Giorgio Gomelsky
| Giorgio Gomelsky | |
|---|---|
Gomelsky in 2009
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| Background information | |
| Born |
28 February 1934 Tiflis, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 13 January 2016 (aged 81) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Music manager, record producer |
| Years active | Mid-1950s–2016 |
| Labels | Marmalade Records, BYG Records |
| Associated acts | The Rolling Stones, The Paramounts, The Yardbirds, Magma, Blossom Toes, Julie Driscoll, Gong, Soft Machine, Material |
Giorgio Gomelsky (28 February 1934 – 13 January 2016) was a film maker, impresario, music manager, songwriter (as Oscar Rasputin) and record producer. He was born in Georgia, grew up in Switzerland, and later lived in the United Kingdom and the United States.
He owned the Crawdaddy Club in London where The Rolling Stones were house band, and he was involved with their early management. He hired The Yardbirds as a replacement and managed them. He was also their producer from the beginning through 1966. In 1967, he started Marmalade Records (distributed by Polydor), which featured "Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity", The Blossom Toes, and early recordings by Graham Gouldman and Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who became 10cc. The label closed in 1969. Gomelsky was also instrumental in the careers of The Soft Machine, Daevid Allen and Gong, Magma and Material.
Gomelsky was born in Tiflis, Georgia. His father was a medical doctor, and his mother was from Monte Carlo. The family left in 1938 and via Syria, Egypt, and Italy, in 1944 settled in Switzerland, the country where his father had trained.
Giorgio discovered jazz at the age of 10, while living in Italy. One Sunday he was caught out by the 4pm German curfew, so he stayed in the house of friends. Exploring their attic he discovered a gramophone and some jazz records. As a symbol of defiance he and his friends took to occasionally briefly blasting the music out of the window. Fortunately they were never caught. After the liberation, eventually black GIs arrived and furthered his jazz education.
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