The character of Hesh, the Jewish gangster (Jerry Adler) who is a trusted associate of Tony Soprano, is said to have been based on Morris Levy, the founder of Roulette Records, and one-time owner of the famous "Birdland" nightclub in New York City. Levy had a long reputation as being a close associate of several high-ranking New York City Mafia figures, and had no compunction about using his ties with them to keep recalcitrant and/or ambitious Roulette artists in line or to steal artists from other labels. One story has it that when singer Jackie Wilson, at the time under contract to Roulette, tried to break his contract in order to take a more lucrative one offered him by Brunswick Records, Levy knocked him unconscious. When Wilson regained consciousness, Levy dragged him to the window of his tenth-floor office and hung him out of the window by his heels until he agreed to pay Levy several times more than his contract was worth, in order to gain his release (and to also not be dropped ten stories to his death). Morris also sued John Lennon with a frivolous lawsuit for royalties over the song "Come Together" arguing that Lennon plagiarized a Chuck Berry song. Lennon refused to settle, taking the suit to trial to vindicate rights of other musicians who are victimized by record companies.
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05-03-2025 alle ore 08:47
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