He contributed to the development of country & western music, rhythm and blues and rock and roll and is credited with discovering many prominent musicians, most notably James Brown, whose first single, "Please, Please, Please", was released by Federal Records, a subsidiary of King, in 1956.
Nathan was described as "One of the truly eccentric figures of the record industry ... [who] ruled his label like a dictator ... [and] constantly screamed and intimidated his artists and employees".
He played as a drummer in clubs and in early adulthood worked in a series of jobs in real estate, amusement parks, and pawn and jewelry stores.
He also set up a recording studio at that site and made his own distribution arrangements across the Midwest rather than relying on national companies.
Early signings to the King label or its subsidiaries included Bull Moose Jackson, Lucky Millinder, Tiny Bradshaw, Earl Bostic, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Wynonie Harris, the Dominoes, Little Willie John, Bill Doggett, and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, whose song "Work with Me, Annie" was one of the label's biggest successes.
According to his citation at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:[3]In the process of working with black R&B and white country artists, Nathan helped effect a cross-pollination of the two worlds, thereby helping lay the groundwork for the musical hybrid known as rock and roll.In 1956, the talent scout Ralph Bass signed James Brown to King, where Brown recorded "Please, Please, Please".
[7] By the 1960s, it had become the sixth largest record company in the US, and was responsible for over 250 hits on the rock, pop, R&B and country charts.
[5] In addition to credits received in his own name, Nathan used the pseudonym Lois Mann for song publishing and copyrights in order to obtain a share of the songwriting royalties, a common practice among record company owners.