{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Al Nevins | image = Little Eva, Carole King, Gerry Goffin - Cash Box 1962.png | caption = Al Nevins, second from left, in a 1962 Dimension Records promotional photo | birth_name = Albert Tepper | birth_date = {{birth date|1915|5|3}} | birth_place = Washington, D.C., United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1965|1|25|1915|5|3}} | death_place = New York City, United States | occupation = {{hlist|Songwriter|publisher|music producer|musician}} | years_active = 1940s–1965 | othername = | past_member_of = The Three Suns }}
'''Albert Nevins''' (born '''Albert Tepper'''; May 3, 1915 – January 25, 1965) was an American musician, producer, arranger, guitarist and violinist. He was also a member of pop trio The Three Suns, and is considered one of the major forces behind the evolution of the 1950s music into the early 1960s pop/rock music.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kifpxq8gld0e|title=Al Nevins|website=AllMusic|accessdate=July 25, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050311003251/http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg|archive-date=March 11, 2005|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
==The Three Suns== {{Main|The Three Suns}} Al Nevins was born in Washington, D.C. in 1915. In 1939, in partnership with his brother, accordionist Morty Nevins and his cousin, organist Artie Dunn, he founded The Three Suns.<ref>[http://www.spaceagepop.com/threesun.htm SpaceAgePop: The Three Suns] Retrieved July 25, 2010.</ref> The band was signed to RCA Victor.
Al Nevins' song "Twilight Time" (co-written with Morty Nevins and Buck Ram)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikifonia.org/node/3719 |title=Twilight Time |publisher=Wikifonia |accessdate=July 25, 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716214042/http://www.wikifonia.org/node/3719 |archivedate=July 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> made it to the American Top 20. (The song was covered by The Platters, who were managed by Ram, and their version sold more than 4 million copies.) It was followed by a very successful cover of "Peg o' My Heart", which became one of the best-selling records of 1947 in the United States, staying for 16 weeks on the US Billboard chart, and peaking at #2.
In 1954, Al Nevins left the band due to ill health, to be replaced on Three Suns recordings by George Barnes, Johnny Buck (aka Bucky Pizzarelli), and later by Joe Negri.
==Solo career== He continued solo, recording three albums: ''Escapade in Sound'', ''Lights and Shadows'' and ''Dancing with the Blues'', the last arranged by Charles Albertine. Some releases were under the name Al Nevins and Orchestra.
==Aldon Music: publishing and producing== {{Main|Aldon Music}} In 1958, he met the young songwriter Don Kirshner and they partnered for a publishing company that would specialize in music aimed at young listeners. The Platters' revival of Nevins' hit "Twilight Time," helped. The publishing company entitled Aldon Music became hugely successful with Nevins' business acumen and experience as a producer and arranger, and Kirshner's keen ability for discovering talented songwriters and performers, as well as the industry contacts he doggedly pursued. Aldon Music had under contract at various times several of the most important songwriters of the so-called "Brill Building" school, including Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Jack Keller. As a producer-promoter, Kirshner was influential in starting off the career of singers and songwriters including Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond, and Carole King.
Kirshner and Nevins began working as producers as well as publishers, with Aldon not just offering songs, but also recording finished recordings to the labels, which gave them a share of artist royalties as well as the standard publisher's share of the revenue from songs.
At the height of his success, Nevins suffered a heart attack and had relinquished his position by the early 1960s, but he continued to exert a powerful indirect influence at Aldon Music in his choice of arrangers, including the addition of Marty Gold and Sid Ramin.
In 1963, Aldon Music and the rest of Kirshner's ventures were sold to Columbia Pictures, and Kirshner became the head of the studio's newly enlarged record division, while Nevins stayed on as a consultant to the new operation.
The company's record of successes included more than 200 songs in the Top 40 charts in the space of five years.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
==Death== Al Nevins died on January 25, 1965, in New York City, at the age of 49.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1021979/|title=Al Nevins|website=IMDb.com|accessdate=January 26, 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=1021979}} *[http://www.discogs.com/artist/Al+Nevins Al Nevins at Discogs]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nevins, Al}} Category:1915 births Category:1965 deaths Category:Record producers from Washington, D.C. Category:Musicians from Washington, D.C. Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:20th-century American guitarists