Robert David Halprin (born January 13, 1958) is an American record producer, executive producer and an
independent record 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 represented ...
owner. Halprin launched VRP Music, an independent record company, in 2000.
Early life
Halprin was born in
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...]
, and Dorothy Halprin (
nee
Nee or NEE may refer to:
Names
* Née (lit. "born"), a woman's family name at birth before the adoption of another surname usually after marriage
**The male equivalent "né" is used to indicate what a man was originally known as before the adopt ...
Weiser), a
homemaker
Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...
. Halprin was a child actor and singer from the age of six, co-starring in a variety of performances both
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
and in
summer stock theater.
Halprin is "
autodidactic", with a verifiable
IQ in the "145 range", as tested on the
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), despite having only finished the eighth grade. Whilst appearing Off-Broadway at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami, Halprin attended the Horizon School for Gifted Children. This is where his IQ was verified. As stated by School Master and Pulitzer Prize Prize winner
Dr. Benjamin Fine as well as Halprin's French teacher, former Florida attorney General's
Robert Shevin
Robert L. Shevin (January 19, 1934 – July 11, 2005) was the Florida Attorney General from 1971 until 1979 and a judge on the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.
Background
Robert Shevin was born in Miami, Florida. He received his bachelor' ...
’s sister, Sandra Shevin.
Career
In 1975, after leaving home at the age of 16, Halprin became an assistant to Barry Imhoff, the
promoter responsible for the
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
"
Rolling Thunder Revue" tour.
Barry Imhoff Productions
In 1977, whilst still a teenager, Halprin became Imhoff's
silent partner in the
merchandising
Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more i ...
venture, Barry Imhoff Productions. He later spent time as an assistant
road manager
In the music industry, a road manager is a person who works with small to mid-size tours (in terms of personnel involved, based on the size of the production). Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
*advancing show dates
*making t ...
to the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
under head
road manager
In the music industry, a road manager is a person who works with small to mid-size tours (in terms of personnel involved, based on the size of the production). Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
*advancing show dates
*making t ...
Alan Dunn during the
1978 "Some Girls" tour, and
Natalie Cole’s assistant
road manager
In the music industry, a road manager is a person who works with small to mid-size tours (in terms of personnel involved, based on the size of the production). Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
*advancing show dates
*making t ...
,under head
road manager
In the music industry, a road manager is a person who works with small to mid-size tours (in terms of personnel involved, based on the size of the production). Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
*advancing show dates
*making t ...
Lyle Baker in 1979.
Halprin is a co – songwriter on the Natalie Cole songs "Your Lonely Heart" and "The Winner" from her 1979
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
LP record
The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...
''
I Love You So''. The album reached peak positions of number 52 on the
''Billboard'' 200 and number 11 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' R&B Albums chart. Cole, Halprin, the writing, production and musicians were awarded an RIAA Gold Record for over 500,000 album sales. Cole, Halprin, and the writing group were nominated at the 22nd annual Grammy Awards for “Best R&B Album” that year, 1979.
Halprin played guitar and keyboards, co-engineered and co-produced two cuts on the 1980
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
album by
Natalie Cole and
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
guitarist, Chuck Bynum entitled "Marathon Lover.”
Real estate
In 1984 following 9 years touring with
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
as Production coordinator Barry Imhoff’s assistant for
The Rolling Thunder Revue
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
tour,
The Band’s final farewell concert and film
The Last Waltz
''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concer ...
, co-writing and touring as an assistant
road manager
In the music industry, a road manager is a person who works with small to mid-size tours (in terms of personnel involved, based on the size of the production). Job responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
*advancing show dates
*making t ...
for
Natalie Cole, as well as
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
plus co-engineering, co-producing and playing on
Natalie Cole and
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
guitarists Chuck Bynum’s initial solo record released on
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
entitled Marathon Lover and his marriage Halprin and his wife, Patti, began a mortgage banking and luxury residential real estate firm headquartered in South Florida.
Return to the music industry
In 1992, Halprin became American singer-songwriter
Valerie Carter
Valerie Gail Zakian Carter (February 5, 1953 – March 4, 2017) was an American singer.
Biography
Carter began her career singing in coffeehouses as a teenager, and eventually became one-third of the country-folk band Howdy Moon. Though they de ...
’s
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
, and eventually her
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...
. Carter later joined the artist roster of VRP Music, one of Halprin's numerous independent record labels he began in 1990.
Vesper Alley records
Halprin became a partner in Vesper Alley Records in 1996, a record label that was home to American singer-songwriter
Vonda Shepard
Vonda Shepard (born July 7, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, music director and actress. She appeared as a regular in the television show '' Ally McBeal'', as a resident performer in the bar where the show's characters drank, danced and c ...
. Halprin financially supported the label's re-release of two of Shepard's albums, ''It's Good Eve'' and ''The Radical Light''. In 1998, Halprin and partner Gail Gellman negotiated a deal for Shepard to join the cast of the television series, ''
Ally McBeal'', and
Sony 550 Music regarding their financial interests in her
music catalog
In the music industry, a collection of musical compositions is cataloged into a music catalog. The owner owns the copyrights of the cataloged compositions.
See also
* Catalogues of classical compositions
* Commission (art)
* History of music ...
. Both Halprin and Gellman sold their investments with Shepard.
Y&T Entertainment
Halprin became a partner in the Miami, Florida, independent record label Y&T Entertainment in 1999, the original home to American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...
performer
Raúl Malo and
The Mavericks
The Mavericks are an American country music band from Miami, Florida. The band consists of Raul Malo (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez (lead guitar), and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band in ...
, along with American singer-songwriters, Mary Karlzen and
Amanda Green
Amanda Green (born December 29, 1963) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. In 2021, she was elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America, the first woman to hold the role in the Guild's 100-year history.
Early life and educ ...
. Halprin financially supported the label's re-release of Karlzen's "Yelling At Mary" album and CD, and Green's album and CD, "The Nineteen Hundreds."
VRP Music
After the sale of Y&T's headquarters,
Criteria Studios
Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...
, to
The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano.
History
On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the ...
in 1999, Halprin financed his current venture, independent record label VRP Music in 2000.
Halprin was the executive producer and label head of VRP Music's 2001 Valerie Carter CD, ''Vanilla Grits''. He produced Carter's single and
double compact disc (CD), ''Midnight Over Honey River'', released in 2002 and 2003 respectively by VRP Music. Carter's double CD included a live recording of American rock band,
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...
, recorded at
Jannus Live
Jannus Live (originally known as Jannus Landing) is an outdoor music venue in St. Petersburg, Florida. Located in the Downtown St. Petersburg Historic District, the courtyard venue has hosted numerous concerts for local and mainstream artists. The ...
in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Florida, on November 2, 2002.
In 2003, Halprin produced the track, "Bitter Rain," featured on the
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
CD, ''Yourself, Myself, The Songs Of
Miyuki Nakajima
(born February 23, 1952, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and radio personality. She has released 43 studio albums, 46 singles, 6 live albums and multiple compilations as of January 2020. Her sales have been estimate ...
''.
In 2013, Halprin produced "Secret Lover" by the band "O" (formerly known as Black Cobra Vipers) in Oakland, California.
He continued to produce for "O" in 2015 on their album ''Ireek / Deepthroat Love''.
In 2016, Halprin produced Cellar Doors’ album ''Frost / Prism''.
Notes
References
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External links
Official websiteSt. Petersburg Times article on Valerie Carter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halprin, Rob
Living people
1958 births
Record producers from New Jersey