Music Legend Gerry Granahan
Inducted into Hall of Fame
On October 15,
2011, music business legend Gerry Granahan was
inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall Of
Fame during an all-star
doo-wop and rock 'n' roll show at The Rhode
Island Center For Performing Arts at The Park
Cinema in Cranston.
The concert,
which also starred The Jayhawks, The Marathons,
The Vibrations and rockabilly legend Jack Scott,
featured a career retrospective performance by
Mr. Granahan which touched on all facets of his
work as a performer, composer and record
producer. He was backed by an assemblage of some
of New England's top musicians and vocalists
including Charlie Quintal, his daughters
Gerrianne Genga and Tara Granahan, and
girl-group legend - and former member of The
Angels - Kerri Downs (Gerry's real-life wife,
Marylou Kiernan).
At the end of
his performance, Mr. Granahan's life and career
were celebrated during a tribute by Hall Of Fame
Vice-Chair Rick Bellaire
and Archive contributor Mike Edwards. He was
welcomed into the Hall Of Fame by 2010 inductee
Peter Anders (The Videls, The Tradewinds) who
presented Gerry with a plaque honoring his
lifetime achievements in the field of music.
Although a
Pennsylvania native, Gerry has been a resident
of Rhode Island for the last fifty years.
He first found
Top 40 success in New York in the late 1950s as
a singer-songwriter with "No Chemise, Please";
and as a singer, songwriter and producer with
his two vocal groups, Dicky Doo & The Don'ts
("Click-Clack") and The Fireflies ("You Were
Mine").
By the early
1960s, Gerry had started his own label, Caprice
Records, where he pioneered the girl group sound
with two smash hits by Janie Grant ("Triangle")
and The Angels ("'Til") and matched Motown's
crossover success with several hits from R&B
legend James Ray, most notably, "If You Gotta
Make A Fool Of Somebody". It was at Caprice that
Gerry met his future wife and the couple settled
in Warwick, Rhode Island. For the next twelve
years, Gerry became a "commuter" - weekdays in
"The Big Apple" as a record executive and
weekends in "Little Rhody" with his family.
In 1964, Gerry
took over the A&R department at United Artists
Records and was responsible for the most
successful era in that company's history. As a
producer and songwriter, he racked up a long
string of hit singles and albums with Jay & The
Americans, Patty Duke and comedian Pat Cooper,
among many others. As an executive, he was
responsible for the American releases by some of
the world's biggest stars including Manfred Mann
and The Easybeats. In 1968, he accepted a
vice-presidency at Dot Records and another long
string of successes ensued including his
production of one of the most acclaimed jazz
albums of the modern jazz era, "Black Orpheus
Impressions" by Brazilian guitarist Luis Bonfa.
He has spent
the last thirty-five in Rhode Island working
mostly behind the scenes, running his own
recording studio and helping young artists get
their start in the business.
For more
information on Gerry Granahan's life and career,
please visit his entry in our Historical
Archive:
www.rhodeislandmusicarchive.com/musical-artists/musicians/gerry/
Back to
News Page