Bob Shad
b. 12 February 1920, New York City, New York, USA, d. 13 March 1985, Los Angeles, California, USA. Shad entered record production in the '40s, producing jazz (including Charlie Parker) and blues and R&B (including Dusty Fletcher) for Savoy, National and other companies. In 1948 he founded Sittin’ In With, initially recording jazz, but concluded that there was a bigger market for blues, which the majors were neglecting; he cut material by Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Terryand Brownie McGhee, and the last sides by Curley Weaver. On field trips to the South, Shad recorded Smokey Hogg and Peppermint Harris (including his hit Rainin In My Heart’) on portable equipment. In 1951, he joined Mercury as A&R director, producing Patti Page, Vic Damone and the Platters as well as blues sessions by Hopkins, Big Bill Broonzy and others, and launching the jazz marque Emarcy, for which he made important sessions with Sarah Vaughan, Maynard Ferguson, Dinah Washington (her first with strings) and many others. After leaving Mercury, Shad founded Mainstream, which issued, besides his Sittin’ In With material, jazz by such as Shelly Manne and Dizzy Gillespie, and Sarah Vaughan's collaborations with Michel Legrand. Shad also produced rock artists, making the first recordings of Janis Joplinand Ted Nugent, and remained active with Mainstream through the '70s.