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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This collection has use restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1250 items) |
| Abstract | Howell Begle is a white entertainment and media lawyer and long-time activist on behalf of early rhythm and blues recording artists. In 1982, Begle met Ruth Brown, an African American recording artist with the Atlantic Recording Corporation in the 1940s and 1950s, who had had difficulty securing royalty payments. He agreed to represent her pro bono against the recording company. Over time, his list of pro bono clients grew to more than 30 artists who had recorded for Atlantic. Begle was also a major figure in the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, founded in 1988 in Washington, D.C., with $1.5 million in initial funding from Atlantic in partial fulfillment of a legal settlement with Brown and others represented by Begle. The collection includes detailed royalty statements from the Atlantic Recording Corporation that document payments to Ruth Brown, 1955-1964. There are also copies of contracts and correspondence related to royalty payments owed to other artists who recorded for Atlantic and other labels during the 1950s and 1960s, among them Nellie Lutcher, Jimmy Scott, Joe Turner, Harry Van Walls, the Clovers, the Coasters, and the Drifters. Also included are legal documents, articles of incorporation, correspondence, news articles, and other materials relating to the formation and administration of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation; scattered correspondence between Begle and Atlantic executives, including Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Michael Resnick, and Sheldon Vogle, documenting negotiations leading to the royalty settlement of 1988; correspondence with musicians involved in the Foundation, particularly board member Bonnie Raitt; letters relating to Begle's dissatification with and 1998 resignation from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation; photocopied news and periodical articles relating to Foundation; and calendars and promotional materials for the Foundation, some relating to the Foundation's annual award ceremony. Other items include Billboard chart research documents, 1950s-1960s; a chronology documenting efforts to reform royalty payment accounting at Atlantic Records, 1983-1993; programs from Ruth Brown's memorial service in 2006; correspondence with activists including Jesse Jackson, politicians including Congressmen John Conyers Jr. and Dennis J. Kucinich, and members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); and 45rpm, 78rpm, and LP record albums collected by Begle. The additions consist of publicity materials for rhythm and blues recording artists; a poster advertisement for a Jimmy Brown and Ruth Brown performance; and additional audiovisual materials related to Charles Brown, LaVern Baker, and King Records founder, Syd Nathan. |
| Creator | Begle, Howell, 1944- |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: Martin Gengenbach, September 2011
Encoded by: Martin Gengenbach, September 2011
Revisions by: Nancy Kaiser, February and December 2020; Anne Wells, March 2021; Dawne Howard Lucas, May 2021
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Related Collections
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Biographical Information
Howell Begle is a white entertainment and media lawyer and long-time activist on behalf of early rhythm and blues recording artists. In 1982, Begle met Ruth Brown, recording artist with the Atlantic Recording Corporation in the 1940s and 1950s, who had had difficulty securing royalty payments. He agreed to represent her pro bono against the recording company. Over time, his list of pro bono clients grew to more than 30 artists who had recorded for Atlantic. Begle was also a major figure in the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, founded in 1988 in Washington, D.C., with $1.5 million in initial funding from Atlantic in partial fulfillment of a legal settlement with Brown and others represented by Begle.
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Scope and Content
The collection includes detailed royalty statements from the Atlantic Recording Corporation that document payments to Ruth Brown, 1955-1964. There are also copies of contracts and correspondence related to royalty payments owed to other artists who recorded for Atlantic and other labels during the 1950s and 1960s, among them Nellie Lutcher, Jimmy Scott, Joe Turner, Harry Van Walls, the Clovers, the Coasters, and the Drifters. Also included are legal documents, articles of incorporation, correspondence, news articles, and other materials relating to the formation and administration of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation; scattered correspondence between Begle and Atlantic executives, including Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Michael Resnick, and Sheldon Vogle, documenting negotiations leading to the royalty settlement of 1988; correspondence with musicians involved in the Foundation, particularly board member Bonnie Raitt; letters relating to Begle's dissatification with and 1998 resignation from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation; photocopied news and periodical articles relating to Foundation; and calendars and promotional materials for the Foundation, some relating to the Foundation's annual award ceremony. Other items include Billboard chart research documents, 1950s-1960s; a chronology documenting efforts to reform royalty payment accounting at Atlantic Records, 1983-1993; programs from Ruth Brown's memorial service in 2006; correspondence with activists including Jesse Jackson, politicians including Congressmen John Conyers Jr. and Dennis J. Kucinich, and members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); and 45rpm, 78rpm, and LP record albums collected by Begle.
The additions consist of publicity materials for rhythm and blues recording artists, including Johnny Adams, Charles Brown, Ruth Brown, Jimmie Scott, and LaVern Baker; a poster advertisement for a Jimmy Brown and Ruth Brown performance; and additional audiovisual materials, including audio and video recordings of Charles Brown, video recordings of LaVern Baker, and an audio recording of a speech by King Records founder, Syd Nathan, instructing King Records' staff on how to exploit singers and songwriters who recorded for King Records in the mid 1950s.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Howell Begle Papers, 1949-2008.
