ABSTRACT
Born in Washington, D.C., Stephen Sholes joined his father at RCA’s Camden, New Jersey, plant in 1929 and remained with the label until his death in Nashville on 22 Apr 1968. Sholes trained as an A&R man under Eli Oberstein and Frank Walker, and produced jazz sessions during the late 1930s. In 1945 he was appointed head of Specialty Singles (which included country, R&B, gospel, and children’s music). In 1954 he built the first major label studio in Nashville, but remained in New York, placing the studio in the hands of Chet Atkins (whom he’d signed as an artist in 1947). Other artists signed or produced by Steve Sholes included Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, Jim Reeves, Neil Sedaka, Ann-Margret, Perry Como, and, of course, Elvis Presley, whom he signed from Sun Records in 1955. Presley’s success ensured Sholes’s elevation in 1957 to head of pop singles. He headed RCA’s West Coast operation from 1961 until 1963. From 1963 until his death, he was vice president of pop A&R in New York.
