Quotes by Ahmet Ertegun

About Ahmet Ertegun:

Ahmet Ertegun was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter and philanthropist. He was best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records, and for discovering and championing many leading rhythm and blues and rock musicians. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs, and served as chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum. Ertegun has been described as "one of the most significant figures in the modern recording industry."
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I love Ray Charles. He can still teach everybody a lot about how to make great music. Not necessarily how to make hits, but how to make great music. Of course, part of it is his incredible talent. Who are the greatest jazz singers in the world? Louis...

Ahmet Ertegun

The Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame will provide a center where the lives and the artistry of the greatest jazz musicians will be celebrated, and where people will come to learn about jazz, something to which my brother devoted his life's work.

Ahmet Ertegun

I've lived very well all my life, even when I had no money, and there's very little I can't afford.

Ahmet Ertegun

Everyone felt like they knew Ray Charles and in a way they did, because he was embodied by his music.

Ahmet Ertegun

Soul lyrics, soul music came at about the same time as the civil rights movement, and it's very possible that one influenced the other.

Ahmet Ertegun

I'd be happy if people said that I did a little bit to raise the dignity and recognition of the greatness of African-American music.

Ahmet Ertegun

It is very important that the world know that there have been 500 years of peaceful coexistence in Turkey between the Jews and Moslems.

Ahmet Ertegun

Rock n' roll really belongs to all America. It really doesn't belong to one city.

Ahmet Ertegun

There's no place in the world you can go and not hear rock-and-roll, from Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder to Phil Collins.

Ahmet Ertegun

I don't use the computer. But my secretary does. I want to take some computer courses because I'm interested in some of the access to some of the illegal things on the Internet. I'm just kidding.

Ahmet Ertegun

When I first heard Ray Charles, he was a flop artist on a small label in California. He hadn't sold any records. And I bought his contract for $2,500.

Ahmet Ertegun

My first wife was a theater person.

Ahmet Ertegun

I've been in the studio when you go through a track and you run down a track and you know even before the singer starts singing, you know the track is swinging... you know you have a multimillion-seller hit - and what you're working on suddenly has m...

Ahmet Ertegun

Fifty years from now, people will still be listening to Led Zeppelin. They won't even remember me.

Ahmet Ertegun

If anybody asks me where I'm from, my first inclination is to say, 'Washington,' because that's where I grew up meaningfully.

Ahmet Ertegun

You know what I'd really like to do? I'd like to record some white Chicago jazz.

Ahmet Ertegun

America is remarkable, don't you think so? When I came to Washington, I was twelve years old. I spoke English with an English accent. It was assumed that it would go on in that way.

Ahmet Ertegun

Flashy people aren't everything, you know. Even when they have frizzled hair.

Ahmet Ertegun

There is a certain sort of excess that is interesting, don't you think? And America is, of course, the most excessive place.

Ahmet Ertegun

Jesse Stone did more to develop the basic rock-and-roll sound than anybody else.

Ahmet Ertegun

Author Bio

  • NameAhmet Ertegun
  • DescriptionTurkish American musician and founder of Atlantic Records
  • AliasesAhmet Ertegun
  • BornJuly 23, 1923
  • DiedDecember 14, 2006
  • CountryUnited States Of America; Turkey
  • ProfessionRecord Producer; Entrepreneur; Songwriter; Composer
  • AwardsGrammy Trustees Award