Howie Richmond
Encyclopedia
Howard S. "Howie" Richmond (born 1918) is an American
music publisher and music industry executive. He established The Richmond Organization (TRO), one of the largest independent music publishing organizations in the world, and had a hand in commercialising and promoting many pop
, folk
and rock
songs since the 1940s.
to publicise clients who included Glenn Miller
, Frank Sinatra
, Dinah Shore
, the Andrews Sisters, and Woody Herman
. During World War II
he served in the Army Air Corps
, before helping Buddy Robbins to establish Robbins Artist Bureau, later American Artists Bureau. In 1949, he set up his first music publishing business, Cromwell Music, with the help of Al Brackman and Abe Olman, and soon had a hit with "Hop-Scotch Polka" by Guy Lombardo
. This was quickly followed by a no. 1 with the song "Music! Music! Music!
", written by Stephan Weiss and Bernie Baum
and recorded by Teresa Brewer
. Richmond rapidly expanded and restructured the firm, under the umbrella name of The Richmond Organization, successfully attracting writers providing songs and record producers looking to find them.
One key to Richmond's expansion was his emphasis on promoting records
through radio station
s and their disc jockey
s, rather than on promoting songs through live performances. In the early 1950s, Richmond had particular success through promoting the songs and work of folk
performers, notably Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter), Woody Guthrie
and The Weavers
, who included Pete Seeger
. Richmond promoted the Weavers' version of Lead Belly's song "Goodnight Irene" by sending copies of the record to disc jockeys across the US - a technique that had not been widely used before - and the result was sales of over 250,000 sheet music
copies and 500,000 records. Richmond also worked closely with Woody Guthrie, providing him with a tape recorder
to record his songs, many of which subsequently became commercially successful. Another song published and promoted successfully by Richmond was "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
", first performed and recorded by The Weavers and later a hit for Jimmy Rodgers
. The song was copyright
ed in the names of Joel Newman and Paul Campbell, both pseudonym
s used by Richmond, though Pete Seeger later claimed that its tune derived from a traditional Irish melody, modified by Lead Belly, with new lyrics by Seeger and Lee Hays. Similar concerns over authorship have also been expressed in relation to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight
", otherwise known as "Wimoweh", on which "Paul Campbell" is credited as co-writer.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, many of the pop songs published by Richmond found success. They included "I Believe
", "Fly Me To The Moon
", "As Long As He Needs Me
", "What Kind Of Fool Am I?
", and "Those Were The Days
", as well as songs initiated by Ledbetter, Guthrie, Seeger and others such as "If I Had a Hammer
", "Rock Island Line
", "We Shall Overcome
" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!". He increasingly developed the company's interests outside America, working with English and French songwriters such as Lionel Bart
, Anthony Newley
and Charles Aznavour
. In the 1960s and 1970s, he developed links with writers such as Shel Silverstein
and, through the subsidiary company Essex Music, British rock music
ians including Pink Floyd
, The Who
, David Bowie
, The Moody Blues
and Black Sabbath
.
In 1969, together with Johnny Mercer
and Abe Olman, Richmond co-founded the National Academy of Popular Music
(NAPM) and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame to honor songwriters for their contributions to popular music. In 1983, he received the Songwriters Hall of Fame's first ever Abe Olman Publisher of the Year Award.
Richmond continues as Chairman of the Board of The Richmond Organization and The Essex Music Group, although since the 1990s active control has been in the hands of his son, Larry Richmond.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music publisher and music industry executive. He established The Richmond Organization (TRO), one of the largest independent music publishing organizations in the world, and had a hand in commercialising and promoting many pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
songs since the 1940s.
Career
He began working in the music business in 1935, soon establishing his own press office in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to publicise clients who included Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
, the Andrews Sisters, and Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he served in the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
, before helping Buddy Robbins to establish Robbins Artist Bureau, later American Artists Bureau. In 1949, he set up his first music publishing business, Cromwell Music, with the help of Al Brackman and Abe Olman, and soon had a hit with "Hop-Scotch Polka" by Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
. This was quickly followed by a no. 1 with the song "Music! Music! Music!
Music! Music! Music!
"Music! Music! Music!" is a popular song written by Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum and published in 1949.The biggest-selling version of the song was recorded by Teresa Brewer on December 20, 1949, and released by London Records as catalog number 604. It became a #1 hit and a million-seller in 1950...
