2023-08-15 08:38:05
Music industry veteran Clarence Avant has influenced Quincy Jones, Pharrell Williams, Whitney Houston and others.
Clarence Avant, music veteran and label boss known by the pseudonym “Black Godfather”, died at the age of 92 at his Los Angeles home on Sunday August 13. He has notably influenced personalities such as Quincy Jones, Pharrell Williams, Snoop Dogg, Whitney Houston and many others.
The death of Clarence Avant was announced on Monday August 14 via a press release published by his family. “It is with heavy hearts that the Avant/Sarandos family announce the passing of Clarence Alexander Avant. His revolutionary vision of business has made him known as “The Black Godfather” in music, politics, sports and throughout the world of entertainment. » The causes of his death have not been revealed.
“He is the historical godfather of our business” Quincy Jones told Billboard in 2006. “Everybody who’s ever been smart in our industry has ended up in Clarence’s office. »
Clarence Avant was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, receiving the Ahmet Ertegun Award. “It is impossible to talk about Clarence Avant in four minutes” says Lionel Richie during the ceremony, referring to the time given to him to make his induction speech. He then preferred to list the qualities that made him successful: “He is a teacher. A master in communication. He is the perfect union between street sense and common sense. And what he did for us, through us, I mean the kids of the African American community, he brought us an understanding of what the music industry was all about. »
However, Clarence Avant wasn’t born into the music industry, he had to find the path himself. He was born in Climax, North Carolina on February 25, 1931. In an interview, he explains that he had no connection with his father when he was a child. He therefore adopted his mother’s maiden name. Rather than have the baccalaureate, he moved to New York during his adolescence to work at the Macy’s clothing store. He took his first steps into the music industry when he worked at a club called Teddy P’s Lounge. There he met the blues artist Little Willie John, who asked him to become his manager.
Clarence Avant’s presence in the music industry extended into the 1950s. He counted among his clients Sarah Vaughan, Jimmy Smith, and composer Lalo Schifrin. At the start of his career, he was mentored by Joe Glaser, Louis Armstrong’s longtime manager. Clarence Avant meets Jones for the first time, the first black person to have a position of vice-president in a record company (Mercury) when he manages Jimmy Smith. While the other jazz artists get $100,000 contracts, he asks for $450,000 for his artist. A bold number that impresses Jones. “He managed to sign the contract” Jones recalled later. “I respected him for that. »
Clarence Avant pushed the boundaries of what black leaders could accomplish in industries plagued by racism. He became a staple of Venture and Sussex Records. There he signed Bill Withers, Dennis Coffey, and the Gallery, but also ran a distribution company. He thus produced the Paramount film Save the Children, released in 1973. Two years later, he founded Tabu Records, a label in which live hitmakers like Kool and the Gang, the SOS Band, and Alexander O’Neal. He also buys the Los Angeles radios KAGB and KTYM.
A few years later, he became a consultant to Jheryl Busby (Motown) and several notable producers, including Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, LA Reid, Babyface, and Narada Michael Walden. Other personalities who have worked with him include Jimmy Iovine, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Gamble, and Walter Yetnikoff. At the end of the 1980s, he was in charge of promoting Michael Jackson’s Bad tour, earning 125 million dollars.
“He was there for everyone” explained Jones to Black Enterprise in 1991. “If he had helped himself as much as he helped everyone else, he would be a millionaire right now. »
In addition to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Clarence Avant received an honorary doctorate from Morehouse College, the Heroes Award from the Los Angeles branch of the Recording Academy and the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2016, he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame alongside those of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
“He doesn’t give up on anyone,” explained Terry Lewis to Billboard in 2006. “He does everything for his family and his career and at the same time helps everyone. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t respect it. »
“Here is a guy who forsakes no one,” Lewis told Billboard in 2006. “He’s done for his family and his career and helped everyone else at the same time. There’s not a person I know who doesn’t respect him.”
In 2019, during his appearance in the Netflix documentary The Black Godfather, Pharell Williams paid tribute to him by stating: “Clarence Avant connects us all through his impact that spans from before I was born to now. He’s the godfather to many of us, not just African Americans, but most people in the industry. »
Throughout his career, Clarence Avant has fought for recognition and fair compensation for black creators. “Although Berry Gordy has changed the vision of white people because he has shown himself capable of leading a major, our role is still not anchored in their strategy,” he declared to Black Enterprise in 1991. black music is about 20% of the revenue of the recording industry… But we certainly don’t get 20% of the profits and we don’t have 20% of the power. »
Larisha Paul, Cory Grow
Translated by the editor
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