Liberty Records
Liberty Records | |
---|---|
Parent company |
|
Founded | 1955 |
Founder | Simon Waronker |
Status | Defunct |
Distributor(s) | Capitol Records (US catalog) Parlophone (UK catalogue) Rhino Entertainment (US distribution of UK catalogue) |
Genre | Various |
Country of origin | U.S., UK |
Official website | universalmusic |
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.
History
1950s
Liberty's early releases focused on film and orchestral music. Its first single was
In 1956, Liberty signed
The label's biggest rock singer was Eddie Cochran[7] who starred in his second film, Untamed Youth. His first hit for the label was John D. Loudermilk's "Sittin' in the Balcony" in 1957, then came "Summertime Blues" and "C'mon Everybody".
The roster included R&B act
By 1958, Liberty was close to bankruptcy when singer-songwriter
Also in 1958, Liberty formed a sublabel called Freedom which lasted through 1959,[12] when Liberty moved to its long-time address at 6920 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.[13]
1960s and 1970s
Liberty's most successful signing of the early 1960s was
albums credited to "The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett". Liberty sent an annual report for the fiscal year ended January 31, 1962 that included a limited edition 33-1/3 vinyl record with songs by Bobby Vee, Timi Yuro, Gene McDaniels, Si Zentner, and Tommy Garrett. A welcome message recorded by Simon Waronker was also included.In 1963, Liberty was sold to electronics corporation Avnet for $12 million. Avnet also bought Blue Note, Imperial, Dolton, Aladdin, and Minit. After two years of losses, Avnet sold the labels back to Al Bennett for $8 million. Liberty earlier acquired Pacific Jazz, founded in 1952.[16][17] In 1966, Sunset was started to reissue records from the acquired labels. Sunset's catalog included Eddie Harris (The Explosive Eddie Harris), Jimmy Reed (Something Else), Les McCann (Django), Teddy Buckner (A Salute to Satchmo), Wild Bill Davis (Flying Home), Lester Young (Giant of Jazz), The Ventures (Supergroup), and Chet Baker (Swings Pretty).[18]
Liberty recordings were distributed in the UK by the
In 1971, Liberty and its remaining labels (except for Soul City, whose catalog was sold to Bell and Blue Note) were shifted to United Artists, and Liberty was no more.[21] In 1978, Artie Mogull and Jerry Rubinstein acquired United Artists and Liberty with money they borrowed from Capitol. In February 1979, Capitol's parent company EMI foreclosed on them and took over Liberty. Eight months later, Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI to form Thorn EMI.[22]
1980s and 1990s
In 1980, EMI dropped the United Artists name and revived the Liberty name.[23] EMI used Liberty to reissue the catalogs of United Artists, Liberty, and Imperial. From 1980 to 1984, Capitol used Liberty in America primarily as a country music label for acts such as Kenny Rogers and Dottie West, though heavy metal band Manowar was also signed to the company. In the United Kingdom, many new wave acts like The Stranglers[24] were moved over to the 'new' label from United Artists (as Kirk Kerkorian had purchased the name for his film company)[25][26] and were soon joined by new acts such as New Romantic band Classix Nouveaux.[27][28][29] In 1991, Capitol-EMI renamed its Capitol Nashville label to Liberty before returning to the Capitol Nashville name four years later.
In 1994, Liberty president Jimmy Bowen founded a sister label called Patriot Records, whose roster included Bryan Austin, Lisa Brokop, John Berry, Deana Carter, John Bunzow, and Noah Gordon. After the label closed in 1995, Berry, Brokop, and Carter transferred to Capitol Nashville.[30]
2000s to 2010s
After releasing many late-1990s
Liberty Records artists
See also
- Nocturne Records
- List of record labels
Further reading
- ISBN 9781629334325.
References
- ^ a b Ankeny, Jason. "Si Waronker". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ "Liberty Records Story". Bsnpubs.com. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ "Julie London Top Songs". Music VF. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ "#1184: Try Me by Margie Rayburn". Vancouver Pop Music Signature Sounds. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ISBN 0-634-03252-6.
- ^ Eder, Bruce. "Billy Ward & the Dominoes". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ "Animation: The History of the Chipmunks". Animation Resources. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-7935-9142-8. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ "Liberty Buys Autry 'Flying A' Building". Nielsen Business Media. 14 September 1959. p. 4. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ Eder, Bruce. "The Clovers - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ Bush, John. "Bobby Vee - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ "Simon Waronker, founder of Liberty Records, dies". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 25. VNU Media Publications. 18 June 2005. p. 95. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ "Bock Co. Called Aura Productions". Billboard. 13 June 1970. p. 4.
- ^ Sunset Records, Dept SU, and information about Eddie Harris recordings, as well as other mentioned jazz artists, found on LP SUS-5234 Sunset Records, listed as a product of LIBERTY RECORDS, SUS-5234-1
- ^ Blevins, Brian (1 August 1970). "Lib/UA in U.K. Cuts Philips Tie; EMI Pact". Google Books. p. 55. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ Tiegel, Eliot (6 April 1968). "Transamerica Buys Liberty for $24 Mil" (PDF). Billboard. p. 1.
- ^ "UA Corp Absorbs Lines; UA Records Sole Disk Co". Google Books. Nielsen Business Media. 23 January 1971. p. 3. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ "EMI: a giant at war with itself". The Telegraph. 18 January 2008.
- ^ "Liberty 'New' Name of UA". Google Books. Nielsen Business Media. 6 September 1980. p. 5. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ "STRANGLERS". Official Charts.
- ^ Cole, Robert J. (16 May 1981). "M-G-M IS REPORTED PURCHASING UNITED ARTISTS FOR $350 MILLION". The New York Times.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr.; Busch, Anita (22 September 2014). "MGM Buys 55% Of Roma Downey And Mark Burnett's Empire; Relaunches United Artists".
- ^ "Classix Nouveaux / The Liberty Recordings 1981-1983". Super Deluxe Edition. 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Classix Nouveaux: The Liberty Recordings 1981-1983, 4CD".
- ^ "CLASSIX NOUVEAUX". Official Charts.
- ISBN 978-0-19-517608-7. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ "The Bangles". Official Charts.
External links
- "Liberty Records Industrial Film (ca. 1966)" on YouTube