Living Strings producer dies, 99
mainThe resourceful record producer Ethel Gabriel, who rescued the RCA Camden label and invented the Living Strings brand, has died in Rochester, a few months short of her centenary.
The first woman v-p at notoriously macho RCA, she had a producer credit on 2,500 releases.
In 1984 she gave her entire pension pot to former US Treasury Secretary Robert B Anderson to start a new record company. He was jailed for fraud and she lost the lot. She had to sell her Elvis memorabilia to stay solvent.
that is what happens when you give money to people. they help themselves
At 0:19 in this YT, with the great broadcaster Alan Dell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNg3Fsn4tpw&t=40s
I have a number of her records, collected from thrift stores over the years. Outdated, perhaps; but thoroughly professional. Also they used live musicians in “easy listening” records in the 1950s and ’60s.
While I have spared myself any Living Strings recordings, if RCA’s record division made some money we likely benefited in some manner from that, and I’d wager some of the top British and NYC string players made some money. It would be interesting to see the personnel lists for Living Strings recordings. We’d see some familiar names I’m sure.