Syd Nathan

American music business executive and songwriter. Born: April 27, 1904 in Cincinnati, OH - died: March 5, 1968 in Miami Beach, FL. Founder and owner of King Records. Inducted into Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 (Non-Performer). Greatly contributing to the development of country & western music, rhythm & blues and rock & roll, he discovered many prominent artists. His biggest contribution to bluegrass was his prolific recording of the Stanley Brothers, Don Reno and Red Smiley, Moore and Napier. His biggest discovery was James Brown. Other R & B notables signed to the King label or her subsidiaries included Little Willie John, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, Bill Doggett, and the The Dominoes. On occasions Nathan would gain a writing credit on compositions created on his labels, usually under the alias Lois Mann, an alias Nathan also used on copyrights. Posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1997) and the Bluegrass Hall of Fame (2007). Syd Nathan can also be remembered, alongside King records, as the owner of the largest independent record company in the U.S.A. in the early 1960's which was also noted for being one of the first racially integrated companies in the recording industry.