Jerry Greenberg

Video

Oral History Information

Interview Date
Job Title
Former President
Company Name
Atlantic Records

Jerry Greenberg began his long and successful musical career in 1957 when his band Jerry Green and the Passengers began recording. Within a few years he had established Seaboard Distributions to provide a way to promote recordings to radio stations and record stores. While working in the recording industry, Jerry became the youngest person to be president of a major record label, Atlantic in 1974, when he was just 32 years old. While at Atlantic he worked with Ahmet Ertegun and his long-time mentor and friend, the legendary producer Jerry Wexler. Due to his friendship with Studio 54 founder Steve Rubell, Jerry used the famous club to promote his latest records and to witness what styles were popular among the dancers. Over the years he signed many soon-to-be famous acts and had great success predicting new trends in music, such as disco, heavy metal and rap.