Bess Berman (July 14, 1902 – August 8, 1968) was an American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

executive. With her husband Isaac "Ike" Berman, Herman "Hy" Siegel and Sam Schneider, she set up Apollo Records, an

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

notable for its promotion of

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and R&B musicians, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1944.

Biography

She was born Bessie Merenstein in New York, the fourth of seven children of Emma (''né'' Raylies of Austria) and Louis Merenstein (''né'' Yeuda-Leib of Courland, Latvia), who were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

immigrants. It is likely her parents fled the uncertainty of

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

in Europe in search of a better life in the United States where they met and married. Her father drove a beer truck and was later a hat maker; her mother was a housewife. Berman worked as an office clerk and manicurist before marrying

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or payment is otherwise m ...

salesman Ike Berman (''né'' Behrman, May 16, 1897–February 5, 1956) in 1926. Ike had two children from a previous marriage: Harriet Berman Merenstein (who in 1936 married Bess' younger brother Charles Merenstein, a co-writer of the song '' Handy Man''); and Jack Berman. They set up Apollo Records in 1944, and she became the driving force behind its development, particularly in recruiting star performers including

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel music, gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was ...

Champion Jack Dupree William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree (July 23, 1909 or July 4, 1910 – January 21, 1992) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. His nickname was derived from his early career as a boxer. Biography Dupree was a New Orle ...

The "5" Royales The "5" Royales was an American rhythm and blues (R&B) vocal group from Winston-Salem, North Carolina that combined gospel music, gospel, jump blues and doo-wop, marking an early and influential step in the evolution of rock and roll. Most of t ...

Wynonie Harris Wynonie Harris (August 24, 1915 – June 14, 1969) was an American blues shouter best remembered as a singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. He had fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952. Harris is attributed by ...

The Larks The Larks were an American vocal group, active in the early 1950s. They were not the same group as the Los Angeles–based Larks (originally The Meadowlarks) featuring Don Julian, nor the Philadelphia-based group The Four Larks. Original membe ...

, and

Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been called ...

. She took sole control of the business in 1948, while her husband ran an associated record pressing plant. According to songwriter

Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hal ...

, she was "very tough... a very strong, aggressive woman." John Broven, ''Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers'', University of Illinois Press, 2009, pp.53-55
/ref> When she gave up the business after becoming ill in 1954, ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' described her as "the only woman ever able to break through with outstanding success in the male-dominated recording industry." She died in 1968, U.S. Social Security Death Index, SSN:109-16-7348, ''Ancestry.com''
Retrieved 23 May 2014 although some sources give a date in 1997. Her nephew is the record producer and executive

Lewis Merenstein Lewis Merenstein (October 23, 1934 – September 6, 2016) was an American record producer, most famous as the producer of the Van Morrison album '' Astral Weeks'', and as executive producer for ''Moondance'', Morrison's 1970 album. '' Astral Weeks ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Bess 1902 births 1968 deaths Businesspeople from New York City American music industry executives A&R people American people of German-Jewish descent 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American businesspeople