Which brothers were Warner Bros' first major record success?
Warner Bros. Records the company by approving what was reputed to be the first million-dollar contract in music history, which guaranteed the Everly Brothers $525,000 against an escalating royalty rate of up to 7 percent, well above the industry standard of the day. Luckily, the Everlys' first Warner Bros. single, "Cathy's Clown" was a smash hit, going to #1 in the US and selling more than eight million copies, and their debut Warner Bros. album "It's Everly Time" reached #9 on the album chart. In 1959, Warner Bros. had signed rising standup comedian Bob Newhart, marking the beginning of the label's continuing involvement
Warner Bros. First National's top star since the brothers acquired the studio in 1928. Thanks to the success of "The Jazz Singer", the studio was cash-rich. Jolson's next film for the company, "The Singing Fool" was also a success. With the success of these first talkies ("The Jazz Singer", "Lights of New York", "The Singing Fool" and "The Terror"), Warner Bros. became a top studio and the brothers were now able to move out from the Poverty Row section of Hollywood, and acquire a much larger studio lot in Burbank. They expanded by acquiring the Stanley Corporation, a major theater chain. This