R.I.P. - Jerry Moss (8 May 1935 - 16 Aug 2023)

The third obituary this week as it was announced yesterday that the M of A&M Records, Jerry Moss, died aged 88.

He was born Jerome Sheldon Moss in The Bronx, NYC, in 1935. After graduating from college in Brooklyn and serving in the army he got into music promotion in the late 50s and then relocated to California where he met trumpeter Herb Alpert.

He founded Carnival Records with Alpert in 1962 with $100 each but released just two singles in Jul 1962, the first  "Tell It To The Birds" as Dore Alpert, before renaming it A&M Records, as they discovered that the name Carnival Records was already in existence. The fist release on A&M was The Tijuana Brass feat. Herb Alpert "The Lonely Bull" in Sep 1962.

Their initial intention was to record Alpert's music but they grew it into the world's largest independent label signing artists such as Sting/The Police, Quincy Jones, Carole King, Joe Cocker, The Carpenters, Peter Frampton, Janet Jackson, Bryan Adams, Sheryl Crow and Styx. 

They eventually sold the company in 1989 to PolyGram but continued to manage it until they clashed with PolyGram in 1993 and left, later suing them over integrity issues as they felt that PolyGram was trying to dictate to artists what music they should make.

The label was initially easy listening branching out into rock and pop in the late 60s with a sprinkling of soul artists featuring on the label such as George Benson, Quincy Jones, Evie Sands, Tamiko Jones, Sonny Charles & Checkmates Ltd., Sisters Love and a  few Northern Soul favourites from Jeanette White, Robert John, Toni Basil, Julius Wechter And The Baja Marimba Band, Towanda Barnes and others.

Moss and Alpert were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 (Lifetime Achievement, non-performer).

Moss was also a horse breeder and won the largest ever purse ($1,636,600) for his thoroughbred racehorse, Giacomo, winning the Kentucky Derby in 2005 at 50-1 odds.

In 2020 Moss donated $25 to The Music Center in L.A.

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