The late Ethel Gabriel at the Rochester Presbyterian Home. A handful of framed gold records lined the otherwise mundane hallway of the Rochester Presbyterian Home, and then on to the walls of the one-room apartment of Ethel Gabriel. She was 91 years old then, but she remembered. “How could I forget Elvis?” she said. “I made him famous.” That was eight years ago, before dementia swept away so many memories of Elvis Presley and of the estimated 2,500-plus albums that she produced over the course of her career in the recording industry. Gabriel’s impact on the music business has not been forgotten. In 2014, she was honored with a Special Merit Award by the Rochester Music Hall of Fame. And when Gabriel passed away quietly on March 23 at Highland Hospital with the music of Frank Sinatra playing in the room The New York Times and The Washington Post ran obituaries. The latter publication’s headline read, “Ethel Gabriel, trailblazing producer and execu
Originally published on April 21, 2021 10:15 am
A handful of framed gold records lined the otherwise mundane hallway of the Rochester Presbyterian Home, and then on to the walls of the one-room apartment of Ethel Gabriel. She was 91 years old then, but she remembered.
“How could I forget Elvis?” she said. “I made him famous.”
That was eight years ago, before dementia swept away so many memories of Elvis Presley and of the estimated 2,500 albums probably more that she produced over the course of a career that began in 1940, when the recording industry was a man s world.
Gabriel’s impact on the music business has not been forgotten. In 2014, the Rochester Music Hall of Fame honored her with a Special Merit Award. And after Gabriel passed away quietly on March 23 at Highland Hospital as the music of Frank Sinatra played in the room The New York Times and The Washington Post ran obituaries. The Post’s headline read, “Ethel Gabriel, trailblazing producer