Bernard Besman (October 8, 1912 – January 10, 2003) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

-born American record producer and distributor who established Sensation Records, an early

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. He was the first to record

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

, and is credited with co-writing some of Hooker's songs

Early life

Besman was born into a Jewish family in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, then in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In the aftermath of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the Polish-Soviet War, he and his family fled Kiev in 1921, and traveled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where Besman attended school in the

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and learned piano. The family moved to Detroit in 1926, and Besman began playing "sweet"

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and dance music in hotels and resorts, leading his own small group, and made recordings in 1936. He began operating a

booking agency A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

before

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 opposin ...

, and then booked bands for the Special Services. Michael Lydon, "Boogie Lightnin': John Lee Hooker and the Electrified Blues", ''Ramparts'', 1973
Retrieved 18 February 2020

Career

After the war, Besman linked up with accountant John Kaplan to buy an existing company, Pan American Record Distributing, in 1946. The company sold mostly to the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

market, and Besman established himself as a

record plugger Radio promotion is the division of a record company which is charged with placing songs on the radio. They maintain relationships with program directors at radio stations and attempt to persuade them to play singles to promote the sale of recordi ...

, promoting records to

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s. Besman and Kaplan also started Sensation Records, taking its name from the local Sensation Lounge

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. Musicians signed to Sensation Records included

Todd Rhodes Todd Washington Rhodes (August 31, 1899 or 1900 – June 4, 1965) was an American pianist, bandleader and arranger who was an early influence in jazz and later in R&B. He recently became popular due to his song “Rocket 69” being featured in ...

Russell Jacquet Russell Jacquet (December 4, 1917 – February 28, 1990) was an American trumpeter. Jacquet was born on December 4, 1917 in Saint Martinville, Louisiana, United States. He was the elder brother of well-known tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet, wh ...

The Harmonicats Jerry Murad's Harmonicats were an American harmonica-based group. Background The band was founded in 1947. Originally they were named The Harmonica Madcaps and the group consisted of Jerry Murad ( chromatic lead harmonica), Bob Hadamik (bass har ...

, T. J. Fowler, and

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

. Some of Rhodes' recordings featured singers

Connie Allen Constantina "Connie" Allen (September 24, 1926 – August 30, 1991) was an American singer and musician. She recorded the song " Rocket 69" in 1951, backed by Todd Rhodes and His Toddlers (also called the Todd Rhodes Orchestra). Other songs In ...

and

LaVern Baker Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I ...

. Besman was responsible for artists and repertoire, and Kaplan for financial arrangements. They arranged a distribution deal for Sensation through Vitacoustic Records, another local label, and when that fell through arranged distribution through King Records of

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. In late 1948, Besman heard demo records by local

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician

, and as a result produced Hooker's first recording session with engineer Joe Siracuse. The session yielded the hit single "

Boogie Chillen' "Boogie Chillen'" or "Boogie Chillun" is a blues song first recorded by John Lee Hooker in 1948. It is a solo performance featuring Hooker's vocal, electric guitar, and rhythmic foot stomps. The lyrics are partly autobiographical and alternate ...

". Hooker was recorded as a solo performer, and in order to produce a stronger sound, Besman said:

I knew I had to do something. So first we amplified his guitar. He had an old Stella and no amp. We put a mike onto his guitar, and we put a speaker—this was a tiny two room studio, remember—we put it in a toilet bowl next door, actually in a toilet bowl. Then we put a mike under that so the sound would bounce off the water—I wanted an echo effect. Then the sound went back into a speaker in the studio, came out of that, and got picked up along with his voice. I put a board under his feet to make his tapping louder, and put a mike down there.

The resulting record was leased to

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee ...

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for release and distribution, and became a million-seller. Biography by Richie Unterberger, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 6 February 2020 As with Hooker’s other recordings, Besman gave himself a co-writer credit – though Hooker strongly rejected the idea that Besman was creatively involved in writing the songs – as well as the publishing rights. Some of Hooker's other early recordings, including "Burnin' Hell" and "Huckle Up Baby", were released on the Sensation label and became modestly successful. Besman retained the rights to all Hooker’s recordings on the label. The Sensation label issued its last records in late 1950. After the success of “Boogie Chillen”, Besman continued to record Hooker, including " I'm in the Mood", his second R&B number one hit in 1951, on which Hooker performed with second guitarist

Eddie Kirkland Eddie Kirkland (August 16, 1923 – February 27, 2011) was an American electric blues guitarist, harmonicist, singer, and songwriter. Kirkland, known as the "Gypsy of the Blues" for his rigorous touring schedules, played and toured with John ...

, and Besman

double-tracked Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...

Hooker’s vocals and guitar. In 1952, Besman was diagnosed with a serious illness, sold his share in the Sensation label, and moved to

. After he recovered, he was involved in his cousin's business, marketing painting by numbers kits. Besman retained links with John Lee Hooker, and in 1961 produced a self-titled album by Hooker in

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. He also remained in the children's

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

business, and in the early 1970s held the franchise for

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to te ...

merchandise. In the early 70s, Besman began to license many of his unreleased John Lee Hooker recordings to various labels including

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 P ...

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

and the small Greene Bottle label. He later sold the remainder of his tapes and acetates to Ace records in the early 90s. In 1992, Besman filed a lawsuit against the members of

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

, alleging that their 1973 song " La Grange" infringed on "Boogie Chillen'" by John Lee Hooker. A federal judge dismissed the case in 1995. All of Hooker's recordings with Besman on Sensation Records between 1948 and 1952 (not including the material issued on United Artists and Greene Bottle), remastered and including some alternate and unedited takes not previously issued, were released as a

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

by Ace Records in 2020. "Documenting The Sensation Recordings 1948-1952", ''Ace Records''
Retrieved 22 May 2020

Personal life

Besman died in Los Angeles on January 10, 2003, aged 90.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Besman, Bernard 1912 births 2003 deaths American record producers American music industry executives American people of Russian-Jewish descent Soviet emigrants to the United States