Hyman Y. "Hy" Weiss (February 12, 1923 – March 20, 2007) was an American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

and

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 ...

music in the 1950s and 1960s, and the founder of

Old Town Records Old Town Records was a record label set up by Hy Weiss in New York City. It operated between 1953 and 1966, and was responsible for several R&B and doo-wop hit records. Weiss, who was born in Romania, lived in the Bronx from the 1920s, and began ...

Biography

Born to a

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 in Cuca,

Argeș County Argeș County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Pitești. Demographics On 20 October 2011, it had a population of 612,431 and the population density was 89/km2. * Romanians – 97% * Roma (Gypsi ...

, Romania, he was an immigrant to the United States as a baby in 1924 and was brought up in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. There, he established a friendship with Morris Levy, who would also become active in the music business. He served in the US Army Air Force in

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, before working briefly as a bouncer and as a furrier. He started in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

as a record salesman,Profile of Hy Weiss
Black Cat Rockabilly. Retrieved March 15, 2013 and set up Parody Records with his brother Sam in 1949. His

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 pr ...

, Old Town Records, was established in August 1953 and was active until 1966. Weiss took sole control of the label in 1956. He was primarily a producer of

doo wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

, as well as

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 ...

music. Old Town had its first

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

with the 1958 single "

We Belong Together "We Belong Together" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her 10th studio album, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005). The song was released on March 15, 2005, through Island Records, as the second single from the album. "W ...

" by Robert & Johnny, and had further hits by

Billy Bland Billy Bland (April 5, 1932 – March 22, 2017) was an American R&B singer and songwriter. Life and career Bland, the youngest of 19 children, first sang professionally in 1947 in New York City, and sang with a group called The Bees in the 1950 ...

the Solitaires The Solitaires are an American doo-wop group, best known for their 1957 hit single " Walking Along". Although they never had a national chart hit, they were one of the most popular vocal groups in New York in the late 1950s. History The Solitai ...

, the Capris,

the Earls ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, and others. The Old Town catalog was sold by Weiss to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

in 1970. Subsequently, Weiss worked for

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

. He had a co-writer credit for the song "Foggy Notion" by the

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

, along with all the members of the band. Weiss revived Old Town as a vehicle for Arthur Prysock in 1973 and kept the label going until about 1978. Weiss was described as "one of the most colorful characters of the New York independent record business" and as "brash, miserable and explosive by turns... ehad a bulging contacts book and was both courted and feared in an industry notoriously not for the faint-hearted." He was associated with the practice of "

payola Payola, in the music industry, is the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under US law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to play on the air as spons ...

", being credited as the inventor of the "$50 handshake", and once said: "Why waste time going out with someone you don't like, and sit down and feast with them when you can't stand them? Just give them the money and let them play the uckingrecord."''The Telegraph'', "Obituary: Hyman Weiss", 5 April 2007
Retrieved March 15, 2013

Personal life

In 1954, he married Rosalyn Weiss; she died in 1996. He was a resident of Rockleigh,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

.Sisario, Ben
"Hy Weiss, 84, Music Executive From Rock 'n' Roll's Early Days, Dies"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 31, 2007. Accessed November 26, 2007. He died in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from po ...

, on March 20, 2007, at the age of 84. He was survived by two daughters, Maureen Weiss Spergel and Pam Weiss Katz; and a son,

Barry Weiss Barry Weiss (born February 11, 1959) is an American music executive and producer who is currently an executive with RECORDS, a label he co-founded. He got his start at Clive Calder's Jive Records before working his way up to the head of the R ...

, the Chairman and CEO of

Island Def Jam The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...

/ Universal Motown Republic.

Notable artists

References

External links

Article
by

Marv Goldberg Marv Goldberg (born 1944) is an American writer and historian of music in the field of rhythm & blues. Biography Goldberg grew up in the Bronx, New York and was a graduate of Stuyvesant High School (1960), City College of New York (Biology; 1964 ...

on Hy Weiss and Old Town Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Hy 1923 births 2007 deaths Romanian Jews Romanian emigrants to the United States People from Argeș County 20th-century American Jews American entertainment industry businesspeople American people of Romanian-Jewish descent People from Rockleigh, New Jersey 20th-century American musicians Record producers from New Jersey Songwriters from New Jersey United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 21st-century American Jews