Art Rupe obituary
msn.comArt Rupe to exploit the opportunity and provide the means of getting the music to a wider audience via juke boxes and radio stations.
Rupe, who has died aged 104, was a record man, as the founders of such independent companies as Atlantic, Chess, Savoy, King and Modern were known.
His own label, Specialty Records, became the vehicle for the early hits of Little Richard – including Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally and Rip It Up – and the recordings with which Sam Cooke conquered the gospel-music audience as the young lead singer with the Soul Stirrers.
Among Specialty’s other hit artists in a decade of success were the singers Lloyd Price, Larry Williams and Percy Mayfield and gospel groups including the Pilgrim Travelers and the Swan Silvertones.
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