Editing Atlantic Records (section)

===First hits===
In early 1949, a New Orleans distributor phoned Ertegun to obtain [[Stick McGhee]]'s "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee", which was unavailable due to the closing of McGhee's previous label, Harlem Records. Ertegun knew Stick's younger brother [[Brownie McGhee]], with whom Stick happened to be staying, so he contacted the McGhee brothers and re-recorded the song. When released in February 1949,<ref name="Atlantic Records Story"/> it became Atlantic's first hit, selling 400,000 copies, and reached No. 2 after spending almost six months on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' R&B chart – although McGhee himself earned just $10 for the session.<ref>Wade & Picardie 1990, p. 35.</ref> Atlantic recorded 187 songs in 1949, more than three times the amount from the previous two years, and received overtures for a manufacturing and distribution deal with [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], which would pay Atlantic a 3% royalty on every copy sold. Ertegun asked about artists' royalties, which he paid. This surprised Columbia executives, who did not, and the deal was scuttled.<ref>Wade & Picardie 1990, pp. 35–36.</ref>

On the recommendation of broadcaster [[Willis Conover]], Ertegun and Herb visited [[Ruth Brown]] at the Crystal Caverns club in Washington and invited her to audition for Atlantic. She was injured in a car accident en route to New York City, but Atlantic supported her for nine months and then signed her. "So Long", her first record for the label, was recorded with [[Eddie Condon]]'s band on May 25, 1949.<ref name="grendysa">Grendysa, Peter; Pruter, Robert (1991). ''Atlantic Rhythm and Blues, 1947–1974''. Booklet notes (CD edition), Atlantic Records: 7 82305-2.</ref> The song reached No. 6 on the R&B chart. Brown recorded more than eighty songs for Atlantic, becoming its bestselling, most prolific musician of the period. Brown's success was so significant to Atlantic that the label became known colloquially as "The House That Ruth Built".<ref>Wade & Picardie 1990, pp. 37–38.</ref>

[[Joe Morris (trumpeter)|Joe Morris]], one of the label's earliest signings, scored a hit with his October 1950 song "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere". It was the first Atlantic record issued in [[45rpm]] format, which the company began pressing in January 1951. The Clovers' "Don't You Know I Love You" (composed by Ertegun) became the label's first R&B No. 1 in September 1951. A few weeks later, Brown's "Teardrops from My Eyes" became its first million-selling record.<ref name="people">{{cite web |author1=Steve Dougherty |author2=Victoria Balfour |url=https://people.com/archive/knowing-all-there-is-to-know-of-rhythm-and-blues-ruth-brown-makes-her-comeback-on-broadway-vol-31-no-9/ |title=Knowing All There Is to Know of Rhythm and Blues, Ruth Brown Makes Her Comeback on Broadway |website=People |date=March 6, 1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019192832/http://people.com/people/article/0,,20119724,00.html |archive-date=October 19, 2012 |url-status = live}}</ref> She hit No. 1 again in March–April 1952 with "[[5-10-15 Hours]]".<ref name="Atlantic Records Story"/><ref name="grendysa"/> "Daddy Daddy" reached No. 3 in September 1952, and "[[Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean]]" with [[Connie Kay]] on drums reached No. 1 in February and March 1953.<ref name="grendysa"/> After Brown left the label in 1961, her career declined, and she worked as a cleaner and bus driver to support her children. In the 1980s she sued Atlantic for unpaid royalties; although Atlantic, which prided itself on treating artists fairly, had stopped paying royalties to some musicians. Ertegun denied this was intentional. Brown received a voluntary payment of $20,000 and founded the [[Rhythm and Blues Foundation]] in 1988 with a donation of $1.5 million from Ertegun.<ref name="people"/>

In 1952 Atlantic signed Ray Charles, whose hits included "[[I Got a Woman]]", "[[What'd I Say]]", and "[[Hallelujah I Love Her So]]". Later that year The Clovers' "[[One Mint Julep]]" reached No. 2. In 1953, after learning that singer Clyde McPhatter had been fired from [[Billy Ward and His Dominoes]] and was forming [[The Drifters]], Ertegun signed the group. Their single "[[Money Honey (Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters song)|Money Honey]]" became the biggest R&B hit of the year.<ref>Wade & Picardie 1990, pp. 38–39.</ref> Their records created some controversy: the suggestive "[[Such A Night]]" was banned by radio station WXYZ in [[Detroit, Michigan]], and "Honey Love" was banned in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]<ref>Wade & Picardie 1990, p. 39.</ref> but both reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart.<ref name="grendysa"/>