Simon Waronker (March 4, 1915 – June 7, 2005) was an American

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist 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 ...

from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, best known for co-founding

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...

Biography

Graduating from high school at 13 years old, he won a scholarship to study music in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Waronker began to establish his music career in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, but was forced to return to the United States when

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

members began to threaten

Jews 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 ...

. From 1939 to 1955, Waronker recorded

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s. At least one source described this role as an orchestra contractor. He then chose to enter the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

independently, co-founding Liberty Records and serving as its chairman.''Los Angeles Times'' obituary of Waronker
/ref> The first artist he signed was popular singer

Julie London Julie London (born Julie Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch song, torch singer noted for her contralto voice, London recorded over thirty album ...

. One of the major acts who recorded on Liberty Records was

The Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

, actually

Ross Bagdasarian Ross S. Bagdasarian (; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David "Dave" Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor best known for creating the virtual band, cartoon band Al ...

, who recorded as

David Seville David "Dave" Seville is a fictional character, the adoptive father and producer and manager of the fictional singing group ''Alvin and the Chipmunks''. The character was created by Ross Bagdasarian, who had used the name "David Seville" as his ...

. Seville named The Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore) after Liberty Records executives Alvin Bennett, Simon Waronker, and

Theodore Keep Theodore Gene Keep (20 January 1924 – 21 May 2007) was an American audio engineer and record producer. As a co-founder of Liberty Records, he was the namesake of the character of Theodore from The Alvin Show and ''The Chipmunks'',. Biography E ...

, respectively. In 1963, facing

health problems A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that are assoc ...

, Waronker sold his interest in Liberty to the electronics firm

Avnet Avnet, Inc. is a distributor of electronic components headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, named after Charles Avnet, who founded the company in 1921. After its start on Manhattan's Radio Row, the company became incorporated in 1955 and began t ...

. He died in 2005 at age 90 and is buried at

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in Culver City, California, United States. Many Jewish people from the entertainment industry are buried there. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (designed by Los Angeles ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

. Record producer

Lenny Waronker Lenny Waronker (born October 3, 1941) is an American record producer and music industry executive. As the president of Warner Bros. Records, and later, as the co-founder and co-chair of DreamWorks Records, Waronker was noted for his commitment ...

is Simon's son. Lenny has five children; musicians

Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He has performed with acts including Beck, R.E.M., Oasis and Roger Waters, and is a member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Back ...

and

Anna Waronker Anna Jeanette Waronker is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and producer best known as the frontwoman of That Dog. She is the daughter of producer Lenny Waronker and actress and musician Donna Loren, the sister of session drummer Joey ...

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

Katherine Waronker, Lily Waronker, and Grace Waronker.

References

Reuters news story on death published on Launch Yahoo 9 June 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waronker, Simon 1915 births 2005 deaths Record producers from California American expatriates in France American expatriates in Germany American people of German-Jewish descent Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Jewish American musicians 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Waronker family