", written by Stephan Weiss and Bernie Baum
Bernie Baum
Bernie Baum was a songwriter who worked extensively with Elvis Presley. He grew up in New York City and later worked with Harvey Zimmerman and Florence Kaye. The majority of their songs were used in Presley's musicals. Their work was also credited in the American version of Kimba the White Lion...
and recorded by Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
. Richmond rapidly expanded and restructured the firm, under the umbrella name of The Richmond Organization, successfully attracting writers providing songs and record producers looking to find them.
One key to Richmond's expansion was his emphasis on promoting records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
through radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s and their disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s, rather than on promoting songs through live performances. In the early 1950s, Richmond had particular success through promoting the songs and work of folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
performers, notably Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter), Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
and The Weavers
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
, who included Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
. Richmond promoted the Weavers' version of Lead Belly's song "Goodnight Irene" by sending copies of the record to disc jockeys across the US - a technique that had not been widely used before - and the result was sales of over 250,000 sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
copies and 500,000 records. Richmond also worked closely with Woody Guthrie, providing him with a tape recorder
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...
to record his songs, many of which subsequently became commercially successful. Another song published and promoted successfully by Richmond was "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
Kisses Sweeter than Wine (song)
"Kisses Sweeter than Wine" is a popular love song written by The Weavers in 1950, and a hit for Jimmie Rodgers in 1957 and Frankie Vaughan in 1958.-History:...
", first performed and recorded by The Weavers and later a hit for Jimmy Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (pop singer)
James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers is an American singer. He is not related to the country singer of the same name.-Career:...
. The song was copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ed in the names of Joel Newman and Paul Campbell, both pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s used by Richmond, though Pete Seeger later claimed that its tune derived from a traditional Irish melody, modified by Lead Belly, with new lyrics by Seeger and Lee Hays. Similar concerns over authorship have also been expressed in relation to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...
", otherwise known as "Wimoweh", on which "Paul Campbell" is credited as co-writer.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, many of the pop songs published by Richmond found success. They included "I Believe
I Believe (1953 song)
"I Believe" is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953.I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV...
", "Fly Me To The Moon
Fly Me to the Moon
"Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets...
", "As Long As He Needs Me
As Long as He Needs Me
As Long as He Needs Me is a torch song sung by the character of Nancy in the musical film Oliver!, introduced in the 1960 musical. It is a love ballad about her criminal boyfriend Bill Sikes...
", "What Kind Of Fool Am I?
What Kind of Fool Am I?
"What Kind of Fool Am I?" is a popular song written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and published in 1962. It was introduced by Anthony Newley in the musical Stop The World - I Want To Get Off...
", and "Those Were The Days
Those Were the Days (song)
"Those Were the Days" is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put English lyrics to the Russian song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" , written by Boris Fomin with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism...
", as well as songs initiated by Ledbetter, Guthrie, Seeger and others such as "If I Had a Hammer
If I Had a Hammer
"If I Had a Hammer " is a song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. It was written in 1949 in support of the progressive movement, and was first recorded by The Weavers, a folk music quartet composed of Seeger, Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, and then by Peter, Paul and Mary.- Early...
", "Rock Island Line
Rock Island Line (song)
"Rock Island Line" is an American blues/folk song first recorded by John Lomax in 1934 as sung by inmates in an Arkansas State Prison, and later popularized by Lead Belly. Many versions have been recorded by other artists, most significantly the world-wide hit version in the mid-1950s by Lonnie...
", "We Shall Overcome
We Shall Overcome
"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!". He increasingly developed the company's interests outside America, working with English and French songwriters such as Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
, Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...
and Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...
. In the 1960s and 1970s, he developed links with writers such as Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein
Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein , was an American poet, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children's books...
and, through the subsidiary company Essex Music, British rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
ians including Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
.
In 1969, together with Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
and Abe Olman, Richmond co-founded the National Academy of Popular Music
National Academy of Popular Music
The National Academy of Popular Music is an American organization which administers the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and sponsors a series of workshops and showcases for the songwriting profession. It was formed in 1988 by Sammy Cahn and Bob Leone....
(NAPM) and the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame to honor songwriters for their contributions to popular music. In 1983, he received the Songwriters Hall of Fame's first ever Abe Olman Publisher of the Year Award.
Richmond continues as Chairman of the Board of The Richmond Organization and The Essex Music Group, although since the 1990s active control has been in the hands of his son, Larry Richmond.