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'''Lester Sill''' (January 13, 1918 – October 31, 1994) was a United States record label executive who rose to become the president of Screen Gems-Columbia Music, a director at ASCAP and consulting president for Jobete Music (Motown Records publishing division).<ref name="Dec 25, 1976 Billboard p. 27"/> He is best known as the producer and music supervisor for The Monkees,<ref name="AllMusic Lester Credits"/> and the cofounder of Philles records with Phil Spector in 1961.<ref name="AllMusic Lester"/></s>
As an independent producer in the 1950s and 1960s, he was a moving force behind Hadda Brooks and B. B. King.<ref name="Los Angeles Times 1994"/> He formed independent labels around composers like Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Lee Hazlewood and Phil Spector. Rostered artists included Duane Eddy, The Coasters, The Paris Sisters, and The Crystals.<ref name="AllMusic Lester"/> Sill produced the talent 's productions often included musicians that went on to become The Wall of Sound, <ref name="AllMusic Lester"/> and The Wrecking Crew.<ref name="Paulson 2012"/><ref name="Feldman 2021"/><!--
Sill's partnership with Lee Hazlewood launched the career of Duane Eddy and many of the studio musicians supporting the act went on to be core members of The Wrecking Crew.<ref name="Paulson 2012"/><ref name="Feldman 2021"/> Sill hired Phil Spector as an apprentice to Leiber and Stoller and later partnered with Spector in the Philles label, the name being a combination of both men's informal first names. <s>In return for his support and generosity (Spector lived in Sill's home for several years),<ref name="Ribowsky 2000 p. 57 Spector in Sill's home"/> Sill was never repaid for his investment in Philles Records and The Wall of Sound.</s><ref name="AllMusic Lester"/> Following this, as a record executive, Sill worked under Don Kirshner where his responsibilities included acts like The Monkees, The Partridge Family and Carol King.<ref name="King 2012 p. "/><ref name="Lester Sill Dies at 76 Billboard"/>
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== Early life and family ==
Sill was dental technician who became a combat engineer in the Army because his papers said he knew about, “dentures and bridges.” After serving in [[Casablanca]] during World War II, 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 (muddy and scared that he was in trouble), and Chuck's mother Harriet, his future wife. He opened Cotton’s Club on Western Avenue and 35th, with Harriet’s brother, Cotton's Club ran afoul of the authorities and was closed 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 the Fresno to San Diego territory, 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>