Compendium Of Rare Labels ?

[Sceneman]

heres a book that needs to be collated at some stage .

is there a full listing of US labels ,who owned them, what were there staff and singers ,writers ,producers ,and so on .

it seems to be a mysterious black hole of who owned what and where they were and what they were doing at a given time.

sales and distribution must have been a nightmare in the US and few were produced or even distributed or got airplay .

who was doing the pressings and how many ??

no doubt many fell by the wayside with poor management and small cash flow .

over to you ..

[Swifty]

Great idea , wouldn't like to do it though

 

Swifty

[Roburt]

Loads of work would be involved & some of the info might be a bit illusive ..........

...don't forget that a record label was a good means to launder money, so some 'wise guys' got involved .... behind the scenes as well as in front. 

........ PLUS ....... there were 100's of Record Distributors, many just dealing over a limited area ......

... so a small LA label (say) that got a hot 45 could end up with dozens & dozens of regional distributors.

Edited May 2, 2013 by Roburt

[Chalky]

The nearest there is in print is R&B Indies. No scan as such but does have the design. It also has the owner and address where known.

I would imagine there are already websites that cover many labels.

Edited May 3, 2013 by chalky

[Dave Rimmer]

And here's your starter for ten..........

 

https://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/addresses.htm

[Godzilla]

And here's your starter for ten..........

 

https://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/addresses.htm

Been waiting for this post since yesterday, Dave. Almost did it myself but knew you'd be along eventually

[Roburt]

A little LA indie label, Mark II, had a hit on their hands with the Romeos (who were actually the Packers) track "Precious Memories" ....

..... look at how many distributors they had to take on (bet loads never paid em for the 45's either) .............

[Sceneman]

he has missed out the TEENA label from the list .. ikes company

[viphitman]

didn't Otto K. E. Heinemann establish Okeh records in 1916-1918 ??? major shareholder in 1926 Columbia until they went bankrupt... then briefly owned by ARC Records, CBS, EPIC...??

 

 

anyway, I might confuse things here a little but still a top notch side herr rimmer   !!!!

Edited May 4, 2013 by viphitman

[Chalky]

The best site for Motown listings is "Don't Forget The Motor City".

[Roburt]

A little LA indie label, Mark II, had a hit on their hands with the Romeos (who were actually the Packers) track "Precious Memories" ....

..... look at how many distributors they had to take on (bet loads never paid em for the 45's either) .............

.....................  An old IAN DEWHIRST post copied across from another thread ........ it concerns the old Aaron Neville hit 45 ........

It's interesting how a major hit can kill an indie isn't it? I've often had old time American record guys tell me exactly the same thing. "Tell It Like It Is" sold a million and the company went bust. The company was probably ticking over just fine in the New Orleans and Southern markets but suddenly having to press 1,000,000 45's and distribute them across the USA in 1967 must have been a step too far. One record veteran told me that you always have to have the next hot record ready to go otherwise the distributors will try and stiff you on the current hit.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Roburt