Julian J. Aberbach (8 February 1909 – 17 May 2004)
Profile at Geni
/ref> was an Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n-born music publisher
A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...
, who lived and worked in both the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. He was responsible, with his younger brother Jean Aberbach
Joachim "Jean" Aberbach (12 August 1910 – 24 May 1992) was an Austrian-born American music publisher. With his brother Julian, he was responsible for establishing Hill and Range as one of the leading music publishing houses, responsible for so ...
, for establishing the Hill and Range
Hill & Range (originally "Hill and Range Songs, Inc.") is a Music publisher (popular music), music publishing company which was particularly responsible for much of the country music produced in the 1950s and 1960s, and had control over the materia ...
music publishing house, and was instrumental in the careers of many leading country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
performers of the mid and late twentieth century, including Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
, 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 ...
, Edith Piaf
Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and vari ...
and Jacques Brel
Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...
.
Life and career
Aberbach was born in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
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, the son of Anna and Aron Adolf Aberbach, who were Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
Jews
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 ...
. His father ran a jewelry
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...
business. Julian left school at the age of 17 and went to the Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
with his brother, selling upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something.
''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...
, before returning to Vienna. His brother Jean
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* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jea ...
then began working in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
for a music publisher, Will Meisel, before moving to Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to work for another publisher there. Julian joined him in Paris in 1932, and soon established his own publishing business, which concentrated on securing royalties for movie screenwriters. After the brothers sold the business in 1936, Jean began working in the US as an agent for French music publisher Francis Salabert Francis Salabert (born François-Joseph-Charles Salabert, 27 July 1884 – 28 December 1946) was an innovative and influential French music publisher, who was the head of Éditions Salabert in the first half of the twentieth century.
Biography
...
, while Julian remained in Paris.[American Society of the French Legion of Honor, Newsletter, December 2003]
In 1939 he secured an exit visa to travel to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He was draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
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* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
ed in 1941, and after working with Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
troops in Fort Benning
Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...
, Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
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Places
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* Related to the ...
, became an instructor at a military intelligence school in Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, from where he was discharged in 1944.[Biography by Jason Ankeny at Allmusic]
/ref>
By this time he had developed an interest in country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
, which he saw as a potentially profitable component of American popular music.[Biography]
/ref> After leaving the Army he set up a publishing business, Hill and Range, in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
with business partners Milton Blink and Gerald King.[John Shepherd, ''Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 1,'' p.586]
/ref> There, he heard the Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the Western United States, West and Southern United States, South among the region's Western music (North America), Western string bands. It is dan ...
bandleader Spade Cooley
Donnell Clyde "Spade" Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American convicted murderer and former Western swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality. In 1961 he was arrested and convicted for the Ap ...
who was performing at the Venice Pier. He signed Cooley to a songwriting contract, and had immediate success with Cooley's hit song " Shame on You". Soon afterwards, he began working with Bob Wills
James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...
, setting up a publishing company in Wills' name in which Aberbach had a 50% share. He developed contacts in the music industry in Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, and organised the songwriting agreements for such stars as Red Foley
Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II.
For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the gen ...
, Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), m ...
, Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...
, Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on t ...
, and, later, Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
. At one point, about three quarters of all the music produced in Nashville was represented by Hill and Range. When Max Dreyfus
Max Dreyfus (April 1, 1874 – May 12, 1964) was a German-born American music publisher, arranger and songwriter. Between the 1910s and 1950s he encouraged and published the work of many of the writers of the so-called Great American Songbo ...
of rival publishers Chappell Music
Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries.
...
sought to buy the company, Aberbach refused, and his brother Jean, who had been working for Dreyfus, joined the company. From then on the two brothers shared the management of Hill and Range, gradually expanding the business, with Julian notionally based in Los Angeles and Jean in New York, although the two frequently swapped roles and met regularly in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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to discuss business.[
In 1955 Hank Snow suggested that Aberbach check out a new singer, ]Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
. Aberbach was impressed by Presley, helped his own friend, Colonel Tom Parker
Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997), , become his manager, and helped negotiate his move from Sun Records
Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...
to RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
.[ He also set up an unprecedented arrangement in which the publishing rights to songs that Presley recorded were split 50:50 between Hill and Range and Presley.][ Aberbach established his cousin, ]Freddy Bienstock Freddy Bienstock (April 24, 1923 – September 20, 2009) was an American music publisher who built his career in music by being the person responsible for soliciting and selecting songs for Elvis Presley's early albums and films.
Early life
Biensto ...
, as head of Elvis Presley Music, and organised writers to provide songs for Presley's films and albums.[ In effect, this precluded Presley from recording material not licensed to Hill and Range.][
Aberbach also developed his interests in France, contracting ]Johnny Hallyday
Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France.
During a career spanning 57 ...
to cover
Cover or covers may refer to:
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* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
songs recorded by Presley. He also worked closely with Edith Piaf
Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and vari ...
, and with Jacques Brel
Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...
and Mort Shuman
Mortimer Shuman (12 November 1938 – 2 November 1991) was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including "Viva Las Vegas". He also wrote and sang many songs in French, such as ...
, who provided English language versions of many of Brel's songs.[ By the early 1970s, after Hill and Range had become the biggest independent music publishing business in the world, Aberbach and his family moved their main residence to Paris. Shortly afterwards, while on a business trip to New York, Aberbach suffered a major heart attack and was hospitalised for several months. His brother then sold 75% of the Hill and Range publishing rights to the Warner Chappell company.][
He effectively retired from the music business in the early 1970s, but expanded his collection of paintings and sculpture, and later opened the Aberbach Gallery in New York. He received the Abe Olman Award for music publishers at the ]Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
in 2000, and received the National Order of the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
in 2003, in recognition of his unique contribution to French culture.[
]
Personal life and death
Aberbach married Anne Marie in 1953. They had two sons, Dolfi who died aged 23 in 1983 and Ronny who died in an accident the same year, and a daughter, Belinda. His brother Jean Aberbach died in 1992.[Death notice, ''New York Times'', 19 May 2004]
/ref>
Julian Aberbach died of heart failure in New York in 2004 at the age of 95.[
]
References
Further reading
* Bar Biszick-Lockwood, ''Restless Giant: The Life and Times of Jean Aberbach and Hill and Range Songs'', University of Illinois Press, 2010
* Joyce Short, ''Carnal Abuse by Deceit: How a Predator's Lies Became Rape, Chapter 12, Living Off Elvis'', Pandargos Press, 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aberbach, Julian
1909 births
2004 deaths
Businesspeople from Vienna
American music publishers (people)
Austrian emigrants to the United States
20th-century Austrian Jews
21st-century Austrian Jews
Austrian expatriates in France