Art Satherley | |
---|---|
Birth name | Arthur Edward Satherley |
Born |
Bedminster, Bristol, England |
October 19, 1889
Died | February 10, 1986 Fountain Valley, California, US |
(aged 96)
Occupation(s) | Record producer, A&R |
Years active | 1923-1952 |
Labels | Paramount, Columbia |
Arthur Edward "Art" Satherley (October 19, 1889 - February 10, 1986) was a record producer and A&R man, who was born in England but spent most of his career in the United States. Often called Uncle Art Satherley, he made major contributions to the recording industry and has been described as "one of the most important pioneers in the field of country music production".
Satherley was born in Bedminster, Bristol, England, and in the 1911 Census was recorded as working as a clerk in a rubber business. He had a boyhood love of "cowboys and Indians", and traveled to the US in July 1913, settling in Wisconsin where he began work for a lumber company in Port Washington. He was then employed in the furniture business, for several years working for the Wisconsin Cabinet and Panel Company, which in 1918 began making phonographs. He also did secretarial work for Thomas Edison. Satherley's work involved him in the manufacture of shellac discs, and he became responsible for marketing records for the Paramount company, selling discs by blues singers including Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake, initially at county fairs and other events, and then through advertising in regional newspapers.