John Ernest Abbey (born 8 July 1945)
''Blues-I.com'', 8 July 1994. Retrieved 14 July 2020 is a British-born

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

owner, record producer, music agent and writer, who has been based in the United States since the 1970s.

Biography

He was born in London. In 1966 he founded the magazine initially called ''Home of the Blues'', but soon renamed as '' Blues & Soul''. The magazine became the leading black music journal in the UK, and Abbey remained its editor until the late 1970s. Bob Killbourn, "Picking Up the Reins"
''Blues & Soul'', #1095. Retrieved 13 July 2020 Abbey founded Action Records in London in 1968, and Contempo Records in 1973. The labels licensed R&B recordings from independent US labels for release in the UK, and Contempo had hits with

Tami Lynn Tami or TAMI may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tami (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with either the given name or nickname * Mark Tami (born 1962), British politician and Member of Parliament * Pierluigi Tami ...

's "I'm Gonna Run Away From You", and Dorothy Moore's " Misty Blue" and " Funny How Time Slips Away". Abbey also worked as European A&R and promotions manager for

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and Stax Records, promoting such artists as

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

and

the Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21 ...

to British and European audiences. He married singer Tamiko Jones in 1977, and moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, in 1978. He set up international tours for musicians including Curtis Mayfield and Clarence Carter. Abbey and Jones later divorced, and Abbey married Nina Easton, who had worked for CBS in Scandinavia. The pair established Ichiban Records in Atlanta in 1985, with a roster that expanded from

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

into

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 ...

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 an ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and hip-hop. Ichiban closed in the late 1990s. Abbey later managed

The Three Degrees The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holi ...

. In 2015, he was appointed CEO of Connor Ray Music, based in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, responsible for artists including

Trudy Lynn Trudy Lynn (born August 9, 1947) is an American electric blues and soul blues singer and songwriter, whose recorded work has been released on twelve studio albums, one live album, and four compilation albums. The Allmusic journalist, Alex Hende ...

. "Connor Ray Music Label Announces New CEO"
''Bman's Blues Report'', January 20, 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2020

References

External links

John Abbey
at ''Rock's Back Pages'' 1945 births Living people English writers about music English record producers British music industry executives British expatriates in the United States {{UK-music-bio-stub