Julian Aberbach

Together with his brother Jean, Julian Aberbach revolutionized the business of music publishing by creating small, subsidiary publishing companies for individual artists who signed with the brother's publishing firm, Hill & Range. They guaranteed clients not only a share of the profits, but also a more pro-active role in controlling their careers. Born in Vienna in 1909, Julian began his career in music after settling in Paris, but he emigrated to the U.S. in 1939 to escape Hitler's forces. Upon arriving stateside, he saved enough money to bring his parents to the U.S., purchasing them tickets to sail to Cuba via the St. Louis, but when the ship was denied the right to land, Aberbach followed it back in an airplane, eventually earning his family passage to New York City. Immediately thereafter he joined the U.S. Army, receiving his commission as a second lieutenant; he was later assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia as a multi-lingual liaison with officers of the Free French also stationed there. While stationed in Georgia, Aberbach received his first exposure to the regional entertainment of the American south, becoming particularly enamored of country music. After he was discharged from military service, he relocated to Los Angeles to resume his career in publishing, founding Hill & Range in 1943. During a visit to the Venice Pier, Aberbach discovered fiddler Spade Cooley & His Western Swing Band playing to a capacity crowd; he quickly cut a deal to represent the Cooley original "Shame on You," which soon topped the country charts when released on Columbia. Aberbach also signed on with another Western swing legend, Bob Wills, scoring again with "Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima." Soon Aberbach was flying back and forth between L.A. and Nashville at least once a week,...