Folder 1-3
Folder 1Folder 2Folder 3 |
Ruth Brown royalty statements, 1955-1964Royalty statements Ruth Brown received from the Atlantic Recording Corporation, 1955-1964. These statements provide a detailed breakdown of individual royalty payments made to Brown during this period. |
Folder 4-6
Folder 4Folder 5Folder 6 |
Royalty reform material, 1949-1995 and undatedIncludes contracts and correspondence related to royalty payments for a number of artists including Ruth Brown. Included is correspondence with Atlantic Recording Corporation executives Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. Other recording companies represented include Nippon Columbia Company, Capitol Records, and the Savoy Record Company. Among the items is a document dated 29 January 1987 that lists 21 artists and groups represented by Begle in his pro bono legal work on behalf of recording artists. |
Folder 7-10
Folder 7Folder 8Folder 9Folder 10 |
Rhythm & Blues Foundation: Correspondence, articles, and related material, 1964-2001Includes legal documents, correspondence, photocopied news articles, and other materials related to the formation and administration of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation in Washington, D.C., in 1988. Included are articles of incorporation for the Foundation. There is also scattered correspondence between Howell Begle and record label executives from the Atlantic Recording Corporation including Ahmet Ertegun, Gerald Wexler, Michael Resnick, and Sheldon Vogle, documenting negotiations over financial contributions to the Foundation as a part of the 1988 royalty payment settlement. Also included is correspondence with activists and public figures such as Jesse Jackson; musicians and others involved with the Foundation, especially board member Bonnie Raitt; political figures such as United States congressmen Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers; and members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Other items are a chronology, 1983-1993, documenting efforts to reform royalty payment accounting at the Atlantic Recording Corporation; a copy of a 1995 letter from Begle to Raitt and the board of directors of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation registering his increasing discontent with the direction of the Foundation; and Begle's 1988 letter of resignation from the board of directors. |
| Folder 11 |
Rhythm & Blues Foundation: Billboard chart research, 1946-1983Includes a compilation of annual Billboard year-end rhythm and blues charts, 1946-1983, listing top singles for each year. |
| Folder 12 |
Rhythm & Blues Foundation: Pioneer Awards programs, 1994-1998, 2000Programs from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation's annual award ceremony recognizing important figures in rhythm and blues recording history. |
| Folder 13 |
Rhythm & Blues Foundation: Calendars and other material, 1994-2008Includes calendars, advertisements, and a few other Rhythm & Blues Foundation items. |
Folder 14-15
Folder 14Folder 15 |
Printed materials, 1995-1999Periodicals and clippings about the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, royalty reform, and Howell Begle himself. |
| Folder 16 |
Ruth Brown memorial service programs, 2006 |
| Folder 17 |
Autographed record sleeves, undatedRecord sleeves autographed by the Swallows, the Orioles, and Willie Mabon. |
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Series 2. Sound recordings.
Howell Begle's personal collection of 78rpm and 45rpm record albums.
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Addition of August 2015, circa 1940s-2006.
Acquisitions Information: Accession 102291
Clippings and press materials relating to Jimmy Scott, an African American vocalist; letter relating to Charles Mose Brown Endowed Scholarship at Praire View A&M University; video and audio recordings related to Charles Brown, an African American blues singer and pianist; and an audio recording of a "speech by King Records founder, Syd Nathan, instructing his staff on how to exploit singers and songwriters who recorded for King Records in the mid 1950s".
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Addition of November 2015, 1989-2000s.
Acquisitions Information: Accession 102348
Publicity and other materials relating to rhythm & blues musicians Johnny Adams, Charles Brown, Ruth Brown, Jimmie Scott, LaVern Baker and the 1989 Presidential (George H. W. Bush) Inaugural Rhythm & Blues Concert. There are also two videotapes about LaVern Baker.
| Box 3 |
Publicity and other materials |
| Videotape VT-20441/2 |
Lavern Baker on "Everyday with Joan Lunden", 20 March 1990; Jimmy Scott, 28 March 1990VHS |
| Videotape VT-20441/3 |
Lavern Baker, "Jim Dandy" Montreux the Movie, 1991VHS |
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Addition of January 2020, circa 1940s-1950s.
Acquisitions Information: Accession 20200110.2
Poster of "Jimmy Brown and His Band with The Atomic Swing, Featuring Ruth Brown."
| Oversize Paper Folder OPF-20441/1 |
"Jimmy Brown and His Band with The Atomic Swing, Featuring Ruth Brown," circa 1940s-1950s |
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Items Separated