A&M Records
Grammy-winning songwriting/production duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis first met Clarence Avant — who died Aug. 13 at age 92 — in the summer of 1982 when they wrote a song for his Tabu Records act, The S.O.S. Band. They famously went on to work with A&M artist Janet Jackson, for whom they produced the blockbuster 1986 album, Control, and its 1989 follow-up, Rhythm Nation 1814, among others.
The hitmakers paid tribute to Avant in an interview.
Jam: We wrote “High Hopes” for The S.O.S. Band. But we didn’t produce it. When we met with Clarence, we told him that. And he was like, “Well if you were to produce it, what would it sound like?” So we played him a demo of the song and he loved it.
Lewis: Yeah, we told him that we would have put the chili sauce on it. He cracked up; he really loved that comment.
Jam: I didn’t know a whole lot about Clarence before that meeting. But my first impression is of him making me laugh because he called us two thugs: “Who are these two thugs coming in here?” He’d get on a phone call and be cussing everybody out. He was just a character, so funny. It was like being in a movie: two kids from Minneapolis sitting in suits and hats in 90-degree weather, here in L.A.’s high-powered music scene. We were a hilarious anomaly to him.
Lewis: He was definitely funny and animated. But I knew he was shrewd and smart by the way he conducted the meeting; it was so comfortable and easy. It was different from other meetings we’d had with people wanting to hire us. But what really struck me is when Clarence talked to us by himself, without our manager. And he told us, “You motherfuckers need to learn to count. In order to make things happen the right way, you’re going to need this and that.” When he gave us more than we’d asked for, it established a whole new paradigm for me. He helped us reevaluate and understand what our value was. He put the official rubber stamp on it.
Jam: I’m glad his story got told in the Netflix documentary The Black Godfather. It only scratches the surface of Clarence’s greatness and influence. It should be required viewing as there will never be another Clarence in the singular sense. But there will be from all the seeds that he planted: a bunch of people with Clarence characteristics that will power positive growth across entertainment and other areas.
Lewis: Coming up through the ranks, fighting for everyone’s diversity and equity, it was important for Clarence to teach. His obsession was to do the right thing and force people who didn’t to do the right thing. That was what Clarence was always about. He was never about the rewards in it. I think Clarence was definitely pleased with his life. He had a beautiful wife and beautiful kids. He created some beautiful music as a label owner; inspired and crafted some beautiful deals. How could he not feel good about that? All we really have at the end of the day is our relationships. The one way that you can judge a person is by their relationships. And Clarence touched so many people in a beautiful way. Whether they were record company owners, presidents or executives, artists, politicians or just regular people. He touched everyone in a positive way.
Jam: One of the things we always tried to remind him of, though, were the connections that he had made that then led to other things that he didn’t know about … we were able to connect the dots for him. Like, “Did you know this happened because of this thing that you did five years ago?” Because he was involved in so many things, he couldn’t keep track of everything that he had possibly done. But I totally agree that he felt very comfortable with what he had done [in his life]. There were just so many people and things that he affected.
Jam: Clarence and Jerry [Moss] were also really good friends. As partners [in A&M Records], Herb Alpert and Jerry were certainly a blueprint for Terry and myself. They started with a handshake like Terry and I did. I remember back around the Rhythm Nation days when there [were] a lot of crazy negotiations going on for us to do the record. Clarence called up Jerry and said let’s get this deal done. Give these guys a million dollars. And literally the next week, the deal was done and we were in the studio recording.
Lewis: Jerry was an incredible man. Both he and Clarence were part of an incredible era of human beings. But they live on through all of us.
Jam: Whenever we win an award, God would be the first person we thank. And the next person we thank would be Clarence Avant, who was the earthly god for us.
Lewis: There are no words that I could use to adequately express my personal feelings for Clarence. But I always do simply say he’s the greatest man I’ve ever known.
Jim Guerinot, former general manager of A&M Records, who later managed Nine Inch Nails, No Doubt, Social Distortion and other bands, worked for A&M co-founder Jerry Moss, who died Wednesday (Aug. 16) at 88, and its president, the late Gil Friesen, for years in the 1980s and 1990s. The retired music executive saluted his former boss in a phone interview.
“We had an artist who was getting to release an album and had a capable manger. I put the whole plan together. When I ran the numbers, I saw that we were going to lose money. I said, ‘I’m not going to get hung,’ so I went to Jerry: ‘Here’s the plan, the manager has signed off.’ He goes, ‘Well, good, what’s your concern?’ I go, ‘Well, we’re going to lose money because the artist will not sell records to make that happen.’ I said, ‘Can I ask you a question? Why would we put this record out?’ He goes, ‘Well, that’s easy. Because it’s an A&M artist.’ It was very much like, ‘The ‘M’ is me, pal. If I want to, I do it.’
And that’s how he slept at night and that’s how he and [Herb Alpert, label co-founder] slept at night.
