RealityChuck mentioned it in the second posting.
Columbia in pre rock 50s was the 500lb gorilla of the industry.In addition to the aforementioned Clooney (Come ona my house),Mitch launched Frankie Laine (Mule Train),Guy Mitchell (Singin’the Blues),Patti Page (Doggie in the Window),and Johnny Ray (Cry) among others.
He never met a cutesy “hook” he didn’t like.
Sinatra gave up on him in '52 because of the “material” Mitch wanted him to sing.Somehow I just can’t see Sinatra belting out Mule Train.
This was the state of mainstream pop until the teens started flexing their merchandise muscle,helped along in no small part by the '45 player,and probably the first teenage audience that had some more or less disposable income in history.
A lot of teens prior to the era generally helped out the family fund with some, if not all,of their after school earnings.
:smack: D’oh!
But it’s “Sing Along with Mitch” not “Read Along with dropzone”
Not sure how Miller affected Aretha-he was at Columbia-she was at Atlantic.
[OT Nitick] Actually, Aretha Franklin recorded with Columbia until the mid 60’s where they tried to mold her into a pop-oriented chanteuse. It wasn’t until she joined Atlantic in 1967, that her style became soulful.
Thanks for mentioning that. Sinatra thought Miller was responsible for almost running his recording career into the ground with the lackluster quasi-novelty songs he was making him sing. It just goes to show that Miller’s reputation as a “square” pre-dated the rise of rock n’ roll.
Thank you, NDP, that’s correct.
In fact, a lot of the “boomer” stereotypes of what popular music was like before rock were the creation of Miller and a few other producers in the early 1950’s.