Clarence Avant is well deserving of being one of them.
Avant has launched or guided the careers of numerous entertainment stars including, Quincy Jones, Bill Withers, Dennis Coffey, The Presidents, Jimmy Jam Harris and Terry Lewis of The Time.
Harris relayed that his relationship with the former Motown Records chairman began when he and Lewis went to meet Avant after a tour.
‘You guys come in, and leave your manager outside,’ he remembers Avant saying.
I thought, 'Man, he must have asked for too much.' We went in, and Clarence said, ‘Your manager sold you short; you’re worth more than that. Here’s what I’m gonna offer you, and this is what I want to do.’ And we knew right there we were dealing with an honest man.”
In the late 1960s, Avant successfully engineered the first joint venture between a black American recording artist and a major record company.
In 1997, he became the first black on the International Management Board for Polygram records.
In 2004, Universal Music Publishing Group announced it would administer Clarence Avant's music publishing catalogues. The catalogues encompass hit including the Bill Withers classics "Ain't No Sunshine," "Lean on Me" and "Grandma's Hands."
A member of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the African-American Advisory Board of Pepsi-Cola, Avant has also been awarded an honorary doctorate from Morehouse College.
Avant has helped raise $500,000 for the education building at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and the Morehouse Music Education Building.
“He is a tireless advocate for the black community. We are privileged to have him as part of our college family,” a Morehouse representative stated.