Tompkins Square Records

Last updated
Tompkins Square Records
Founded2005 (2005)
FounderJosh Rosenthal
Distributor(s) Fontana Distribution [1]
Genre Jazz, American primitive, gospel, blues, country
Country of originU.S.
LocationSan Francisco, California
Official website tompkinssquare.com

Tompkins Square Records is an independent record label producing new and archival releases of gospel, blues, jazz, and country music. [2]

Contents

History

In 2005, Josh Rosenthal launched Tompkins Square Records in New York City after working 15 years in a variety of positions at Sony Music. Tompkins Square moved to San Francisco in 2011. [3] Rosenthal runs the label on his own with help from an art director and publishing company. [4]

Albums

Tompkins Square's first album was Imaginational Anthem, an anthology of music by fingerstyle guitarists including Jack Rose, Sandy Bull, John Fahey, Max Ochs, and Kaki King The series has grown to seven volumes. [5] [6]

Tompkins Square issued a previously-unreleased concert recording by Tim Buckley, Live at the Folklore Center, NYC — March 6, 1967. [3] [7]

Tompkins Square has released several comprehensive gospel music compilations, including 2009's Fire In My Bones: Raw & Rare & Other-Worldly African American Gospel (1944–2007) and This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel On 45RPM (1957–1982). [8]

Rosenthal brought Charlie Louvin in to record a series of albums, introducing Louvin to a new generation of listeners. [4]

Tompkins Square released Remembering Mountains: Unheard Songs of Karen Dalton , an album of songs written by Dalton and performed by artists such as Lucinda Williams, Sharon Van Etten, Tara Jane O'Neil, and Diane Cluck. [9]

Tompkins Square released several 78 rpm Discs for Record Store Day. Artists involved included Luther Dickinson, Tyler Ramsey, and Ralph Stanley. [10]

In 2015, Rosenthal wrote and published the book The Record Store of the Mind, a memoir about being a record collector and owning a record company. [2] [11] [12]

Roster

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucinda Williams</span> American musician, singer and songwriter

Lucinda Gayl Williams is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, Ramblin' on My Mind (1979) and Happy Woman Blues (1980), in a traditional country and blues style that received critical praise but little public or radio attention. In 1988, she released her third album, Lucinda Williams, to widespread critical acclaim. Regarded as "an Americana classic", the album also features "Passionate Kisses", a song later recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter for her 1992 album Come On Come On, which garnered Williams her first Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1994. Known for working slowly, Williams released her fourth album, Sweet Old World, four years later in 1992. Sweet Old World was met with further critical acclaim and was voted the 11th best album of 1992 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent music critics. Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it 6th on his own year-end list, later writing that the album as well as Lucinda Williams were "gorgeous, flawless, brilliant".

A chord is in close harmony if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony if there is more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. The more general term spacing describes how far apart the notes in a chord are voiced. A triad in close harmony has compact spacing, while one in open harmony has wider spacing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prefab Sprout</span> English pop band

Prefab Sprout are an English pop/rock band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, they released their debut album Swoon to critical acclaim in 1984. Their subsequent albums, including 1985's Steve McQueen and 1990's Jordan: The Comeback, have been described by Paul Lester of The Guardian as "some of the most beautiful and intelligent records of their era". Frontman Paddy McAloon is regarded as one of the great songwriters of his time and the band have been credited with producing some of the "most beloved" pop music of the 1980s and 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Louvin Brothers</span> American country music duo

The Louvin Brothers were an American musical duo composed of brothers Ira and Charlie Louvin. The brothers are cousins to John D. Loudermilk, a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tift Merritt</span> American singer-songwriter and musician (born 1975)

Catherine Tift Merritt is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven studio albums, two for Lost Highway Records, two for Fantasy Records, and three for Yep Roc Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Louvin</span> American country music singer and songwriter

Charles Elzer Loudermilk, known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse McReynolds</span> American bluegrass musician (1929–2023)

Jesse Lester McReynolds was an American bluegrass musician. He was best known for his innovative crosspicking and split-string styles of mandolin playing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Dalton</span> American musician (1937–1993)

Karen J. Dalton was an American country blues singer, guitarist, and banjo player. She was associated with the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, particularly with Fred Neil, the Holy Modal Rounders, and Bob Dylan. Although she did not enjoy much commercial success during her lifetime, her music has gained significant recognition since her death. Artists like Nick Cave, Devendra Banhart, and Joanna Newsom have noted her as an influence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Chapman (singer)</span> British musician (1941–2021)

Michael Robert Chapman was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist who released 58 albums, displaying a "fusion of jazz, rock, Indian and ragtime styles [that] made him a cult hero". He began playing with jazz bands, mainly in his home town of Leeds, and became well known in the folk clubs of the late 1960s, as well as on the progressive music scene. Having celebrated fifty years as a professional musician in 2016, he continued to regularly tour the UK, Europe and US.

Document Records is an independent record label, founded in Austria and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the Blues Alive Award in 2018. Document Records is the only UK-based recipient of the award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Low Anthem</span> American indie folk band

The Low Anthem is a band from Providence, Rhode Island, formed in 2006 by friends Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky. The current lineup consists of Knox Miller, Prystowsky, Bryan Minto and Florence Grace Wallis.

