Robert Scherman

Robert "Bob" Scherman (June 14, 1915—November 2, 2000) was an American songwriter, music producer, and record label owner who founded several independent West Coast record labels including Atlas, Tampa, and Skylark Records.

As a music publisher, Scherman issued works by many jazz and rhythm & blues musicians, including Nat King Cole, Frankie Laine, Oscar Moore, George Jenkins, Paul Smith, and Plas Johnson.

Robert Scherman was born in Brazil, Indiana, on June 14, 1915.

He started composing songs at age 6. Later, he studied music at the Black-Foxe Military Institute in Los Angeles, California, and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Scherman began his career as a representative for the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). After leaving ASCAP, he tried a career as a pianist on a cruise ship that ran between San Diego and San Francisco.

In 1942, Scherman founded his record label Atlas Record Company in Los Angeles, California. It was initially named Premier Record Company, but he changed it to Atlas because there was another label by the name Premier in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the investors in Atlas Records was Art Lupe, the future founder of Specialty Records, a label known for its rhythm and blues, blues, gospel, and early rock and roll music recordings.

Atlas Records worked with many noted musicians of the 1940s, including Nat King Cole Trio, Frankie Laine ("You've Changed", 1947), Merle Travis, Red Murrell And His Ozark Playboys, Wilbur "Don Swan" Schwandt And His Music, and Sam Furman's Orchestra. Atlas also recorded rising jazz talents, such as guitarist Barney Kessel and trombonist Herbie Harper.

In 1943, Scherman wrote the song "All For You" for the Nat King Cole Trio (pianist Nat King Cole, guitarist Oscar Moore, and bassist Red Callender). Originally released on Otis Rene and Leon Rene's Excelsior Records, it was the trio's second number-one hit (after "That Ain't Right") on the Harlem Hit Parade and became their first single to crossover to the U.S. pop chart, peaking at number nineteen. It was subsequently rereleased by Capitol Records, which bought the rights from Scherman. In 1996, Canadian singer Dianne Krall released an album titled All for You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio, a tribute to the Nat King Cole Trio.

When the Nat King Cole Trio moved from Atlas Records to Capitol Records in 1943, Oscar Moore, one of the trio, suggested Scherman to record his brother's group, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers. Scherman agreed and Three Blazers began recording with Atlas in 1944 and had their first hit in 1945 with "Blues at Sunrise" (written by Ivory Joe Hunter). The same year, they recorded Scherman's lyrical composition of "Melancholy Madeline" (performed by singer Frankie Laine).

Another of Scherman's hit songs is "Maureen", which was recorded in 1945 by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers with vocals by Frankie Laine. In 1946, his song "Sam The Boogie Woogie Man" was recorded by Johnny Alston And His Orchestra.

Scherman also released on Atlas a few of his songwriting credits, such as "Shufflin' Boogie" (Luke Jones, 1946), and "If You Love Me Baby" (Morris "Red Mack" McClure, 1946). "Shufflin' Boogie" was also recorded by Albert Ammons and His Rhythm Kings on Mercury Records in 1947.

Despite a strong roster, Atlas Records failed to make enough profit and was sold in 1949. In late 1949, Scherman founded another label, Webster, that only lasted a few months.

In the early 1950s, Scherman was hired by Syd Nathan's King Records, where he produced "Good Rockin' Tonight," featuring singer Wynonie Harris, backed by Count Basie's rhythm section. He also worked for Federal Records, a subsidiary of King Records, which launched the career of James Brown.

In 1951, Scherman started Skylark Records. It lasted through 1954 and released recordings by George Jenkins And The Tune Twisters, Lyn Avalon, Ace Dooley, Vivien Garry, Eddie Lynn, Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, Oscar Moore Quartet featuring Carl Perkins, and the Paul Smith Trio.

In 1955, Scherman and Irving Shorten co-founded Tampa Records, which re-released most of Skylark's issues. Tampa Records formed a partnership with the Los Angeles-based record pressing company Alco Research And Engineering to distribute pressings of masters that they had earlier acquired. The masters included some recordings previously released on Motif Records, Dig Records, Rave Records, and Exclusive Records. At the end of 1958, Tampa acquired Mode Records and inherited its complete catalog of unreleased albums. In 1960, Al Levine, one of Alco's owners, acquired the Tampa catalog, leading to a long legal challenge by Scherman that lasted until Alco's bankruptcy in 1983.

Tampa's lineup, after various partnerships and acquisitions, included many famed jazz and R&B musicians, such as The Belletones Featuring Phyllis Green, Plas Johnson And His Orchestra, René Hall Orchestra And Chorus, Bob Enevoldsen Quintet, William Donati, Marty Paich, Carlos Vidal Bolado, The Art Pepper Quartet, The Gerald Wiggins Trio, Billy Dev-Roe, The Red Mitchell Quintet, and Dickey Lee With The Collegiates.

After Tampa's last issue in 1958, Scherman started Interlude Records which issued music by Terry Gibbs, Stu Williamson, Victor Feldman, Frank Rosolino, Bobby Troup, Pepper Adams, Leonard Feather, Jimmy Rowles, Lucy Ann Polk, and Eddie Costa Quintet, among others.

In the early 1960s, he founded the label Jet and signed Terry Teene and And The Tweaks, Mari Jones, Clint Stacey, Vern Stevenson, Hayward Lee And The Marauders, and Fat Daddy Holmes, among others. Later in the 1960s, he founded Libra Records and other small labels.

In the early 1970s, Scherman worked as a producer for Snuff Garrett. He is also credited for discovering the Christian music singer Sandi Patty.

On November 12, 1965, Scherman married Glenda L. Henderson (1925–2006). They had a daughter, Carol Dofflemyer.

Scherman died in Sun City, California, on November 2, 2000, at age 85.