 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(January 2018) |
| Peacock Records | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1949 |
| Founder | Don Robey |
| Defunct | 1979 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Peacock Records was an American record label, founded in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston, Texas, United States.
Robey established the record label in 1949 after two years of being blues singer Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's manager, and Brown not finding commercial success with Aladdin Records. Named after Robey's Houston nightclub, the Bronze Peacock, the record label's roster expanded to include such notable rhythm and blues artists as Marie Adams, James Booker, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Little Richard, Memphis Slim, and former gospel singer Jackie Verdell. In 1953, Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" (later covered by Elvis Presley was a hit for Peacock. [1] [2] The label also dabbled in jazz, releasing albums by vocalist Betty Carter and saxophonist Sonny Criss.
In 1952, Robey gained control of the Duke Records label of Memphis, Tennessee, and formed Duke-Peacock Records. [1]
Peacock also had a very successful gospel music division, which released music from such notable gospel artists as the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the Sensational Nightingales, [1] the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, Reverend Cleophus Robinson, , the Gospelaires, the Pilgrim Jubilee Singers, the Loving Sisters, and gospel/jazz group Together (1975), which included saxophonist Felix "Top Cat" Dixon.
At the end of 1963, the label launched the gospel subsidiary label Song Bird Records which featured Inez Andrews. [1] In the later 1960s, Peacock again began to issue secular soul singles by artists such as Jackie Verdell, the Inspirations, Little Frankie Lee, [3] Al 'TNT' Bragg and Bud Harper. This later Peacock label featured a bright multi-colored peacock tail on an otherwise blue label background, and it is these later records which are often sought by Northern soul collectors.
The Duke-Peacock family of labels (which also included Back Beat and Sure Shot) was sold to ABC Dunhill Records of Los Angeles on May 23, 1973, with label founder Don Robey staying with ABC as a consultant until his death in 1975. The label name was changed to ABC/Peacock in 1974.
After ABC was sold to MCA Records in 1979, MCA briefly operated an MCA/Songbird label with new signings including Little Anthony (of Little Anthony and the Imperials) and Dan Peek (formerly of the group America). The previous rosters of both ABC-Peacock and ABC-Songbird were dropped (MCA later reissued several Peacock and Song Bird albums at budget price). MCA briefly revived the Peacock name for a series of CD reissues ("Peacock Gospel Classics") in the late 1990s. Along with the MCA back catalog, the Peacock and Song Bird masters are now controlled by the Geffen Records unit of Universal Music Group.
Robert Calvin Bland, known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer.
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of blues and R&B.
Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Records and Sun Records in the 1950s, before becoming established in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records. His dance records, including "Walking the Dog" (1963), "Do the Funky Chicken" (1969), and "(Do the) Push and Pull" (1970), were some of his most successful songs. According to the Mississippi Blues Commission, "Rufus Thomas embodied the spirit of Memphis music perhaps more than any other artist, and from the early 1940s until his death . . . occupied many important roles in the local scene."
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.
"Hound Dog" is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Recorded originally by Big Mama Thornton on August 13, 1952, in Los Angeles and released by Peacock Records in late February 1953, "Hound Dog" was Thornton's only hit record, selling over 500,000 copies, spending 14 weeks in the R&B charts, including seven weeks at number one. Thornton's recording of "Hound Dog" is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", ranked at 318 in the 2021 iteration of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in February 2013.
Duke Records was an American record label, started in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952 by David James Mattis and Bill Fitzgerald, owners of Tri-State Recording Company. Their first release was Roscoe Gordon singing "Hey Fat Girl", issued on Duke R-1, later amended to R-101.
Song Bird Records was started at the end of 1963 as a gospel music subsidiary of Houston, Texas-based Duke/Peacock Records. Significant artists on Song Bird included the powerful contralto Inez Andrews formerly of The Caravans, The Gospelettes with Liz Dargan formerly of The Andrewettes, mixed-vocal group The Kansas City Melodyaires later known as Mildred Clark & The Melodyaires, The Dallas Academy Youth Choir, The Jackson Southernaires along with their younger siblings The Williams Brothers, Reverend Oris Mays, and the Christian Harmonizers.
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist from Louisiana. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1983 for his album, Alright Again!
Don Deadric Robey was an American record label executive, songwriter, and record producer. As the founder of Peacock Records and the eventual owner of Duke Records, he was responsible for developing the careers of many rhythm and blues artists in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first African American record mogul, 10 years prior to Berry Gordy's Motown label.
Carl Carlton is an American R&B, soul, and funk singer-songwriter, best known for his hits "Everlasting Love" and "She's a Bad Mama Jama ".
Jackie Verdell was an American gospel singer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Don Wilkerson was an American soul jazz / R&B tenor saxophonist born in Moreauville, Louisiana. He was raised in Houston, and it remained his base until he died there in 1986.
"Ball and Chain" is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Big Mama Thornton. Although her recording did not appear on the record charts, the song has become one of Thornton's best-known, largely due to performances and recordings by Janis Joplin.
Fred "Sweet Daddy Goodlow" Ford was an American blues and jazz artist, composer, arranger and educator. Ford was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Boss Fred Ford and Nancy Taylor Ford.
William Dwight Holford, Sr. was an American recording engineer and record producer. For 44 of those years, from 1948 to 1982, he was the affiliated with ACA Studios in Houston as an owner, partner, and audio engineer. Holford also helped build studios for several labels, including Duke/Peacock, Starday, Sarg Records, and Trumpet Records.
Louis Prince Jones, Jr., credited as Louis Jones or Louis Jones, was an American R&B singer, songwriter and musician who recorded in the 1950s and 1960s.
William G. Harvey was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist and bandleader.
Marie Adams was an American gospel and R&B singer, who became popular in the 1950s particularly for her work with Johnny Otis.
Pete "Guitar" Lewis was an American rhythm and blues guitarist and occasional harmonica player, best known as a session musician and performer with Johnny Otis in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Earl Forest was an American musician and a member of the Memphis-based R&B coalition called the Beale Streeters, which included Johnny Ace, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, B.B. King, and Roscoe Gordon. Forest had a hit record in 1953 with "Whoopin' And Hollerin'" on Duke Records. He also recorded for Meteor Records and Flair Records.
