Arwin Records | |
---|---|
Founder | Martin Melcher |
Status | defunct |
Country of origin | United States |
Location | Beverly Hills, California |
Arwin Records was an American label that operated from the late-1950s to mid-1960s. Artists to have releases on the label include Dave Barbour and his Orchestra Hadda Brooks, Mel Carter, The Cascades, Doris Day, Jan & Arnie, David Lucas and Billy Watkins.
The label was headquartered in Beverley Hills. The label along with Daywin Music and Artist Music were a division of Arwin Productions, owned by Doris Day and Marty Melcher. [1] In October 1959, it was reported by The Billboard that the head of the label, Marty Melcher was getting ready to expand the label into a full line. That included the regular releases of record singles and a packaged goods line. [2] Bob Chrystal formerly of Korwin Music joined Melcher's music operation in 1960 to be in charge of Eastern operations for the label as well as other divisions under the Melcher umbrella. [3]
Doris Day was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. She left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967.
Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence. In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles popularized by the Beach Boys.
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1991, its recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside former longtime rival RCA Records, as well as Arista Records and Epic Records.
Pillow Talk is a 1959 American romantic comedy film in CinemaScope directed by Michael Gordon and starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day. The supporting cast features Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter, Nick Adams, Allen Jenkins, Marcel Dalio and Lee Patrick. The film was written by Russell Rouse, Maurice Richlin, Stanley Shapiro, and Clarence Greene.
Bruce Arthur Johnston is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is a member of the Beach Boys. Johnston also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher and composed the 1975 Barry Manilow hit, "I Write the Songs".
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released rock, funk, R&B, doo wop, soul music, blues, pop, rock and roll, and jazz records. In the United States, it is operated through Republic Records; in the United Kingdom and Japan, it is distributed by EMI Records.
ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels before ABC was sold to MCA Records in 1979. ABC produced music in a variety of genres: pop, rock, jazz, country, rhythm and blues, soundtrack, gospel, and polka. In addition to producing records, ABC licensed masters from independent record producers, and purchased regionally released records for national distribution.
Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its roster of pop, teen pop, and country artists.
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B.
Terrence Paul Melcher was an American record producer, singer, and songwriter who was instrumental in shaping the mid-to-late 1960s California Sound and folk rock movements. His best-known contributions were producing the Byrds' first two albums Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) and Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965), as well as most of the hit recordings of Paul Revere & the Raiders and Gentle Soul. He is also known for his collaborations with Bruce Johnston and for his association with the Manson Family.
"Everybody Loves a Lover" is a popular song which was a hit single for Doris Day in 1958. Its lyricist, Richard Adler, and its composer, Robert Allen, were both best known for collaborations with other partners. The music Allen composed, aside from this song, was usually for collaborations with Al Stillman, and Adler wrote the lyrics after the 1955 death of his usual composing partner, Jerry Ross.
Irving Levin, known professionally by his stage name of Leo De Lyon, was an American actor best known for his role as Spook and Brain in the prime time animated series Top Cat.
Martin Melcher was an American motion picture and music executive. He was married to popular singer and actress Doris Day, with whom he owned a series of business ventures named Arwin. Melcher produced several films in the 1950s and 1960s through the independent film production company Arwin Productions, released music through the record label Arwin Records, and published music through the music publishing companies Arwin Music and Daywin Music, Mart Music and Artists Music. He also was the president of Kirk Douglas' music publishing company, Peter Vincent Music.
My Heart is the 29th and final studio album by Doris Day, released on September 5, 2011. On September 11, 2011 the album entered the UK chart at number nine, making Doris Day, at age 89, the oldest artist to score a UK Top 10 with an album featuring new material.
The Rip Chords were an early-1960s American vocal group, originally known as the Opposites, composed of Phil Stewart and Ernie Bringas. The group eventually expanded into four primary voices, adding Columbia producer Terry Melcher and co-producer Bruce Johnston. This group came to be associated with the hot-rod and surf genres of that day, although their first single did not reflect those styles. They recorded for Columbia Records in Hollywood from 1962 to 1965. The group placed five singles on the Billboard Hot 100. They are best known for their number-four single: "Hey Little Cobra".
The Pets were formed in 1958 in Los Angeles, California from a group of top session players – saxophonist Plas Johnson, guitarist Rene Hall, guitarist Richard Podolor and drummer Earl Palmer.
"Jennie Lee" is a song whose music was composed and written by Jan Berry and Arnie Ginsburg, which was recorded by Jan and Arnie. Jan & Arnie were the precursor to Jan & Dean. The song was recorded and released as the band's first single in April, 1958. The B-side of the single is "Gotta Getta Date". "Jennie Lee" reached No. 3 on the Cash Box charts on June 21, 1958, and No. 8 on the Billboard charts on June 30, 1958. This is generally regarded as the earliest example of elements that would become instrumental in the famous California sound of surf pop in the 60's.
Billy Watkins (1927-2010) was a gospel and soul singer who later became a Christian minister. He was also founder of the gospel singing group, The Zion Travelers. He recorded for the Arwin, Challenge, Chess, Era, Imperial, Kent and Victor labels.
Loring Bruce Buzzell was an American music publisher and record label executive. Together with film producer Harold Hecht and actor Burt Lancaster, he formed a series of music publishing imprints in the middle and late 1950s. His music publishing companies, Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music, Calyork Music, Leigh Music and Colby Music, were responsible for copyrighting, publishing and promoting the soundtracks and theme songs from such notable films as Marty, Trapeze, The Kentuckian, Sweet Smell of Success, Separate Tables, Cry Tough, Take a Giant Step and The Unforgiven. Buzzell's companies also published "May You Always", the recordings of which by The McGuire Sisters for Coral Records and Joan Regan for HMV Records, became the top-selling records and the second-best-selling sheet music in the United States and the United Kingdom for 1959. Calyork Records and Maine Records were two independent record labels operated by Buzzell in partnership with Hecht and Lancaster.
Allen 'Al' Stanton was an American music executive and record producer best known for his production work for The Byrds on their third album, Fifth Dimension (1966).