Peter Walker is an American folk guitarist, known for his skillful performances that blend Indian classical and Spanish flamenco music traditions. He gained recognition primarily for his recorded work during the late 1960s. In recent years, his reputation has seen a resurgence among younger American and European outsider folk artists. He is now regarded as a prominent figure in the company of established American finger-pickers such as Sandy Bull, John Fahey, Robbie Basho and Leo Kottke. This renewed recognition has provided him with new opportunities for touring and recording.

<i>Lets Change the World with Music</i> 2009 studio album by Prefab Sprout

Let's Change the World with Music is the ninth studio album by the English pop group Prefab Sprout. It was released on 7 September 2009 by Kitchenware Records. It was the band's first album of new material since 2001's The Gunman and Other Stories and marked a return to Sony Music, Kitchenware's parent label. The album reached No. 39 in the UK Albums Chart at the end of the week of its release. Although no singles were technically released, "Let There Be Music" was sent to radio stations, and "Sweet Gospel Music" was due to be a one-track digital release to highlight the album, but received no airplay and therefore was pulled.

<i>Satan Is Real</i> 1959 studio album by The Louvin Brothers

Satan Is Real is a gospel bluegrass album by American country music duo The Louvin Brothers, released in 1959.

<i>Country Love Ballads</i> 1958 studio album by The Louvin Brothers

Country Love Ballads is an album by American country music duo The Louvin Brothers, released in 1958.

<i>The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver</i> 2013 studio album by various artists

The Music Is You: A Tribute To John Denver is an album consisting of songs originally performed by country and folk singer-songwriter John Denver. It was released on April 2, 2013 by ATO Records. Denver died in October 1997 when the single engine plane he was piloting crashed off the coast of California. The album has been praised by some as a way to help Denver's catalogue reach a new, younger audience.

Nashboro Records was an American gospel label principally active in the 1950s and 1960s.

Charlotte Cornfield is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released five albums: Two Horses (2011), Future Snowbird (2016), The Shape of Your Name (2019), Highs in the Minuses (2021), and Could Have Done Anything (2023).

<i>Lifes Highway</i> (Jeannie Seely album) 2003 studio album by Jeannie Seely

Life's Highway is a studio album by American country artist Jeannie Seely. It was released on November 18, 2003, by OMS Records. It was co-produced by Hugh Moore and Billy Troy. Life's Highway was Seely's fourteenth studio recording and first album in several years to be released outside her own record label. The album received critical acclaim for its blend of the country, bluegrass and folk music genres.

<i>The Giuseppi Logan Quintet</i> 2010 studio album by Giuseppi Logan

The Giuseppi Logan Quintet is an album by American jazz saxophonist Giuseppi Logan, recorded in September 2009 and released in 2010 on the Tompkins Square label. The album, which includes five Logan originals and three standards, marks Logan's first recorded appearance following a hiatus of over 40 years, and features two of his collaborators from the 1960s, pianist Dave Burrell and drummer Warren Smith, along with bassist Francois Grillot and trumpeter / bass clarinetist Matt Lavelle.

References

  1. Martens, Peter (14 January 2006). Fontana, Tomkins Square Use Their "Imaginational". Nielsen Business Media. pp. 18–. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  2. 1 2 Spice, Anton (October 27, 2015). "Only start a label if...A candid guide by Tompkins Square, the ultimate label of love". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Gilbert, Andrew (November 2, 2015). "Vinyl connoisseur on label's decade of revolutionary reissues". San Francisco Gate. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Gokhman, Roman (January 13, 2016). "SF label Tompkins Square Records marks decade of crate-digging for lost masterpieces". The Bay Bridged. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  5. Matos, Michaelangelo (February 14, 2012). "Reissue king Josh Rosenthal is mining for musical gold (with a gold record on his wall)". Politico New York. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  6. Meyer, Bill (April 18, 2016). "Josh Rosenthal of Tompkins Square reads from his new crate-digging memoir". Chicago Reader. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  7. Roberts, Randall (August 20, 2009). "Tompkins Square to Issue Previously Unreleased 1967 Tim Buckley Live Set". Los Angeles Weekly. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  8. "Follow Up To Tompkins Square Gospel Comp Fire In My Bones Incoming". The Wire. August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  9. Steven P. Marsh (April 15, 2015). "Sharon Van Etten, Diane Cluck, Lucinda Williams and more record 'lost' Karen Dalton songs". Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  10. Battan, Carrie (March 30, 2012). "Tompkins Square to Release Series of 78s". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  11. "Dig Through Label Founder Josh Rosenthal's 'Record Store Of The Mind'". NPR Music. April 6, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  12. Blum, Jordan (February 1, 2016). "'The Record Store of the Mind' Is a Memoir Worth Spinning". PopMatters. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  13. Walters, Barry (November 1, 2010). "Prefab Sprout, 'Let's Change the World With Music' (Tompkins Square)". Spin. Retrieved August 13, 2017.