Bob Thiele

Bob Thiele was a major voice in the music industry for nearly six decades. Something of a child prodigy, Thiele started hosting a jazz radio show when he was 14. As a teenager, he learned clarinet and led a big band locally in the New York area. From 1939-1941, he was editor of Jazz Magazine, and at the age of 17 in 1939, he founded the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Signature%22">Signature</a> label. As the head of the label and its producer, Thiele recorded <a href="spotify:artist:7B2GLsoPPGTRUeNpJ6VbL3">Art Hodes</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4RD1aDxCjEQEwKzwqMXTdN">Yank Lawson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:05E3NBxNMdnrPtxF9oraJm">Lester Young</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6C65D20ASusYqHGSIktfED">Errol Garner</a>, various Chicago jazz-style groups, and, most notably in 1943, a classic session by <a href="spotify:artist:0JM134st8VY7Ld9T2wQiH0">Coleman Hawkins</a>. After <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Signature%22">Signature</a> folded in 1948, Thiele freelanced and then joined <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca%22">Decca</a> in 1952, where he produced sessions for their <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Coral%22">Coral</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Brunswick%22">Brunswick</a> labels.

Although involved with some jazz, Thiele also worked with <a href="spotify:artist:2mPL4g4v9DS55zi6QctLbP">Teresa Brewer</a> (his future wife), <a href="spotify:artist:6oXkzBf6bMupenvf4tKtmN">the McGuire Sisters</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2GMH35k5oLCjzYpn5HbaD8">Lawrence Welk</a>, and several notables whose careers he helped launch: <a href="spotify:artist:3wYyutjgII8LJVVOLrGI0D">Buddy Holly</a> (whom Thiele largely discovered), <a href="spotify:artist:2EExdpjU4SK3xnJHO5paJf">Henry Mancini</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7AhItQoTbpGESmAxThgO7x">Steve & Eydie</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4VnomLtKTm9Ahe1tZfmZju">Jackie Wilson</a>. He then switched to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dot%22">Dot</a> for a period in 1959. With <a href="spotify:artist:0e8WTsKHdhxtwPgT8gdQ1a">Steve Allen</a>, Thiele headed the short-lived <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hanover-Signature%22">Hanover-Signature</a> label (which had a big hit with <a href="spotify:artist:617L0tV5Y7lMvUHGHR43AR">Ray Bryant</a>'s "Little Susie"), and he also freelanced for other labels. Probably his proudest accomplishment was teaming up <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:19eLuQmk9aCobbVDHc6eek">Louis Armstrong</a> for a classic set on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Roulette%22">Roulette</a>.

From 1961-1969, Thiele was the main producer at <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ABC%2FImpulse%21%22">ABC/Impulse!</a> He gave <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">John Coltrane</a> permission to record as extensively as he wanted, and Thiele also produced more than 100 other albums, including sets by <a href="spotify:artist:1W8TbFzNS15VwsempfY12H">Charles Mingus</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2nQKUeZeleLGNsJj6WLUXN">Oliver Nelson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2wn2nqzITvJ1vcMRO8Wzv6">Albert Ayler</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7C2DSqaNkh0w77O5Jz1FKh">Archie Shepp</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3JLUCojZaHrX2LaUkSj7Ud">Pharoah Sanders</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5Pqc0ZFA20Y9zGJZ3ojUin">Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2mY5u4CceAPrpBnse1WpFr">Earl Hines</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7lRFrrINQTY35g8hq0kXY5">Johnny Hodges</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0JM134st8VY7Ld9T2wQiH0">Coleman Hawkins</a> (including a date with <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington</a>), <a href="spotify:artist:3rxIQc9kWT6Ueg4BhnOwRK">Quincy Jones</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2jFZlvIea42ZvcCw4OeEdA">Count Basie</a>, and many others. He started <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ABC%22">ABC</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bluesway%22">Bluesway</a> subsidiary, which featured blues in the late '60s (highlighted by dates from <a href="spotify:artist:5xLSa7l4IV1gsQfhAMvl0U">B.B. King</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6nPKmEbQmR8jGZEm7ArOFX">T-Bone Walker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0R3bGv703d8JFKdZxsHr58">Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1DTgcOxytJHD8p17mhSgd7">Big Joe Turner</a>) and produced a variety of pop singers for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ABC%22">ABC</a>. After leaving <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ABC%2FImpulse%21%22">ABC/Impulse!</a>, Thiele founded a series of short-term labels, including <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Flying+Dutchman%22">Flying Dutchman</a>, Blues Time, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dr.+Jazz%22">Dr. Jazz</a>, and finally <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Red+Baron%22">Red Baron</a>.

Thiele wrote a lot of songs for his artists through the years, with "What a Wonderful World" being easily his biggest success. Among the many musicians he produced during his last two decades were such favorites as <a href="spotify:artist:7dXBi98p0mN5JCpBnU0XEm">Gato Barbieri</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:00SOiqZ0YGY2JhjSPxZMZg">David Murray</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2hdpXvaQJHBCZIVUd6cLvK">Lonnie Liston Smith</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:62xdwGEOLoGQxKUqoJusyU">Clark Terry</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2mPL4g4v9DS55zi6QctLbP">Teresa Brewer</a>, whom he teamed with <a href="spotify:artist:2jFZlvIea42ZvcCw4OeEdA">Count Basie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6AfbDYupHV5e6nse9W6tKG">Stéphane Grappelli</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2mY5u4CceAPrpBnse1WpFr">Earl Hines</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ZJWBoh0c53yW13f86HNuA">Ruby Braff</a>, and even <a href="spotify:artist:00SOiqZ0YGY2JhjSPxZMZg">Murray</a>. As enthusiastic in his later years about music as he had been as a teenager, Bob Thiele was active up until his death. His 1995 memoir, What a Wonderful World, is colorful, if much too brief. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi