Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of high-profile musical artists, including The Grass Roots, Jan & Dean, The Mamas & the Papas, and Carole King. King's album Tapestry, produced by Adler, won the 1972 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and has been called one of the greatest pop albums of all time.
Lou Adler was born in Chicago, then raised in the Boyle Heights district of East Los Angeles where he had a hard and impoverished childhood. He began his career as co-manager, with Herb Alpert, of the California surf group Jan and Dean. He and Alpert then formed a songwriting partnership, and, under the name "Barbara Campbell," they wrote the song "Only Sixteen," which became a hit for Sam Cooke in 1959. The duo also wrote the song "River Rock" for Bob "Froggy" Landers and the Cough Drops.
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| Herb Alpert & Lou Adler |
Adler continued writing songs during the early Sixties, and they were recorded by several California groups of that era. He also worked for Screen Gems, and the Colpix and Dimension record labels. While working for those labels, Adler came into contact with several staff songwriters, including Carole King, Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan. The latter two formed a songwriting partnership and began working with Adler's publishing company, Trousdale. In 1964, Adler split with Alpert and founded Dunhill Records. He served as president and chief record producer for the label from 1964 to 1967.
With his songwriting team of Barri and Sloan, Dunhill scored a major hit with Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction," which reached Number One in 1965. Adler then signed a young group called the Mamas and the Papas, and they scored six Top Five hits in 1966 and 1967: "California Dreamin',""Monday, Monday,""I Saw Her Again,""Words of Love,""Dedicated to the One I Love" and "Creeque Alley."Adler then sold Dunhill to ABC Records and formed a new label, Ode Records. The new company had a mammoth international hit with Scott McKenzie's summer-of-love anthem "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)."
That same year, 1967, Adler was one of the producers of the Monterey International Pop Festival. He was also one of the producers of the film version, Monterey Pop. The festival was a watershed event in rock history, helping break the careers of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Who in America. The film was also a huge success.Around this time, Carole King was looking for work as a solo recording artist, and Adler quickly signed her to Ode. While her first two efforts showcased her talents as both a singer and songwriter, her third album, Tapestry, became a commercial and critical success. Adler sensed early on that Tapestry would be a winner. The album won four Grammy Awards in 1972, including Record of the Year and Album of the Year.Adler went on to produce King until she left Ode in the late 1970s.
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| Lou Adler, Toni Stern & Carole King |
During that decade, Adler did more than produce King. He discovered and started producing comedy records for a couple of comedians out of Los Angeles known as Cheech and Chong. Their comedy routine centered on the drug culture of the day, with a major focus on marijuana. Adler knew an opportunity when he saw it and signed the duo. For the rest of the 1970s, Cheech and Chong were the most popular stoners in America. Albums that Adler produced for them included Big Bambú, Cheech & Chong's Wedding Album and the soundtrack for the film Up in Smoke, which Adler produced.
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| Tim Curry & Lou Adler |
Around this time, Adler had started focusing more of his attention on movies. In 1974, he saw the original stage version of The Rocky Horror Show. He immediately bought the American rights, brought it to the United States and became executive producer for the film adaptation that was released in 1975 and renamed The Rocky Horror Picture Show. His gamble on the off-kilter comedy paid off, with the film rising to cult status by the late 1980s and continuing to run at midnight showings in theaters well into the new millennium. Then, in 1981, he directed the film Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. He was also involved with Brewster McCloud and Tommy.
Adler has lessened his involvement with the music world in the last several years, though he still owns the Roxy Theatre, a key Los Angeles music venue. His impact, particularly on the development of West Coast rock, is undeniable.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 as the recipient, alongside Quincy Jones, of the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
(Edited from Al Green bio @ Rhino & Wikipedia)