When eazye launched ruthless records and the career of n. Born to a jewish family in cleveland, heller went on to represent bigname artists like dr. In his autobiography ruthless, the bands manager jerry heller wrote that the letter was actually a rogue action by a single pissedoff bureaucrat with a bully pulpit named milt ahlerich, who was falsely purporting to represent the fbi as a whole and that the action earned him a transfer to the bureaus backwater hartford office. He not only cofounded ruthless records with eazye, but discovered, signed, or managed the likes of n. Hip hop pioneer jerry heller releases ruthless a memoir. Ruthless records cofounder jerry heller dead at 75 djbooth. As a longtime music industry superagent, heller had the skill and insight necessary to. He was born and raised in ohio, the son of a secondgeneration scrapmetal man who palled around with jewish mobsters like moe dalitz and shondor the bull birns.
While digging through court records reporting my book, however, i noticed something curious. Heller held on through the brutal shocks and reversals of the ruthless records era, which saw the label being targeted by the fbi, and read more. Reacting to some claims that suge knight made in the source magazine about the d. Jerry heller, the longtime music manager that helped launch the career of n. Ruthless tells the explosive story of jerry heller s alliance with eric wright, aka eazye, one of the legends of rap music and a founding member of n. Theres a lot of people i talk to in the book that say without jerry heller, n. Jerry heller lives in calabasas, california, with his wife, gayle, a realtor for sothebys. Heller suffered from a heart attack while driving, resulting in an auto accident. As a longtime music industry superagent, heller had the skill and insight necessary to guide n. In the work, heller addressed many events that he had previously remained silent on. When i heard last month that a movie was being made about the formation of n. According to his nephew terry heller, and confirmed by billboard, legendary music manager jerry heller, who famously and controversially cofounded ruthless records with eazy e, has passed away at. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read ruthless.
Across five tumultuous decades, jerry heller has helped shape american popular music, breaking new. For the younger people, if the name jerry heller does not mean much to you, you need to do. I have to admit, that when i first heard that jerry heller was writing a book about the ruthless records history, i was a little suspicious that the book would have something of a tabloidesque, payback tonality to it. A t age 8, jerry heller was dodging beatings by the polish kids on the west side of cleveland. Exclusive jerry heller interview the ruthless records. Jerry heller music mogul, hip hop pioneer and book author is releasing ruthless. The words scrawled crudely across jerry heller s bedroom mirror that afternoon meant the rap wars had suddenly escalated.
Ruthless tells the explosive story of jerry heller s alliance with eric wright, aka eazye, considered one of many legends of rap music and a founding member of n. Ruthless tells the explosive story of jerry hellers alliance with eric wright, aka eazye, one of the legends of rap music and a founding member of n. A and the gangstarap movement, died friday at the age of 75. Ruthless records founder jerry heller talks straight. Ruthless by gil reavill and jerry heller book read online scribd. Ruthless records wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. Heller played a role in the emergence of west coast rap music when he managed ruthless records with eazye and discovered, signed or managed the likes of n. Overview ruthless tells the explosive story of jerry hellers alliance with eric wright, aka eazye, one of the legends of rap music and a founding member of n. Dre and cofound pioneering hip hop label ruthless records. A memoir on june, 2008 at cicero bazzar restaurant in mexico city, mexico. Since its inception the company has been a subsidiary of parent company comptown records, inc. A memoir is the story of how a man and a group changed the world of hip hop forever. This memoir of ruthless records cofounder jerry heller is a great companion piece, to see another perspective on the stories.
There is more on heller at the end of the book that i found just as interesting as the stuff about ruthless records. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Music manager who launched nwa and set up ruthless records with eazye. People had me thinking that i was coming to meet the devil, dallas rapper j. Heller was instantly smitten with eazyes debut single, boyznthehood, and the pair set about planning a future for the artist and their new label venture, ruthless records. Jerry gives us an insight in to what things were really like during his time at ruthless records and what stars like dr. Jerry heller speaks on his book, ruthless a memoir,and the history of ruthless records, nwa, and his dear friend eazye and more. Heller was the cofounder and producer of ruthless records n. In the battle of his life over the ragingly successful music label he had helped found, ruthless records, heller. Jerry heller simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Heller held on through the brutal shocks and reversals of the ruthless records era, which saw the label being targeted by the fbi, and its principal artists locked in bitter conflict, until a final turnaround placed ruthless at the top of the heap once more. Ruthless records is an american record label founded by eric eazye wright and jerry heller in compton, california in 1987. There is more on heller at the end of the book that i found just as interesting as the stuff about ruthless records and n. Id like to read a jerry heller book not entirely focused on nwa as well.