Bess Berman
{{Short description|American record label executive}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Bess Berman
|image =
|caption =
|nickname =
|birth_name = Bessie Merenstein
|birth_date = {{birth date|1902|7|14}}
|birth_place = New York City, United States
|death_date = {{death date and age|1968|8|8|1902|7|14}}
|death_place =
|alma_mater =
|education =
|occupation = Record label executive
|known_for = Co-founder of Apollo Records
|awards =
|spouse = Isaac "Ike" Berman
|children = Harriet Berman Merenstein (stepdaughter)
Jack Berman (stepson)
|parents =
|partner =
|family = Lewis Merenstein (nephew)
}}
Bess Berman (July 14, 1902 – August 8, 1968) was an American record label executive. With her husband Isaac "Ike" Berman, Herman "Hy" Siegel and Sam Schneider, she set up Apollo Records, an independent label notable for its promotion of gospel and R&B musicians, in New York City in 1944.
Biography
She was born Bessie Merenstein in New York, the fourth of seven children of Emma (né Raylies of Austria) and Louis Merenstein (né Yeuda-Leib of Courland, Latvia{{efn|The Rabbi of Geldingen certified, that from Noka Mirninshtein and his wife had the following children:
- Son Geneja born on 18 March 1875. Registered in the book of births under the number 9.
- Israil-Maer born 17 october 1874. Registered in the book of births under the number 39.
- Yeuda-Leib born 29 September 1876. Registered in the book of births under the number 42.
See :File:Mirninshtein Birth Certificate.jpg.}}), who were Jewish immigrants. It is likely her parents fled the uncertainty of pogroms in Europe in search of a better life in the United States where they met and married.{{cite book |last=Burford |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdB2DwAAQBAJ&q=harriet+berman+merenstein+wife&pg=PA150 |title=Mahalia Jackson and the Black Gospel Field |date=9 November 2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190634919 |access-date=25 October 2020 |archive-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716153515/https://books.google.com/books?id=rdB2DwAAQBAJ&q=harriet+berman+merenstein+wife&pg=PA150#v=snippet&q=harriet%20berman%20merenstein%20wife&f=false |url-status=live }} Her father drove a beer truck and was later a hat maker; her mother was a housewife.{{Cite web |title=Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. | website=Ancestry.com |url=https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4114592_00316?pId=66795135 |access-date=2024-07-09 |archive-date=2024-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709170558/https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4114592_00316?pId=66795135 |url-status=live }} Berman worked as an office clerk and manicurist before marrying vending machine salesman Ike Berman (né Behrman, May 16, 1897–February 5, 1956) in 1926.{{Cite web |url=http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/6061/4313909-00863/66233267?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3frank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d0%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-g%26gsfn%3dbessie%26gsln%3dmerenstein%26msbdy%3d1902%26sbo%3d1%26uidh%3djq5%26mssng0%3disaac%2b%26mssns0%3dberman%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d66233267%26db%3d1920usfedcen%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d3%26hovR%3d1&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord |title=Ancestry.com: 1920 US Census; Census Place: Manhattan Assembly District 2, New York, New York; Roll: T625_1186; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 141; Image: 863. |access-date=2014-05-23 |archive-date=2024-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716153517/https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/6224/4639210_00082/45851769?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3frank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d0%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-g%26gsfn%3disaac%26gsln%3dberman%26sbo%3d1%26uidh%3djq5%26mssng0%3dbessie%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d45851769%26db%3d1930usfedcen%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d12&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord |title=Ancestry.com: 1930 United States Federal Census, Census Place: Clarkstown, Rockland, New York; Roll: 1640; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 0004; Image: 78.0; FHL microfilm: 2341374 |access-date=2014-05-23 |archive-date=2024-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716153532/https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0R0EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22bess+berman%22+billboard+mother&pg=PA19 |title=Billboard, October 21, 1950, p.19 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-date=July 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716153518/https://books.google.com/books?id=0R0EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22bess+berman%22+billboard+mother&pg=PA19#v=onepage&q=%22bess%20berman%22%20billboard%20mother&f=false |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GkUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22ike+berman%22&pg=PA19 |title="Last Rites For Ike Berman", Billboard, 18 February 1956, p.19 |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716153520/https://books.google.com/books?id=GkUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22ike+berman%22&pg=PA19#v=onepage&q=%22ike%20berman%22&f=false |url-status=live }} Ike had two children from a previous marriage: Harriet Berman Merenstein (who in 1936 married Bess' younger brother Charles Merenstein, a co-writer of the song Handy Man); and Jack Berman.
They set up Apollo Records in 1944, and she became the driving force behind its development, particularly in recruiting star performers including Mahalia Jackson, Champion Jack Dupree, The "5" Royales, Wynonie Harris, The Larks, and Solomon Burke.[http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/apollogrps.html J. C. Marion, Apollo Records : The Vocal Groups] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028003038/http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ev1tiger/apollogrps.html |date=2009-10-28 }}. Retrieved 23 May 2014[http://www.bsnpubs.com/nyc/apollo/apollostory.html David Edwards and Mike Callahan, Apollo Records Story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716153523/https://www.bsnpubs.com/nyc/apollo/apollostory.html |date=2024-07-16 }}. Retrieved 23 May 2014 She took sole control of the business in 1948, while her husband ran an associated record pressing plant. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, she was "very tough... a very strong, aggressive woman."[https://books.google.com/books?id=uFrYsNvmrvQC&dq=%22Bess+Berman%22&pg=PA55 John Broven, Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers, University of Illinois Press, 2009, pp.53-55] When she gave up the business after becoming ill in 1954, Cash Box described her as "the only woman ever able to break through with outstanding success in the male-dominated recording industry."
She died in 1968,[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=ssdi&h=4432490&ti=5538&indiv=try&gss=pt&ssrc=pt_t1637181_p6367047071_kpidz0q3d6367047071z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid U.S. Social Security Death Index, SSN:109-16-7348, Ancestry.com]. Retrieved 23 May 2014 although some sources give a date in 1997. Her nephew is the record producer and executive Lewis Merenstein.
Notes
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References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Bess}}
Category:Businesspeople from New York City
Category:American music industry executives
Category:American people of German-Jewish descent