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| − | {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| + | Content moved to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Apriltools/sandbox Wikipedia sandbox], preparing for article update submission. |
| − | | name = Lester Sill
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| − | | background = non_performing_personnel
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| − | | birth_name =
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| − | | birth_date = {{Birth date|1918|01|13}}
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| − | | birth_place = Los Angeles, CA
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| − | | death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|10|31|1918|01|13}}
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| − | | death_place = Los Angeles, CA
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| − | | occupation = [[Music publisher (popular music)|Music publisher]], [[Record executive]]
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| − | | years_active = 1946-1994
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| − | | label = [[Gregmark]], [[Philles Records]]
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| − | | associated_acts = [[Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller|Leiber & Stoller]], T-Bone Walker, Paris Sisters, The Coasters, The Monkeys
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| − | | website = {{URL|www.gregmarkmusicinc.com}}
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| − | | module = {{Infobox person |name=Lester Sill| children = Chuck Kaye (stepson), Joel Sill, Greg Sill, Lonnie Sill
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| − | | spouse = Harriet
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| − | | footnotes = <center>Jazz guitarist Alex Sill (grandson)<ref name="Pacent 2019">{{cite web | last=Pacent | first=Nina | title=From Carl Jung to Lady Gaga, Jazz Guitarist Alex Sill’s Music Speaks His Mind | website=BMI.com | date=2019-05-22 | url=https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/from-carl-jung-to-lady-gaga-jazz-guitarist-alex-sills-music-speaks-his-mind | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619235020/https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/from-carl-jung-to-lady-gaga-jazz-guitarist-alex-sills-music-speaks-his-mind | archive-date=2019-06-19 | url-status=live | access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref></center>
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| − | '''Lester Sill''' (January 13, 1918 – October 31, 1994) was an [[United States|American]] [[record label]] executive, best remembered as [[Phil Spector]]'s mentor and founding partner in [[Philles Records]].<ref name="AllMusic Lester">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lester-sill-mn0000273082/biography|title=Lester Sill's biography|publisher=AllMusic|author=Jason Ankeny|accessdate=February 16, 2016}}</ref><ref name="BlackCat Rockabilly Europe 2018">{{cite web | title=LESTER SILL | website=BlackCat Rockabilly Europe | date=2018-12-19 | url=http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/lester_sill.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219204615/http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/lester_sill.htm | archive-date=2018-12-19 | url-status=live | access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref> [[Carol King]] credits Sill for his hospitality and guidance in her memoirs.<ref name="King 2012 p. ">{{cite book | last=King | first=C. | title=A Natural Woman: A Memoir | publisher=Grand Central Publishing | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-4555-1259-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T6O9Onmu9_cC | language=fr | access-date=2019-11-07 | page=}}</ref> His three sons are music supervisors in film and television: Joel Sill,<ref name="Yang Yang 2018">{{cite web | last=Yang | first=Rachel | last2=Yang | first2=Rachel | title=Guild of Music Supervisors Awards to Honor Joel Sill; King Princess to Perform (EXCLUSIVE) | website=Variety | date=2018-12-13 | url=https://variety.com/2018/music/news/guild-music-supervisors-awards-joel-sill-king-princess-1203088235/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107203851/https://variety.com/2018/music/news/guild-music-supervisors-awards-joel-sill-king-princess-1203088235/ | archive-date=2019-11-07 | url-status=live | access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref> Greg Sill,<ref name="Greg Sill Variety">{{cite web | title=Greg Sill, ‘Justified’ Music Supervisor, Dies at 63 – Variety | website=Variety | url=https://variety.com/2018/music/obituaries-people-news/music-supervisor-greg-sill-dead-1202731633/ | access-date=2019-11-04| archive-date=2019-11-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104171622/https://variety.com/2018/music/obituaries-people-news/music-supervisor-greg-sill-dead-1202731633/}}</ref> and Lonnie Sill.<ref name="AllMusic Lonnie">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lonnie-sill-mn0001915687|title=Lonnie Sill's credits|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=November 7, 2019}}</ref> His stepson [[Chuck Kaye]] is a longtime music publishing executive.<ref name="Greg Sill Variety"/>
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| − | == Early life ==
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| − | Sill was dental technician who became a combat engineer in the Army because his papers said he knew about, “dentures and bridges.” After seving in [[Casablanca]], he was discharged from the Army and left Philadelphia, moving to California to stay with his mother at the beach. Upon arrival, he met four year old Chuck, and Chuck's mother, his future wife Harriet. He opened Cotton’s Club on Western Avenue and 35th, with Harriet’s brother, which ran afoul of the authorities for after hours drinking. Sill took some door to door sales positions which he did not enjoy, until he met Lester Bahari of Modern Records in 1946. He soon found himself working in the record store and was offered a distribution route covering Fresno to San Diego, selling R&B and rock and roll genre records to stores and refreshing jukebox inventory. On his route, he noticed that he was driving by several radio stations and began befriending disc-jockeys, Sunday radio spins helped with his Monday sales.<ref name="Smith LOC 1986"> {{Cite LOC finding aid|author = Smith, J|url = https://www.loc.gov/item/jsmith000138/|title = Off the record interview with Lester Sill, 1986-03-13|date = 1986|accessdate = 04 November 2019}}</ref>
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| − | == Career ==
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| − | Sill shepherded the fledgling career of the songwriting team of [[Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller]] before signing producer Phil Spector to co-found Philles Records, a U.S. pop label of the early '60s. In 1950, Sill met Leiber in the L.A. record shop,<ref name="Palmer 1978">{{cite book |last= Palmer |first= Robert |date= 1978 |title= Baby, That Was Rock' N Roll |location= United States |publisher= A Harvest / HBJ book |page= <!-- or pages= --> |isbn= 0156101556 |author-link=}}</ref> where the aspiring lyricist worked as a retail clerk and suggested he find a partner who could read and write music, spurring the beginning of Leiber's collaboration with Mike Stoller.<ref name="Simpson 2003 p. 135">{{cite book | last=Simpson | first=P. | title=The Rough Guide to Cult Pop | publisher=Rough Guides | series=Music rough guide | year=2003 | isbn=978-1-84353-229-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7hpXcrqA-8C&pg=PA135 | access-date=2019-11-07 | page=135}}</ref>
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| − | Sill first entered show business as a nightclub owner, but in 1945 joined the sales and promotion staff of the [[Bihari brothers]]' [[Modern Records]], later producing sessions for R&B acts including [[Charles Brown (musician)|Charles Brown]] and [[Hadda Brooks]].<ref name="Talevski 2010 p. 592">{{cite book | last=Talevski | first=N. | title=Rock Obituaries: Knocking On Heaven's Door | publisher=Music Sales | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-85712-117-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DykffzkFALoC&pg=PA592 | access-date=2019-11-07 | page=592}}</ref> Sill produced the 1951 [[Jimmy Witherspoon]] effort "Real Ugly Woman," the first recorded Leiber and Stoller collaboration.<ref name="Simpson 2003 p. 135"/> Sill and Federal Records producer/talent scout [[Ralph Bass]] formed a PR agency, Brisk Enterprises,<ref name="Brisk Enterprises">{{cite magazine | last= Sippel| first= Johnny| date= 23 August 1952| title= Block Booking Promoters Hype Coast 1-Nitht Outlook| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=PB8EAAAAMBAJ| page= 19| magazine= BillBoard| location= United States| publisher= Nielsen Business Media, Inc.| access-date = 4 November 2019}}</ref> and following the success of the duo's [[Big Mama Thornton]] hit "[[Hound Dog (song)|Hound Dog]]", he teamed with Leiber and Stoller in late 1953 to create [[Spark Records]] as well as their own publishing firm, Quintet Music, Inc. Spark enjoyed immediate success with [[The Robins]]' R&B smash "[[Riot in Cell Block Number 9|Riot in Cell Block #9]]". The group's follow-up, "Smokey Joe's Café," proved an even bigger hit, in fact too big for the small label to handle. So in 1955 Spark sold its catalog to [[Atlantic Records]], which in turn named Sill its national sales manager while giving Leiber and Stoller an independent production deal. While the deal prompted the breakup of The Robins, members [[Carl Gardner]] and [[Bobby Nunn (doowop musician)|Bobby Nunn]] continued on as [[The Coasters]], with Sill serving as their manager.<ref name="history-of-rock.com 2019">{{cite web | title=Jerry Leiber and Michael Stoller | website=history-of-rock.com | date=2019-11-07 | url=https://www.history-of-rock.com/leiber.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107184205/https://www.history-of-rock.com/leiber.htm | archive-date=2019-11-07 | url-status=dead | access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref>
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| − | Sill also enjoyed chart success teaming with producer-songwriter [[Lee Hazlewood]] on 1958's "[[Rebel-'Rouser|Rebel Rouser]]", the most notable of the Top 40 instrumentals headlined by the renowned guitarist [[Duane Eddy]] and issued on the [[Dick Clark]]-owned [[Jamie Records|Jamie]] label. In late 1959, Sill and Hazlewood formed Trey Records, a Hollywood-based imprint distributed by Atlantic. The label's signings included 18-year-old wunderkind Phil Spector, fresh off the success of his group [[The Teddy Bears]]', chart-topping pop classic, "[[To Know Him Is to Love Him]]". Sill allowed Spector to live in his Sherman Oaks home, sharing a room with Joel Sill<ref name="Ribowsky 2000 p. 54">{{cite book | last=Ribowsky | first=M. | title=He's a Rebel: Phil Spector, Rock and Roll's Legendary Producer | publisher=Cooper Square Press | series=G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-8154-1044-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jsQRwiwtlN0C&pg=PA54 | access-date=2019-11-07 | page=53-62}}</ref>
