Google Books’ massive wealth of
material includes the complete archives of Billboard
magazine, free for anybody to peruse. It’s easy to spend several hours (days?)
tripping down musical memory lane, and of course these archives also are an
invaluable resource; I used them extensively while researching information for
my Guaraldi bio.
Until just the other day, though,
I hadn’t considered investigating a search on Fantasy Records. Most of the
results were too tangential for my purposes, but I did learn a few helpful
details. The first was a squib from March 12, 1955, headlined Zaentz Heads Fantasy Sales. In entirety,
the little piece informed readers that “Saul Zaentz has been named national
sales manager for Fantasy Records. He formerly held sales and promotion posts
with Clef and Norgran. Zaentz’s Fantasy duties will also include deejay
relations.”
A little more than a month later,
on April 23, that week’s Jazz Best Sellers — a listing always subdivided by
label — gave Fantasy’s street address: 654 Natoma Street, in San Francisco.
Although I already knew that Fantasy was on Natoma Street in the mid-1950s, I’d
never had the actual number. (Yes, I do obsess over such details.)
The most interesting tidbit,
however, unfolded during slightly more than four months, starting on New Year’s
Eve in 1966 ... when Fantasy Records supposedly was purchased by a rival label
(!).
Now, it’s well known that Max and
Soul (Sol) Weiss sold Fantasy on September 1, 1967, to a consortium of distributors
headed by Zaentz. But I had no idea that an entirely different offer had been
floated nine months earlier.
On top of which, this earlier
potential deal apparently blew up quite spectacularly.
It started when Billboard reported, on December 31,
1966, that — according to “reliable sources” — Audio Fidelity Records had
bought Fantasy. “Contracts have been signed,” the article went on, “and Audio
Fidelity is expected to take title in a few days. The label will be moved to
New York, and Orrin Keppnews, former Riverside Records executive recently hired
by AF, is expected to be Fantasy a&r vice president. The move is AF’s
second major acquisition since Herman Gimbel took over the reins of the
company. The first was the expansion into the country field with Little Darlin’
Records.”
As Mr. Spock had just begun to
say, every Thursday evening that TV season, Fascinating...
At that point in time, Audio
Fidelity’s major claim to fame was having released the United States’ first
mass-produced stereophonic long-playing record, in November 1957. Under
original owner Sidney Frey, the label signed a respectable collection of jazz
musicians, including Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Elmo Hope and Lalo
Schifrin. In 1962, Frey became one of the first U.S. record company owners to
aggressively pursue bossa nova and Brazilian jazz, releasing LPs by João Gilberto, Luiz Bonfá, Oscar
Castro-Neves and several others.
Frey sold the company in 1965 to Gimbel, who expanded inventory and
artists; even so, he never became a major player during the rapidly expanding
rock era. Ironically, most of the Audio Fidelity LPs found in home libraries in
the 1970s weren’t music at all; the label did quite well by its extremely
popular line of sound-effects albums. Audio Fidelity was folded into Milestone
Records in 1985, and eventually went bankrupt in 1997.
But back to our story...
Despite the apparent haste with
which Audio Fidelity’s deal with Fantasy was expected to take place, nothing
happened for several months. Then, on March 25, 1967, Billboard unveiled fresh information beneath the headline A Disagreement Stops Buying of Fantasy by AF.
“The acquisition has failed to
materialize,” the article began. “Herman Gimbel, AF president, had flown to San
Francisco last week to close the deal. Gimbel returned without the acquisition,
charging that Fantasy failed to deliver assets provided for in the agreement.
These assets, according to Gimbel, include ‘full use of a quantity of masters —
including all of the Dave Brubeck material, which is unquestionably the heart
of the Fantasy catalog.’ Gimbel added that record club and tape cartridge deals
had been negotiated for the expected new Fantasy operation.”
The next step was inevitable:
Gimbel sued.
On May 13, 1967, Billboard broke
this news under the headline AF Charges
Fantasy Welched on Contract. “Audio Fidelity has sought recourse through
the courts,” the article began. “The deal allegedly was set by both parties,
when, according to AF President Herman Gimbel, Fantasy backed out.
“According to the complaint, the
defendants entered into a written contract with Gimbel for the sale of their
music and sound recording business. Sale price was allegedly $235,000, with
another $200,000 for royalties to be paid over a five-year period. Gimbel said
he made a $5,000 down payment last November.
“Gimbel charges that on March 9
he met with the defendants in San Francisco, to sign the final contract, but
that the defendants refused to deliver the business and assets.”
The rest of the article specifies
various sidebar details, including advance orders that Gimbel already had taken
for the expected Fantasy library, which “would have yielded him a net profit of
at least $70,000” (and which sounds rather like counting one’s chickens before
they’ve hatched).
“Gimbel seeks an accounting of
the Fantasy operation for 1967,” the article concludes, “along with court
costs, and, if the court rules that the contract cannot be performed, damages
of $95,974.32 and such additional damages as may be established by the evidence.”
I’d love to know how they came up
with that 32 cents...
All kidding aside, I was struck
by what seems to have been Fantasy’s rather modest value. Just a
quarter-million for the whole shebang, plus not quite that much in royalties? Seriously? I know everything cost less
back in 1967, but that still seems
low.
Maybe it was, and maybe that’s
why Soul and Max backed out. Alas, we’ll never know. That was the last Billboard reported of the matter, which
suggests things were settled out of court.
Zaentz and his fellow investors
were more successful a few months later, paying $325,000 for the label and all
its assets ... which, on the surface, seems a worse deal than Soul and Max were
offered by Audio Fidelity. As history quickly demonstrated, Zaentz made one
helluva deal. Thanks to the incredible popularity of Creedence Clearwater
Revival, he was able to pay off the five-year note in 18 months. As quoted in Billboard on May 3, 1969, Zaentz now
insisted that he “wouldn’t take $6 million for Fantasy.”
Zaentz’s subsequent adventures
with Creedence and John Fogerty, of course, became an entirely different story,
and the stuff of both rock and precedent-establishing courtroom legend. If
you’re curious, check it out here.
In hindsight, it’s interesting to
note that the Audio Fidelity imbroglio was taking place at the same time that
Guaraldi had filed his own lawsuit against Fantasy, seeking release from his
oppressive contract. That suit wasn’t resolved until December 27, 1967, shortly
after Zaentz took over the label. (I remain convinced that Zaentz, far smarter
about such things than the Weiss brothers, recognized and quickly dealt with
what almost certainly would have been an embarrassing courtroom loss for
Fantasy).
As journalist Linda Ellerbee is
so fond of saying, And so it goes...
