Goddard Lieberson
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Goddard Lieberson (April 5, 1911-May 29, 1977) was president of Columbia Records from 1956-71 & 1973-75. Before becoming president, he was responsible for the introduction of the LP—the long-playing 33-1/3 rpm vinyl discs developed by engineer Peter Goldmark—which defined home audio for two generations.
His greatest legacy, however, was probably the original cast recordings he produced. Columbia was not the first to offer such recordings; Decca's 1943 recording of Oklahoma! is often considered the first. However, Goddard Lieberson's recordings at Columbia came to lead and define the genre. In addition to documenting the musical performances of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Lieberson also produced notable recordings of important musicals of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Pal Joey and The Boys from Syracuse, for which cast albums had not been made.