"The legendary John Dolphin, also known
as Lovin’ John, was one of the first and most well respected, black
business man who made his way in the music business of Los Angeles in
the 1940s and 50s. An independent record label owner and R&B
producer, his contributions to the formative years of Rock & Roll
are often overlooked. A minimogul who had almost every facet of the
record business covered, was taking storm of this segregated town and
bringing people of all colors together through music.
Dolphin first entered the music business
as a retailer where in 1948, when he opened Dolphin’s of Hollywood, a
record store on Vernon Avenue that would stay open 24 hours a day to
cater to the 
late-shift workforce. The store featured deejays
broadcasting on the local station of KRKD, in front of the huge, glass
window Mr. Dolphin had installed on the face of the store so that people
on the outside could see in. Some of the most popular deejays found a
home for their art in front of this window, playing for late night
crowds of Blacks, Whites, and Latinos alike, who would dance and party
together well after dark, until the cops came in and shut the parties
down.
Party time began with DJ Ray Robinson,
followed by DJ Hunter Hancock, and Dick “Huggy Boy” Hugg. John would
have the deejays play records from his own label, but more than that, he
would introduce brilliant recordings also from other record labels and
artists whom had not previously received proper publicity. By this
technique, John made Billboard hits of many recordings that had been
nearly shelved by everyone else. A few of these hits include “Earth
Angel” by The Penguins and “Dream Girl” by Jessie Belvin.
Dolphin’s of Hollywood, located in the
South Central/Watts area of Los Angeles, on East Vernon Ave, near the
corner of Central Ave., was given this name because Mr. John Dolphin
initially wanted to open his store in Hollywood. However, Blacks were
not allowed to own and operate businesses in Hollywood in the 1940s. So,
John Dolphin thought up the next best thing, he would call his South
Central store Dolphin’s of Hollywood. This was how he brought Hollywood
to the hood and this record shop would soon become the most famous
record shop in America, but also, its radio show on KRKD became the most
popular black radio show in America. In fact, recording artists from
all over would
appear at the store and perform live-on-air interviews,
while greeting and signing autographs for the customers. These
well-known artists included Billie Holiday, Lionel Hampton, Sarah
Vaughan, Little Richard, James Brown “the Godfather of Soul”, Sam Cooke,
Marvin Gaye, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Ike
and Tina Turner, Fifth Dimension, Solomon Burke just to name a few. Open
24 hours a day, even on Sundays, customers could come at all hours of
the day and capitalize on the “Buy One Get One Free” special, while
hundreds would dance the Saturday nights away in front of the store, to
the deejay’s tunes.
John Dolphin not only brought Hollywood
to the hood, but he also brought fame to many underserved, talented,
black artists whom had been hidden behind the facade of Crossover music.
This Crossover Music concept was essentially taking music originally
recorded by African Americans and having white artists re-record it, as
during this time, most black music was considered taboo and hard to sell
to the masses. So John, hiring one of the most famous white deejay of
the time, DJ Dick “Huggy Boy” Hugg, drew white teenagers and young
adults to Dolphin’s of Hollywood in ever increasing numbers. And these
crowds would buy black music, learning the lyrics and tunes, and share
them with their friends; bringing fame to musicians whose music had
previously been stolen from them without regard.
In 1950, John Dolphin mounted his own
label, Recorded In Hollywood, with the motto: “We’ll record you today
and have you a hit tonight,” inaugurated by jazz pianist Erroll Garner’s
“Lotus Blue.” The imprint scored its first major hit with its sophomore
release by R&B singer Percy Mayfield. The song was called “Two
Years of Torture” and was followed by the “Dream Girl” record of Jesse
Belvin and the “Jacquet Blows the Blues” record of tenor saxophonist
Illinois Jacquet. In mid-1951, Dolphin cut a licensing deal with King
Records. This resulted in nearly two-dozen Recorded in Hollywood
recordings earning national release on King’s Federal imprint. In 1953,
John Dolphin introduced Little Caesar’s “The River”, a record later
banned for fear its emotional intensity might have led listeners to
contemplate suicide. So in 1954, Lovin’ John sold Recorded in Hollywood
and its catalog to Decca, soon after founding a new label: Lucky
Records. This new venture proved short-lived, releasing only nine
singles, including efforts from the Hollywood Flames, Joe Houston, and
Jimmy Wright.
Later on, a pair of additional labels,
Money and Cash, soon took Lucky’s place. Money was the more successful
of the two, notching local smashes including Ernie Freeman’s “Jivin’
Around,” Johnny Fuller’s “Mean Old World,” and Don Julian & the
Meadowlarks’ “The Jerk”, which sold about 2 million records and topped
the billboard Pop and R&B charts at #1 in the U.S. and also went on
to become a #1 hit in Great Britain.
Now, the commercial impact of most of
the records released under Mr. Dolphin’s labels had been nearly
impossible to gauge, as he would bypass distributors, delivering boxes
of records directly to the front doors of rival retailers. The
philosophy he established with his artist was that they should never
sell their publishing rights, for the one who owns an artist’s
publishing rights owns the artist. When an artist gives up their
publishing rights in exchange for a cash advance, the result is that the
music publisher then has the ability to exploit an artist’s music
however they chose, in exchange for money, which the artist will see
little or none of. So this is why John was so adamant about his artists
retaining their rights. He felt that black artists had been exploited
long enough, so this was his attempt to stop the cycle in its tracks.
After an influential ten years in the
music business, on February 2, 1958, Percy Ivy, a disgruntled songwriter
whom had recorded with John, went to John Dolphin’s Hollywood office to
demand money for his un-noteworthy recordings. John made these
recordings as a favor to Ivy but had no intention of ever using any of
them. His generosity should have been enough for Percy and no money
should have been owed. However, Ivy thought otherwise. With a gun in his
pocket and demands on his mind, Percy shot John Dolphin dead behind the
desk of his office. Two young people, future session drummer Sandy
Nelson and later-day Beach Boy, Bruce Johnston; both of whom traveled to
South Central in the hopes of enticing John with their songs, witnessed
the murder. This was a devastating day for all those who would come to
know and later remember Lovin’ John. After the untimely death of Mr. Dolphin,
Dolphin’s of Hollywood was run by Dolphin’s assistant, Rudy Ray Moore,
also known as Dolemite, along with John’s widow, Ruth Dolphin. Ruth
would later reactivate Money Records, which served as a springboard for
the great soul chanteuse Bettye Swann and her 1967 smash hit single,
“Make Me Yours” which became a #1 Billboard hit for Money Record."