Kenny Myers
{{Infobox person
| birth_name = Kenneth S. Myers
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| occupation = Vice president, Mercury Records
General manager, Acta Records
Owner, Amaret Records
Sales rep, Regensteiner Printing
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Kenny Myers was an executive at Mercury Records during the 1960s.{{cite magazine
| author =
| title = Inside Track
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 4 May 1974
| page = 70
}}
He later became general manager for a subsidiary of Dot Records.{{cite magazine
| author =
| title = Myers puts Acta in action
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 4 March 1967
| page = 54
}}
He also ran his own record label, Amaret Records. He left the music industry in the mid-1970s for the Regensteiner Printing Company.{{cite magazine
| author =
| title = Late News, Inside Track
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 4 May 1974
| page = 70
}} He is also a former musician.{{cite journal
| author =
| title = Music As-Written, Chicago
| journal = The Billboard
| date = 8 April 1950
| page = 20
}}
Musical background
Before he joined Mercury Records, he was a trumpet player with the Eddy Howard Orchestra.{{cite magazine
| author =
| title = Music-As Written
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 8 April 1950
| page = 20
| author =
| title = General News, Births
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 8 January 1955
| page = 37
}}
He sang and played alongside fellow trumpeter, vocalist, Bob Capelli.{{cite magazine
| author =
| title = Music, Eddie Howard (Reviewed at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago)
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 26 January 1946
| page = 22
}}{{Citation|title=Eddy Howard And His Orchestra - The Uncollected Eddy Howard And His Orchestra 1946-1951|date=1978 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/4395732-Eddy-Howard-And-His-Orchestra-The-Uncollected-Eddy-Howard-And-His-Orchestra-1946-1951|language=en|access-date=2023-01-05}} From 1946 - 1947, he played alongside Capelli and Sid Commings. He was also part of a vocal trio that consisted of Eddy Howard and Norman Lee. When Myers left he was replaced on trumpet and vocals by Wally Fobart.Descendants of Kjetil Gunleikson Omnes [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wijuneau/kjetilgun/pafn81.htm 3299. Cecil Frederick Gullickson] It also appears that Myers may have recorded under his own name for Leo Records.{{cite journal
| author = Johnny Sippel, Artists' Activities
| title = Music, Folk Talent and Tunes
| journal = The Billboard
| date = 12 July 1952
| page = 36
}}
Employment history
By 1950 Myers was working for Sam Honigberg, handling DJ promotion, working out of Honigberg's Chicago office.{{cite journal
| author =
| title = Music as Written, Chicago
| journal = The Billboard
| date = 26 May 1951
| page = 16
}}
=Mercury Records=
During the 1950s, Myers was promotion chief for Mercury Records. In July 1954, having just come back from vacation, he suffered an injury to his back while unloading his car. He ended up in traction at Chicago's Michael Reese Hospital. In relation to a slipped disc, he joked that the doctors were having a hard time choosing whether to use a 78 RPM or 45 RPM replacement.{{cite journal
| author =
| title = Flying disc lays up Myers
| journal = The Billboard
| date = 7 August 1954
| page = 18
}}
By 1960, he was vice-president in charge of sales and supervised the whole field of sales staff. All regional heads of sales were under his management, reporting directly to him.{{cite journal
| author =
| title = Fach Head to Merch. Promo
| journal = The Billboard
| date = 25 July 1960
| page = 2
}} Later in the early 1960s, he had become a vice-president at Mercury.{{cite journal
| author =
| title = Davis Sales Co. Named New Mercury Distrib
| journal = Billboard Music Week
| date = 17 April 1961
| page = 47
}}
=Dot Records=
In 1966, Myers resigned from his position with Mercury Records to join Dot Records.{{cite magazine
| author =
| title = Executive Turntable
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 5 November 1966
| page = 6
| author =
| title = Dot Sharpens Teen Sights
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 10 December 1966
| page = 10
}} In less than a year he became the general manager for a new label, Acta Records, a subsidiary of Dot. Acta celebrated an RIAA certification in early 1968 that marked a million sales for The American Breed's "Bend Me, Shape Me".{{cite magazine
| author =
| title = Talent
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 30 March 1968
| page = 30
}}
=Amaret Records=
Myers left Acta Records in August 1968 to form the Amaret label.{{cite magazine
| author =
| title = 'Baby' Bows Myer's Firm
| magazine = Billboard
| date = 9 November 1968
| page = 3
}} During the label's lifetime, it signed artists such as Crow, Judy Lynn and Mrs Miller.{{cite book
|last=Thompson
|first=Dave
|date=2002
|title=The Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting
|publisher=Backbeat Books
|isbn=978-0879307134
|chapter=Amaret}} Myers was credited as executive producer and production supervisor on many of the label's recordings.{{Cite web|title=Kenny Myers|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/2092063-Kenny-Myers|access-date=2023-01-05|website=Discogs|language=en}} By 1973 however, Amaret was bankrupt, and later sold to MGM Records.{{Cite web|title=AMARET OZ Labels and Company Sleeves 1969-1972 Labels|url=http://45-sleeves.com/AUS/amaret/amar-oz.htm|access-date=2023-01-05|website=45-sleeves.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423183702/http://45-sleeves.com/AUS/amaret/amar-oz.htm |archive-date=April 23, 2011}}thecrowband.com [http://www.thecrowband.com/bio.html The History of Crow] Myers left the music industry in 1974 to become the Los Angeles representative for the Regensteiner Printing Company.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=pQgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Kenny+Myers+chuck+Colbert&pg=PA30 Kenny Myers with American Breed and Chuck Colbert]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Kenny}}
Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople
Category:Record producers from California
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:American male trumpeters
Category:20th-century trumpeters
Category:20th-century American male musicians