George Daly (music executive)

George Daly is a music executive, songwriter, musician, film and music producer, award-winning film director and inventor. In his role as a music Industry A&R (Artists & Repertoire) executive he has worked with artists and groups such as Janis Joplin, Booker T. Jones, The Cars, Tool, Huey Lewis, Carlos Santana, and many others. Artists to whose efforts Daly has contributed have sold in excess of 300 million singles and albums in vinyl, tape, CD, and digital download music streaming formats.

Moving from the Washington, D.C. area to San Francisco, Daly befriended Janis Joplin and was soon hired by Columbia Records as CBS Corporate San Francisco Head of A&R spanning the Clive Davis and Goddard Lieberson eras. Following that, Daly was named head of A&R at Elektra/Asylum Records in Hollywood, and later in LA, directly hired as Head of Artist & Repertoire by Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records (WMG), where he worked under Doug Morris. He then worked with Zoo Entertainment (Bertelsmann Music Group) as both BMG corporate Vice President and head of the Artists & Repertoire division. Daly is the recipient of multiple Gold Record and Platinum Record music recording certifications.

Daly is a lifetime member of NARAS (the Grammy organization). Daly is also a lifetime member of Mensa and holds an FCC Amateur Extra-Class radio license.

Daly discovered and contracted musical artists such as The Cars, signing the band to a long-term Elektra/Asylum recording contract on a paper napkin after a live performance at Harvard University. The band’s self-titled first album stayed on the charts for 139 weeks and sold over six million copies in the US alone. Daly also discovered and brought The Tubes, a surreal SF theatrical rock band, to A&M Records. Daly also signed Bill Manspeaker’s Green Jellÿ to BMG/Zoo. Green Jelly members Maynard James Keenan and Danny Carey became the band Tool on the label. Daly has also worked professionally as a songwriter/musician with many other prominent artists and musicians, such as Roy Buchanan, Nils Lofgren and Boz Scaggs. Daly co-wrote Boz Scaggs’ classic "Slow Dancer" (also recorded by Rita Coolidge and Emmylou Harris) which some consider to be Scaggs' greatest musical achievement. Daly has also worked with other artists, including Huey Lewis, Carlos Santana, and Alice Coltrane. Daly also worked with the family of Jimi Hendrix in producing The River of Color and Sound, an award-winning interactive multimedia biography of Carlos Santana.