Randy Wood (record producer)

Randolph Clay "Randy" Wood (March 30, 1917 – April 9, 2011) was an American record producer and the founder of Dot Records, one of the most successful independent record labels of the 1950s and 1960s.

He was born in McMinnville, Tennessee, the only son of two teachers, and began constructing radio sets as a child. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1941, and served in the US Army Air Forces as a radio engineer during World War II.

In 1945, he opened a store in Gallatin, Tennessee selling electrical appliances and some records. After noticing that many teenagers were seeking rhythm and blues records by musicians such as Joe Liggins and Cecil Gant, he started a mail order business for hard-to-find records, in collaboration with Nashville radio DJs Gene Nobles and Bill "Hoss" Allen. He began stocking R&B records for sale to a white audience, and by 1950, the store had become Randy's Record Shop. He also started small local labels with Nobles, recording and issuing discs by Gant and others.

He became co-owner of a local radio station, WHIN, and in January 1950 set up Dot Records, with Nobles, so as to release recordings by musicians who appeared on the station. These included honky-tonk pianist Johnny Maddox, gospel singers the Fairfield 4, and R&B group the Griffin Brothers, whose song "Weepin' & Cryin'" (Dot 1071) reached no.1 on the R&B chart in early 1952. Other R&B musicians on early Dot releases included Joe Liggins, Ivory Joe Hunter, and the Counts. Dot Records' first pop success came in 1952, with "Tryin'" by The Hilltoppers, followed by "P.S. I Love You". Wood also recorded country musicians such as Mac Wiseman and Jimmy C. Newman, who both had several national hits on the country music chart.

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