Ethel Gabriel
Encyclopedia
Ethel deNagy Gabriel is an American record producer with a four-decade career at RCA Records
.
Gabriel grew up in the Philadelphia area, learning the music business as a trombone
player and bandleader
of her own dance band
in the 1930s. She later started working at RCA's record factory in Camden, New Jersey to earn a living in support of her music studies at Temple University
. She eventually became a producer at RCA, achieving notability as the first woman to become a record label
producer, and became head of the "Pure Gold" label. She won six Emmy Awards and produced fifteen Gold records out of over twenty-five hundred releases to her credit. Gold records include hits by Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Al Hirt, Roger Whitaker, Henry Mancini, among others.
At RCA she initiated the company's Nashville studios and was a leader in the experiments and methods of electronically improving and influencing the sound of music, such as simulating the first stereo
sounds by shifting sound between speakers. She was first to release a disco
record and the first digital album.
Gabriel served as the A&R
representative for singers such as Perry Como, Cleo Laine and Roger Whitaker. Under her direction RCA issued recordings by Dolly Parton
, Jim Reeves
, Henry Mancini
, Perry Como
, Arthur Fiedler
and the Boston Pops Orchestra
, Peter Nero
, Neil Sedaka
. Frank Sinatra
with the Tommy Dorsey
Orchestra, and other artists, achieving top record sales for several of these artists.
In 1959 Gabriel created the "The Living Strings
" series of albums, which were easy listening
instrumental string versions of popular tunes, earning a Grammy Award in 1968. They spawned other "Living" ventures, such as the Living Jazz. She was also involved with the sound and direction of George Melachrino
's "Music for Moods" movement that yielded the titles Music for Dining, Music for Daydreaming, Music for Faith and Inner Calm, and Music to Stop Smoking By. Gabriel was involved in the Mambo craze in the United States by her work on the record "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
," with Perez Prado
, a leading hit record for 10 weeks in 1955.
She won a 1982 Grammy Award
in the Best Historical Album
category for The Tommy Dorsey
/Frank Sinatra
Sessions - Vols. 1, 2 & 3.
Gabriel left RCA in 1984 and formed her own record label, JazzMania Records.
In 2007, many of Gabriel's career memorabilia were put up for auction in Pennsylvania.
Gabriel is a graduate of Temple University
and Columbia University
and spent most of her career in New York City
. She is the wife of the late Gus Gabriel, President of Dunhill Publishing Company (New York City). She resides in the Pocono mountain region of Pennsylvania
.
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
.
Gabriel grew up in the Philadelphia area, learning the music business as a trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
player and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
of her own dance band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
in the 1930s. She later started working at RCA's record factory in Camden, New Jersey to earn a living in support of her music studies at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
. She eventually became a producer at RCA, achieving notability as the first woman to become a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
producer, and became head of the "Pure Gold" label. She won six Emmy Awards and produced fifteen Gold records out of over twenty-five hundred releases to her credit. Gold records include hits by Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Al Hirt, Roger Whitaker, Henry Mancini, among others.
At RCA she initiated the company's Nashville studios and was a leader in the experiments and methods of electronically improving and influencing the sound of music, such as simulating the first stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
sounds by shifting sound between speakers. She was first to release a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
record and the first digital album.
Gabriel served as the A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
representative for singers such as Perry Como, Cleo Laine and Roger Whitaker. Under her direction RCA issued recordings by Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
, Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
and the Boston Pops Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....
, Peter Nero
Peter Nero
Peter Nero is an American pianist and pops conductor.-Early life:Born in Brooklyn, New York, As Bernard Nierow, Nero started his formal music training at the age of seven. He studied piano under Frederick Bried...
, Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
with the Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
Orchestra, and other artists, achieving top record sales for several of these artists.
In 1959 Gabriel created the "The Living Strings
Living Strings
The Living Strings was an easy listening studio orchestra, founded in 1959. It was operated by RCA Records on its Camden label. There were also related groups called the Living Voices, the Living Brass, the Living Guitars. All of the Living... records were produced by the same group of people...
" series of albums, which were easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
instrumental string versions of popular tunes, earning a Grammy Award in 1968. They spawned other "Living" ventures, such as the Living Jazz. She was also involved with the sound and direction of George Melachrino
George Melachrino
George Melachrino was a musician, movie composer, and musical director who was English born of Greek and Italian descent. He was an accomplished player of the violin, viola, oboe, clarinet and saxophone....
's "Music for Moods" movement that yielded the titles Music for Dining, Music for Daydreaming, Music for Faith and Inner Calm, and Music to Stop Smoking By. Gabriel was involved in the Mambo craze in the United States by her work on the record "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)
"Cereza rosa", or "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" or "Gummy Mambo" is the English version of "Cerisier rose et pommier blanc", a popular song with music by Louiguy written in 1950. French lyrics to the song by Jacques Larue and English lyrics by Mack David both exist and recordings of both...
," with Perez Prado
Perez Prado
Dámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, musician , and composer. He is often referred to as the 'King of the Mambo'.His orchestra was the most popular in mambo...
, a leading hit record for 10 weeks in 1955.
She won a 1982 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the Best Historical Album
Grammy Award for Best Historical Album
The Grammy Award for Best Historical Album has been presented since 1979. During this time the award had several minor name changes:*In 1979 the award was known as Best Historical Repackage Album*In 1980 it was awarded as Best Historical Reissue...
category for The Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
/Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
Sessions - Vols. 1, 2 & 3.
Gabriel left RCA in 1984 and formed her own record label, JazzMania Records.
In 2007, many of Gabriel's career memorabilia were put up for auction in Pennsylvania.
Gabriel is a graduate of Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and spent most of her career in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She is the wife of the late Gus Gabriel, President of Dunhill Publishing Company (New York City). She resides in the Pocono mountain region of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.