Jerry Moss, the longtime document government who co-founded A&M Data with Herb Alpert, died Wednesday at his residence in Bel Air, California, the Related Press studies. He was 88.
Underneath Moss and Alpert, A&M put out information by Carole King, the Carpenters, the Police, Cat Stevens, Janet Jackson, Soundgarden, Alpert himself, and lots of, many extra. Moss and Alpert have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 2006.
Born in New York Metropolis in 1935, Moss majored in English at Brooklyn Faculty. He served a six-month stint within the Military and labored as a promoter earlier than transferring to Los Angeles in 1960, the place he met Alpert, a trumpeter and songwriter. By 1962, they’d every invested $100 in a document label referred to as Carnival; they rapidly renamed the enterprise A&M—after their respective initials—and commenced understanding of a makeshift workplace in Alpert’s storage.
Early acts on the label included Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Burt Bacharach, Sergio Mendes, the Carpenters and the Sandpipers. After the Monterey Pop Pageant in 1967 they started to signal rock acts similar to Joe Cocker, Procol Harum and the Flying Burrito Brothers. One in every of their most profitable information was the double reside album Frampton Comes Alive!, which bought greater than six million copies. Early hits would fund a transfer from Alpert’s storage to the Charlie Chaplin Studios at 1416 North La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, the place the label was headquartered from 1966 to 1999.
Earlier than promoting the label to Polygram for $500 million in 1989, they’d added nation, R&B, and British New Wave artists. Moss and Alpert stayed on the label till 1993, however not earlier than signing Sheryl Crow. The pair would later sue Polygram for violating their contract’s integrity clause; the case was settled out of courtroom for $200 million.
From 1994-2000, Moss and Alpert ran Almo Sounds, imagined as a boutique model of A&M; they signed acts similar to Rubbish, Gillian Welch, and Ozomatli earlier than promoting the label to Common Music Group.
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