*He was a pioneering force in the radio and music industries. He is credited with launching, guiding and/or influencing the music careers of a multiplicity of African American recording artists across such genres as R&B, pop, jazz, and even hip-hop.
He was Jack The Rapper Gibson, whose fingerprints can be found on the iconic careers of Sammy Davis, Jr., Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, Ray Charles, Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan and many, many others.
He is the same Jack The Rapper, who in the early 1960s was hired by Berry Gordy, a budding record company owner at the time, to run Motown Records’ national promotion department. Jack The Rapper’s responsibilities were to market such rising stars as The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and others.
Jack The Rapper would ultimately move over to the Revelot label and Stax Records, respectively, where he was a major force in elevating the careers of such artists as Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas and others.
Jack The Rapper is no longer living; he passed in 2000. However, his electrifying saga is relived through the recently released book, “Mello Yello: The Incredible Life Story of Jack The Rapper.” Written by Walker Smith for Walker Smith Books, the publication takes readers on a non-stop literary rollercoaster ride through almost eight decades of Jack’s life.
“Over the course of my two-year collaboration with Jack The Rapper, I listened to hundreds of stories – some personal, some historical,” said Smith. “I listened to Jack laugh and talk trash as only he could. He was a man who lived history and then reported it.”
Born Jack Gibson in Chicago in the 1920s, Smith’s book chronicles much of his early life in the Windy City. As a young man, according to the book, Gibson met Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey, a meeting that not only set the tone for Gibson’s life in music and radio, but also established a political and cultural mindset to empower black people, both in and out of music.
Jack The Rapper Gibson began his radio career in the late 1940s, when he was an actor on the radio soap program “Here Comes Tomorrow.” In 1949, he, along with business partner J.B. Blayton, made history when they started and operated WERD, the nation’s first black-owned and operated radio station. It was in Atlanta, Georgia. Gibson would also become a fixture at WLOU in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as several other radio stations in his lifetime. He is believed to be nation’s first black disc jockey (DJ).
It is also widely believed that Gibson earned the name “Jack The Rapper” because of his on-air style of articulating the English language in a groundbreaking, cool, and hip manner. He inspired subsequent generations of disc jockeys – black and white – to emulate his cool way of talking over the radio airwaves. Without a doubt, Jack is the forerunner of many rap artists that began recording in great numbers in the late 1970s.
Additionally, Gibson was the creator and facilitator of the legendary Jack The Rapper “Family Affair.” These annual extravaganzas, which were believed to have started in the mid-1970s, became “ the must attend” music convention that featured a who’s who of attendees. Over the life of the “Family Affairs,” which are not held anymore, such artists as Tina Turner, Nancy Wilson, Prince, James Brown, Whitney Houston, M.C. Hammer, Toni Braxton and others cleared their performing calendars in order to attend Jack’s annual mega-event.
“He knew his importance and his influence in the music industry, especially with his annual conventions,” Smith said. “Major music labels were renting out entire hotel floors and all the music superstars were coming to his ‘Family Affairs.” He knew that he had everyone’s attention, which made him very happy.”
Jack The Rapper was also the founder and publisher of Mello Yello magazine/newsletter, which was the first African American trade (music) publication in the country. It was created to keep people up to date on what was going on in the music industry, much of which was usually dictated by him.
Jack’s influence, according to the book, went far beyond the music industry, as he also gave a major voice to telling the history of black America during its many turbulent times. He has been commended for his strong commentaries during the Civil Rights Movement. He was friends with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall and many other prominent black figures that were not part of the music scene.
Smith, who has written several other historical novels, said working with Jack The Rapper was special.
“His death really bothered me,” said Smith. “It (writing the book) started out as a job, but after listening to him tell me about his whole life for two years, it became a labor of love.”
After Jack The Rapper died in 2000, Smith added one last literary contribution.
“Jack, this was so much more than a book project,” she wrote. “…There was so much truth in your tall tales. Even when your wicked side was wrong, you always walked on the side of right when it counted. You were a talking book of history, a street life philosopher. Writing your life story was a blast. Thanks for the ride in your time machine.”
For more info and reviews of “Mello Yello: The Incredible Life Story of Jack The Rapper,” click over to Amazon.com and WalkerSmithBooks.com.
EUR Book Look: ‘Mello Yello: The Incredible Life Story of Jack The Rapper’
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