Elektra Records Founder Jac Holzman Honored

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Thursday, 21 October 2010 12:45

Written by Michael Sherer

On October 10th, 1950, 19-year-old Jac Holzman got the ground-breaking label Elektra Records started from his dorm room at St. John's University in Annapolis, Maryland. He and partner Paul Rickhalt  invested $300 to get it rolling. On October 14th, 2010, the 92nd Y honored Holzman for having co-founded the influential company over 60 years ago.

In a face-to-face discussion between Holzman and longtime music writer Lenny Kaye (also Patti Smith Group guitarist/collaborator and record producer) as a moderator/interviewer, the thoughtful and articulate exec told his basic story through Kaye's engaging questions to the packed house. Mysteriously, Rickhalt's name never came up.

Holzman explained that until '73, he presided over the label and saw it through its expansion from an initial folk, ethnic music and blues-based thrust into far more eclectic directions. Some of Holzman's important early signings included blues singer Josh White, (who had been blacklisted as a communist sympathizer) singer/songwriters Judy Collins, Phil Ochs, Tim Buckley and Paul Butterfield Blues Band. In ’64, Holzman launched subsidiary label Nonesuch, a budget-conscious company created to release unusual classical, world and ethnic musics that might be unavailable otherwise.

In 1966, Holzman's highly pivotal signing of the band Love brought the company into the rock scene and market place, which became part of its canon ever since. Rock, of course, was the biggest-selling and most pervasive genre during the '60s and that never waned.

During that decade, baby boomers gained immeasurable sway in virtually everything due to their huge numbers and buying power, and for a record company not to get into rock was tantamount to turning down millions of dollars and irrelevance.

By the late '60s, only specialized labels such as folk-oriented Vanguard Records stuck to their narrow focus. In its first 15 years, Elektra competed with Vanguard in the folk market. Had Elektra remained as limited as Vanguard -- which took a very purist posture -- it would have gone out of business or been relegated to a relatively obscure bailiwick of the music business. Quite simply, rock was where it was at for the young who spent the most money on music. But enough digression...

Holzman credited Love's leader Arthur Lee for recommending that he check out a new group that would ultimately bring Elektra into the rock arena in a big way. That band was The Doors.

But, as Holzman explained, the first three times he saw them, he wasn't that impressed. It wasn't until the fourth visit that he fully "got" them and wanted them sign to Elektra. That coup yielded more record sales and international fame than any other act Holzman signed before or since.

Holzman also outlined that he was very much hands-on in every facet of the label for its first 13 years. He noted that the most challenging and critical decision he constantly had to make was what producer to assign to an artist or act. He felt a great deal of responsibility concerning this because he held the conviction that his duty was to nurture the overall careers of everyone on his roster, and the producer had a great influence on how the music was presented and received by audiences. Ultimately, the artists had to be happy with the results as well.

This music industry legend also outlined that after a dozen or so years of being directly involved with everything from the recording to the songs' sequence to the album art and liner notes, he began to delegate an increasing amount of work to others.

By '73, Holzman was worn out; he decided to sell his company to Kinney National Services which would soon be renamed Warner-Elektra-Atlantic -- WEA for short. At the behest of its late chairman Steve Ross, Holzman stayed on as head of their technology group. The young David Geffen took over the merged Elektra/Aylsum label; Geffen had only recently founded the latter at that time. Some of Geffen's signings to Asylum would be huge successes, especially the Eagles and several singer/songwriters such as Jackson Browne, which represented a defining ethos of the '70s.

Browne was another guest to join in the conversation that started with Holzman and Kaye. Singer Natalie Merchant, who as part of 10,000 Maniacs, represented a mid '80s Asylum signing (made by then president Bob Krasnow), also took to the stage.

He and Merchant performed his tune "These Days" with Browne on acoustic guitar as Merchant sang his reflective and poignant lyrics. This was the highlight of the event. Merchant took this lovely song to another level with her exquisite vocal interpretations.

Elektra would continue to thrive until 2004, when it got closed down while being revamped. It re-emerged last year, and, hopefully, will have a long future ahead. While no one can know for sure what will happen with this revived version, Elektra's glorious past has indelibly shaped the modern era of popular music, so it was a happy diamond anniversary.

As a pioneer and true record man, Holzman received a collective thank you from all the attendees for the care, work and most of all, the music he's been responsible for.

For other 92nd St Y events go to: http://www.92y.org/

A Conversation with Jac Holzman
October 14th, 2010
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10128
212-415-5500

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