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administrating a pair of music publishing firms, Rush and
Berkshire, and managing a small stable of artists, Willis among
them. By November Kessler had partnered with Marty Wilson
to launch his own indie label, Vision Records. The pair would
remain active in the management end of the business as well;
when The Nutmegs crashed the R&B charts with their major
1955 hit
Story Untold
on Al Silver’s Herald label, Kessler and
Wilson were their managers. Danny was an industry survivor;
he was later a principal of Seville Records, whereAllen Toussaint
made some early solo singles. In 1961, Danny signed on to serve
as vice president and general manager of Jerry Leiber and Mike
Stoller’s independent production firm.
After Groove went on temporary hiatus at the end of 1954 to
regroup, Bob Rolontz came over from his post covering music
biz doings at ‘The Billboard’ to assume the A&R reins in early
’55. He beefed up the label’s talent roster with several new
signings, undertook mid-year sessions in Nashville andAtlanta,
and was every bit as active behind the studio glass as his
predecessor. Groove always hired New York’s hottest session
musicians: Sam ‘The Man’ Taylor or King Curtis on tenor sax,
pianist Ernie Hayes, guitarist Mickey Baker, bassist Milt Hinton
and drummer Panama Francis were among its regular sidemen.
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PREVIEW