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| − | '''Jamie Records / Dick Clark'''<ref name="Jackson 1999 p. 128">{{cite book | last=Jackson | first=J. | title=American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock 'n' Roll Empire | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-19-028490-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=29jhBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT128 | access-date=2019-12-12 | page=128}}</ref>
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| − | At the end of 1961, Sill and Hazlewood shut down Trey but quickly formed a new label, [[Gregmark Records|Gregmark]], as a vehicle for [[The Paris Sisters]], Sill insisted on a top-to-bottom overhaul of their approach, prompting Spector to relegate Albeth and Sherrell Paris to the background while turning the spotlight on youngest sibling Priscilla, insisting she dial back her powerful voice to a dusky whisper. While the Paris Sisters' Gregmark debut "Be My Boy" earned little notice, the follow-up, "[[I Love How You Love Me]]," cracked the U.S. Top Five, galvanized by Priscilla's intimate lead turn and Spector's atypically restrained production.<ref name="Warner 2006 p. 428">{{cite book | last=Warner | first=J. | title=American Singing Groups: A History from 1940s to Today | publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-634-09978-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mTM_9JTeoMIC&pg=PA428 | access-date=2019-11-07 | page=428}}</ref> Spector then began work on a Paris Sisters LP, but as production costs began to skyrocket, Sill attempted to exert control of the project. Their skirmish ended disastrously when, according to Sill, one of his assistants accidentally discarded the master tapes.<ref name="Brown 2012 p. 94-100">{{cite book | last=Brown | first=M. | title=Tearing Down The Wall of Sound: The Rise And Fall of Phil Spector | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-4088-1950-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AtGGsfW10d0C&pg=PA94 | access-date=2019-11-07 | page=94}}</ref>
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| − | At the same time Sill's partnership with the tempestuous Hazlewood collapsed, and despite their differences, in late 1961 Sill and Spector inaugurated their own label, Philles, immediately reaching the Top 20 with the company's debut release, [[The Crystals]]' "[[There's No Other (Like My Baby)]]." Its 1962 follow-up, "[[Uptown (The Crystals song)|Uptown]]," was Spector's first true tour de force, capturing the Wall of Sound in full gallop.<ref name="AllMusic Lester"/>
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| − | By mid-1962 Philles was the most successful independent label in the U.S., scoring a series of Spector-produced classics including the Crystals' "[[He's a Rebel]]" and "[[Then He Kissed Me]]," [[Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans]]' "[[Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah]]" and [[The Ronettes]]' "[[Be My Baby]]." But as Spector's fame and renown grew, so did his notorious ego, and as he exerted more and more of his mercurial will over Philles' business dealings, his relationship with Sill disintegrated. Spector eventually forced his mentor out of the company altogether, buying out Sill for a paltry $60,000 and decisively terminating their partnership with the never-released Crystals recording "[[(Let's Dance) The Screw]]".<ref name="The Screw">{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/spector.asp |title=Phil Spector and The Screw |publisher=snopes.com |date= |accessdate=2019-11-07}}</ref>
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| − | After over a year in seclusion, in 1964 Sill resurfaced as a consultant to Screen Gems-Columbia Music president [[Don Kirshner]]. Although the position was temporary, he ended up staying with the company for over two decades, eventually taking over Kirshner's position. In 1985, Sill was named president and CEO of Jobete Music, the publishing arm of [[Berry Gordy|Berry Gordy, Jr.]]'s [[Motown]] empire. He remained with Jobete until his death in Los Angeles on October 31, 1994.<ref name="AllMusic Lester"/>
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| − | ==References==
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| − | {{Reflist}}
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | * {{Official website|www.gregmarkmusicinc.com}}
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| − | <!--
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| − | {{Authority control}}
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| − | {{DEFAULTSORT:Sill, Lester}}
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| − | [[Category:American music industry executives]]
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| − | [[Category:The Monkees]]
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| − | [[Category:1918 births]]
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| − | [[Category:1994 deaths]]
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| − | [[Category:20th-century American musicians]]
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