Willie Barney

Born in Arkansas in 1927. Since 1953 he has been selling records out of the trunk of his car, shortly after he opened the first of many record stores called Barney's Swing Shop. In the early 1960s, he founded the distribution business Barney's One Stop Records and opened a separate retail location on Chicago's West Side. A "one-stop" distributor carried all of the major labels, Barney's employees delivered to mom and pop stores throughout the area. In 1965, Barney founded a record label, 4 Brothers, with one of his employees, Jack Daniels (6) (who went on to work A&R for Mercury Records). Barney also started a subsidiary, Bright Star, but both labels wound down after just two years. He is the father of Raymond Barney, who in 1980 took over the distribution side of business. Convinced of the health benefits of vegetarianism, Barney established New Life Health Foods and Restaurant in the early 1980s, hoping to share those benefits with others on Chicago's West Side. His son Raymond is continuing that effort. He died February 20th, 2017.