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Ahmet Ertegun / The Father of Rock'n'Roll

Like his contemporaries' famous saying “Live fast, die young” he lived fast but gladly he lived long. Ahmet Ertegun touched to many people's life during his long life, Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, Sonny and Cher, Eric Clapton, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Bette Midler, Kid Rock, Paolo Nutini, James Blunt are only few examples. These touchings were magical and profitable for both parties. While some of them were playing at a small bar or street, some of them were already famous, before they met with Ahmet but all of their end were same: “Peak Point of Their Career” Ahmet was born in 1923 in Istanbul to an aristocratic Turkish family. His father, Munir Ertegun, was a legal counsel in Ottoman Empire's Sublime Port (Bab'ı Ali) and he became an ambassador of Turkish Republic with the foundation of Turkish Republic. He served in many foreign countries like Switzerland, London and USA. These were hard times, while many countries had conflicts about resources and new markets, nationalism was rising and on the other hand World was in economical crisis. However Ahmet and his family (Hayrunnisa Rustem – mother, Nasuhi – elder brother, Selma – sister) was like isolated because of his father's duty. They had a different life style and facilities. As they journeyed to a country gripped by the Great Depression,USA , Ahmet, his mother, and sister occupied a suite that was “ a rung above the first-class cabins and certainly the most luxurious accommodation the ship had to offer.” In an era when the average salary in America was less than $1,400, their passage cost more than most people in the United States earned in an entire year. Because it was the custom for ambassadors and their families to be sent abroad in the best possible circumstances, all their expenses were paid for by the Turkish government. Ahmet's first interest to black music was enlighted in London when he was 10 years old. Duke Ellington “the king of the Jazz” came to England for the first time. For Ahmet, who was taken to the show by his brother, the evening was an ear-shattering, life-changing experience he would never forget. “ It was nothing like hearing the records,” Ahmet would later say. “The engineers at the time were afraid that too much bass or too much drums would crack the grooves on the 78s so they recorded them very low. And when you heard these bands in person, it was explosive. This boom-boom-boom incredible rhythm. It went through your body. I went, ‘Oh my God, this is jazz. This is not this bullshit thing we hear on a record player. This is real jazz.' Ahmet's father was died in 1944 in USA. This was really big shock for Ahmet who was accustomed aristocratic life style with housemaids and without money problem. While his mother and sister travelled back to Istanbul, Nasuhi and Ahmet decided to stay. Ahmet was studying in Medieval Philosophy at Georgetown University and he did not want to go back to Turkey because of conscription. However on the other hand he did not have any job and visa and he was not a son of ambassador any more. Although many of his father's powerful friends would liked to help him to fina job, he had only one dream. MUSIC. In 1946, Ahmet decided to start a new independent record label in the name of Atlantic for gospel, jazz and R&B music with his close friend dentist Herb Abramson while another dentist Dr.Vahdi Sabit, who were a family dentist of Ertegun's, was financer. As later Ahmet said too, may be his the biggest advantage and difference was he could easily go, sit and talk with black people while black people was still seen as second class people in USA and many White people was afraid of to go to places where blacks were in. Jazz was a evaluated version of gospel; blacks were owner of this music and Ahmet had a connection with the fountain of Jazz. However thinks were not going well, their first 22 records were unsuccessful and beside of it Herb Abramson was called by army for his military duty. Ahmet and Herb had had to find another partner who could fill in Herb's place and they decided in one name Jerry Wexler who was a writer in Billboard magazine. Jerry and Ahmet became good friend in the absence of Herb and they began to travel together for discover new artists in black regions. The rise of Atlantic was started in 1950's, Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner, The Clovers, The Drifters, The Coasters and The Great Ray Charles were Atlantic's stars. Ahmet was not responsible from only discovering of talented artists, he was also working in studio, he was intervening to sounds, bass, lyrics, singers etc. While many singers were not successful before met with Ahmet, with Ahmet's touches they had becomen great artists like Ruth Brown, Ray Charles. Music was changing 1950's jazz and R&B were firstly evaluated into Rock'n'Roll and then it was evaluated into metal and rap music. Ahmet was always there and he played great roles in these evaluations. He had worked with Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin, Eric Clapton, Sony and Cher, Creame, Kid Rock, James Blunt and Paolo Nutini. Atlantic was his label, although he was forced to sell it to Warner Bros – Seven Arts in 1967 for $17 million, he never left his label until his dead while many great names like Jerry Wexler, David Geffen, Jerry Greenberg, Doug Morris, Jesse Stone and Herb Abramson left the label. He was enjoyable man, he hated to go home early. He was still attending parties which continue till the first sunlights, at his 70's. He and his brother was football funs and they co-founded New York Cosmos club. May be the it was the first marketable football club in the world. They signed with Pele, Beckanbauer and Carlos Alberto to market the club. Ahmet also signed record contract with Pele. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is the other remarkable work of Ahmet. He assembled a team that included attorney Suzan Evans, Rolling Stone magazine editor and publisher Jann S. Wenner, attorney Allen Grubman and record executives Seymour Stein, Bob Krasnow and Noreen Woods and they have found it in 1983. Marketing Genius Ahmet marketed it while there was nothing as a dream and many cities raced in each other to build it in their cities. At last Clevaland which was the first city paid attention to, won the race and it is still there in Cleveland. He never saw borders and cared them he loved to negotiate and talk. Jerry Wexler described him  like “Ahmet sees only two kinds of people social people and morons”. Ahmet was sitting and talking with black people while it was not seen pretty in 1940s, he and his friends especially Jesse Stone developed a Rock'n'Roll whose roots were lying in gospel music and whose the most famous legandary singer would be one white boy Elvis Presley. Rock'n'Roll was not a music, only black people listen anymore however it was not universal yet. Ahmet worked for it too and especially with Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger finally he did it too.   When he died he was 83 years old in 2006.

Devletler Republic of Turkey United States of America

Medeniyetler Jewish Turk Afroamerican Anglo-Saxon (English)

Dinler Secular Christianity Islam