Morrison Records (Seattle)

Last updated

Morrison Records was an independent record label, based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in the 1940s by Howell Oakdeane "Morrie" Morrison (1888-1984) and his wife, Alice Nadine Morrison (1892-1978), and appears to have gone out of business around the time of its founders' deaths. Much of their catalogue consisted of vanity recordings by local amateur talent, but Paul Tutmarc and his wife Bonnie Guitar were among those who released records on Morrison. [1] According to Peter Blecha, the label "generally leaned towards the old-fashioned strains preferred by ballroom dancers." [1]

Morrison began in a space in downtown Seattle at Second and Pike. In the 1950s they negotiated a national distribution deal with Vega Records and set up a warehouse and shipping center on Queen Anne Hill, a studio near Green Lake and a pressing plant in Belltown. Master tapes were sent to California to be turned into stamps to press vinyl records. Each record was hand-pressed on colored vinyl, and because of their hand-pressing process, they could put any two songs in their catalog on opposite sides of a single disc. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullet (Misfits song)</span> 1978 single by the Misfits

"Bullet" is the second single released by the horror punk band the Misfits. The four tracks comprising the EP were recorded, along with thirteen others, in early 1978 for the proposed Static Age album. When the band could not find a record label to release the album, they instead released four of the songs as "Bullet" on singer Glenn Danzig's label Plan 9 Records. The songs were re-released in different versions over subsequent years, until Static Age was finally released in its entirety in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Class Brats</span> American street punk band

Lower Class Brats are a street punk band founded in Austin, Texas in January 1995. Based out of Southern California since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double album</span> Audio recording album that spans two units of its format

A double album is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium. Recording artists often think of double albums as being a single piece artistically; however, there are exceptions such as John Lennon's Some Time in New York City and OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below . Since the advent of the compact disc, albums are sometimes released with a bonus disc featuring additional material as a supplement to the main album, with live tracks, studio out-takes, cut songs, or older unreleased material. One innovation was the inclusion of a DVD of related material with a compact disc, such as video related to the album or DVD-Audio versions of the same recordings. Some such discs were also released on a two-sided format called DualDisc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Seattle</span> Port authority in Washington, United States

The Port of Seattle is a government agency overseeing the seaport of Seattle, Washington, United States as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to one of the largest airports and container terminals on the West Coast, the Port of Seattle is one of the Pacific Northwest's leading economic engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fantasy Records</span> American independent record label

Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Soul Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its investors, but in more recent years the label has been known for its recordings of comedian Lenny Bruce, jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, the last recordings made on the Wurlitzer organ in the San Francisco Fox Theatre before the theatre was demolished, organist Korla Pandit, the 1960s rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, bandleader Woody Herman, and Disco/R&B singer Sylvester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Record collecting</span>

Record collecting is the hobby of collecting sound recordings, usually of music, but sometimes poetry, reading, historical speeches, and ambient noises. Although the typical focus is on vinyl records, all formats of recorded music can be collected.

<i>Screaming Life</i> 1987 EP by Soundgarden

Screaming Life is the debut EP by the American rock band Soundgarden, released in October 1987 through Sub Pop Records. Screaming Life was later combined with the band's next EP, Fopp (1988), and released as the Screaming Life/Fopp compilation album in 1990.

<i>Beautiful Vision</i> 1982 studio album by Van Morrison

Beautiful Vision is the thirteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in February 1982. It continued Morrison's departure from R&B at the time, instead favoring Celtic folk and American jazz in its music. As with many of Morrison's recordings, spirituality is a major theme and some of the songs are based on the teachings of Alice Bailey. Other songs show Morrison's Celtic heritage and reminiscence of his Belfast background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merrilee Rush</span> American singer

Merrilee Rush is an American singer, best known for her recording of the song "Angel of the Morning", a top-10 hit which earned her a Grammy nomination for female vocalist of the year in 1968.

<i>Nightmare Culture</i> 1985 EP (split) by Current 93 / Sickness of Snakes

Nightmare Culture is a 12" split vinyl EP by Current 93 and Sickness of Snakes, which was John Balance and Peter Christopherson from Coil and Boyd Rice.

LouieFest is an American music festival featuring the prominent contributions to rock and roll by bands and performers, both emerging and established, from the Northwest region. Organized in 2003 by John 'Buck' Ormsby and Kent Morrill, members of The Wailers, LouieFest is an annual fundraising event for the Wailers Performing Arts Foundation which provides scholarships, instruments, music lessons and mentoring for youth music education.

The Haunted were a Canadian garage rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band was formed by Jurgen Peter (guitar) in 1965, and went on to release several records before finally disbanding in 1971. They were among the first Canadian bands to achieve a level of success in their musical genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Nadine Morrison</span>

Alice Nadine Morrison (1892-1978), birth name Alice Nadine Lanterman, was an American songwriter and musician. With her husband Howell Oakdeane "Morrie" Morrison (1888-1984) she was involved in numerous music-related business ventures, including Morrison Records.

Howell Oakdeane Morrison (1888–1984), also known as "Morrie" Morrison, was an American musician, dance instructor, impresario and entrepreneur, founder of Seattle-based Morrison Records. From 1912, he was married to songwriter and musician Alice Nadine Morrison (1892-1978).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Showbox</span> Music venue in Seattle, Washington

The Showbox is a music venue in Seattle, Washington. It has been owned by AEG Live since 2007.

<i>Astral Disaster</i> 1999 studio album by Coil

Astral Disaster is a studio album by Coil, originally released in January 1999 on Acme/Prescription, reissued in 2000 on Threshold House, and then reissued in 2017 through Acme/Prescription.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Ely</span> American guitarist and singer

Jack Brown Ely was an American guitarist and singer, best known for singing the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie". Classically trained in piano, he began playing guitar after seeing Elvis Presley on television. In 1959, he co-founded the Kingsmen and with them recorded "Louie Louie" in 1963; Ely's famously incoherent vocals were partly the result of his braces and the rudimentary recording method. Before the record became a hit Ely was forced out of the group and began playing with his new band, the Courtmen. Ely died in Terrebonne, Oregon, on April 28, 2015, at age 71.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spartan Records</span> American record label

Spartan Records was founded by John T. Frazier in Seattle, Washington in January 2007. It is currently home to the bands Schematic, Barren Womb, Ourlives, Shy, Low, and several others. Prior to founding Spartan, Frazier was the director of marketing at several preeminent independent record labels including Tooth and Nail Records, Solid State Records, and Drive-Thru Records. The label has been a full-time operation since January 2013. Spartan Records is known for its creative pressing of colored vinyl variants.

Hand Drawn Pressing is a vinyl record pressing company located in Addison, Texas. It opened in 2011 as the world's first fully automated record pressing plant.

Peter Charles Blecha is an American historian, curator, essayist, author, and director of the Seattle-based Northwest Music Archives. He is primarily known for research related to aspects of Pacific Northwest musical history. In addition to his books, essays, and album liner notes, Blecha has also served in multiple consulting and curatorial positions.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Peter Blecha, Morrison, "Morrie" and Alice -- Northwest Music Industry Pioneers, HistoryLink, November 20, 2005. Accessed online 2009-08-02.