Goddard Lieberson was the president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971, and again from 1973 to 1975.
11 Facts About Goddard Lieberson
2.
Goddard Lieberson became president of the Recording Industry Association of America in 1964.
3.
Goddard Lieberson was a composer, and studied with George Frederick McKay, at the University of Washington, Seattle.
4.
Goddard Lieberson married Vera Zorina in 1946 and with her had 2 children.
5.
Lieberson was born to a Jewish family on April 5,1911, in Hanley in Staffordshire; his father was a manufacturer of rubber shoe heels who took his family to the United States when Lieberson was a child.
6.
Goddard Lieberson studied classical piano and composition at the Eastman School of Music in the 1930s and after graduating he wrote classical concert reviews under the pseudonym "Johann Sebastian".
7.
Goddard Lieberson was promoted to president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971 and again from 1973 to 1975.
8.
In 1967, Goddard Lieberson promoted Clive Davis to president of Columbia Records.
9.
In 1977, Goddard Lieberson co-wrote and produced the CBS-TV special They Said it with Music: From Yankee Doodle to Ragtime, a salute to American songwriters throughout the ages, starring Bernadette Peters, Tony Randall, Jason Robards, Jean Stapleton and Flip Wilson, with appearances by Thurl Ravenscroft and Jimmy Griffin, a founding member of the soft-rock band Bread.
10.
Goddard Lieberson was the grandfather of sisters Elizabeth, Katherine, and Kristina, who as of 2013 were members of the band TEEN.
11.
Goddard Lieberson provided the $375,000 needed to produce the stage production of My Fair Lady, considered to be among the greatest shows ever, in exchange for the rights to release on Columbia the original cast recording.