Joachim "Jean" Aberbach was born in
Bad Vöslau,
Austria-Hungary, the son of Aron Adolf Aberbach (1878–1959, of
Bolechow, then Austria-Hungary) and Anna Aberbach (née Schmetterling, 1883–1964, of
Chorostków, then Austria-Hungary). They were
Ukrainian Jews. He had a brother, Julius "Julian" Aberbach (1909–2004). Their father ran a
jewelry business. Jean left school at the age of 16 and after a family argument began working in
Berlin for a music publisher,
Will Meisel, before moving to
Paris to work for another publisher there. His brother Julian joined him in Paris in 1932, and they established a music publishing business, which concentrated on securing royalties for movie screenwriters. After the brothers sold the business in 1936, Jean began working in the US as an agent for French music publisher
Francis Salabert, while Julian remained in Paris. After the war, he worked in
New York City for music publisher Max Dreyfus at publishers
Chappell & Co., but in 1952, when Dreyfus tried to buy the company that Julian Aberbach had established in
Los Angeles, Hill and Range, Jean decided to leave and join his brother's company. Hill and Range rapidly expanded, particularly through dominating the
country music publishing business in
Nashville. At one point, the company represented some three quarters of the music produced in Nashville. The two brothers shared responsibility for running the company, with Jean primarily based in New York and Julian in Los Angeles, although they frequently swapped roles. After 1955, the company had particular responsibility for the songs recorded by
Elvis Presley, through an arrangement by which the company owned 50% of the rights. Jean Aberbach sold 75% of Hill and Range to Warner Chappell in the early 1970s, at a time when his brother was incapacitated following a heart attack. Jean died in
Old Westbury, New York, in 1992 at the age of 81. ==References==