Big Al Pavlow

As shared on the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame Historical Archive, Allan “Big Al” Pavlow [1938–2016] obituary, “Big Al was internationally known for his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and was the author of several books on the music business and record collecting, most notably the best-selling “The R&B Book: A Disc-History of Rhythm & Blues.” He ran the Big Al’s Records and Cheap Records shops in downtown Providence in the 1960s and ‘70s and was a record producer of note scoring major regional hits with The Ascots on his Super Records imprint and enjoyed a national release with Deviled Ham for Buddah Records. In the early 2000s, he was one of the driving forces behind the Rhode Island Popular Music Archive, a website dedicated to preserving and celebrating the Ocean State’s rich musical heritage.” (Read more)

Big Al was also a longtime collaborator and close friends with the Mad Peck, with Peck producing concert posters for the man and, frankly, Pavlow probably would not have been able to produce many of his books without Peck’s encouragement and guidance.