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Arthur Newton Rupe (born Arthur Goldberg; September 5, 1917 – April 15, 2022) was an American music executive and record producer. He founded
Specialty Records Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd Pr ...
, known for its
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
, blues,
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
and early
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
music recordings, in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in 1946.


Early years

Rupe was born Arthur Goldberg. He was born to a working-class
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family on September 5, 1917, in the
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
suburb of
Greensburg, Pennsylvania Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city lies within the Laurel Highlands and the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau. The city is ...
. Rupe grew up in the nearby suburb of
McKeesport McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. It ...
. His father was a factory worker who had immigrated from Galicia, and his mother was a housewife born in Pittsburgh. As a boy, he listened to music sung at a local black Baptist church. He attended college at
Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...
,
Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...
, and
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he worked for a shipbuilding company in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. Along the way, he changed his surname from Goldberg to Rupe, which was an ancestral name.


Career

Toward the end of the war, Rupe resolved to get into the entertainment industry. After losing money he had invested in a small record company, he spent $200 on what were called "race records" at the time to systematically analyze them and determine the formula for records that would sell. He decided that the secret lay in a big band sound with a churchy feel. He found the recording talent he needed in the many after-hours clubs in the Watts district. He and Ben Siegert first established Juke Box Records in 1944 and after a few hits, he broke with his partners and started a new company,
Specialty Records Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd Pr ...
. The label soon thrived with
Roy Milton Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader. Career Milton's grandmother was Chickasaw. He was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and grew up on an Indian reservation bef ...
, Percy Mayfield, and
Jimmy Liggins Jimmy Liggins (born James L. Elliott; October 14, 1918 – July 21, 1983) was an American R&B guitarist and bandleader. His brother was the more commercially successful R&B/blues pianist, Joe Liggins. Career The son of Harriett and Elijah Elli ...
, along with a very successful gospel catalog. The major producers for the label were Rupe,
Robert "Bumps" Blackwell Robert Alexander "Bumps" Blackwell (May 23, 1918 – March 9, 1985) was an American bandleader, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, best known for his work overseeing the early hits of Little Richard, as well as grooming Ray Charles ...
, and J.W. Alexander.
Johnny Vincent John Vincent Imbragulio (October 3, 1927 – February 4, 2000), known as Johnny Vincent, was an American record producer for Art Rupe at Specialty Records. He founded Ace Records in 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi, 165 miles away from New Orlea ...
was a sales representative for the company. Rupe had a love of gospel music, and in 1947 he began recording gospel quartets such as the
Soul Stirrers The Soul Stirrers were an American gospel music group, whose career spans over eighty years. The group was a pioneer in the development of the quartet style of gospel, and a major influence on soul, doo wop, and Motown, some of the secular musi ...
, the
Swan Silvertones The Swan Silvertones are an American gospel music group that first achieved popularity in the 1940s and 1950s under the leadership of Claude Jeter. Jeter formed the group in 1938 as the "Four Harmony Kings" while he was working as a coal miner in ...
, the
Pilgrim Travelers The Pilgrim Travelers were an American gospel group, popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Musical career Formed in 1936 in Houston, Texas, United States, they were influenced by another Texas-based quartet, the Soul Stirrers. They achieved ...
,
Alex Bradford Alex Bradford (January 23, 1927 – February 15, 1978) (professionally known as Professor Alex Bradford) was a multi-talented Gospel music, gospel composer, singer, arranger and choir director, who was an influence on artists such as Little Rich ...
,
Dorothy Love Coates Dorothy Love Coates (January 30, 1928 – April 9, 2002) was an American gospel singer.
and Sister Wynona Carr. His taste for gospel carried over into secular music and influenced his choice of artists to record, such as
Guitar Slim Eddie Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959), better known as Guitar Slim, was an American guitarist in the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song " The Things That I Used to Do", for Specialty Records. It is listed in t ...
,
Don and Dewey Don and Dewey were an American rock, blues and R&B duo, comprising Don "Sugarcane" Harris (Don Francis Bowman Harris; June 18, 1938 – December 1, 1999) and Dewey Terry (Dewey Steven Terry; July 17, 1937 – May 11, 2003). History Both Harr ...
,
Lloyd Price Lloyd Price (March 9, 1933May 3, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, record executive and bandleader, known as "Mr. Personality", after his 1959 million-selling hit, "Personality". His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", was a hit for S ...
