Joe Glaser was a talented manager and tough businessman whose clients enjoyed his tough business principles. Starting talent management at a time when his career was almost ended is interesting. His life was closely linked to underground operations and links to the mafia.
His relationship with the mafia gave him a tough back for business and boosted the morale of the individuals he managed since it was a blanket cover for them.
He is closely linked with Loise Armstrong whom he first started managing and founded Associated Booking Corporation(ABC) in 1940.
Biography of Joe Glaser
Joseph G. Glaser was born into a Russian-Jewish family on December 17, 1896, in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a successful physician, and his son Joe Glaser thought he would follow in his footsteps.
While in medical school, he fainted in the operating lab and decided against pursuing a career as a physician. He went into a shady life but ultimately found redemption in a career after he signed up to manage Louis Armstrong and other musical talents.
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10 Facts You Should Know About Joe Glaser
1.Joe Glaser Had A Reputation for Fixing Fights
When he realized that he could not be a physician, he went into the sale of used cars but found much success rearing prizefighters. He had a good reputation for fixing good fights and even predicting results in many bouts in Chicago.
Joe Glaser also peddled in the prostitution business and nightclub scene. His seedy character allowed him to even manage nightclubs, a flourishing business run by gangsters with shrewdness.
He was forced to leave the nightclub business when he kept having clashes with the law.
2.What Was His Relationship With Louise Armstrong
Joe Glaser and Louis had a symbiotic relationship that lasted throughout the period they knew each other. Loius Armstrong’s career needed a manager that knew and worked the streets, he had been threatened by gangsters including the New York gang leader, Dutch Schultz.
Adding to the threats was also a bad experience from previous managers, he sought out Joe Glaser who had links to Al Capone as a protection and career boost. Despite having no record of managing talents before, the opportunity was timely for the savvy businessman who was also in the process of changing his career path amidst run-ins with the law.
Armstrong found a father figure in Glaser and always saw him like that.
3.He and Loius Armstrong Formed Associated Booking Corporation
In 1935, Armstrong met Glaser and the two went into business with Glaser promoting Armstrong’s social profile for a staunch career while he remained in the shadows doing what he knows how to do best, business.
In 1940, they formed Associated Booking Corporation(ABC) to promote other talents that came after Armstrong. Glaser managed Armstrong for a period extending over three decades till his death.
4.A Career In Talent Management
Glaser was so involved in Armstrong’s music career and dedicated his time to building his talent, as a shrewd businessman, in no time other artists approached him for management. He left his other side hustles to focus on Armstrong. He went on tour and further honed his skills in touring, scheduling, and every aspect of managing talent.
His role in managing other artists brought them considerable recognition and success. His ABC managed other artists like Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, and many others.
5.Joe Glaser Has Connections To The Mafia
Growing up in Chicago and having a shrewd business mind can be connected to his links with the mafia. The Prohibition of the 1920s helped seedy businesses to crop up and he swung the sides.
He is often linked to Al Capone, the most notorious Chicago mafia boss who is alleged to have stashed over $100 million from the Feds but ended up serving a prison sentence. Capone was so notorious that he is still talked about when mafia history in the United States of America is spoken of.
Joe was involved with stealing a truckload of liquor that later turned up at the sunset cafe run by him.
6.He Married A Girl He Was Charged For Statutory Raping
In 1928, he was sentenced to 10 years for the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl who he was alleged to have kidnapped from a convent.
Instead of serving the sentence, he evaded by marrying her instead. She was later alleged to have filed for divorce claiming he abandoned her for someone else.
His criminal tendencies have always beclouded his activities, his shrewdness from running the street was always a part of him.
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7.Joe Glaser Was Forced Out Of The Night Club Business Due To Run-Ins With The Law
In a time when gangs controlled the streets coupled with the prohibition of the 1920s, the sale of alcohol as well as the nightclub life went underground taking with it Jazz music. The music was supposed to entertain patrons of the clubs and the mafia made sure they had total control of this business.
The clampdowns continued and many seedy people got caught up, being a seedy man himself, Glaser was not left out. He ran Al Capone’s clubs.
Despite having Capone’s backing, Glaser had one too many run-ins with the law, as a result, he was forced out of the nightclub business.
8. He Stood Up For Loius Armstrong
If there was anyone who believed in the greatness of Armstrong as a trumpeter, it was Joe Glaser. He envisioned a great career for him and walked the talk. They acquainted themselves in a time when Armstrong had been on the radar of another gang lord, Tommy Rockwell, and was on the run.
Glaser stood up for him and dared anyone on his path, when he sacked Caroll Dickerson, he renamed the gig Louis Armstrong And The Sunset Troopers, he challenged an order to take down Armstrong’s name by Al Capone claiming Armstrong was the worlds greatest trumpeter.
9.He Signed ABC To Gangland Lawyer
At the time of his death in 1969, Armstrong realized that ABC was not going to him but it had been signed to lawyer Sidney Korshak.
Unfolding events revealed that the switch had occurred right from 1962 when Korshak got access to stocks and voting rights as revealed in the courtroom documents.
Armstrong still held onto coercion as the reason for the signing but no one really knows how the switch occurred.
10.Where Is Joe Glaser?
In 1969 he died after suffering from a stroke. Though he is remembered for his shrewd business mind and toughness, he cannot be dissociated from the mob life of the 1920s and his contribution to musical talents as their manager.
ABC is still in existence and it promoted the music of music stars like Billie Holiday among others.