From time to time when I arrived at work at A&M, I’d pass the main guys’ doors: Herb might be painting, and would invite you in to see what he’s up to to; Gil Friesen, the label president, inevitably would push a book on me and expect a report within days; and Moss wanted to play a few hands of gin. Generally speaking, if you and I play gin, I’m going to beat you. I have friends who played in the World Series of Poker and I win at least half the time. I not only never beat [Moss] at gin, I never even won one hand. It was depressing.
This guy had a vision for the business that was beyond what normal people would see. He walked into a room and saw things we didn’t see. He walked into situations and businesses and saw things we didn’t see.
He knew everybody, for starters. Like, literally, everybody.
Where somebody might see an artist, he would see a network of what that artist represented, and relationships and history. It was just much, much deeper. What he saw wasn’t what I saw. He read people differently. He read people very, very well. He knew people who were going to be honorable and who would not be.”
A&M co-founder Jerry Moss, who died Wednesday (Aug. 16) at 88, once said that if he could have just one album, it would be Sting’s solo debut, 1985’s Dream of the Blue Turtles. The legendary Police frontman and Moss met in March 1979, the day that The Police played their first Los Angeles show at the Whisky a Go Go. They formed a strong bond over the music, with The Police going on to international superstardom while on A&M. The band’s 1983 smash, “Every Breath You Take,” was A&M’s biggest hit, spending eight weeks at No. 1. But even stronger than Moss and Sting’s musical connection was their potent friendship.
From his house in Tuscany, Sting talked to Billboard about what Moss meant to him both professionally and personally.
I first met Jerry Moss in 1979. I just got to California with the band and I hugged a palm tree. I’d never seen a palm tree in my life. We booked into the Sunset Marquis and obviously sat at the swimming pool. And then in walked Jerry Moss and [A&M executive] Gil Friesen, two very tall, handsome, distinguished-looking Californian businessmen. Jerry really looked the part, I have to say: Such a striking, handsome guy. Jerry very quickly became a family friend rather than a record executive. But if I’m asked why I think they were so successful as a record company, I would say Jerry was, not to my knowledge, a cutthroat businessman, he was a gentleman first.
He was a friend. He was a mentor. He was a confidante. And I think his success was based on those very human qualities, rather than being some kind of shark.
Then I met Herb [Alpert, A&M co-founder with Moss], and, for me, it was fascinating that A&M were two people. It wasn’t like a faceless, corporate acrostic. Mr. A and Mr. M were people. You could sit on their desk and chat to them. They were the perfect company for us. They were artist [friendly], they would be patient, and they knew what they were talking about. They weren’t like just the set of accountants, who are guessing. These guys knew the business.
Jerry would have informed opinions about [the music] he was hearing and would say things like “I think it needs a bridge here.” He wasn’t necessarily right [laughs]. I’m joking. But I would always listen and take what he said seriously. He knew what he was [talking] about.
He became a very close friend. [Sting’s wife] Trudie and I would stay at his house in Malibu and in Hawaii. When he became a horse breeder, he named [a] horse after our album, Zenyatta [for Police’s 1980 album, Zenyatta Mondatta] and [another] after Giacomo, my third son. The horse won the Kentucky Derby. It was 80:1 odds when we put the bet on him. We’re still living off the winnings. It was amazing that he had just as much talent spotting musical talent as he did horseflesh that would win. But again, I think his success came from his generosity, his humanity.
Luckily, a month ago, he turned up at a gig I was giving in Halifax, Yorkshire, in the north of England. It’s so unlikely that Jerry would turn up there, but he wanted to see a gig. That was the last time I saw him. He was in a wheelchair. He wasn’t speaking, but he was really able to demonstrate how pleased he was to see me and how pleased I was to see him. We hugged and he watched the show, and that was maybe five weeks ago. It was the most unlikely setting for a final meeting, but I’m so grateful that I had that opportunity. We spent a lot of time with him. He’s irreplaceable. I love him and it’s been a devastating loss for Trudie and myself and the record industry.
As told to Melinda Newman
Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, who died Wednesday (Aug. 16) at his home in Los Angeles, launched A&M Records out of Alpert’s garage in 1962 with the intent of making it friendly home for artists.
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The label — which the pair sold to PolyGram for $500 million in 1989 — went on to carry that ideology to wild success, working with such artists as Sting, Janet Jackson, Cat Stevens, Peter Frampton, Amy Grant, Dionne Warwick and Alpert and his own hitmaking band, The Tijuana Brass.
A story from A&M’s early history reflects Alpert and Moss’s artist-first attitude, even when it potentially could harm the label’s bottom line. One of the label’s first signings was Waylon Jennings in 1964. Alpert went to Arizona and produced several songs with Jennings, including the Bobby Bare-penned “Four Strong Winds.” “It was a really good recording,” Alpert told Billboard in an Aug. 15 interview, the day before Moss’s passing, for a separate story.