,
Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...
, and Little Richard. It led him to value feeling over technique in the recording studio. Concerns about religious objections to the secularization of gospel music, combined with a contract dispute, resulted in his decision not to put out a pop record with gospel singer Sam Cooke. He recorded but ultimately chose not to release two songs that later became big hits, "
You Send Me "You Send Me" is a song written and originally recorded by American singer Sam Cooke, released as a single in 1957 by Keen Records. Produced by Bumps Blackwell and arranged and conducted by René Hall. The song, Cooke's debut single, was a massiv ...
" and "Summertime". In 1952, Rupe first traveled to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
because of his attraction to the gospel sound of
Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...
who played piano in the band of
Dave Bartholomew David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...
, a former trumpeter with Duke Ellington. It was on this trip that he auditioned and then recorded
Lloyd Price Lloyd Price (March 9, 1933May 3, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, record executive and bandleader, known as "Mr. Personality", after his 1959 million-selling hit, "Personality". His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", was a hit for S ...
. Rupe obtained his most successful artist when Little Richard, then a little-known recording artist, followed Lloyd Price's suggestion and sent Rupe a demo record. Rupe sent Blackwell to New Orleans to do a recording session, and during a recording break Little Richard sang an obscene song while playing the piano. Blackwell sensed that it was a hit, but after the lyrics had been cleaned up, there was no time to teach the song to a piano player. So Little Richard both played and sang the only song to emerge from that first session, done in just three takes, "
Tutti Frutti Tutti frutti (from Italian ''tutti i frutti'', "all fruits"; also hyphenated tutti-frutti) is a colorful confectionery containing various chopped and usually candied fruits, or an artificial or natural flavouring simulating the combined flavou ...
", one of the most significant rock and roll records ever made. Rupe also recorded
Guitar Slim Eddie Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959), better known as Guitar Slim, was an American guitarist in the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song " The Things That I Used to Do", for Specialty Records. It is listed in t ...
, with a young
Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
on piano. In addition, Specialty issued some of the wildest R&B records, such as "Cherokee Dance", by Froggy Landers; "(Everytime I Hear) That Mellow Saxophone", by Roy Montrell; "Drunk" by Jimmy Liggins; and the rock & roll "Moose on the Loose", by Roddy Jackson. The contracts that Specialty Records gave the artists to sign left Rupe and others at the label with full ownership and publishing rights of the music. Little Richard signed a contract with Specialty in 1955, and reportedly gave the label full ownership of all the music he recorded with them in return for 50% of the royalties earned. In his authorized biography, he states that he sold his publishing rights to "Tutti Frutti" for fifty dollars, leaving him with a small half-cent royalty rate per record sold. In 1959, Little Richard left the label and filed a lawsuit claiming he never received his royalties. He settled for $11,000 and waived his rights to royalties from such hits as "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally". During the 1960s and later, Rupe became increasingly involved in oil and gas investments. Success in this area allowed him to establish the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation, a philanthropy based in Santa Barbara. When asked why Specialty was so successful, Rupe credited his own ability to produce rather than his business skills. In the early 1960s, he stopped producing records but remained active in the music business as a publisher. He returned during the 1950s-revival period in the late 1960s, but only to reissue landmark recordings of the R&B era. Rupe sold Specialty to
Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its invest ...
in 1991.


Later years and death

Rupe turned 100 in September 2017. He died on April 15, 2022, at his home in
Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...
. He was 104 years old.


Honors

Rupe was inducted into the
Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum located at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1 ...
in 2007. In 2011, he (along with former Elektra Records founder
Jac Holzman Jac Holzman (born September 15, 1931) is an American music businessman, best known as the founder, chief executive officer and head of record label Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. Holzman commercially helped launch the CD and home video form ...
) was awarded the Ahmet Ertegun Award by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. According to the citation, Rupe "brought R&B and soul into the mainstream and launched Little Richard’s career. Rupe’s fastidious work ethic and uncanny musical intuition shaped the evolution of rock."


References


External links


Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks

Pittsburgh Music History article on Art Rupe
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rupe, Art 1917 births 2022 deaths American centenarians 20th-century American Jews American music industry executives Record producers from Pennsylvania Men centenarians Miami University alumni People from Greensburg, Pennsylvania People from McKeesport, Pennsylvania 21st-century American Jews