Bernie Lowe
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Bernie Lowe (November 22, 1917 - September 1, 1993)[1] had started Teen Records and in 1955 was working with Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. He asked Freddie Bell to rewrite the lyrics of Hound Dog to appeal to a broader radio audience. Teen Records and the group had a regional hit with this version of the song, which was one of four songs the group did with Lowe. It was this same version that Elvis Presley heard in Las Vegas, adopted, recorded, and made his own..[2] [3]
Lowe founded Philadelphia's Cameo Records in 1956, and Cameo was later expanded into the Parkway label. With Parkway the two then signed an unknown singer, Ernest Evans, to their burgeoning label. Ernest Evans would soon change his name to Chubby Checker, which helped Cameo/Parkway become one of the largest independent record labels in America. Bernie Lowe is credited with writing the song "Butterfly" which helped launch and further the career of Charlie Gracie, the eminent '50s Philadelphia "Rock 'n' Roller" just as the term was entering into the cultural lexicon. Lowe also launched the careers of Dee Dee Sharp, Bobby Rydell, The Orlons, The Dovells, and The Tymes. Bernie Lowe died in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, on September 1, 1993.
