Lew Bedell

Born March 21, 1919 in El Paso, Texas - dead July 6, 2000 in Los Angeles, California, Lou (or Lew) Bedell was the co-founder of [l=ERA Records] and founder of [l=Dore] Records in the 1950's, Lou attended Santa Barbara State College, worked as a comedian in nightclubs and later on TV, settling into the Lew Bedell moniker on WOR-TV in New York, where he fronted the "Lew Bedell Show". In 1955, he was on the West Coast working first for a publisher, Meadowlark Music, and then with his cousin [a=Herb Newman], with whom he formed the first of his L.A.-based labels, Era. One of the most interesting hits on Dore Records was the instrumental “Percolator Twist” with writers being listed as Lou Bedell and [a=Ernie Freeman]. When publicity photos were sent out Lou posed as Billy Joe Hunter of [a=Billy Joe & The Checkmates] (in reality there was no Billy Joe). In the 1970s, tiring of the changing rock world, Lou turned to recording successful comedy albums by [a=Hudson & Landry].