Henry Stone

Henry Stone (June 3, 1921 – August 7, 2014), born Henry David Epstein, was an American record company executive and producer whose career spanned the era from R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the 2010s. He was best known as co-owner and president of TK Records, but reportedly set up more than 100 record labels, and generated more than $100 million in record sales across the world. Stone was described as "an acute businessman who always made sure that contracts and publishing agreements were written in his favor." Stone began playing the trumpet in his teens while at an orphanage in Pleasantville, New York. In 1943 he joined the US Army, playing in a racially integrated band and developing an appreciation of what were then called "race records". After being discharged in 1945, he changed his last name to Stone, moved to Los Angeles, and started working on sales and promotion for Jewel Records and then Modern Records, and traveling around the country. In 1947, he and his family moved to Miami, Florida.

Record production and distribution in the 1950s and 1960s In 1947, Stone settled in Miami, Florida, setting up his own distribution company, Seminole, and shortly afterwards the Crystal recording studio. In 1951 he recorded Ray Charles’ "St. Pete Florida Blues", among others. In 1952 he started two record labels, Rockin' (for blues) with artists including Earl Hooker, and Glory (for gospel), and soon had success in both styles.

TK Records and associated activities In 1972, Stone heard from Jerry Wexler that Warner Record's Atlantic and Elektra divisions would merge, handle its own distribution, and no longer use Tone. At that point, he decided to concentrate on recording and manufacturing his own records, forming another new record company, TK Records with Alaimo (named after the studio's recording console designer Terry Kane), based in Hialeah, with which he had his greatest success.

In 1973, Stone’s warehouse worker and occasional front desk receptionist, Harry Wayne “KC” Casey and TK's budding recording studio engineer Richard Finch were introduced by Stone and began collaborating on writing and performing songs, with Stone allowing them to experiment in the recording studio after hours. in the reissue of dance classics on CD. Recently, he continued reissuing R&B and dance tracks on his own label, The Legendary Henry Stone Presents...

Honors In 2004, Henry Stone was awarded the first ever Pioneer Award for the Dance Music Hall of Fame, which was presented in New York City. When he was invited on stage to receive his award and give a speech he received a lengthy standing ovation.

Death Stone died of natural causes in Miami on August 7, 2014, at the age of 93. He is buried at Riverside-Gordon Memorial Gardens in North Miami Beach.

Music publishing imprints of Henry Stone Stone owned a music publishing company bearing the name Sherlyn Music (and Sherlyn-Pent Music). He and his first wife had two daughters, Sheri and Linda. The name Sherlyn was a portmanteau of their daughters' given names. He also had 2 additional daughters, Crystal and Kim, as well as a son, David