught at a major American university.
5. He convinced Crosby, Stills and Nash to allow Neil Young to join them on one of their tours, thereby founding Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in 1969.
6. Brought Sonny And Cher to the company, who scored a huge international hit with ‘I Got You Babe‘, which became one of the best selling singles of 1965.
7. In 1971 helped David Geffen to finance his own record company, Asylum and put him in music business.
8. In 1971, Nesuhi founded WEA International, now Warner Music International.
9. In 1971 they co-founded the New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League. They were instrumental in bringing in soccer legends like Pelé, Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer to the club.
10. In 1987, Ahmet was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, of which he himself was the founder.
11. Ahmet received an honorary doctorate in music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1991, and was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 1993; Nasuhi was awarded the same posthumously two years later.
12. At the tenth annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, it was announced that the museum’s main exhibition hall would be named after Ahmet Ertegun.
13. The United States Library of Congress honored Ertegun as a “Living Legend” in 2000.
14. For their contributions to the sport of soccer, both were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.
15. Frank Zappa’s son, Ahmet Zappa was named after Ertegün,

[Portrait of Ahmet M. Ertegun, Duke Ellington, William P. Gottlieb, Nesuhi Ertegun]

Stick Mc Ghee - Drinkin’ Wine Spo-dee-o-dee
Ruth Brown - Daddy Daddy
Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally
Brook Benton - Rainy Night in Georgia
Roberta Flack - Killing me softly with his song
Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem