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Bert Keyes



Pianist, song writer, arranger and record producer Ebert Adolphus Mahon, known professionally as Bert Keyes, was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 11 September 1930. He began working as arranger and producer in the 1940s working with Ruth Brown. Keyes got his first big break as an arranger in 1953, when George Goldner founded Rama Records, and Keyes became the A&R director, musical director, and arranger. He subsequently went on to serve as LaVern Baker’s pianist and continued arranging for artists as diverse as Willie Bobo, Inez and Charlie Foxx, and Albert King. He also arranged television and movie music in the ’60s and ’70s. He is also associated with Sylvia, with whom he wrote “Love On a Two Way Street”, popularised by The Moments. He also recorded for the Clock and Rama labels.

Bert Keyes died in Central Islip, New York, on July 21, 1987.

Image: Ripopmusic

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