RCA label head and legendary guitarist Chet Atkins heard the recording and liked it so much, “he made some overtures to Waylon about when he gets out of the contract with A&M, he’d like to talk to him,” Alpert says. “He shouldn’t have done that because Waylon was under contract to us and it seemed like he was jumping over our bones a bit, but I loved Chet. He was certainly a brilliant musician as well as administrator.”
Jennings wanted to be a country artist, while Alpert wanted to take him “a little more pop,” Alpert says. “[Waylon] told me confidentially that Chet Atkins wanted to see him, so Jerry and I decided to let Waylon out of his contract so he could go with Chet and RCA. I remember we told Waylon and he couldn’t believe we were willing to do that. I remember the day that Jerry and I signed his release.”
As they let Jennings go, they were well aware of the future country legend’s potential, but cared more about letting him pursue his artistic vision than keeping him yoked to A&M. “I looked at Jerry and said, ‘Man, this guy’s going to be a big star,’ and Jerry said, ‘I know it.’ And I got goosebumps thinking that if we could be that honest with our artists, we’re gonna be a big success,” Alpert says. “It was a pivotal moment for me and my feeling about A&M Records and what we were doing.”
Upon learning of Moss’s passing Wednesday, Alpert simply said in a statement, “I never met a nicer, honest, sensitive, smart and talented man then my partner Jerry Moss.”
Live at The Music Center: Concert Celebrating Jerry Moss, Co-Founder of A&M Records is back on. The concert was first announced a little more than a year ago and was set to take place Feb. 11-12, 2022, but was postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases at the time. The “re-imagined” concert is now slated for The Music Center’s Mark Taper Forum on Jan. 14, 2023.
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The show will feature performances by Paul Rodgers of Free, whose rock anthem “All Right Now” was a top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970; Peter Frampton, whose double-live album Frampton Comes Alive! topped the Billboard 200 for 10 nonconsecutive weeks in 1976; and Amy Grant, whose poppy smash “Baby Baby” topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in 1991.
“Jerry Moss has always been a music lover first,” Frampton said in a statement. “If it weren’t for him, Humble Pie and my own solo career might never have happened. Jerry has been a champion of mine my entire life and I treasure our friendship.”
“My first awareness of A&M Records was seeing the iconic logo on the inside of a Carole King record [on A&M-distributed Ode Records],” Grant added. “A&M Records was known by all to be the ‘artists’ label’ and it was a dream come true when they signed me. In getting to know Jerry Moss over the years, I was amazed by the breadth of his interests. Whether it was music, horse racing or trekking through Africa, excellence defined everything in which he invested his talents and passions.”
The show will also feature performances by Dionne Warwick, who never recorded for A&M, but is forever linked to Burt Bacharach, who did; Morgan James, Nova Payton and Joe Sumner. Additional performers will be announced. Though not performing, Bacharach, Herb Alpert and Misty Copeland will join the live celebration. The event will also feature pre-recorded appearances by Sheryl Crow, Yusuf/Cat Stevens and Sting.
The 90-minute concert will be held on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. PT. A limited number of concert tickets are on sale now at musiccenter.org/moss starting at $43.
The evening will also feature a pre-concert reception and a post-performance dinner. A limited number of VIP tickets including the reception and/or dinner are available by contacting specialevents@musiccenter.org. Proceeds will support The Music Center’s ongoing efforts to provide free and low-cost access to arts experiences for all Angelenos.
Longtime patrons of The Music Center, Jerry and Tina Moss gifted $25 million in 2020 to help support the cultivation of strong arts and culture-focused partnerships and new programming initiatives at Los Angeles County’s premier performing arts center. The Music Center’s three original venues are united by an expansive outdoor area, which is now named Jerry Moss Plaza.
Alpert, Bacharach and Sting were announced as performers at the 2022 event, along with Merry Clayton and Sérgio Mendes, who are not currently on the bill for the make-up date. There are other changes between the scrapped show and the one that is set for next month. There were going to be two dates at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Now there will be just one, at the adjacent Mark Taper Forum. The concert events were going to be produced in collaboration with John Beug, who worked at A&M in its early years. The concert now is produced by The Music Center in conjunction with Nouveau Productions and executive producer and co-founder Robert Pullen.
2022 marks the 60th anniversary of A&M Records, the legendary label that Alpert and Moss co-founded on a handshake and an investment of $200 from both men. Over 25 years, A&M grew into the world’s largest independent record label, signing such iconic stars as The Police, Carpenters, Janet Jackson and Joe Cocker.
Moss won a Grammy for co-producing (with Alpert) Alpert & the Tijuana Brass’ sleek instrumental “A Taste of Honey,” the 1965 winner for record of the year. Alpert and Moss received trustees awards from the Recording Academy in 1997. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, receiving the Ahmet Ertegun award for non-performers.
After selling A&M Records to Polygram in 1989, Moss and Alpert formed Almo Sounds. Moss serves as chairman of both Almo Sounds and Rondor Music Inc., a music publishing company.
For more information and to purchase tickets, patrons can call (213) 972-0711 or visit musiccenter.org.
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