Florence Greenberg
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Florence Greenberg (September 16, 1913 – November 2, 1995) 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, ...
owner,
music executive A music executive or record executive is a person within a music company, in particular, a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can over ...
, and
record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
. She was the founder and owner of Tiara Records,
Scepter Records Scepter Records was an American record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. History Florence Greenberg founded Scepter Records from the $4,000 she received after she sold Tiara Records and the Shirelles to Decca Records. When the S ...
, Hob Records, and
Wand Records Wand Records was an American independent record label, started by Florence Greenberg in 1961 as a subsidiary of Scepter Records. Artists on Wand Records included The Isley Brothers, The Kingsmen, Mel Wynn & the Rhythm Aces, Chuck Jackson, and th ...
. She is best known for working as a
record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
and
music executive A music executive or record executive is a person within a music company, in particular, a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can over ...
with several popular singers in the 1960s including
Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...
,
the Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McF ...
,
Tammi Terrell Thomasina Winifred Montgomery (April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970), professionally known as Tammi Terrell, was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with ...
,
Chuck Jackson Charles Benjamin Jackson (July 22, 1937 – February 16, 2023) was an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He performed with moderate success starting in 1961. Hi ...
, and B.J. Thomas.Thomas, Robert, McG., Jr
"Florence Greenberg, 82, Pop-Record Producer"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', November 4, 1995. Accessed September 14, 2011. "Florence Greenberg, a one-time New Jersey housewife who parlayed an unlikely hit record by a teen-age group known as the Shirelles into an improbable career as the proprietor of a leading independent label of the 1960s, died on Thursday at the Hackensack University Medical Center. She was 82, and lived in Teaneck, N.J."


Early life and career

Greenberg was a housewife in
Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was List of municipalities in New Jersey, the state's 16th-most-populous ...
. In 1956, a 43-year-old Greenberg was desperately searching for an escape from her suburban lifestyle with not much to do. She often hung out at the Turf restaurant in New York City as she was enamored with the atmosphere surrounding the
Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and farther uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. The Brill Building hous ...
. Her two children, Mary Jane and Stanley were in school. A friend of her husband,
Freddy Bienstock Freddy Bienstock (April 24, 1923 – September 20, 2009) was a Swiss-American music publisher who built his career in music by being the person responsible for soliciting and selecting songs for Elvis Presley's early albums and films. Early life B ...
, helped her to get in the record business by one day inviting her over to the Hill & Range Music offices while he was working with his cousins
Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...
and
Julian Aberbach Julian J. Aberbach (8 February 1909 – 17 May 2004) was an Austrian-born music publisher, who lived and worked in both the United States and France. He was responsible, with his younger brother Jean Aberbach, for establishing the Hill and Range m ...
. Greenberg was a natural and immediately began exploring her options of career paths in the music industry. She had a son with blindness and in 1947 she founded Camp Marcella, a sleepaway camp for the blind and visually impaired that still runs to this day in Rockaway New Jersey. In 1958, Greenberg started her own record label, called Tiara Records. After a performance by a group of girls at Passaic High School in 1957, her daughter Mary Jane convinced her that she had to hear the group sing. She signed the group,
The Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McF ...
, to Tiara after they auditioned for Greenberg in her living room. The first song recorded and released on the Tiara Records label was "I Met Him on a Sunday," The Shirelles' talent show song which grabbed the attention of Greenberg in the first place. Just as the record began to break locally, Greenberg sold the company with the Shirelles' contract to
Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
for $4,000. However, Greenberg started a new label in 1959, called
Scepter Records Scepter Records was an American record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. History Florence Greenberg founded Scepter Records from the $4,000 she received after she sold Tiara Records and the Shirelles to Decca Records. When the S ...
, which became one of the leading independent record labels in the 1960s. Under Scepter Records, she re-signed The Shirelles, again becoming their manager. In 1961, she launched another record label, called Wand Records, as a subsidiary of Scepter. In 1963, the Shirelles learned that a trust holding their royalties which Greenberg and Scepter allegedly had promised to give them and they were supposed to receive on their 21st birthdays, did not exist. In response, they left the label later filing a breach of contract suit against the company. Scepter met the action with a countersuit for quitting; both suits were withdrawn in 1965 after an agreement was reached. Greenberg, who was not a musician, once said of herself that she was "a white woman who was in a black business and who couldn't carry a tune." Addressing those shortcomings, she began a partnership with
Luther Dixon Luther Dixon (August 7, 1931 – October 22, 2009) was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Dixon's songs achieved their greatest success in the 1950s and 1960s, and were recorded by Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Jackson 5, B.B ...
. After bringing Dixon into Scepter, Greenberg focused primarily on the business operations of the label, while Dixon managed Scepter's publishing and artistic production. Around the same time, she moved her labels' offices to 1650 Broadway, a building which also housed
Aldon Music Aldon Music was a New York–based music publishing company, founded by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins in 1958. Aldon is regarded as having played a significant role in shaping the Brill Building Sound in the late 1950s and 1960s. History Nevins w ...
(employing
Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...
and
Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You L ...
among other songwriters). It was close to the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway. In 1965, Greenberg received an offer of $6 million for Scepter from
Gulf+Western Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. The company originally focused on manufacturing and resource extraction, but it began purchasing a number of entertainment companies beginning in 1966 ...
; she rejected it later regretting not accepting the deal. She retired in 1976 and sold all of her labels to Springboard International.


