| Era Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | K-tel |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Founder | Herb Newman Lou Bedell |
| Defunct | 1990 |
| Distributor(s) | Happy Tiger K-tel |
| Genre | Pop, country, rockabilly, jazz |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Hollywood, California |
Era Records was an independent American record label located in Hollywood, California.
Era Records was founded by Herb Newman and Lou Bedell in March 1955 as a pop and rhythm and blues outlet. The label later expanded into the country and western, and jazz genres. Newman formed Era after resigning his sales position at Decca Records. [1] [2]
Era had a No. 1 hit in 1956 with Gogi Grant's "The Wayward Wind," for which Newman wrote the lyrics.
In 1959 Bedell sold his interest in the label to Newman.
Musicians with hits on Era include Ketty Lester ("Love Letters"), Larry Verne ("Mr. Custer"), Donnie Brooks ("Mission Bell"), Dorsey Burnette ("Tall Oak Tree"), Art & Dotty Todd ("Chanson D' Amour"), and The Castells ("So This Is Love").
Era distributed other labels, including Monogram, Gregmark, and Eden. From 1969 to 1971, Era was associated with Happy Tiger, which reissued and distributed some of Era's oldies. In 1972, Newman added the RTV label which released the psychedelic album Mu.
In the mid-1970s Newman sold the Era label and catalog to K-tel. In 1993, K-tel began reissuing some of the early Era material using the original Era label and logo. [3]
Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer.
Dorsey William Burnett Jr. was an American early rockabilly singer. With his younger brother Johnny Burnette and a friend named Paul Burlison, he was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He is also the father of country musician and former Fleetwood Mac member Billy Burnette.
Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.
Donnie Brooks was an American pop music singer. Brooks is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
"The Wayward Wind" is a country song written by Stanley Lebowsky (music) and Herb Newman (lyrics), and first recorded by American singer Gogi Grant in 1955, and released in 1956. Grant's version reached No. 1 on both the Cash Box charts, where it remained at No. 1 for five weeks, and the Billboard charts, remaining at No. 1 for six weeks, ending Elvis Presley's seven-week run at No. 1 with "Heartbreak Hotel". It remained in the top 10 for fifteen weeks, and was ranked as the No. 5 song for 1956 according to Billboard. It became a Gold record. Members of the Western Writers of America chose the song as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
The Castells were a male vocal quartet from Santa Rosa, California best remembered for their hits "Sacred" and "So This Is Love", both released on Era Records. Their sound blended light rock with elements of collegiate vocal harmony and jazz.
K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including The Super Hits series, The Dynamic Hits series and The Number One Hits series and consumer products, including the Record Selector, the Veg-O-Matic, the Miracle Brush, and the Feather Touch Knife. The company has sold more than half a billion units worldwide.
"Oh, What a Night" is a song first recorded by the doo-wop group the Dells and released in 1956, originally under the title "Oh What a Nite". It is said to have been inspired by a party, which had been held in the Dells' honor by some female friends of the group.
Ketty Lester is an American singer and actress known for her 1961 hit single "Love Letters", which reached the top 5 of the charts in the U.S. and the UK. She is also known for her role as Hester-Sue Terhune on the American television series Little House on the Prairie. In 2022 she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.
In Concert at the Troubadour, 1969 is a live country rock album by Rick Nelson recorded in Los Angeles during four dates at The Troubadour in late 1969. The album featured the debut of the Stone Canyon Band, which included Randy Meisner, Tom Brumley, Allen Kemp, and Patrick Shanahan, and was Nelson's highest-charting release in three years. The album contains four songs written by Nelson and three Bob Dylan compositions, as well as other songs by Eric Andersen and Tim Hardin. The performances were attended by many fellow musicians and songwriters.
Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny Bell who used the Bell name to issue risque novelty records. A British branch was also active in the 1960s and 1970s. Bell Records was shut down in late 1974, and its assets were transferred to Columbia Pictures' new label, Arista Records.
Lawrence Joseph Elgart was an American jazz bandleader. With his brother Les, he recorded "Bandstand Boogie", the theme to the long-running dance show American Bandstand.
Doré Records was a record label founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1958 by Lew Bedell and his cousin Herb Newman.
Michael Brooks was a British-born music historian, archivist, consultant, and producer.
Billboard Pop Memories is a series of compilation albums released by Rhino Records in 1994, each featuring ten hit recordings spanning a five- or ten-year period from the 1920s through the 1950s.
Happy Tiger Records was an independent American record label that was owned by the Flying Tiger Line air freight company. Happy Tiger operated from 1969 to 1971. During this time the label produced more than two dozen albums by Count Basie, Mason Proffit, Red Rhodes, Priscilla Paris, Paul Kelly, and the Anita Kerr Singers. The label released two albums by the post-Van Morrison Them band.
"Hey Little One", a song written by Dorsey Burnette and Barry De Vorzon, was initially recorded by Dorsey, released on May 2, 1960 on the Era label as the double A-side "Hey Little One"/"Big Rock Candy Mountain". "Hey Little One" reached number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Musicians on the recording include veteran session drummer Earl Palmer.
Lewis Joseph Bedell was an American music business executive and comic entertainer who founded Era Records and then Doré Records in Los Angeles, California in the 1950s. Originally named Lewis Joseph Bedinsky, he also used the pseudonyms Louis Bideu and Billy Joe Hunter, among others.
The Best of Lynn Anderson: Memories and Desires is a studio album by American country artist Lynn Anderson. It was released in 1982 via Era Records.Internationally, the album was released on the K-tel distribution company. Although labeled as "The Best of," the album was actually a studio release but it contained re-recordings of songs Anderson first cut in years prior for other labels. Many of the songs on the project were re-recordings of songs she has first cut for other labels. Previously unrecorded tracks were also included on the project.
Janie Fricke is a self-titled studio album by American country artist Janie Fricke. It was released in 1991 on Intersound Records and contained 11 tracks. The eponymous disc was the sixteenth studio recording of Fricke's career and her first with the Intersound label. The album included two singles that were spawned in 1991. The second single "I Want to Grow Old with You" reached the Canadian country chart in 1991.
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