Art Rupe, One of Rock’s First Record Execs, Dies at 104

thewrap.com:

his foundation announced on Sunday. The cause of death was not disclosed.Born Arthur Goldberg in Pittsburgh in 1917, the executive changed his name to Rupe and got his start in the music industry after working at a shipbuilding company during World War II.

In 1945, he founded his record label Specialty Records, which got its start selling what were called “race records,” albums from Black gospel and R&B artists like Jimmy Liggins, Roy Milton, and the Soul Stirrers, which featured a young Sam Cooke.

But Rupe’s biggest signing came in 1955, when he listened to a demo tape from Richard Penniman — who would become known to the world as Little Richard — after the artist repeatedly called the Specialty Records office asking if he had heard the tape. “There was something in Little Richard’s voice I liked,” Rupe said in a 2011 interview just prior to his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. “I don’t know — it was so exaggerated, so over-emotional.

And I said, ‘Let’s give this guy a chance and maybe we can get him to sing like B.B. King.’”Little Richard became a breakout success after Rupe arranged a recording session and heard him perform his profane, wild song “Tutti Frutti.” Though the version that was released in record stories had sanitized lyrics, it hit the pop charts in both the United States and Great Britain and became one of the first big hits in rock n’ roll history.