Personal life and death

Greenberg was married to an accountant with whom she had two children, Mary Jane (Greenberg) Goff and Stanley Greenberg. At the time of her death, she was a grandmother to six and had five great-grandchildren. Her son-in-law, Sam Goff, is a managing partner in Essex Entertainment. She was
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 ...
. Greenberg died on November 2, 1995, of heart failure at Hackensack University Medical Center in
Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
. She was 82 and was living in
Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...
.


Legacy

In 2011, a
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
show based on Greenberg's life called '' Baby It's You!'' debuted starring
Beth Leavel Beth Leavel (born November 1, 1955) is an American stage and screen actress and singer. She is best known for her performances in Broadway musicals such as ''The Drowsy Chaperone'', '' Baby It's You!'' and '' The Prom'', receiving Tony Award no ...
as Greenberg. Prior to the show’s opening, a lawsuit was filed “seeking damages on behalf of performers Beverly Lee of The Shirelles,
Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...
, and
Chuck Jackson Charles Benjamin Jackson (July 22, 1937 – February 16, 2023) was an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He performed with moderate success starting in 1961. Hi ...
as well as the Estates of Doris Coley Jackson and Addie Harris Jackson, for the unauthorized use of their names and likenesses” against Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures. The lawsuit was settled by Warner Bros. in December of 2011, three months after the show closed and the case did not go to trial.


Notable works

Greenberg's labels produced these songs: * " Dedicated to the One I Love" - The Shirelles * "I Don't Want To Cry" - Chuck Jackson * "
Louie Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a Standard (music), stand ...
" -
The Kingsmen The Kingsmen are a 1960s American rock band from Portland, Oregon. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and has bec ...
* "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" - B. J. Thomas (featured in ''
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western (genre), Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, k ...
'' and subsequently the winner of the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for Best Original Song) * "Soldier Boy" - The Shirelles (a Florence Greenberg composition) * "Tonight's the Night" - The Shirelles * "
Twist and Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by The Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Broth ...
" -
The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...
* "Walk On By" - Dionne Warwick * "
Will You Love Me Tomorrow "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", sometimes known as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was first recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles for their album '' Tonight's the Night''; released as a singl ...
" - The Shirelles (the first
girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...
single to reach Number One on the charts)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Florence 1913 births 1995 deaths Record producers from New Jersey People from Passaic, New Jersey People from Teaneck, New Jersey 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen American women record producers American Jews