Doesn't Stevie Know This Guy?

UnwindedDreams · #1 11-05-2006, 10:43 AM

Rock industry giant fights for life after fall at Clinton's party
05.11.06
Thisislondon.co.uk

The man who helped to take the Rolling Stones to superstardom was left fighting for life after falling backstage at a New York performance by the band.

Record mogul Ahmet Ertegun - who signed the band in the early Seventies at a time of uncertainty for them - had been backstage as Mick Jagger and Co performed at Bill Clinton's 60th birthday party last Sunday in Manhattan.

But just before they went onstage, the 83-year-old record label boss slipped and fell, badly injuring his head.

When Jagger - who had begged Ertegun to sign the band 30 years ago - came offstage he was devastated to find his mentor missing. The Mail on Sunday understands Ertegun was put into an induced coma before being taken to hospital.

"Mick was terribly upset," a Stones aide said. "Ahmet was unconscious in the intensive care unit and the doctors at first didn't give him much of a chance. But they are now listing him as stable.

Although his condition is still seriousm they are more optimistic because he has come round under his own steam. He has now been taken off the respirator, is breathing on his own and has even started to say a few words."

At Ertegun's home, his wife Mica, an internationally renowned interior decorator, was too upset to comment.

Turkish-born Ertegun's career has been extraordinary - both in its success and longevity within a notoriously fickle business.

He was studying philosophy at Georgetown University when he borrowed £6,000 from his family dentist to found Atlantic Records with Herb Abramson, who had a few contacts in the record business, in 1947.

Today the New York-based Atlantic catalogue reads like a Who's Who of jazz, R&B and rock 'n' roll. Ertegun also signed Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin.

Ertegun recalled in an interview in 2002 the night that led to him signing the Stones. He said: "I met Mick at midnight at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles. I thought we were just getting together socially.

"Then Mick started to talk about how the Stones contract was up and how they wanted to be on Atlantic somehow I dozed off, which I think impressed him quite a lot."

Atlantic landed the Stones but the label couldn't meet the £25,000 asking price for Elvis Presley's contract in the mid-Fifties. The King signed with RCA Victor instead.

Atlantic is still going strong. In the same interview, Ertegun quipped: "I'm proud of two things - I'm still alive and still employed. I had no idea I would end up spending my life in the music business. I was a great music fan... I thought I knew enough to make a success of it - at least for a while."

Ertegun's fall is the latest setback for the Stones. Jagger, 63, had to overcome laryngitis to sing at Clinton's party and last Friday Art Wood, older brother of Ronnie, died of pneumonia.

In addition, drummer Charlie Watts has fought throat cancer and Keith Richards underwent brain surgery last spring after banging his head falling out of a coconut tree in Fiji.

carrie721 · #2 11-05-2006, 10:47 AM

i bet stevie knows him ... everyone in the industry probably does! that's sad about his fall ... i hope he recovers soon.

UnwindedDreams · #3 11-05-2006, 10:50 AM

Here they are...

priestofnothing · #4 11-05-2006, 11:47 AM

He's the guy they honored at the Montreaux Jazz festival earlier this year. I'm pretty sure he is the reason why Stevie performed at the event.

gldstwmn · #5 11-05-2006, 01:32 PM

Everyone who's anyone in the music business knows Ahmet Ertegun. He founded Atlantic Records.
I hope he makes it. To say he's done a lot for music as we know it today and the music we grew up with would be a major understatement. this is terrible news.

rbs3676 · #6 11-05-2006, 06:36 PM

He is a legend in the business...I hope he recovers quickly!

rbs

BombaySapphire3 · #7 11-05-2006, 07:10 PM

I remember in some liner notes somewhere Stevie dedicates the 'spaces in Sara" to him .

desertangel · #8 11-06-2006, 04:55 AM

Oh this is terrible news. I really hope he gets better. Sounds like he's doing okay. It gets dicey at that age. Ahmet is way up there with, Clive, Quincy, Bill Graham... all wonderful people who've done so much for the industry.

BombaySapphire3 · #9 11-06-2006, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertangel

Oh this is terrible news. I really hope he gets better. Sounds like he's doing okay. It gets dicey at that age. Ahmet is way up there with, Clive, Quincy, Bill Graham... all wonderful people who've done so much for the industry.

I hate to relay even more terrible news but Bill Graham died 15 years ago at the comparatively young age of 60 when his helicopter crashed into an electric tower in Vallejo.

gldstwmn · #10 11-06-2006, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertangel

Bill Graham

He's dead.

desertangel · #11 11-07-2006, 03:04 AM

Okay, I knew that Bill Graham had died, but now I'm confused as to why ya'll would feel the need to point that out when all my post said was that Bill Graham was among a group of people who did wonderful things for the music industry, irregardless of whether he's dead or alive. I guess it doesn't matter, but it is a little confusing.

UnwindedDreams · #12 11-07-2006, 09:31 PM

Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records, is recovering after hitting his head in a fall at a recent Rolling Stones concert.
Ertegun, an integral figure in the careers of artists including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, was attending a Stones concert at the Beacon Theatre on Oct. 29 when he slipped and fell, according to a statement released by Atlantic Records.

He injured his head and was taken to a hospital, according to the statement, but he is improving. Atlantic Records denied reports that Ertegun had been in a coma.

Ertegun, 83, is considered one of the most important figures in modern pop music, helping to shape the sound of rock, pop and soul with his artists and his production work.

BombaySapphire3 · #13 11-08-2006, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertangel

Okay, I knew that Bill Graham had died, but now I'm confused as to why ya'll would feel the need to point that out when all my post said was that Bill Graham was among a group of people who did wonderful things for the music industry, irregardless of whether he's dead or alive. I guess it doesn't matter, but it is a little confusing.

Sorry I thought you were saying he was up there in age with Quincy and Ahmet when it seems you meant what he had done for the music industry.