Stone was born in the Bronx, New York. He played the trumpet, and after a stint in the Army moved to Los Angeles where, in 1946, he started his career by selling records to jukebox operators from the trunk of his car.
In 1948, he moved to Miami and started to record and distribute the abundance of great Miami R&B,
Blues, Gospel, and Doo-Wop artists. He wanted to funk up the world, and he started doing just that via his own Chart, Rockin’ and Glory labels.
He also dabbled in production. Stone was one of the first to record Ray Charles, James Brown, Wilbert Harrison, Sam and Dave, as well as Hank Ballard’s The Twist. His first million selling hit was The Charms’ Hearts of Stone in 1955. Other records from that era include Otis Williams and the Charms on Rockin’ Records with Ling, Ting, Tong, Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin’) and Two Hearts, Nat Kendrick and the Swans (James Brown’s Band) on Dade with (Do The) Mashed
Potatoes, and many more.
Henry soon launched a dozen more Miami based record labels as Dade, Glades, Marlin and Scott in the 50s. He also founded Tone Distributors, which became one of the most successful independent record distribution companies.
Stone’s greatest worldwide successes came during the seventies. He was brilliant at discovering and nurturing new talent. With Tone Distributors and a little label called TK Records built into a row of warehouses in Hialeah, Florida, an industrial area west of Miami, far from the major record business centers, he exploded with what became the number one independent record label in the world.
Stone let two kids who were working in the warehouse experiment in the recording studio. Harry Wayne Casey, soon to be known as KC, and Rick Finch wrote the number one Rock Your Baby which George McCrae sang, and soon, as KC and The Sunshine Band, released a string of number one hits such as Get Down Tonight and That’s The Way I Like It on Henry Stone’s TK label. With hits that kept dance floors and film soundtracks hopping all over the world, Henry Stone’s TK Records
helped create and lead the disco phenomenon.
At the same time that he spearheaded the disco era, Henry Stone and label VP Steve Alaimo, himself a former teen idol and hit recording artist, had created another new category in music idolized around the world - "The Miami Sound." In addition to KC and The Sunshine Band and George McCrae, TK’s recording artists included Betty Wright (Clean Up Woman), Timmy Thomas (Why Can’t We Live Together), Clarence Reid (Nobody But You Babe), Little Beaver (Party Down), Peter Brown (Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me, Dance With Me), Bobby Caldwell (What You Won’t Do For Love), Anita Ward (Ring My Bell), Beginning of the End (Funky Nassau), Foxy (Get Off), T-Connection (Do What You Wanna Do), Gwen McCrae (Rockin’ Chair) and Latimore with such greats as Let’s Straighten It Out, Keep the Home Fire Burnin’ and Something ’Bout ’Cha.
Henry Stone is indeed a living legend. He is one of the last independent label executives who was one of the heavyweights with artists from the 40s, 50s, and 60s and label heads like Syd Nathan, George Goldner, the Bihari Brothers, Ewart Abner, the Erteguns, Jerry Wexler, Hy Weiss, and Morris Levy.
The past and the future celebrate Henry Stone. He has received many gold records and awards over the years for his labels’ music. Most recently, in 2004 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Dance Music Hall of Fame, their first honor to a non-performing artist. In the same year, he also was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Winter Music Conference.
Now, with his new labels, The Legendary Henry Stone Presents, Henry Stone Music USA Inc, and HSM Music, music lovers everywhere will now be able to listen to many of the rare and cherished classics as well as brand new productions from the ever-creative mind of Henry Stone.
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