Morris Levy
| Morris Levy | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Moishe Levy August 27, 1927 Harlem, New York, US |
| Died | May 21, 1990 (aged 62) Ghent, New York |
| Occupation | Music business executive |
| Organization | Roulette Records |
Morris Levy (August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990), born Moishe Levy, was an American music industry executive, best known as the founder and owner of Roulette Records and the owner of the Birdland jazz club and Roulette Room. At the peak of his businesses, Levy owned more than 90 companies employing 900 people, including record-pressing plants, tape-duplicating plants, a distribution company, a prominent New England chain of 81 record stores (Strawberries), and numerous record labels. He was convicted of extortion in 1990, on charges from an FBI investigation of the alleged infiltration of organized crime into the record business. Levy died after losing an appeal, two months before he was scheduled to report to prison.
Levy, who went by "Moishe" or "Mo" within the record industry, was described by Billboard magazine as "one of the record industry's most controversial and flamboyant players" and by Variety as "The Octopus", for his far-reaching control, disproportionate to the size of his companies, in every area of the record business.Allmusic described him as "a notorious crook who swindled artists out of their owed royalties." Levy was widely known for falsely taking writing credit in order to receive royalties—enriching himself at the expense of many of his signed artists, especially black R&B artists.
Levy was born a Sephardic Jew in Harlem and grew up in New York City. His father and older brother died of pneumonia when Levy was four months old. He quit school at the age of 13 and ran away to Florida, where he worked as a photographer in and around nightclubs. He later joined the United States Navy.
He later persuaded the owners of the nightclub where he worked to buy a club in New York, subsequently managing the club as the Cock Lounge. It became successful, attracting musicians such as Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon, and allowed Levy to set up another club, Birdland, in 1949.
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