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    The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun
    The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun
    The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Last Sultan: The Life and Times of Ahmet Ertegun

    Written by Robert Greenfield

    Narrated by Robert Fass

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The Last Sultan is the definitive biography of a man who changed popular culture throughout the world. As the founder and head of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun signed and/or recorded many of the greatest musical artists of all time, among them Ruth Brown; Big Joe Turner; Ray Charles; Bobby Darin; Sonny and Cher; Eric Clapton; Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills, Nash Young; Led Zeppelin; the Rolling Stones; Bette Midler; and Kid Rock. Working alongside his older brother, Nesuhi, one of the preeminent jazz producers of all time, and the legendary Jerry Wexler, who produced great soul artists like Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, and Aretha Franklin, Ertegun transformed Atlantic Records from a small independent record label into a hugely profitable multinational corporation. In successive generations, he also served as a mentor to record-business tyros like Phil Spector, David Geffen, and Lyor Cohen.Brilliant, cultured, and irreverent, Ertegun was as renowned for his incredible sense of personal style and nonstop A-list social life as his work in the studio. Born into great privilege as the son of a high-ranking Turkish diplomat during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, Ertegun spent his life bringing the black-roots music he loved to the world.A larger-than-life figure, always hip, Ertegun lived in the grand manner but was never happier than when he found himself in some down-and-out joint listening to music late at night. Blessed with impeccable taste and brilliant business acumen, he brought rock 'n' roll into the mainstream while creating the music that became the sound track for the lives of multiple generations.With supporting characters like Steve Ross, Henry Kissinger, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jann Wenner, and a host of others, The Last Sultan is the fascinating story of a man who always lived by his own rules.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 21, 2011
    ISBN9781452674896
    Author

    Robert Greenfield

    An award-winning journalist, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and former associate editor of the London bureau of Rolling Stone, Robert Greenfield is the author of ten books of fiction and nonfiction, among them the classic STP: A Journey Through America With the Rolling Stones, and critically acclaimed biographies of Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary, and Bill Graham.

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    Reviews for The Last Sultan

    4/5

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    • 3/5

      This man was utterly amazing.... Born in Istanbul, in 1923, to a man of status who later became Turkish Consulate of Switzerland, France, and the U.S., Ahmet gave up the wealth & privilege in order to pursue his dream of making Jazz recordings of lesser known (but no less brilliant) jazz musicians & singers.

      The book also describes how Ahmet jointly founded Atlantic Records the company over which he long presided and his affinities and extensive knowledge of jazz and blues; however what Ahmet did not know about actually running a record company was amazing.

      Ahmet founded Atlantic in 1947 with Herb Abramson, who had a degree in dentistry but preferred the music business. Together they toured the South on the hunt for talent, though they well knew that they were not the first to do so. One of their early discoveries, in 1953, was Ray Charles, who had already been making records but wound up on the Atlantic label.

      What I found interesting was the fact that his father was powerful enough to stop MGM from making a film out of Franz Werfel’s “Forty Days of Musa Dagh,” an impassioned novel about the Turkish mass killings of Armenians during World War I. (Turkey has adamantly rejected the label of genocide). Ahmet in his later years considered making a public acknowledgment of Turkey’s role in the massacre as a way of reducing the stigma attached to it, but he never got the chance.

      Unfortunately, much of the book was boring, as it covers in detail business deals, other record-business books and is filled w/ musicians & other people not widely known outside the music world.
    • 3/5
      Meh, I was really excited to get this after watching a PBS documentary about him. After this book I felt he was more music business scum than some sort of great person. A great person to his clients, but really seemed kinda scummy in regards to the rest of his business dealings.
    • 5/5
      Great story about the music business. It's as simple as they don't make them like they used to. A true pioneer and icon who cared and loved the music. The roster at atlantic were like his family or his own children. One of the few that helped spread the importance of afro american music performed by blacks and whites.