Morris Levy

Morris Levy (August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American music industry executive, who is best known as the owner of the record label Roulette Records . He was born Moishe Levy in The Bronx , New York City , New York , and generally known as Morrie Levy to insiders in the industry. After leaving the Navy he became the proprietor of numerous night clubs in New York at the dawn of the bebop movement in the late 1940's -- the most famous of which was Birdland , which Levy allegedly took over from Joseph "Joe the Wop" Catalano in 1949. During this time Levy learned the value of owning the publishing rights of a piece of music - as each time a song he owned was performed or played he was entitled to royalties. Levy learned this when an ASCAP representative told Levy at Birdland he must pay publishing companies for performing live music. Levy's attorney confirmed that. As a result he founded his first publishing company, Patricia Music, and commissioned George Shearing to write a signature piece for the club - the now-famous " Lullaby of Birdland ". He founded Roulette Records in 1956, where he began his alleged practice of claiming authorship on many early songs of the rock-and-roll era that he did not have a hand in composing. A notable case is the song " Why Do Fools Fall In Love ", originally recorded by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers , which is presumed to have been wholly written by lead singer Frankie Lymon . Other 1960s compositions with questionable authorship ties to Levy include Lee Dorsey 's " Ya Ya ," Millie Small 's " My Boy Lollipop ," and The Rivieras ' " California Sun ". (None of these three were even recorded by Roulette; "Ya Ya" was recorded and released on Fury, "My Boy Lollipop" was originally issued by Bobbie Gaye on Darl and subsequently covered by Millie Small on UK Fontana, and "California Sun" was originally issued on the small Chicago U.S.A. label.) Levy quickly became one of the wealthiest executives in the record business, and handled distribution on many major labels in addition to his own companies. His empire included several record-pressing and tape-duplicating plants, printing presses, and other ventures, some of which authorities suspected may have been used for making pirated records or "back-door" copies of legitimate albums, distributed outside normal channels. In the mid-1970s Levy filed a much-publicised lawsuit against John Lennon for appropriating a line from the Chuck Berry song, " You Can't Catch Me " (for which Levy owned the publishing rights) in The Beatles ' song " Come Together ." Lennon ultimately settled with Levy by agreeing to record three songs from Levy's publishing catalogue during the sessions for his 1975 LP Rock 'n' Roll , co-produced with Phil Spector . After complications, due to Spector, and attempts at a second agreement failed, Levy used demo recording from Lennon to produce and release "Roots." Levy successfully sued Lennon with an award of $6,795, but was countersued by Lennon, Capitol, EMI, and Apple for an award of $145,300. Levy sold Roulette Records and his publishing rights for an estimated $55 million. Although investigations into his affairs began in the early 1950s, it was not until 1986 that law officials caught up with Levy. He was tried and convicted on charges of extortion but died in Ghent, New York before serving any time in prison. Decades after Levy's death, the HBO mafia series The Sopranos occasionally featured the character of " Herman 'Hesh' Rabkin ", portraying a mob-connected record mogul who had made a fortune defrauding mostly R&B performers, underpaying their royalties, pressing pirated records, and participating in a lot of underworld activities. Hesh was frequently shown at his lavish New Jersey horse-racing stables, which drew further comparisons to Morris Levy.

Morris Levy (August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990), born Moishe Levy , was an American music industry executive, widely known as the founder and owner of Roulette Records , owner of the Birdland jazz club and Roulette Room. At the peak of his businesses, Levy owned more than 90 companies employing 900 people, including record pressing plants, tape-duplicating plants, a distribution company, a prominent New England chain of 81 record stores (Strawberries), and numerous record labels. He was convicted in 1990 on extortion charges from an FBI investigation into the alleged infiltration of organized crime into the record business — and died after losing his appeal and two months before he was scheduled to report to prison. Levy, who went by Moishe or Mo within the record industry, was described by Billboard magazine as "one of the record industry's most controversial and flamboyant players" and by Variety as "The Octopus" for having a far-reaching control in every area of the record business disproportionate to the sizes of his companies. Allmusic described him as "a notorious crook who swindled artists out of their owed royalties." Levy was widely known for falsely taking writing credit in order to receive royalties — enriching himself at the expense of many of his signed artists, especially his black R&B artists.

Morris Levy (August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. He is known widely as the founder and owner of Roulette Records , the Birdland jazz club and the Roulette Room, as well as being a subject of investigations into the role of organized crime in the music industry. At the peak of his businesses, Levy owned more than 90 companies employing 900 people, including record-pressing plants, tape-duplicating plants, a distribution company, a prominent New England chain of 81 record stores (Strawberries), and numerous record labels. Levy, who went by "Moishe" or "Mo" within the record industry, was described by Billboard magazine as "one of the record industry's most controversial and flamboyant players" and by Variety as "The Octopus", for his far-reaching control, disproportionate to the size of his companies, in every area of the record business. AllMusic described him as "a notorious crook who swindled artists out of their owed royalties." Levy was widely known for falsely taking writing credit in order to receive royalties—enriching himself at the expense of many of his signed artists, especially black R&B artists. Levy was convicted of extortion in 1990, on charges from an FBI investigation of the alleged infiltration of organized crime into the record business. Levy died after losing an appeal, two months before he was scheduled to report to prison.

American music executive This article is about the U.S. music businessman. Morris Levy (born Moishe Levy ; August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records , founding partner of the Birdland jazz club and the Roulette Room. He was a prominent subject of investigations into organized crime and the music industry, and was convicted of extortion shortly before his death. At the peak of his business career, Levy owned more than 90 companies employing 900 people, including record-pressing plants, tape-duplicating plants, a distribution company, a prominent New England chain of 81 record stores (Strawberries), and many record labels. Levy, who went by "Moishe" or "Mo" within the record industry, was described by Billboard magazine as "one of the record industry's most controversial and flamboyant players" and by Variety as "The Octopus", for his far-reaching control, disproportionate to the size of his companies, in every area of the record business. AllMusic described him as "a notorious crook who swindled artists out of their owed royalties." Levy falsely took writing credit in order to receive royalties—enriching himself at the expense of many of his signed artists, especially black R&B artists. Levy was convicted of extortion in 1990 on charges from an FBI investigation of alleged infiltration of organized crime into the record business. Levy died after losing his appeal, two months before he was scheduled to report to prison.

American music executive This article is about the U.S. music businessman. Morris Levy (born Moishe Levy ; August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records , founding partner of the Birdland jazz club and the Roulette Room. He was a prominent subject of investigations into organized crime and the music industry, and was convicted of extortion shortly before his death. At the peak of his business career, Levy owned more than 90 companies employing 900 people, including record-pressing plants, tape-duplicating plants, a distribution company, a prominent New England chain of 81 record stores (Strawberries), and many record labels. Levy, who went by "Moishe" or "Mo" within the record industry, was described by Billboard magazine as "one of the record industry's most controversial and flamboyant players" and by Variety as "The Octopus", for his far-reaching control, disproportionate to the size of his companies, in every area of the record business. AllMusic described him as "a notorious crook who swindled artists out of their owed royalties". Levy falsely took writing credit in order to receive royalties—enriching himself at the expense of many of his signed artists, especially black R&B artists. Levy was convicted of extortion in 1990 on charges from an FBI investigation of alleged infiltration of organized crime into the record business. Levy died after losing his appeal, two months before he was scheduled to report to prison.