Evolution Records was a record label operated by the Stereo Dimension Records subsidiary of the Longines Symphonette Society, a unit of the Longines watch company. [1] [2] It was founded in 1969 as the retail arm of the mail-order Longines Symphonette Society, which typically issued box sets of old radio shows, such as a two-record set of Orson Welles's 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air production of "The War of the Worlds", or traditional pop songs. Loren Becker was the president of the label. [3] In 1973 the label made a concerted effort to break into the soul music genre. [4]
The Canadian rock group Lighthouse earned Evolution its first gold record. [5] Evolution sold Lighthouse's contract to Polydor Records, but retained rights to material originally issued on Evolution. [3]
Longines exited the record business in 1975.
Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recordings in January 1948, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, and Yes.
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its US label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president too. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca, and the link between the UK and US Decca label was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre.
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of multinational conglomerate Sony. 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: Epic Records, and former longtime rivals, RCA Records and Arista Records as the latter two were originally owned by BMG before its 2008 relaunch after Sony's acquisition alongside other BMG labels.
The twelve-inch single is a type of vinyl gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compared to LPs which have several songs on each side. It is named for its 12-inch (300 mm) diameter that was intended for LPs. This technical adaptation allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the mastering engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality. This record type, which is claimed to have been accidentally discovered by Tom Moulton, is commonly used in disco and dance music genres, where DJs use them to play in clubs. They are played at either 33+1⁄3 or 45 rpm. The conventional 7-inch single usually holds three or four minutes of music at full volume. The 12-inch LP sacrifices volume for extended playing time.
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
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.
MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the 1970s. The company also released soundtrack albums of the music for some of their non-musical films as well, and on rare occasions, cast albums of off-Broadway musicals such as The Fantasticks and the 1954 revival of The Threepenny Opera. In one instance, MGM Records released the highly successful soundtrack album of a film made by another studio, Columbia Pictures's Born Free (1966).
RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation.
Enterprise Records was started in 1967 as a sub-label of Stax Records. It's best-known recording artist during its existence was Isaac Hayes, who secured a #1 R&B and pop crossover smash in 1971 with the soundtrack hit "Theme from Shaft". In addition to Isaac Hayes, Big Ben Atkins, Cliff Cochran, Connie Eaton, Maynard Ferguson, Little Sonny, O.B. McClinton, Eric Mercury and David Porter also recorded for the label.
The Longines Symphonette was an American radio program that aired from 1941 through 1958 broadcasting classical music. A related brand, the Longines Symphonette Society, was a record label active from the early 1960s into the 1970s. Symphonette refers to "a symphony orchestra that plays light music in addition to the standard classical repertoire."
Track Record was founded in 1966 in London by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of the rock group The Who. It was one of the first British-owned independent record labels in the United Kingdom. The most successful artists whose work appeared on the Track label were The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Thunderclap Newman and Golden Earring. The label ceased operations in 1978 but was revived in 1999.
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.
Burl Ives Presents America's Musical Heritage, released in 1963 by the Longines Symphonette Society, is a six-album box set by folk singer Burl Ives. It is subtitled 114 Best Loved Songs & Ballads for Listening, Singing, and Reading and includes a 168-page book, titled The Burl Ives Sing-Along Song Book, which presents the lyrics for all of the songs and historical background about some of the songs.
This article contains information about albums and singles released by the American musical duo Ike & Tina Turner.
The Byrds were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The bulk of the band's releases were issued on Columbia Records or its subsidiaries, except their final studio album, Byrds, and its associated singles, which Asylum Records released in 1973. Before signing a recording contract with Columbia, the band released a single with Elektra Records in 1964 under the name the Beefeaters.
Sweet Thursday is the self-titled debut, and only, album by the late 1960s British rock band Sweet Thursday. Its chance of success was cut short by the almost-immediate failure of the record label.
This is the discography of American pop singer Connie Francis. Throughout her career, she has sold 100 million records worldwide. In 1959, she was recognized as the then best-selling female recording artist in Germany and was once hailed as the worlds best-selling female vocalist in history at that time. She was the first woman to reach #1 on Billboard Hot 100. Billboard ranked her as the 8th Top Artist of the Decade (60s).
The Soulful Strings were an American soul-jazz instrumental group formed in Chicago in 1966. Predominantly a studio band, the project was created and led by Richard Evans, a staff producer and musical arranger with the Chess Records subsidiary Cadet Records.
Exploito is a term generally given to describe cover version or sound-alike recordings that capitalize on the official recordings of artists. Typically they are of the budget release type of album. Often the buying public would think they are buying an album by the actual artist.
Hedge and Donna were an American folk and folk-rock duo comprising Keene Hedge Capers and Donna Marie Carson. They recorded six albums between 1968 and 1973. On their final album they were credited as Capers and Carson.