Ollie Anderson McLaughlin (March 24, 1925 – February 19, 1984) was an American record producer and record label owner. He discovered

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one '' Billboard'' hit " Runaway". In 1999, he was ind ...

, and also organized or produced recordings by

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Dorothy Ashby Dorothy Jeanne Thompson (August 6, 1932 – April 13, 1986), better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer. Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s" and the "most accomplished ...

Barbara Lewis Barbara Ann Lewis (born February 9, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues. Career Lewis was born in Salem, Michigan, United States. She was writing and recording by her teens with record ...

, and

the Capitols The Capitols were an American, Detroit, Michigan-based soul trio, widely known in 1966 for their '' Billboard'' hit single " Cool Jerk". Formation and disbandment The R&B trio formed in 1962 as "The Three Caps," with Samuel George as the lead v ...

, among many others.

Biography

He was born in

Carthage, Mississippi Carthage is a city in Leake County, Mississippi, Leake County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,075 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Leake County. The largest chicken processing plant in the world is located in Carthage ...

, United States, but moved to

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, as a child. After graduating and serving in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

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 opposin ...

, he studied at Columbia College in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, before returning to Ann Arbor in the late 1940s to work as a DJ on radio station

WHRV WHRV is a Public Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. It is the flagship National Public Radio member station for Hampton Roads, and is a sister station to the area's PBS member, WHRO-TV. I ...

. He also promoted with his brother,

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 R&B concerts. In March 1954, he promoted a concert by the

Dave Brubeck Quartet David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

in Ann Arbor, parts of which were released on the album ''

Jazz Goes to College ''Jazz Goes to College'' is a 1954 album documenting the North American college tour of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. It was Dave Brubeck's first album for Columbia Records. He was joined by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, double bassist Bob Bates (musi ...

'', and two months later he organized

's concert, issued as the LP '' Jazz at Ann Arbor''.Biography
''AllMusic''. Retrieved 19 April 2017
Retrieved 19 April 2017 In 1960, he heard a

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 ...

band led by Charles Westover, known at the time as Charlie Johnson, and recorded the band's

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

s, which he sent to

Harry Balk Harry Balk (October 1, 1925 – December 3, 2016) was an American A&R man, record producer and record label executive. He discovered Little Willie John, Johnny and the Hurricanes, and Rodriguez; co-produced Del Shannon's 1961 hit "Runaway"; es ...

and Irving Micahnik of Talent Artists in

Detroit 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 th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. As a result, Westover was signed by

Bigtop Records Bigtop Records was an American record label started by music executive Johnny Bienstock (brother of Freddy Bienstock) and the major music publisher Hill & Range Music and was co-owned along with Big Top Record Distributors (sic). Hit artists inc ...

, and agreed to change his name to

. McLaughlin had Shannon re-record one of his songs in

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 ...

, using band member

Max Crook Maxfield Doyle Crook (November 2, 1936 – July 1, 2020) "Remembering Max Crook", ''DelShannon.com''

's Musitron as lead instrument, and the resulting single, " Runaway", reached No. 1 in the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' chart in April 1961. McLaughlin also produced several of Shannon's later hits, including "
Hats Off to Larry "Hats Off to Larry" is a song written and sung by Del Shannon, which he released as a single in 1961. The song spent 13 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 5, while reaching No. 1 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade, No. 2 on New Ze ...
"."Shannon's Back-It's On The Record", ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', 20 December 1981, Page M92. In the early 1960s, McLaughlin set up Karen Records, the first of three
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 ...
s named after his daughters, the others being Carla and Moira. Among the hit records he produced in the early and mid-1960s were "
Hello Stranger "Hello Stranger" is a 1963 hit single by Barbara Lewis, which spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart in '' Billboard'', crossing over to #3 on the pop chart. Original version "Hello Stranger" was written by Barbara Lewis herself ...
", " Baby I'm Yours", and "
Make Me Your Baby "Make Me Your Baby" is a song written by Helen Miller and Roger Atkins. The most successful recording was a hit for Barbara Lewis in 1965. Background The demo for "Make Me Your Baby" was cut by journeyman session singer Jean Thomas on 22 Januar ...
" by
Barbara Lewis Barbara Ann Lewis (born February 9, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues. Career Lewis was born in Salem, Michigan, United States. She was writing and recording by her teens with record ...
; "Love Makes The World Go Round" by Deon Jackson; and " Cool Jerk" by
the Capitols The Capitols were an American, Detroit, Michigan-based soul trio, widely known in 1966 for their '' Billboard'' hit single " Cool Jerk". Formation and disbandment The R&B trio formed in 1962 as "The Three Caps," with Samuel George as the lead v ...
. In some cases, it is believed that McLaughlin's production credit was an outcome of his management responsibilities for the artists concerned. Many of his recordings were made in Chicago and in
Detroit 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 th ...
, in some cases using musicians contracted to
Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
, and several were leased to, and released by, the
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
Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...
labels. Among other musicians recorded by McLaughlin were
Bettye LaVette Bettye LaVette (born Betty Jo Haskins, January 29, 1946) is an American soul singer-songwriter who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, when her album ''I've Got My Own Hell to Raise'' was released to ...
,
Richard Wylie Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
,
Ruth Copeland Ruth Copeland (born ) is an English-born former singer, based in the United States since the 1960s and known for her collaborations with George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. Biography Early life Copeland was born in Consett, County Durha ...
, The Soul Twins,
Johnnie Mae Matthews Johnnie Mae Matthews (December 31, 1922 – January 6, 2002) was an American blues and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from Bessemer, Alabama. Known as the "Godmother of Detroit Soul" and as the first African American female to own ...
, and
Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fly ...
. A number of McLaughlin's recordings from the 1960s have subsequently been reissued on Northern soul compilation records. McLaughlin lived in Detroit from about 1970. He died at Sinai Hospital in 1984, aged 58. McLaughlin was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2018.

References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Ollie 1925 births 1984 deaths African-American record producers Record producers from Mississippi Record producers from Michigan People from Carthage, Mississippi People from Ann Arbor, Michigan 20th-century African-American people